Help with timing

[TheHuntsman]

So if my friend has a big monster in his hand and the wand of dowsing. If he plays the monster knowing he's not going to win and decides to use his wand of dowsing to pull "The Magic Lamp". The rod goes off and he pulls the card and instantly lays it down on the monster. Do I as another player get to react within that time to lay down a wandering monster so that the magic lamp isn't as useful? or is it since he laid down the card first it automatically goes through? is there time between actions that we are guaranteed a chance to play? he keeps telling me that the first card plays goes through first but much of this game seems reactive in nature.

this discussion started because I read a moderator say that someone can play a lose a class card during using dowsing rod and pulling divine intervention. i thought that in reaction to him using the dowsing rod I could then use curse to make him lose his class or a level if the intervention would let him win. He states that the card since played first finalizes first.

thanks

[Andrew Hackard]

The Magic Lamp goes off first but you still have a reasonable time to play Wandering Monster to add something else to the fight. Unless a card effect says combat is immediately over, you can always make things worse.

[TheHuntsman]

so then there is no designated reaction time from when he plays dowsing rod to when he can play magic lamp for us to interact at all?

or if I'm lvl 9 and have a cleric card in my hand, throw down my cleric class and rod of dowsing at the same time. Im now a cleric that can search for any card in the discard pile. since i laid them down like that.. no one can react to me now being a cleric. since the rod of dowsing is down, they can not react until I get my card. If I pull divine intervention the game is just over with no one able to do anything. No one would have had time to stop from being a cleric even if they have the curse in their hand. That seems like a bunk scenario.

[Andrew Hackard]

Originally Posted by TheHuntsman

so then there is no designated reaction time from when he plays dowsing rod to when he can play magic lamp for us to interact at all?

I was specifically addressing the part of your question about what happens after the Magic Lamp is played. The timing of Wand of Dowsing is more complex and I didn't realize that was the main thrust of your question.

First: you can't play two cards at once unless that is part of the rule on one or both cards (Cheat! and Wandering Monster are the main examples). In your example, he would have to play Cleric and then as a separate action play Wand of Dowsing. Those actions can be very close together, but they cannot be the SAME action. At a minimum, he must pull one card at a time from his hand.

If you're afraid of this situation, you need to make him lose his Cleric class before the Wand of Dowsing hits the table.

Here's my most recent ruling on this precise subject:

Originally Posted by Andrew Hackard

Playing Wand of Dowsing and retrieving a card are two halves of a single action, not two separate actions. Any cards played on the munchkin who is dowsing take effect when the dowsing is completed, not during that process.

Playing the card you pull from the discards is a separate action and takes place after the resolution of the Wand of Dowsing action and any cards played during that action, UNLESS the card that you pull is a "play immediately" card such as Hoard! or Divine Intervention. The "play immediately" instruction supersedes the usual sequence and takes effect immediately after the card is retrieved, before any other cards have a chance to act.

Originally Posted by TheHuntsman

this discussion started because I read a moderator say that someone can play a lose a class card during using dowsing rod and pulling divine intervention.

This is an older ruling and has recently been overruled. I think it's time to add Wand of Dowsing timing questions to the FAQ...