Can you dis-equip items that you can't normally equip to begin with?

[einstein1896]

I know that you can dis-equip items that give you a straight up bonus, like weapons. The Hammer of Kneecapping, for example, could be dis-equipped. Dis-equipped cards are put in front of you, like other cards, except that they are turned sideways.

What I'm wondering is, is it legal to dis-equip cards that you couldn't normally have equipped? For example, suppose I have 5/5 cards in my hand, including, say, a Loaded Die (which is not a weapon or armour or anything, and doesn't take up any inventory slots like "big" items or helmets do). If I want to get rid of one of those cards so that I can later pick up another card, can I put down the Loaded Die in front of me as dis-equipped? Obviously the Loaded Die can't be equipped in the first place (or am I mistaken? Can I equip a Loaded Die? What would that mean? It doesn't give a bonus...), but the rules don't say what items can and can't be dis-equipped.

This subject has been a cause of unfortunately serious debate at many games I play, and I'd like to get a final answer to this because it's disrupting the light-hearted atmosphere I love about this game.

Thank you very much!

[Clipper]

For One-Shot Items, like Loaded Die, their status of being in use or turned sideways doesn't really matter. MunchkinMan often recommends to play them upright to indicate that you can use them, but many players turn them sideways to indicate they are not currently providing a bonus and don't need to be looked at to calculate your bonus.

Whichever way they are oriented, they can be used, provided you meet the conditions of playing them on the card.

So yes, you can start carrying your Loaded Die to avoid Charity. Your choice of orientation is up to you to decide. Personally, I go with the upright orientation, but I leave my one-shot Items in a different space on the table to my Persistent Items to distinguish them.

[StormCrow42]

You can always carry any item with a gold piece value, except for 2 big items, 2 ships, etc. That includes many one-use items. There are one-use cards which have no gold piece value attached and are therefore not items and can't be held on the table before use.

[Andrew Hackard]

Originally Posted by StormCrow42

You can always carry any item with a gold piece value, except for 2 big items, 2 ships, etc.

Scott, I hope you'll forgive me picking on you a bit, because what you say is correct but potentially confusing. Your sentence starts "You can always carry any Item with a Gold Piece value" and then immediately says "Wait, that's not true, because there are these exceptions." That could confuse new players, especially new players who aren't first-language English speakers. It would be better for all posters to avoid the words "always" and "never" when you're about to provide exceptions.

"You can carry any Item* with a Gold Piece* value, whether or not you are using it, as long as you don't violate the rules on Big items, Steeds, Ships, etc." And I'm being general there because in some cases, those rules are suspended -- for instance, a Dwarf has no limit on Big items.

Rule writing is a very subtle art, and I'm still learning it -- witness the number of people posting questions about the cards and rules I've written! -- so I hope you, and the other posters here, will take this as education rather than criticism. Especially in the Munchkin 101 forum, I want us all to be as clear as possible in what we say.

* I changed the capitalization here because in Munchkin we're trying to standardize on Item, unless it immediately follows another capital word like Big, and Gold Pieces. No reason for you to know that, at least until we post a Munchkin Style Guide -- and we do have one in progress.

[einstein1896]

Wow, thank you so much, everybody! I'm very impressed with the response time! Nobody knew that you could just have one-shot Item cards (sorry if I have the case wrong) equipped in front of you like other Item cards. (This should probably be a little clearer in the rules or the FAQ....) I pointed to this thread, declared that everybody was equally wrong, and the proceeding game went swimmingly.

@Andrew Hackard: I was a little indecisive as to whether I should capitalize "Big" or not -- good idea on the style guide. =)

[MunchkinMan]

Originally Posted by einstein1896

Nobody knew that you could just have one-shot Item cards (sorry if I have the case wrong) equipped in front of you like other Item cards. (This should probably be a little clearer in the rules or the FAQ....)

Since they are Items, and the rules tell you that you can carry (i.e., have in play) any number of small Items, it's already made clear in the rules. However, the rules go further to say that you may use one-shot Items from your hand or from in play on the table.

Originally Posted by Munchkin Rules, p. 4, 2nd paragraph of the Items section

An item card in your hand does not count until you play it; at that point, it is “carried.” You may carry any number of small items, but only one Big one. (Any item not marked Big is considered Small.)

Originally Posted by Munchkin Rules, p. 2, 4th paragraph of the Combat section

One-shot items, such as potions, may be played directly from your hand during combat. You can also use one-shot items that you already had in play.