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Old 01-21-2013, 04:13 PM   #1
LPMan
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Default A Few Tricky Questions...

Hi there,

My name's James. My friends and I have been playing Munchkin quite a bit over the past few months. We've picked up an unhealthy amount of expansions and have even made a few custom cards. It's good fun and all but the inevitable questionable debate pops up every now and then.

Over the many games we've had, quite a few good ones have come up that'd be good to settle here once and for all! I have quite a few, so I'm hoping there are some patient and VERY helpful people around, haha.




1. The wizard's ability: A friend of mine reckons when a wizard is invited into combat, the wizard can just charm the enemy away without the other player's consent to win the battle and deprive him of the level and treasure (despite what was originally bargained). What is the rule on this? Can the wizard use his ability if the other person in combat does not agree? And who get's the treasure?

Also, does it have to be cards used from the wizards hand to charm the monster, or can the wizard discard items on the table too? (Such as a weapon or hireling?)

2. The Really Impressive Title: This came up just the other day. Can the title be lost to curses and to death? Can it be looted if the player dies and has it equipped? Or does it stay with the player even through death?

3: Discarding Races / Classes: One thing I had a particular problem with was once you become a race, there seemed to be no way to become a human again unless you were cursed. I heard you can just discard your race and class at will. Is that true? If so...

What if you have a half breed card? Let's say you were an Elf - Lizard Guy and come up against a monster who gets bonuses against elves. Can you discard the elf there and then to be just a Lizard Guy? Would you then be a Half-Lizard or would you have to discard the Half Breed card too?

4. Half Breeds: Whilst on the topic of half breeds, can you have multiple half breed cards? Sometimes we find the luck of having 2/3 in a game. Can you then become an Elf-Lizard Guy-Halfling for instance? Or is the limit one half-breed card at a time?

If there is a "usable my human" only item, can a half-breed Lizard Guy equip it? Or would you have to be 100% human?

5. Side Equipping: is there a limit to cards you can lay on the table? The rule we play is you can side equip as many items as possible to prevent charity (such as potions, weapons, armour). Once they are side equipped, they can't be put back into your hand, and of course the table then know what cards you have. You can only have one big item out on the table at a time unless you a dwarf. Is this right? I ask as sometimes players can get 20 items out at once just to prevent them giving their stuff away.

6. Curses to lose items: Let's say you receive a curse to lose a big item. You don't have one on the table, but you have one in your hand. Does that get lost to the curse?

For this reason then, let's say you get cursed to lose 2 small items. You have 2 really good weapons on the table that you would lose, but you also have 2 really bad small items in your hand. Could you opt to lose the 2 small items in your hand instead, or do curses just affect cards in play?

7. The Bard: Can the bard use his ability to bard a helper into combat even if he is already beating the monster? For instance, a bard might be winning but want to bard in a player who has several cards to enhance the monster, so he might want to bard them in to prevent them ruining his combat. Is that a legal move?

Also, what happens when the players roll the same number on the dice? Do they re roll, or does the bard have to beat the player's roll?

8. Lizard Guy: Favourite race without question. Love the abilities and look of the character, fantastic. Just to clarify, his ability to buff monsters. Does this apply to just items, or also to cards like "Baby", "Humungous" or "Ancient Monster"? My guess is no, as that would be too overpowered.

9. Changing Race / Class during combat: Is it legal to become a new race or class DURING combat? I ask as a very popular tactic we have is to hold onto an elf and card offer to help someone at level 9, then switch to the elf class to get the winning level to beat the game. Is it legal to do so?

10. GUAL: Can you play GUAL cards on other players? Let's say a player is about to walk away from the dragon as his level is too low. Can another player make him go up a level to force him to fight it?

11. Sacrificing: Hirelings or Steeds must be sacrificed to avoid bad stuff BEFORE making a run away roll, correct?

12. Hirelings: Can any hireling use any weapon? For instance, can the normal male hireling use the "Broad Sword"? Can a Lizard Guy Hireling use the "Horseshoe Crabs"?

It mentions on the Lizard Guy Hireling card that you can use his abilities, or something along the lines of that. Does that mean his running away and double strength potion abilities?




Gosh, I think that's it. Sorry for the bulk, that's about 3 months worth of questions I think. Any and all answers are much appreciated! Assuming anyone has read this far of course...

Cheers.

Last edited by LPMan; 01-21-2013 at 04:17 PM.
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Old 01-21-2013, 05:15 PM   #2
Clipper
 
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Default Re: A Few Tricky Questions...

OK, here we go. I'll note that I mention the FAQ in these responses a few times. It can be found here. If you can't find the things I referenced in the rules or FAQ, please post again and I'll show you which part I mean.

Also, my answers are not official, but I have seen them all officially answered before, so I could probably find an example to back any of them up. If you need any of those, feel free to post and I'll go for a search, but there's too many questions to find official links to them all right now...

