Another Cheat! Question

[excelsior]

Hello,

I have read through some of the Cheat! threads but still wasn't sure.

I have a quick question--during the game last night, I had gone into combat with one of my items turned face up and sideways (not enough hands because my hands were currently full). I had a Cheat! card in my hand. During the combat, I played the Cheat! card on the item, so I could now utilize it for the bonus points for the ongoing combat. Was this allowable?

Thanks

[Mathgeni]

Under the general combat rules this would not be allowable. Once you have entered combat you cannot equip or unequip items.

[excelsior]

Thanks for your reply--that's what makes this situation so interesting. In previous rulings that I had researched, Erik and Andrew have clearly stated that you can never turn a card sideways during combat, which was not what I was doing (i.e. I wasn't changing/discarding a weapon to substitute in a different one). The card was already on the table (I was already carrying the weapon), and I used the Cheat! card to activate my ability (get an extra hand) to now utilize it.

They have also previously ruled that there are certain situations that you can play a Cheat! card from your hand in combat to affect the outcome, which is why I raised this question to see if this could possibly be one of those situations.

Thanks,
Carl

[Mathgeni]

I am by no means an official answer but based on my interpretation of the information you have provided and my interpretation of the rules as I have followed them I don't think you would have been able to complete the whole scenario as you mentioned it.

I believe you could play the cheat! on an already equipped item that you already had in use but as you said you had a card sideways as in just being carried and you then during combat equipped it my understanding of the rules would be that it can't be done. Again playing the cheat! I believe was perfectly fine- I think the only restriction here would be the rule that items can't be equipped once you have already entered combat.

[MunchkinMan]

Once you start combat, you can not change the status of any of your carried Items. Playing a Cheat! card would be legal, but that doesn't mean you could then equip the newly usable Item, no differently than if you'd changed Race or Class and now had an Item that you could have been using under that new Race or Class.

Given that I'm saying it's legal to play Cheat! during combat, the only way that would work that you'd get the bonus from the newly cheated Item you were not getting a bonus from previously is if the Item was being used when combat started, you lost the ability to use that Item during combat (e.g., lost Race or Class and it was a Race/Class-based Item), and then you played Cheat! on it.