Munchkin Booty Ship Enhancers

[Zachary1234]

Can ship enhancer items be sold after they have been attached to a ship?

[thedude]

Ship enhancers have always bugged me. They lack the usual enhancer text of:

This card goes with the item if it is lost, stolen, or discarded.

and the only thing about them in the rules, faq and eratta are:

There are also a few Items that specifically enhance Ships.
Ships can also be enhanced by regular “Item Enhancers”
from other sets, if those Enhancers otherwise apply.
Enhancers cannot be moved between Ships. A Ship with an
Enhancer has the Enhancer’s gold value added to its own

and

Q. Do I have to play Ship Enhancers on a ship? They are items and have Gold Piece values, so shouldn't I be able to treat them like other items?
A. You can sell them for levels or use Cheat! to play them on their own, but otherwise, they must be played on a ship.

I see no justification for saying you can't sell the enhancer separately like any other item, even after being 'attached'.

This leads to another question:

If the above is correct and you can sell it separately, couldn't you sell the ship (with base value S) along with the enhancer (with value E) for S+2E? After all, your ship is worth S+E and your ship enhancer is still worth E (and doesn't go with the item).

Similarly if I cheat a ship enhancer that's on a ship, I could sell the ship for S+E, and keep the enhancer around by itself.

The ridiculousness of this leads me to believe that the bit about going with the original item when discarded/stolen/lost was left off by mistake.

[Clipper]

I believe the point of it mentioning the ship enhancer's value being applied to the ship means it no longer has value and you must sell the ship to get value for selling the enhancer once attached. It doesn't give away its value while keeping it too, as you suggest with the S+2E comment. That question also implies you can sell it for levels before it is attached, but not after.

Although that question from the FAQ does have other issues too. It mentions using a Cheat! to use the ship enhancer on its own, which contradicts the rules of Cheat! listed in the Critical Links thread...

[Bampop]

Originally Posted by Clipper

Although that question from the FAQ does have other issues too. It mentions using a Cheat! to use the ship enhancer on its own, which contradicts the rules of Cheat! listed in the Critical Links thread...

It doesn't really contradict it. The basest explanation of Cheat! is to equip an item that would normally not be legal for you to do so. Since a Ship Enhancer is an Item that normally would not be legal for you to equip without a Ship, Cheat! gets around that limitation. I'd be willing to allow other Item Enhancers with Cheat! cards as long as the Enhancer in question was an Item, and not something like 'Blessed.'

[Clipper]

Originally Posted by Bampop

It doesn't really contradict it. The basest explanation of Cheat! is to equip an item that would normally not be legal for you to do so. Since a Ship Enhancer is an Item that normally would not be legal for you to equip without a Ship, Cheat! gets around that limitation. I'd be willing to allow other Item Enhancers with Cheat! cards as long as the Enhancer in question was an Item, and not something like 'Blessed.'

I beg to differ. The rules in the Cheat! info post regarding enhancers is:

Originally Posted by MunchkinMan

It lets you use a Steed/Ship/Hireling Enhancer that is an Item to enhance any Item, not only the type of Item that it could only normally enhance*

...

Anything not on that list is not a legal play. Don't ask, because the answer will be, "No."

...

* With the Cheat! card, you can use a Ship Enhancer that is an Item on a Steed, a Hireling, or another Item. The same goes with Steed Enhancers and Hireling Enhancers that are Items. This means that you could have a Musket with a Poop Deck, or a Gnome Hireling with Press On Wings, or, if you're blending, a Gnome Hireling with a Poop Deck and Press On Wings. Of course, only if you're using a Cheat! card along with each Enhancer.

This seems to be very carefully worded to show you can use Enhancers which are Items to enhance things other than what they are meant to enhance, but it never mentions allowing you to use Enhancers on their own without attaching them to anything. Given that it also includes the text that anything not on the list is illegal, it directly contradicts that answer in the FAQ.

[thedude]

Originally Posted by Clipper

I believe the point of it mentioning the ship enhancer's value being applied to the ship means it no longer has value and you must sell the ship to get value for selling the enhancer once attached. It doesn't give away its value while keeping it too, as you suggest with the S+2E comment.

I completely agree that this seems to be the intent; but it's not actually what the card/rules say :/

I feel like if the normal 'goes with item if lost' enhancer disclaimer would solve these strange cases. (EG: if you sold the ship, you couldn't sell or keep the ship enhancer because it went with the ship!) and may just house rule that the cards have this disclaimer.

[Bampop]

Originally Posted by Clipper

Given that it also includes the text that anything not on the list is illegal, it directly contradicts that answer in the FAQ.

Hmm, fair enough. Based on the FAQ, I'd still allow it. Without clarification, I'd defer to the FAQ.

[MunchkinMan]

Once a Ship Enhancer is attached to a Ship, it's attached to the Ship. You can't take it off to sell it.

[Andrew Hackard]

BTW, the new FAQ will be posted as soon as the guy who has to pull the trigger is back in Austin to do so. It's literally just a matter of punching a button now.

[Bampop]

How big of a nerd do I have to be to actually be very excited to get to read the FAQ as if it's a new document? Even if just one or two things were changed.