RPG Lexica:JKL

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J

K

Katana
Long, curved oriental sword. Katana are the subject of numerous myths related to the quality of their construction and their sharpness, such as the claim that a katana was considered a poor blade unless it was capable of cutting through four condemned men in a single stroke. This, in turn, has led to stories of gamers seriously overestimating the abilities of a character armed with a katana: the most famous example being a story in which a player allegedly attempted to have a katana-wielding PC use his sword to cut through the armor of a modern tank. Thus, the term is also sometimes used to mean an unrealistically powerful weapon, or a weapon which is sought-after for "coolness" value regardless of its relevance or usefulness to a campaign or setting. A katana is, of course, the favoured weapon of a ninja.
Kewl Powerz
Generic name for the abilities possessed by PCs in a game that are above and beyond those of normal men. Depending on the game, this can mean superpowers, magical ability, or whatever else the game will allow.

L

Lasersharking
  • The (theoretical) improvement of an item or being already powerful, competent, efficient and/or deadly by combining it with another item of similar perceived deadliness. In gaming, said additional element is most often either SF-grade high tech or some other sort of fantastic item.
  • The combination of two disparate genres whose conventions normally preclude their union. RPG examples include Deadlands: The Weird West, Pinnacle Entertainment (now Great White Games)’s Wild West/Steampunk/Magic game, or Gear Krieg, Dream Pod 9’s World War II/Mecha game.

The term's origin can be traced to the comedy spoof movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Gaming occurences of both definitions are anecdotally accredited to a desire to make an item, character or game world more "kewl" (see Kewl Powerz, above).

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