| Kata is the basic form of martial arts, primarily involving kicks and hand strikes. This form of martial arts was first developed and mastered in the Undervault by the kephera and illithoid. |
| Skill | Learned At | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Punch | Inept+0% | A basic attack with your hands. |
| Kick | Inept+25% | A basic attack with your legs. |
| Forms | Inept+50% | Design your own kata attacks. |
| Hold | Inept+75% | The most basic grapple. |
| Throw | Novice+25% | Hurl someone to the ground. |
| Choke | Novice+50% | An asphyxiating grapple. |
| *CentipedeStance | +% | The basic defensive stance |
| Lock | Apprentice+0% | A grapple targeting body parts. |
| *CavefisherStance | +% | A damaging offensive stance. |
| Snap | Apprentice+50% | End a lock by injuring the body part. |
| *SpidionStance | +% | A quick offensive stance. |
| *MantaStance | +% | Basic avoidance stance. |
| UrchinStance | +% | Basic regressive Stance. |
| *EelStance | +% | A penetrating offensive stance. |
| Toss | Capable+75% | Hurl a grappled person away from you. |
| Raze | Adept+0% | Attack the defences that would keep your weapons out. |
| Yoga | +% | Physical meditation to hone the body and mind. |
| *MantekarrStance | +% | Basic bleeding and bruising stance. |
| Tattoos | Adept+50% | Your body illustrations can be tapped for armour. |
| *KrakenStance | +% | A powerful offensive stance. |
| Hemorrhaging | +% | Cause internal damage to interfere with one's ability to clot. |
| Master | Master+0% | Move on to a master specialization. |
Punch
| Syntax: |
| KA PUNCH <target> <bodypart> RIGHT|LEFT (For players) KA PUNCH <target> RIGHT|LEFT (For bashing NPCs.) |
| Kata: Action Bodypart: Head, Chest, Gut, Rarm, Larm, Rleg, Lleg |
The typical punch is a standard kata action.
| Syntax: |
| KA STANCEMSG <ON/OFF> |
As you advance and regress momentum from Kata attacks, you will be notified. To turn this off/on, use KA STANCEMSG ON/OFF.
| Syntax: |
| KA DEFAULTHIGH <ON/OFF> |
Configuring this to be on will have you automatically move to the high stance form each time unless otherwise specified. Otherwise you will move into the low stance form each time unless otherwise specified.
Kick
| Syntax: |
| KA KICK <target> <bodypart> RIGHT|LEFT (For players) KA KICK <target> RIGHT|LEFT (For bashing NPCs.) |
| Kata: Leg Action Bodypart: Head, Chest, Gut, Rarm, Larm, Rleg, Lleg |
The typical kick is a standard kata action.
Forms
| Syntax: |
| KATA STUDY <form name> <stance> KATA FORMS |
| Bodyparts: Head, Chest, Gut, Rarm, Larm, Rleg, Lleg |
As you progress in kata and its specializations, you can develop more and more of your own personal kata forms. To make a new form, begin with KATA STUDY and to forget a form, use KATA FORGET. KATA FORMS will list all of your forms. KATA REVIEW <form> will review a specific form. The actions are the same as any KA attacks, minus the KA and target. For example, KA PUNCH GALT HEAD LEFT would translate to an action as PUNCH HEAD LEFT.
To perform kata maneuvers, you execute KATA PERFORM. You can only execute a single form at a time.
To teach forms to others, you can use KATA TEACH.
Stances There are five types of kata stances: Base --> Twist(High/Low) --> Centred --> Surge(High/Low) --> Killer.
Each kata form advances you through the kata stances naturally. For stances that have high and low forms, you will naturally choose the high stance. To use the low stance, add LOW or L as an argument for your kata form. You can also specify HIGH or H. For example, if you do KATA PERFORM GALT SMITE LOW while you are in the Base stance, when your form is finished you will end up in the TwistLow stance. When you perform a kata in the killer stance, you will end up in the Base stance.
You can also regress in stances by using the URCHIN argument in your form. This will move you back in the stance progression albeit for a balance cost. You can again use LOW or HIGH to specify which of those stances to use.
For example, you can create a form with two stance levels like this: KATA STUDY SMITE BASE KATA STUDY SMITE SURGEHIGH
Then you can fill in the desired attacks using the KATA DEVELOP syntax for BASE stance, and also for SURGEHIGH stance. Now if you perform SMITE against a foe and are moving into the SURGEHIGH stance or higher then you will perform the attack defined for that variation of the form. If lower then it will fall back to the attacks defined for BASE stance.
Lastly, if you wish to have a form that just does one thing for later stances, you can do this. Make a BASE stance but leave it empty. Then proceed to make a stance for the level you desire and fill it in. If you are not at the correct level, the form will simply fail without taking balance because the Base stance will be invalid.
Lastly, as long as you have masochism, you can KA CLEAR to remove your current stance and start over.
