Question concerning the timing of playing Trojan Horse

[Zabue2478]

Here's the scenario... Player 1 defeats a monster and combat is declared over by the table. Player 1 is in the act of taking treasure cards from the deck with one hand, laying them in the other, when Player 4 plays Trojan Horse with the intention of depriving Player 1 of this treasure. Player 1 reads the card for clarification, Player 1 points out that the card must be played prior to the drawing, and that Player 4 hadn't played the card in time. Pandemonium ensues.

Player 4 POV: The Trojan Horse card was "being played" (being laid down) prior to Player 1 drawing from the deck of treasure cards, so Player 1 doesn't get them. When all players are aware of the card that was played, and Player 1 was notified of the effects of the card, doesn't matter.

[Player 1 POV:Trojan Horse clearly states that the card is played "when someone is about to draw treasure cards". (The word "about" is actually italicized on the card, emphasising that it can't be played while the treasure is being drawn, or after.) When Trojan Horse was face up on the table, viewable by all players besides the one playing it, Player 1 already had some, but not all, of the treasure cards in his hand. Therefore, the card wasn't in play when Player 1 was "about to" draw, but while he was drawing.

Thoughts???

[collinc]

Reasonable amount of time to play a card is always the best bet. Munchkin isn't a speed game. Sounds to me like Trojan Horse should have been allowed. But this isn't official, just my opinion.

[MunchkinMan]

You're always welcome to make house rules, but the reasonable time requirement only, only, only refers to combat. Not every aspect of the game is ruled by a "play something, wait for everyone to react, play something else, wait for everyone to react" mechanic. That doesn't mean you can slam down 4 cards and insist that they're all played at once, especially if a card that could be canceled (e.g., a Curse) is among the cards you want to play, but it does mean that you can't hem and haw and wait to play things until they're too late and then say, "Well, you didn't wait for me to make a decision you didn't realize I was trying to make."

So, if you're going to play a card that stops someone from drawing cards before they draw them, speak your intent while they're reaching, not after they've drawn all their cards. A quick, "Don't bother drawing those," while you're pulling the card from your hand is all you need. The game might not be a speed game, but the intent is that once a Treasure card is drawn from the deck, it's too late to play something like Trojan Horse.