Kick

Kick is a directional command performed by pressing Ctrl-D (or [k] if the number_pad option is on).

Kicking has a number of uses, including exercising dexterity in most cases. Kicking anything while levitating will propel you in the opposite direction. Kicking while burdened or fumbling is much less likely to be effective. You can't kick if you are in a pit, web, bear trap, or under water.

Monks and Samurai get a bonus to kicking because of their martial arts training.

If you are polymorphed into a sasquatch, you will get a bonus to kicking because of your 'bigfoot'. You can't kick if you are polymorphed into a form that is too small, or has no legs. If polymorphed into a monster that kicks as part of its attack sequence, you could use this command to make a kicking attack without other attacks such as a pony's bite or a unicorn's headbutt, if you so desired.

Kicking objects

• Kicking at a pile of objects will kick the top object off the pile.
• Kicking heavy or immovable objects may result in injury ("Ouch! That hurts.").
• Kicking empty space repeatedly has a chance of abusing your strength ("Dumb move! You strain a muscle.").
• Repeated kicks may render your leg useless for a short time, making you unable to carry heavier loads ("Your leg is in no shape for kicking.").
• Kicking an object that has no room to move will give the message "Thump!".
• Kicking a loadstone, even if it has room to move, will give the message "Thump!", unless you have the necessary strength to move an object of that weight naturally.
• Kicking a locked door can break it down, leaving an empty space.
• Kicking a locked container can break the lock, but could also break fragile items inside it.
• Kicking an object that is actually a disguised mimic will reveal the mimic.
• Kicking a sink can have a number of results, including producing an ooze or a ring.
• Kicking an altar can incur the wrath of the owning God, lowering your luck by one.
• Kicking a tree might knock down some fruit, or anger some bees.
• Kicking a throne might knock lose some gold or gems if you are lucky, or it might just destroy it.
• Kicking a wall when an item is stuck in there (for instance, a Xorn was killed while in a wall, dropping an object), may let the object come loose ("The item comes loose!"), dropping it in front of your feet to pick up.
• Kicking a wall will wake up all monsters which are asleep (for example, an opulent throne room, or graveyard, provided you have stealth).
• Kicking an object at a monster can cause damage like a thrown item.
• Kicking a scroll of scare monster can move it without causing it to crumble.

Kicking monsters

• Kicking monsters induces (not very much) damage. This may be desired in some cases (pacifist). Even an unskilled kick attack enjoys a +1 to hit bonus, so may be a desirable alternative at times when training a weapon from unskilled (-4) or with a cursed weapon welded to your hand.
• Thick-skinned monsters like dragons and mumakil take no damage from a kick.
• You can't kick an incorporeal monster like a shade, because your foot will pass through it.
• Kicking a cockatrice corpse without wearing boots will result in stoning.
• Kicking flying monsters can displace them to a random point adjacent to you, as they "swoop, nimbly avoiding your kick"
• Kicking a sleeping monster will wake it up.
• When levitating, kicking larger monsters will propel you farther, and very small monsters will be more difficult to hit.
• With the right training or equipment, you might be able to send smaller monsters reeling back a square (into a trap, perhaps?)
• You can kick your steed to make it gallop, but this will make it less tame. Kicking your little dog is just mean.

Kicking secret doors

• If your luck is down, you might have too much difficulty trying to search for secret doors. Sometimes you can find a secret door by kicking its location. "Crash! You kick open a secret door!" or "Crash! You uncover a secret door!" This is best when you are almost certain of the location of the door, for example when there is a corridor on one side and a room on the other. This also works for secret passages.

Related objects

• Kicking boots will increase the strength of the kick, but at the same time might make loadstones and similarly heavy objects movable (and thus not identifiable by kicking).
• Boots of any kind allow the player to kick cockatrices safely.
• Blessed boots will do a little extra damage to demons and undead.