King Tut and how it works.
 

So, I‘ve played Munchkin only twice, but I‘m a fan now.
There‘s some things I don‘t get yet, and this is one of them. Last night some friends and I were playing. I was a level 9 Elf Wizard, and suddenly King Tut popped up after I kicked down the door.

My friends read the card, and told me I had to fight him with two levels less because it said “...you lose two levels even if you escape“, and that after the fight, if I DID win, I wouldn‘t win the levels (and the game), I‘d just go back to level 9. They said I‘d just win the 4 treasures and that‘s it.

This made no sense to me. I, with level 9 and combat strenght of 18, was beating the monster, but at level 7 (combat strenght 16) I was only tied up, and it was so unfair!

I finally (after about 10minutes of heated argument) accepted what they were saying and decided to just not fight it. Used Transferral Potion to just give it to someone else who I knew couldn‘t kill him.

Is that really how King Tut works? It‘s so unfair, man...

Re: King Tut and how it works.
 

You were right.

The FAQ has this to say:

So you lose the two levels only if you lose the battle, whether you successfully Run Away or not, also suffering the Bad Stuff if they do catch you (as it doesn't involve level loss, so isn't caught by the parenthesised clause).

Re: King Tut and how it works.
 

Damnit. I should have won that game...

Thanks!

Re: King Tut and how it works.
 

Wait Clipper are you saying that if you fail to run away from this type of monster you receive the Level loss and the bad stuff? I always thought it was if you succeed lose the Levels and if you fail the bad stuff happens?

Re: King Tut and how it works.
 

Yes, I am saying that, and MunchkinMan has said the same in the past.

The other two monsters in Munchkin with this 'even if you escape' clause are different as their Bad Stuff includes the level loss from escaping. The Wight Brothers reduce you to Level 1, so you can't lose two more anyway and Mr. Bones' Bad Stuff is to lose two levels, but you lose only one if you escape, so the two effects gets merged, as supported by MunchkinMan here.

Re: King Tut and how it works.
 

Huh, well alright. Seems a bit unintuitive though that when it comes to levels, bad stuff and even if you escape loss don't stack but they do otherwise. If the powers that be want it that way then oh well.

Re: King Tut and how it works.
 

It wouldn't really be clearer if the Bad Stuff didn't mention the two levels again. People would try to argue that since you failed to run away, the two levels even if you escape wouldn't count. But I still wouldn't want it to stack. those guys would be huge jerks if they took 4 levels from me.

Re: King Tut and how it works.
 

It does seem like there may be an inconsistency, but there's other examples of this type of thing happening, like the Epic Rules. Most Epic feats are something extra you get to your other abilities, but the Halfling's feat and some other feats enhance one of their original abilities instead and in those cases, they replace the original ability. In the same way, the Bad Stuff adds to the even if you escape stuff unless it is simply enhance the even if you escape stuff.