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 anything at all (objects, monsters, walls or other dungeon features) makes noise and will wake up nearby monsters.
• Kicking at a pile of objects will kick the top object off the pile. The object will fly in the direction you kicked, possibly hitting monsters in its path.
• Kicking empty space has a chance of abusing your strength and wounding your leg ("Dumb move! You strain a muscle.").
• Kicking objects that do not move (due to being too heavy, up against a wall, or fixed in place) may wound your leg for a short time, making you unable to kick ("Your leg is in no shape for kicking.") and reducing your carrying capacity.
• Kicking a loadstone or other heavy object, even if it has room to move, will give the message "Thump!", unless you are very strong. Monks and Samurai may have a chance of moving the object anyway.
• Kicking a closed door can break it down, leaving an empty doorway. Breaking a shop door will anger the shopkeeper unless you immediately pay 400 zorkmids.
• Kicking a locked container can break the lock, but could also break fragile items like potions inside it ("You hear a muffled shatter.").
• Kicking an object that is actually a disguised mimic will reveal the mimic.
• Kicking a sink can summon a foocubus (always of the opposite gender), a black pudding, or a random ring. Only one of each can come from a given sink.
• Kicking an altar of your deity will immediately reduce your Wisdom by one. Kicking another god's altar will reduce your luck by one.
• Kicking a tree might knock down some fruit, or summon some bees.
• Kicking a throne can knock loose some gold or gems (only once per throne) or send you to a lower dungeon level. If the throne has produced gems or gold already, kicking might just destroy it.
• If an item is embedded in a wall (for instance, a Xorn was killed while in a wall, dropping an object there), kicking it may release the object ("The item comes loose!") and deposit it on the floor where you are standing.
• 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. ("Your clumsy kick does no damage.")
• You can't kick a shade, because your foot will pass through it. However, you can kick a ghost.
• Kicking a cockatrice corpse without wearing boots will result in stoning.
• Kicking monsters can displace them to a random point adjacent to you even if they couldn't reach that spot in one normal movement, as the monster "jumps, nimbly avoiding your kick".
• 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.

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