Quote:
Originally Posted by LPMan View Post
1. The wizard's ability: A friend of mine reckons when a wizard is invited into combat, the wizard can just charm the enemy away without the other player's consent to win the battle and deprive him of the level and treasure (despite what was originally bargained). What is the rule on this? Can the wizard use his ability if the other person in combat does not agree? And who get's the treasure?
The Wizard can Charm if he is in a battle, denying the level/s to the combat owner, but the Treasure sticks around to the end of the battle and is drawn and distributed as per the deal made with the Helper.

Quote:
Also, does it have to be cards used from the wizards hand to charm the monster, or can the wizard discard items on the table too? (Such as a weapon or hireling?)
The Wizard's Charm Spell, as specified on the card, requires the Wizard to discard their entire hand of cards (and they must be holding at least three). For other discard powers that don't indicate a source, like the Wizard's Flight Spell, you can choose to discard from the hand or table.

Quote:
2. The Really Impressive Title: This came up just the other day. Can the title be lost to curses and to death? Can it be looted if the player dies and has it equipped? Or does it stay with the player even through death?
This is a Special card, as defined in the rules. It is not protected from Death, so it can be looted and will be discarded if it is not looted.

Quote:
3: Discarding Races / Classes: One thing I had a particular problem with was once you become a race, there seemed to be no way to become a human again unless you were cursed. I heard you can just discard your race and class at will. Is that true? If so...

What if you have a half breed card? Let's say you were an Elf - Lizard Guy and come up against a monster who gets bonuses against elves. Can you discard the elf there and then to be just a Lizard Guy? Would you then be a Half-Lizard or would you have to discard the Half Breed card too?
The rules do mention that you can discard any Race or Class card at any time. The FAQ allows you to switch between Races while keeping your Half-Breed card, provided you play the new Race immediately (and that it is valid for you to play that new Race at that time). Thus, you can switch from being a Half-Elf to being a Half-Lizard Guy. Also note that you could just as easily play the Lizard Guy to become a Half-Elf-Lizard Guy and then discard the Elf to become a Half-Lizard Guy.

Quote:
4. Half Breeds: Whilst on the topic of half breeds, can you have multiple half breed cards? Sometimes we find the luck of having 2/3 in a game. Can you then become an Elf-Lizard Guy-Halfling for instance? Or is the limit one half-breed card at a time?
No. The FAQ covers that one.

Quote:
If there is a "usable my human" only item, can a half-breed Lizard Guy equip it? Or would you have to be 100% human?
You need to be 100% human. A Half-Lizard Guy only has the advantages of being a Lizard Guy and none of the disadvantages. He no longer has the advantages or disadvantages of being Human in addition.

Quote:
5. Side Equipping: is there a limit to cards you can lay on the table? The rule we play is you can side equip as many items as possible to prevent charity (such as potions, weapons, armour). Once they are side equipped, they can't be put back into your hand, and of course the table then know what cards you have. You can only have one big item out on the table at a time unless you a dwarf. Is this right? I ask as sometimes players can get 20 items out at once just to prevent them giving their stuff away.
Everything you say there is correct. Only Big Items are limited in the amount you can carry. Also note that as you are clearly playing with Munchkin 8, you are also limited to have one Steed and one Hireling.

Quote:
6. Curses to lose items: Let's say you receive a curse to lose a big item. You don't have one on the table, but you have one in your hand. Does that get lost to the curse?

For this reason then, let's say you get cursed to lose 2 small items. You have 2 really good weapons on the table that you would lose, but you also have 2 really bad small items in your hand. Could you opt to lose the 2 small items in your hand instead, or do curses just affect cards in play?
Only those in play. Cards in your hand are not really Items until you play them or sell them for levels. They are just cards.

Quote:
7. The Bard: Can the bard use his ability to bard a helper into combat even if he is already beating the monster? For instance, a bard might be winning but want to bard in a player who has several cards to enhance the monster, so he might want to bard them in to prevent them ruining his combat. Is that a legal move?
No. He is not eligible to ask for help if he is currently winning a combat, and you must be eligible to ask in order to Enthrall somebody. Also note that Enthralling them won't stop them from playing those Monster Enhancers anyway. A forced Helper can still play cards against the munchkin side if he wishes.

Quote:
Also, what happens when the players roll the same number on the dice? Do they re roll, or does the bard have to beat the player's roll?
As the card says, if the number beats his, he Helps, otherwise he doesn't.

Quote:
8. Lizard Guy: Favourite race without question. Love the abilities and look of the character, fantastic. Just to clarify, his ability to buff monsters. Does this apply to just items, or also to cards like "Baby", "Humungous" or "Ancient Monster"? My guess is no, as that would be too overpowered.
The Cold-Blooded ability specifically says that One-Shot Items count double. Monster Enhancers are not Items, so they don't count.

Quote:
9. Changing Race / Class during combat: Is it legal to become a new race or class DURING combat? I ask as a very popular tactic we have is to hold onto an elf and card offer to help someone at level 9, then switch to the elf class to get the winning level to beat the game. Is it legal to do so?
Yes, but the combat generally needs to be happening on your turn. Race and Class cards can be played at any time on your turn, or immediately when you receive them. You can discard a Race at any time on any player's turn, though. Thus, the Helper cannot play an Elf card from his hand during combat, so your example is not legal. He needs to find a way to receive an Elf card during the combat (such as Wand of Dowsing) to win that way.

