About the Charity phase

[Axoloth]

So, the other day I was in a strange position: I was the lowest level, and had five monster cards and one item card at the end of my turn. I didn't want to play the item card because I wanted to keep it a secret, and the rules said I had to play cards to get down to five, OR give/discard cards.
Now, does that mean I first and foremost have to play all the cards I can play OR give away cards IF I don't have any cards to play? Or does it mean I can just choose to discard a monster card and keep my item card a secret?

I'm asking because the "can't discard cards just because you want to" rule made me uncertain.

[Bampop]

You are allowed to choose what card to discard. There is nothing in the rules to say you'd have to reveal your hand so anyone would know you had a playable Item.

[Axoloth]

Thanks for the reply, but it doesn't really answer my question. I know i get to choose which card to discard, and just because the other players doesn't KNOW I'm cheating, it's still cheating. If it is cheating at all, that is, which was what i was asking in the first place.

That said, I'm also wondering what happens if the player(s) on the receiving end of Charity already has five cards on their hands?

[bonetm]

Originally Posted by Axoloth

So, the other day I was in a strange position: I was the lowest level, and had five monster cards and one item card at the end of my turn. I didn't want to play the item card because I wanted to keep it a secret, and the rules said I had to play cards to get down to five, OR give/discard cards.
Now, does that mean I first and foremost have to play all the cards I can play OR give away cards IF I don't have any cards to play? Or does it mean I can just choose to discard a monster card and keep my item card a secret?

I'm asking because the "can't discard cards just because you want to" rule made me uncertain.

You are not discarding just because you want to. You are discarding because the rule say you can't have more than 5 cards in your hand at the end of your turn. And the rules also say that you can discard if you are lowest (or tied) Level, so yes, you can just discard your card and keep your hand Item a secret.

[Bampop]

My point was that that's the reason it isn't cheating. Bone's answer explains it much better. To answer your new question, the five card limit only counts at the conclusion of your turn. You can have any number of cards in your hand between the start of the next players turn and the end if your next one. If you're the low earl level player in a 6 player game, who knows how many cards you could end up with.

[MunchkinMan]

The rules say you must play enough to get down to or below the limit, or give away the excess. The "must" refers to both phrases. In other words, you must play cards to get down to or below the limit, or you must give away/discard the excess. The rules do not say that you must play all the cards you legally can, then give away any excess, but you definitely must do whatever legal options are available to you (including potentially discarding cards, if your character has the lowest level, or is tied for lowest) to get your hand to or below the limit.

[Axoloth]

Okay, thanks for the help.