RPG Lexica:JKL

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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.
Kill them and take their stuff
A humorous description of the method which winds up being used by most RPG characters to solve problems they are having with other individuals or groups.
King Rat
The male equivalent of a Queen Bee. Exceptionally rare in RPGing due to the gender imbalance of the hobby.

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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