Quote:
10. GUAL: Can you play GUAL cards on other players? Let's say a player is about to walk away from the dragon as his level is too low. Can another player make him go up a level to force him to fight it?
Yes. This is mentioned in the FAQ.

Quote:
11. Sacrificing: Hirelings or Steeds must be sacrificed to avoid bad stuff BEFORE making a run away roll, correct?
Only Hirelings can be sacrificed to automatically escape monsters and yes, it must be done before you roll. Steeds can be discarded if they give you a penalty to Run Away, and this must be done before you roll too.

Quote:
12. Hirelings: Can any hireling use any weapon? For instance, can the normal male hireling use the "Broad Sword"? Can a Lizard Guy Hireling use the "Horseshoe Crabs"?
Hirelings that can use Items can only use Items that their Race or Class could use. They have the sex of their art. This is covered in the Hireling section of the Munchkin 8 rules. The Lizard Guy Hireling cannot use Horseshoe Crabs. A Hireling with male art generally cannot use the Broad Sword. The generic Hireling card from Munchkin and Munchkin 3 does not hold an Item, it lets you carry and use any Item, even if you couldn't otherwise carry or use that Item. Think of the generic Hireling as a Cheat! card that also happens to give a +1 bonus.

Quote:
It mentions on the Lizard Guy Hireling card that you can use his abilities, or something along the lines of that. Does that mean his running away and double strength potion abilities?
No, it says you can use the abilities of the Item he holds for you. The "it" in the second sentence refers to the Item, not the Lizard Guy Hireling.
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Rules Checklist for all Munchkin sets: A4 Letter.

Last edited by Clipper; 01-21-2013 at 05:33 PM.
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Old 01-21-2013, 05:37 PM   #3
LPMan
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Default Re: A Few Tricky Questions...

Good grief, wasn't expecting a response at that speed. Much obliged.

I apologise if some of the questions seemed very arduous. At least now when they come up in game, I can simply show the player this thread instead of having to debate about it, haha.

Thanks again.
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Old 01-21-2013, 05:58 PM   #4
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Default Re: A Few Tricky Questions...

If I were to guess, Clipper had an extra cup of coffee with breakfast.

In the future, it might be easier if you break up your questions in to smaller groups. Had I gotten to this post first, I might have done just that, but I'm not going to try to break up your post and Clipper's, too. . .
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Old 01-21-2013, 07:12 PM   #5
Clipper
 
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Default Re: A Few Tricky Questions...

Quote:
Originally Posted by MunchkinMan View Post
If I were to guess, Clipper had an extra cup of coffee with breakfast.
I actually can't stand the taste of coffee. But yeah, a ton of questions to answer is a fun way to start the day.

Quote:
In the future, it might be easier if you break up your questions in to smaller groups. Had I gotten to this post first, I might have done just that, but I'm not going to try to break up your post and Clipper's, too. . .
I did suspect that would be the case, but couldn't think of anything else to do. I must admit I was making sure each of my responses had at least 10 characters though, just in case you did. Is there a preferable method to follow when we are fairly certain you are going to want to split the post up later?

I hope the answer is not to wait until the post is split up, as I wouldn't want somebody to be left without answers when we have the time to spare right then, but I understand if so.
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Old 01-22-2013, 06:45 AM   #6
LPMan
 
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Default Re: A Few Tricky Questions...

Quote:
Originally Posted by MunchkinMan View Post
If I were to guess, Clipper had an extra cup of coffee with breakfast.

In the future, it might be easier if you break up your questions in to smaller groups. Had I gotten to this post first, I might have done just that, but I'm not going to try to break up your post and Clipper's, too. . .
Yea, sorry, the post looks like a complete mess. Too many questions on my mind at the time - ended up throwing them onto the page in one giant mess.

Major thanks to Clipper for going through them though and clearing them up.

If any questions pop up in the future, is it preferable to start a new thread or should I continue to post in this one? Guarenteed a new one pops up each game, haha.

Cheers.
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Old 01-22-2013, 08:39 AM   #7
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Default Re: A Few Tricky Questions...

Quote:
Originally Posted by LPMan View Post
If any questions pop up in the future, is it preferable to start a new thread or should I continue to post in this one? Guarenteed a new one pops up each game, haha.
The best policy is to always start new threads for new questions, and to keep it to one question per thread, unless you can group similar questions together. That being said, it's not an official policy, but it makes Andrew and I happy if people do things that way, and we will tend to split out new questions if we can do it easily enough if we run into such a situation.
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Old 01-22-2013, 11:33 AM   #8
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Default Re: A Few Tricky Questions...

I've always been a tad surprised the One Last Request part at the end of the Critical Links and Info thread wasn't added in the 101 sticky. It might help curtail that behaviour.
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