Friendly card and resolution.

[earthbounddx]

So you play "Friendly" and the monster is going to give you its treasure because you aren't fighting it. Since this is not an enhancer, what can be played to stop you from getting the treasure?

Annihilation is, of course, fair game. As examples, can the following be played, or is the treasure yours?

Dead Broke
Monsters are Busy
Dead

...and so on.

Edit: This is also mainly a question of figuring out which kind of cards "resolve" the second they are played, or can still be affected by other cards not normally used to interrupt other card effects (e.g. Annihilate, Wishing Ring...).

Thanks for any help! (Also, check out the thread on the Siege Engine; I think it still needs clearing up.)

[Quotencommon]

Well, "Friendly" is not mandatory. If you want, you can keep fighting it. However, the monster would be insulted and would become stronger.

If you're talking about stopping someone else from getting the treasure, I'm pretty sure you'd have to play something like "Fool's Gold," "Dead Broke," "Annihilation," "Trojan Horse," etc. "Friendly" is one of those cards that can pretty much end a combat.

Note: we are talking about "Friendly" and not "Friendship potion," yes?

[uttwich]

Friendly would end the combat if you want it to. But other cards could be played before you draw treasure (such as Dead Broke).

[earthbounddx]

Actually, the question came up when Friendly was played on the monster with the announcement that they were not going to fight it. It was a Level 20 monster, worth 5 treasures.

One threw a Friendship Potion to reduce the number of treasures down to 2.

Another offered up a Monsters Are Busy to stop them.

Argument ensued as to if either of those could be played, especially using a Friendship Potion on a Friendly Monster.

[uttwich]

Originally Posted by earthbounddx

Actually, the question came up when Friendly was played on the monster with the announcement that they were not going to fight it. It was a Level 20 monster, worth 5 treasures.

One threw a Friendship Potion to reduce the number of treasures down to 2.

Friendship Potion doesn't reduce the treasures, it makes it to where no treasure is gained but you still loot the room. I would argue, though, that this cannot be played if the decision was already made not to fight the friendly monster since that ended the combat and the Friendship Potion must be played during combat. Thus it would not have been a legal card to play at that time.

Originally Posted by earthbounddx

Another offered up a Monsters Are Busy to stop them.

Monsters are Busy must also be played during combat. Choosing not to fight a friendly monster would end the combat, thus you can't play Monsters are Busy at that point.

Originally Posted by earthbounddx

Argument ensued as to if either of those could be played, especially using a Friendship Potion on a Friendly Monster.

Given the timing of things, you could play the Friendship Potion on a Friendly Monster if you played it in between the time that the munchkin played Friendly and when he declared that he was not going to fight it. Same goes for Monsters are Busy. You have to be quick on the draw to get in while there is still a combat.

You could also wander in a monster before he gets the treasure as another alternative, and you could play Dead Broke before he takes the treasure if the goal was to stop him from getting the treasures for free.

[earthbounddx]

Eh, I don't think that clears up much on the convolution of when combat ends. Mainly because most actions are supposed to allow the other players at least a moment to intervene.

I believe I got the Friendship Potion confused with Out To Lunch as far as the effects are concerned, so I do apologize. Aside from the combat-ending portion of the effects from it, part of the argument with using the Friendship Potion was the fact that it just seems outright silly to use on a monster that's already Friendly (albeit with different results of that friendliness).

Really, it's just the choice of nomenclature, which I don't think REALLY has influence on whether or not it can be used legally as there's not exclusion listed in the text for such an event.

[uttwich]

Based on my reading of Friendly, the simple act of playing the card does not end combat. It's the announcement that you're not going to fight the friendly monster. So there was an opportunity for a reaction to the action, if you will, it was just small. Once the combatant decides not to fight the friendly monster then the combat (with that monster) is over.

That's not to say that you can't still interfere with the treasures. You just can't do it with cards that require yu to play them during combat.

So I'm not sure what is ambiguous, unclear, etc., about what I said before or now.

Of course, I could be completely wrong. But strict text would seem to dictate this interpretation.

[smoothhands]

This is the exact same situation as we just had tonight. Friendly was played on a monster, then another player attempted to use Friendship Potion after the fact claiming that combat wasn't over just because I decided to be "friends" with the monster. I argued that cards take immediate effect when they are played, and if a monster immediately becomes my friend and is not fighting me, then combat is no longer taking place, which means a card like Friendship Potion, which states that it can be used "during combat", can't be played anymore.

Luckily we circumvented the argument because I had that raincoat that prevents potions from being used against me, but I'd love to see the official take on it since I imagine similar situations will probably come up again :)

Also adding Deux Ex Machinegun to the list of "can we play this after Friendly to prevent treasures from being taken" cards. This one specifically says it kills all the monsters and takes their treasure, but it also says play during combat and I think "during combat" is the crux of the issue.

[MunchkinMan]

The official take on things is that if a card ends combat immediately, it will say so. Friendly doesn't say so. If you decide that you're going to take the option that all the Monster are friendly to you, your mates/rivals still have an opportunity to stop you from winning the combat that way. Therefore, Friendship Potion is a viable play after Friendly.

[smoothhands]

Got it. Combining that with previous rulings, we have 4 main cases:

1. Monster is transformed or discard (Wizard's Charm ability, Pollymorph Potion...)
2. Monster is instantly killed (Dead, Deux Ex Machinegun...)
3. Monster becomes Friendly or will not attack player (Amazon doesn't attack female players...)
4. Beating a monster by combat strength and waiting a reasonable amount of time before collecting Treasure

1 and 2 make it so that a monster cannot have more cards played on them; 3 and 4 do not.

I have one specific case that I'm not sure of. Plague Rats says that they will "flee" if facing an Orc. Would that fit under rule 3, meaning there is still a chance to play cards that say "use during combat"?