The Katar, or Keshou Punching Dagger, is the favored weapon of Keshou adventurers and warriors for swift and quick attacks. It is notable for its horizontal hand grip—two parallel bars connected by two or more cross pieces, one of which is at the end of the side bars and is fastened to the blade. The remainder forms the handle which is at a right angle to the blade. The blades are always double-edged and are generally straight, with lengths from a few inches to about three feet. The typical blade is often made broad at the hilt and tapers in straight lines to the point. Katars forged in Kara Kora are typically thickened at the point to strengthen them for use against mail. They are also usually forged in one piece with the hilt. The blades are sometimes forked at the point, and katars with two and even three blades can be found. Katars are generally used in hand-to-hand combat, which is effective in piercing armor. The katar is unique, because to stab an opponent, one has to punch instead of thrust, unlike with a regular knife or dagger. This leads to much more acrobatic fighting styles. It is more like an extension of the fist than a dagger, and it seems more natural to attack and defend with a katar.

	weapon type			attack modifier			damage
	dueling			+1			+1inj

Several variations of the Keshou punching dagger exists and can add different advantages to combat for the fighter needing an edge. Split Katar
The split katar has a mechanism responsible for making the blades split. This happens when the user pulls the hand trigger. The Keshou designed the hand trigger so that it resembles those used on firearms and built it to correspond to the trigger finger when holding the grip. This feature is often used to inflict a greater damage to the enemy, having the blades splitting inside of them and slashing the vital organs. It has also been known as a parrying weapon catching the opponents weapon between the blades and twisting the Katar in order to disarm or snap the opposing weapon.

	weapon type			attack modifier			damage
	dueling			+1			+2inj

Hooded Katar
Hooded katars are those fitted with a shield extending over the back of the user’s hand. This shield can be added to either a standard katar or a split one. The shield provides extra protection as the character is engaged in close combat, but the wearing of gauntlets or other hand protection weakens the grip on the Katar. The hood is close to becoming a new standard accessory to Keshou punching dagger users.

armor type

rating

protection

coverage

notes

shield

3

fat

hand/forearms

-2 accuracy

New Style: Katar Dueling
Dueling, brawling, athletics
Because of the unique fighting method employed to successfully wield the Katar, many Keshou are making it their only choice in protection and dedicating their training to its use much like a samurai and his katana. This style provides a bonus of +1inj when striking an opponent in a punching motion, and an armor rating of 2 against fatigue when protecting the face with a hooded katar.