Re: Slightly confused NOOB questions
 

He did mean the discard pile, yes. Sounds like you understood everything else correctly, too.

They can be discarded at any time, on any player's turn, so that is a viable strategy to remove the bonus the monster gets. Playing Race and Class cards is slightly different. You can play it at any time on your turn, or immediately when you receive one. So yes, you can play a new Race or Class card during your own combat, but you probably won't be able to if you are Helping someone else, as it's not your turn.

Re: Slightly confused NOOB questions
 

Thanks Clipper.

So Race and Class, PLAY at any time on your OWN turn, but can be discarded at any time on any turn.

Last thing, can your race card and super-munch be discarded for powering up class abilities? I'm assuming so. Or is it only items that power, say, Berserker?

More clear, if I want to add some Berserker points to my Warrior, can I discard my Race and Half-Breed card for a +2?

That's a little better. Thanks much. :)

Re: Slightly confused NOOB questions
 

Yep. But don't forget you can also play them when you get them (on any turn).

Yes, those cards count as in-play and qualify to be discarded for Class abilities that tell you to discard cards. Yes, you can discard them both at the same time for a +2.

Re: Slightly confused NOOB questions
 

Just remember that you can not discard a Class or Race in order to power one of its abilities. I.e., you can't discard your Warrior to get the berserking bonus.

Re: Slightly confused NOOB questions
 

I just want to make sure since the wording in the rules can be taken both ways.

Does the phrase "other than in combat" refer to both conditions or only the condition that it follows?

In short, if I use Wand of Dowsing during combat to get a Gentleman's Club can it use it immediately or not?

Re: Slightly confused NOOB questions
 

You may not start to use new (non-one-shot) Items during combat unless a rule explicitly circumvents that prohibition.

Re: Slightly confused NOOB questions
 

More games, more questions...

The level 1 thief has nothing to lose besides discards on repeated theft attempts correct? I think I read that in a post. Lmk

Order of play question. I am a level 1 thief. I KOTD and get a curse, lose your highest bonus item. An opponent has a wishing ring in their items. If I discard cards, can I repeatedly try to steal the ring to vanquish the lose item curse? Or is it a card-timing thing where the next card down would have to vanquish the curse? Some curses like chicken on the head, that stays with you, I can see being able to repeatedly try stealing. But an instant? Again lmk.

Another item, magic missile. Combat and a player casts magic missile to help himself defeat a monster. Another player casts transfer and transfers the monster to another player. What happens to the magic missile? The player had cast it on himself for +5, but now he's not in the combat. What if he gets asked to be a helper? It was quite confusing.

Lastly, if I want to trade an item, it has to be in play and carried right? I can't trade it from my hand? This came up because a player already had a big item carried and wanting to keep and wanted to trade the big item he had in his hand with another player. I told him because he couldn't legally put it into play, he couldn't trade it.

I'm sure I'll have more questions after our next few games.

Thank you!

Re: Slightly confused NOOB questions
 

From the FAQ:
In Munchkin you always resolve each action before doing another. So, if you are hit with a Curse you have to deal with it before doing anything else, including stealing. There are exceptions to this, of course, but they are clear in the card. Wishing Ring, for example, lets you cancel a Curse that was previously played, before it takes effect. But it there is no expecification, just assume you have to resolve one card after going to the other.

It is easier if you think about sides of combat, instead of playing the cards to one self. You have the players (or Munchkins) side and the Monster side. Magic Missile is played on the players side. But the Transferal Potion resets the player side, changing the combat to another player. Any one-shot previously played has no effect and is just discarded, even if the player enters combat as a helper.

From the rules:
and after that:
This two parts make it clear that cards are not Items until they hit the table and can only be traded after they are carried. If you can't carry more than 1 Big Item, you can't trade it.

Re: Slightly confused NOOB questions
 

Like the rule from page 5 of the rulesheet where it reads:

?

I believe the intention of this rule is: if you are a helper and gets Treasure out of turn, you can get it. But, re-reading it now, it is very misleading. The rules clearly state you can play any Item if you just got the card (which would qualify for Wand of Dowsing).

Edit: just to be clear, I'm not questioning Andrew's ruling, I'm just questioning the way this is presented. It's not clear, from the way it is written in the rules, that an Item can't be played if you just got it and it's the middle of the combat.

Re: Slightly confused NOOB questions
 

Actually, there is a way you can handle trading of a Big Item in your hand to another player, but it takes two trades to complete instead of just one. First, you just give your current Big Item to the other player. Then you play the one you actually wanted to give them in front of you. Then you trade the two Big Items with each other. It's a little complicated, but it gets the job done legally!