Need Official Ruling on the "Mate" card...

[TheRaven81]

Situation: Player 1 Kicks down the door, and finds a Monster which is Level 10.
The monster is modified by player 2 with a +10 and a +5. Now the monster is at 25. Player 3 now plays a Mate card to duplicate the monster.

My question is this: Some people I have played with rule that the Mate card only creates a duplicate of the original monster. So in the above situation, the Mate would only be at Level 10.

Others rule that the Mate card is a strategic card and will duplicate the original monster in its current state with all modifiers at the time the Mate card is played. In that case, in the above situation, it would make the Mate at Level 25 as well.

So which one is actually correct?

[Brandy]

From the FAQ:

Originally Posted by Munchkin FAQ

Q. What if a monster gets a Mate, or you get a Doppleganger, and then somebody backstabs you or plays potions on one side or the other?
A. Mate duplicates Monster Enhancers, not other types of cards (this is a rule change starting in the 19th printing to make life simpler). A Doppleganger is an exact duplicate of the player – essentially, figure his combat strength and then double it.

[Mister Ed]

It is also worth noting that Mate doesn't just duplicate the Monster plus enhancers at the time it is played. If any enhancers are added AFTER Mate is played, it duplicates those as well. The Monster and Mate ALWAYS have the same combat strength. (Mate does not, however, duplicate any one-shots played to the Monsters' side, just Enhancers that are played on a specific Monster.)

[MunchkinMan]

You actually don't have to reference the FAQ for an answer on this one, since the rules say the following under the section entitled Monster Enhancers:

Originally Posted by The Rules, p. 4

Anything that enhances a monster also enhances its Mate . . . if Ancient, Enraged, and Mate are played on a single monster, in any order, you are facing an Ancient Enraged monster and its Ancient Enraged Mate.

I added the emphasis to show where the rules say that the Mate's combat strength is never fixed and can still be increased by adding a Monster Enhancer to the original Monster.

[Brandy]

Sorry if it wasn't clear from my post that the rules have been updated to clarify this; I quoted the FAQ because 1) its there, and 2) I assumed that the OP had a printed set of rules without the update.

In case the OP is not aware, the most recent version of the rules for various sets can be found here:

http://www.worldofmunchkin.com/rules/

The updated language to the rules for the mate card is in the core set rules (and presumably any other set that includes the card).

[Andrew Hackard]

The question has been answered. If the original poster finds the answer still unclear, he or she may post to say so. Everyone else, please remember that this is not a discussion forum. Once an official answer has been posted, there's no need for further comment.

[abbath]

So if someone plays Baby (-5 to monster), does it affects the mate also? Does Baby (and other -5 to monster cards) considered Monster Enhancers or only the +5 and +10?

[Andrew Hackard]

Yes, Baby is a monster enhancer. It happens to be one with a penalty rather than a bonus.