Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Munchkin > Munchkin 101

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-22-2015, 12:54 PM   #1
Jersey
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Default We don't understand cards in play vs. cards in our hands

Hello!

We've played Munchkin a few times and are a little confused about cards in play vs. cards in our hand.

  • Should we place all of race, class, armor and weapons cards in front of us (in play), but turn sideways those cards that we do not or cannot use? If so, is there any reason we may want to hold these cards in our hands?
  • If we want to use potions or curses during a battle, should those cards be in play?
  • If we want to use potions or curses against other players, can those cards be in our hands or do they need to be in play?
  • How does trading work? We can only trade those items that are in play?
  • And, is someone required to kick in the door the moment it is their turn or can they do other things first?

Thanks!
Jersey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2015, 01:35 PM   #2
MunchkinMan
 
MunchkinMan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Macungie, PA
Default Re: We don't understand cards in play vs. cards in our hands

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jersey View Post
Should we place all of race, class, armor and weapons cards in front of us (in play), but turn sideways those cards that we do not or cannot use? If so, is there any reason we may want to hold these cards in our hands?
You can only have one Race and one Class in play, normally (Half-Breed and Super Munchkin, respectively, can change that), so you'll have to keep any excess of those cards in your hands.

As for Items: The rules explain that you can have any number of small Items in play, and that any Item not labeled as Big is a small Item. They also go on to say that you can only have one Big Item in play. All of the Items you have in play are carried. Some of your carried Items are used or equipped. If you're not using an Item, it must be turned sideways. Items always have a gold piece value, and might be labeled as Armor, Footgear, Headgear, or that they require a Hand (or two). If an Item isn't labeled as above, then it's freely usable (assuming it doesn't also have other requirements or restrictions).

Long story short, you can, theoretically, empty your hand of Items as long as you don't try to put two Big Items in play, or there isn't some other restriction being enforced by a card's effect.

Quote:
If we want to use potions or curses during a battle, should those cards be in play?

If we want to use potions or curses against other players, can those cards be in our hands or do they need to be in play?
Curses do not go into play. They must be played from your hand. You might keep a Curse that has been played on someone out on the table if it has an effect that is persistent (e.g., Curse! Chicken On Your Head), or hasn't been fully implemented (e.g., the -5 penalty from Curse! Change Sex), but that's not quite the same as having it in play.

Potions, and other one-shot Items, can be played from the table or from your hand, as is covered in the rules on page 2, under Combat, and on page 5 under Items--Using Them. Since they are Items, that's why they can be played from the table. By having the phrase "usable once only" on them, they are given the special ability of being played to a combat directly from the hand.

Quote:
How does trading work? We can only trade those items that are in play?
Yes, trading has to be Items that are in play. Two players can trade so long as neither of them are in combat. It doesn't even have to be your turn or the other player's turn to initiate a trade.

Quote:
And, is someone required to kick in the door the moment it is their turn or can they do other things first?
No, you can do a few "on your turn" things, like playing Items from your hand, selling Items for levels, and, of course, things you could do any time. The rules expressly explain this now at the very beginning of the Turn Phases section on page 2.


As for why you want to keep cards in your hand: The rules say that cards in your hand don't count for you until they're put into play, but that they aren't affected by Curses, Bad Stuff, and other effects that might affect your cards, unless specifically saying it affects your hand. I.e., a Thief can't steal from your hand, nor does a Curse that takes Items affect Item cards in your hand. Furthermore, many Class abilities require discards, and you can discard from your hand and from in play, though certain cards require you discard cards only from your hand to use special abilities (e.g., Wizard's charm spell, and Cleric's resurrection). Basically, cards in your hand are more than a little protected from many game effects just because they are in your hand, and in some cases, you can only use cards from your hand to do certain things.
__________________
Erik D. Zane
Munchkin NetRep -- munchkin@sjgames.com
MiB #1029
MunchkinMan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2015, 03:12 PM   #3
Dentarthurdent
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Fort Thomas, KY
Default Re: We don't understand cards in play vs. cards in our hands

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jersey View Post
is there any reason we may want to hold these cards in our hands?
If I may add to the response, particularly for items you can play from the table (In Play), or from your hand: remember that putting the item in play lets everybody else know you have that item. It's very munchkinly to prevent an opponent from winning the game by playing a heretofore unknown potion from your hand.
Dentarthurdent is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2015, 02:34 PM   #4
Jersey
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Default Re: We don't understand cards in play vs. cards in our hands

Awesome!

Thanks for the help MunchkinMan and Dentarthurdent!
Jersey is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:05 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.