Katar
The Katar is a type of short punching sword that was used in Persia and Northern India. The weapon, also called a Bundi Dagger, was noted for its horizontal grip, which allowed one to "punch" with it rather than thrust, allowing more acrobatic fighting styles. The user of katars could fight in a similar manner as if he were unarmed, making it easier to attack and defend, as it was more like an extension of the body than a weapon. Katars ceased to be in common use after the 19th century.
Construction
Katars consist of a short dagger-like blade mounted on crossbar, parallel side bars, and a hand grip or pair of hand grips. Some katars have a metal plate over the hand grips. Katars with the hand-guard were often used in the off-hand as a main gauche type defensive weapon. A sword-gauntlet, called a pata, evolved from this type of weapon.
Katar blades are usually a few inches to three feet in length and are single bladed. However, there are examples of dual blades and triple blades. The triple blades were sometimes crafted to look like a single blade, until the user squeezed the hand-grips together. The blades would spread out, causing increased damage to internal organs after a victim had been stabbed. These were called folding or seizers katars.
In single-bladed katars, the blade was usually wide at the base and had a straight taper to a point, which would give the katar strength while maximizing the ability to penetrate mail armor.
Game Mechanics
For their speed, katars are the most damaging weapons in GemStone IV. They're as fast as a short sword and, against heavy armor, the katar does as much damage as a longsword. Although, against opponents without armor, the katar is slightly less effective than a short sword. Against scale armor and higher, the damage factor is equal to that of the longsword. With chain armor and higher, the AvD of the katar is higher, as well.
The Katar is a hybrid weapon, requiring training in both Edged Weapons and Brawling. Half of a character's attack strength and defensive strength obtained from parry defense comes from training in one skill, and half comes from another.
| Weapon | AG | Cloth | Leather | Scale | Chain | Plate | RT | Min RT | Damage Type | STR/DU | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AsG | 1 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | |||||
| Katar | DF | .325 | .250 | .225 | .200 | .175 | 3 | 3 | Slash/Puncture | 70/175 | ||||||||||||
| AvD | 30 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 40 | 38 | 36 | 34 | 45 | 41 | 37 | 33 | 40 | 34 | 28 | 22 | |||||
Note: To edit this table go to Template:Weapon table katar
The standard katar has a weight of 4 lbs.
Alternate Names
- gauntlet-sword
- kunai
- manople
- paiscush
- pata
- slasher
- tvekre
Note: a handful of katars were released in 2019 using the term push dagger, but this term is actually not used for katars in GS; instead, push daggers are used for the dagger base. As of 3/18/20, if you would like your 'push dagger' katar-based weapon updated to one of the currently approved katar terms, you can ASSIST to have that done.