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Old 08-30-2012, 10:24 AM   #1
omelette dabbler
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Default monsters with negative levels - possible?

Howdy! Cannot find by a quick search of the forums, and it is really a check only.
Monsters can have negative levels, yes? I am thinking that dis-enhancements are played on low level ones.
Or is there a minimum level, say level 1, such as for the characters of players?
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Old 08-30-2012, 11:16 AM   #2
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Default Re: monsters with negative levels - possible?

As far as I can tell, monster's levels can't be affected by any sort of card. The cards you're thinking of, "dis-enhancements" are only affecting their combat strength. Combat strength (of monsters OR players) CAN go below zero and into the negatives. Player levels can't go below 1, and monster levels are never touched by cards, as far as I've checked.

It's possible you may be using older Munchkin cards, though. In that case, monster enhancers said stuff like "+5 to Level of Monster." This is because older Munchkin printings had this confusing distinction between "actual level" and "effective level," which has since been eliminated from the game. Level is now simply your level or the monster's level (listed on the card), and Combat Strength is Level + Bonuses - Penalties. Monster enhancers directly affect combat strength and not level, and hence would fall under bonus or penalty.
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Old 08-30-2012, 11:17 AM   #3
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Default Re: monsters with negative levels - possible?

Neither Monsters nor Players can have negative LEVELS.

However, BOTH can have negative Combat Strength. When you play "dis-enhancers" on a Monster, it doesn't change the Monster's Level, it changes the Monster's Combat Strength, which is the total of the Monster's Level plus (and/or minus) any other enhancers, one-shots, etc. played on that Monster.

Same goes for the player. If you are Level 2 and have a penalty of -5 against you, you are STILL Level 2, but your Combat Strength is -3.
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Old 08-30-2012, 02:53 PM   #4
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Default Re: monsters with negative levels - possible?

Although if you are playing with an older set of cards, then your cards might actually say they change the Level of the monsters. This is because the old rules did have Monster Enhancers that changed the Level of monsters rather than their combat strength. Under those rules, they do have a minimum Level of 1.

If playing with such an older set, you can either choose to apply those old rules, or use the new rules that work the way the posts above detailed. A list of other changes in the new rules can be found here.
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Old 08-30-2012, 04:32 PM   #5
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Default Re: monsters with negative levels - possible?

Can we stop making up words, especially in the 101 forum, please? Monster Enhancers, whether negative or positive, are Monster Enhancers.

A Monster's Level and a character's Level can not go below one. Combat strength is the sum of Level and bonuses, minus penalties, and can go to zero and below, as is stated in the callout box on the first page of the rules.
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Old 08-30-2012, 04:49 PM   #6
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Default Re: monsters with negative levels - possible?

The word was made up by the original poster. Others used it (myself included), in quotes, to make it clear to that poster that they were talking about the same thing, as they then went on to describe how the situation plays out.

Yeah, probably the best thing would have been to take a moment to clarify the correct terminology, but I was trying to focus on answering the original question. I'll know better in future. Sorry.
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Old 08-30-2012, 05:14 PM   #7
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Default Re: monsters with negative levels - possible?

Quote:
Originally Posted by MunchkinMan View Post
A Monster's Level and a character's Level can not go below zero.
I know that MM doesn't need to be told this, but just to avoid anyone seeing this statement in future and making an incorrect assumption, the characters' and monsters' levels can't go below one either (which excludes them being zero).
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Old 08-31-2012, 02:37 AM   #8
omelette dabbler
 
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Default Re: monsters with negative levels - possible?

Whoops! My bad.
"Monster enhancers" is the term, then. I thought that my original term conveyed the negative enhancement, but there you go. I fully approve of standardisation of terminology. I am caught out.

... And I had intended "combat strength" too.
My worst post, maybe? Didn't even check the rules - gaah! One learns.

Exquisite thanks for shedding light on my query, everybody.
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