Hold
| Syntax: |
| KA HOLD <target> KA RELEASE |
|
Kata: Grapple |
A basic grapple. Binds your target with your arm. Unlike most grapples you will learn in the future, this grapple will prevent the target from standing.
| Additional Notes: |
| Grapples require both arms to perform, and last until the victim writhes free or you use your hands again. Their main purpose is to prevent the victim from walking away. |
Throw
| Syntax: |
| KA THROW <target> |
| Kata: Grapple Ender Bodyparts: Head, Chest, Gut, Larm, Rarm, Lleg, Rleg |
If your target is in some grapple, you can throw them to the ground, damaging and possibly stunning them in the process. A prone target will be more susceptible to damage from kata attacks.
Choke
| Syntax: |
| KA CHOKE <target> <bodypart> |
| Kata: Action Ka Weight: 200 |
An advanced grapple that chokes the target, asphyxiating him.
| Additional Notes: |
| Works the same as locking the head, but with a tiny bit of extra damage. |
Gouge
| Syntax: |
| KATA DEVELOP <form> MODIFIERS GOUGE |
| Kata: Modifiers Ka Weight: 50 |
Hook your punches in such a manner as to gouge the skin and cause bleeding. Only works on unarmed actions.
Lock
| Syntax: |
| KA LOCK <target> <bodypart> |
| Kata: Action Ka Weight: 200 |
A grapple that locks and disables a specific body part. For bodyparts that aren't directly affected by locking, such as the head, chest, or gut, it opens up advanced techniques you will learn later.
PinchNerve
| Syntax: |
| KATA DEVELOP <form> MODIFIERS PINCHNERVE |
| Kata: Modifier Ka Weight: 150 |
Develop your kata so that you may aim your punches and basic kicks against the nerves which govern mobility, crippling your opponent. Only works on unarmed actions.
| Additional Notes: |
| Causes paralysis. |
Snap
| Syntax: |
| KA SNAP |
| Kata: Action Ka Weight: 50 |
End a grapple by snapping a particular bodypart, causing effects such as blackout and broken limbs.
Strength
| Syntax: |
| KATA DEVELOP <form> MODIFIERS <HARD|SOFT> |
| Kata: Modifier Ka Weight: 50 |
By paying close attention to the strength of your punches, you can deliver more direct damage at the expense of wounding (hard), or vice versa (soft). Works on all actions.
Speed
| Syntax: |
| KATA DEVELOP <form> MODIFIERS SPEED |
| Kata: Modifiers Ka Weight: 100 |
Balancing carefully on the tips of your feet allows you to recover balance from katas at a greater speed. Works on all actions.
Break
| Syntax: |
| KATA DEVELOP <form> MODIFIERS BREAK |
| Kata: Modifier Ka Weight: 50 |
Carefully choosing the optimum place to strike, you may improve the chance of shattering extremities. Only works on unarmed actions. This move will cause you to lose some momentum if it causes an injury.
| Additional Notes: |
| This doesn't actually improve the chance to cause shatters, instead it's the only way to cause shatters. It requires medium wounds or better, and when used on the head, breaks the nose. |
Stun
| Syntax: |
| KATA DEVELOP <form> MODIFIERS STUN |
| Kata: Modifier Ka Weight: 175 |
As your opponent grows more wounded, your punches and kicks will start to stun. Only works on unarmed actions. Successful stuns will lower your momentum.
Toss
| Syntax: |
| KA TOSS |
| Kata: Action Ka Weight: 75 |
When grappling with a person, you can toss them out of the room in a random direction. This will, obviously, terminate any katas as the victim will no longer be within range.
| Additional Notes: |
| This only works from kata grapples, not those from its specializations. |
Raze
| Syntax: |
| KA RAZE <target> RIGHT|LEFT |
| Kata: Action Ka Weight: 50 |
Using your fist, you can clear away variety of magical defense, such as shield, weapons rebounding aura, and others.
| Additional Notes: |
| Raze strips rebounding, circle, pentagram, reflections, and quicksilver. |
Concussion
| Syntax: |
| KATA DEVELOP <form> MODIFIERS CONCUSSION |
| Kata: Modifier Ka Weight: 150 |
By striking at the lower side of the back of your opponent's skull, you can improve your chances of causing concussion. Only works on unarmed actions.
| Additional Notes: |
| This doesn't actually improve the chance to cause a concussion, instead it's the only way to cause a concussion. It requires medium wounds or better. |
Tattoos
| Syntax: |
| TATTOOS ARMOUR |
For those monks who choose not to wear any armour of any kind (including great robes), any tattoos on their body will be activated and be able to use as a kind of ka armour. The amount of armour depends on the total amount of tattoo weight on the monk's body. Further, any tattoos with the damage absorption power will be double in strength (though, again, only if not wearing armour of any kind).
Steelgrip
| Syntax: |
| KATA DEVELOP <form> MODIFIERS STEELGRIP |
| Kata: Modifier Ka Weight: 150 |
With this modifier, any grapple-initiating attack will never miss.
Master
At this point in your training of Kata, you have progressed where you must specialize in an aspect of this skill to continue learning. If you have not yet selected a specialization, see SKILLCHOICE LIST to see what is available. There may be a choice between two or more specializations.