Use Cheat card for extra bonus on item

[Te_QuiLa]

Hey,

we played Munchkin yesterday and there was a question about the "Cheat" card.It allows you to use an item you couldn't use normally according to the rules.

A friend had an item that has no class/race restriction but has a special +4 instead of +1 bonus for elves (which he wasn't).

He then came into a fight which he could not win by a difference of 2 points and wanted to play the "cheat" card during his fight on this item to gain the +4 bonus instead of +1.

1) Is it allowed to play the cheat card DURING a fight? I think that it is not allowed to change your equipment during the fight so it should not be allowed. On the other hand it is a "cheat" and the name says it all... :-D

2) Is it possible to use the cheat card to gain a special bonus of an item that you could normally use? In my opinion the card allows you to use an item that you couldn't use but does not allow you to get a special bonus of an item (so for instance: it allows you to use an item that is only useable by elves even if you are not an elf, but it doesn't give you the special race/class bonus of an item that you can use normally). Which version is correct?


Thanks in advance
Te_QuiLa

[Andrew Hackard]

There are no rules forbidding you from playing a Cheat! card during a fight on an Item you already have in play, but you cannot use it to equip an Item that was previously unequipped and you cannot use it to play an Item from your hand during a combat.

Cheat! in Munchkin does not do anything about variant bonuses; it merely allows the use of an Item that might not otherwise be usable. If an Item has an extra bonus for Elves and you are not an Elf, Cheat! doesn't get you that higher bonus.

(I added "in Munchkin" there because in the board game version, Munchkin Quest, Cheat works differently and DOES get you the maximum bonus you could possibly get. And I know someone will mention it if I don't. If you don't play MQ, none of this matters.)

[MunchkinMan]

You can't use Cheat! to get an extra bonus from an Item that provides two or more bonuses unless the card you are using Cheat! on says so, since Cheat! in no way says, or even implies, that it could do that.

Playing Cheat! during combat is generally not legal, however, and I'm going to have to do a hunt if I can find cases where it would be legal. Or, let Andrew provide an answer, apparently.

[Brf]

How about this scenario?

You are an Elf fighting a monster that has a bonus against Elves.
You discard your Elf race.
You are using a weapon that is only usable by Elves, which remains equipped, but unusable, since you are now not an Elf.
You play your Cheat! card on the weapon so you can use it against that monster.

[Andrew Hackard]

Originally Posted by Brf

How about this scenario?

You are an Elf fighting a monster that has a bonus against Elves.
You discard your Elf race.
You are using a weapon that is only usable by Elves, which remains equipped, but unusable, since you are now not an Elf.
You play your Cheat! card on the weapon so you can use it against that monster.

This is more or less exactly the situation I was thinking of about playing Cheat! on an equipped Item during combat. Yes, this is legal.

[MunchkinMan]

Originally Posted by Andrew Hackard

This is more or less exactly the situation I was thinking of about playing Cheat! on an equipped Item during combat. Yes, this is legal.

That's the one I was trying to hunt down to see if we'd answered it.

[Te_QuiLa]

Thank you guys very much, everything is clear to me now! :)