Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

I've been playing Fantasy Munchkin since Clerical Errors, and since then I've bought every expansion set as soon as they're released. You guys have always taken extra consideration to the balance of Race and Class cards in each new expansions. Most expansions add additional copies of existing Races and Classes, and when a new one is introduced you provide enough copies to even out the count (assuming you add the expansions in order). Everything was more or less kept balanced with every new expansion.

Then the boosters happened. I have all of them, and love them to death, but there's just one problem: None of them contain any Races or Classes.

Everything else seems to be okay. There are always a couple Go Up a Level cards, monsters of varying levels, Potions, equipment, everything. My Treasure deck is doing fine, but with each new booster the concentration of Races and Classes suffers.

I'm seriously thinking about buying some blank cards from Warehouse 23 and making 1 or 2 extra copies of every Race and Class to balance things out a bit. Most people in my playing group support this idea, and it's easy enough since 20 blank cards are only $5.

My idea is a booster pack containing one copy of each of the 7 Races and 6 Classes from Munchkin 1-8. This would be a great help to anyone who has added every booster and a number of promos to their decks.

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

I can't see that booster selling nearly enough copies to make it worth our while. Sorry.

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

What if it wasn't a finseal? What if it was done like the W23 exclusive boosters? Plastic ziplock containing one each of the 13 race/class cards and maybe the race/class modifiers like "high" and "dark" to round it out? The cost would be lower than the finseal.

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

Still wouldn't do it. The market for "here's a bunch of cards you already have" is not that large.

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

I'd be a lot more interested in a booster that's nothing but low and high level monsters, like 1-3 and 18-20(+). There never seem to be enough low level monsters to fight at the beginning of the game, and never enough huge monsters with nasty Bad Stuff at the endgame. Another pack similar to Monster Enhancers would be welcome as well.

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

If we do an expansion that's primarily monsters, it'll probably be a full expansion, not a booster. Having said that, at least two of the fantasy boosters planned for next year have more monsters.

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

Is one of those two Mars Attacks?

Edit: Don't bother answering. I forgot Mars Attacks is an Apocalypse booster, not a Fantasy one. Now I'm hyped, though, as it means new boosters to discover!

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

I have no idea what's going into that one; Steve's writing it.

Back to the original question: are the Races and Classes more diluted if you mix ALL the fantasy expansions? Absolutely. One solution to that is to use the "Listening at the Door" optional rule, which is designed to show you two Door cards every turn and, in general, to churn the decks a bit faster.

But, honestly, sometimes the games are a little more fun when the Classes and Races are a little harder to come by -- it makes you think a little harder before saying, "Oh, I guess I'll stop being a Warrior if that monster gets a bonus against me."

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

They're not really diluted all that much - I did the math in another thread, and it brings it down from something like 1 Race/Class per 8 Doors to 1 in 10 or something around there - and with Hirelings and Steeds included to give you extra support it's hardly all that bad, really.

What I WOULD kinda like to see is, say, a single pack of 7 copies of a NEW Race/Class card, and 8-9 cards which are affected by/work with the Race and Class.

So, for example, you might have a "Paladdin Paddlin'" pack - 7 copies of a new Class, "Paladin," to match the other Races/Classes which have 7 copies each, and 8 cards which reference Paladins - Monsters, Treasure, Hirelings, etc.

I'm not entirely familiar with how many "Usable by..." etc cards are made for each new Race and Class an expansion, but there never seem to be all that many, and this seems like a good way to introduce new Races and Classes without the need for new 112-card Expansions.

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

I did the math, and 15 or even 20 cards isn't really enough. A booster won't cut it.

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

I agree with this. Granted, I don't have all the fantasy expansions, but I just don't see there not being enough races/classes as that big of a problem that it really needs solving.

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

Another issue with more races and classes is the problem then shifts to the monsters being diluted. You don't need a race or class to win but you do need to (eventually) draw a monster.

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

I understand that the game can sometimes be more interesting with less Races and Classes available, but that used to happen to us only occasionally. The thing is that it didn't used to be like this, and now it is. There's no denying that a deck containing just the core set and expansions has more Races and Classes in circulation than a deck containing every booster, and to a lesser extent the promos and cards from the accessories.

I really like emillang1000's idea of booster sets dedicated to introducing new Races or Classes. That would solve the issue of trying to sell a booster containing additional copies of cards that many players already have seven copies of.

Anyway, I'm just posting my idea and thoughts. No doubt Andrew and co. have noticed it already. I just wanted to discuss it a bit with other Munchkin players.

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

Like you said, the best thing for you to do if you want this done is to grab the pack of blanks and make them yourself, since it's clear SJGames isn't going to do it :)

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

Originally, Centaurs and Lizard Guys were planned as possible boosters. The catch is, 15 cards isn't really enough to integrate them into the game, especially if you want monsters that interact with them. So, as I said above, a booster won't cut it -- you're looking at a tuckbox, and that's just added a whole new level (heh) of work to the process. A booster is pretty quick to write and put together, in most cases.

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

If low classes/ races are becoming an issue because of deck size, you could separate those cards, shuffle and deal one to each player at the beginning of the game, and then shuffle them into the full deck and deal out the hands.

Another way to combat it would be to make Class/ Race cards playable on anyone. I've been thinking about making this a house rule. For example, when losing combat, a player could say "Whoever helps me becomes a thief."
(I've even considered making a class on a blank card with some power like that. Think Career Assignment Personnel from Futurama)

Problems I see are when people already have a class (simply say they must accept the card being played on them, or else it is immediately discarded). That also solves the Cultist problem, since there is a card specifically designed to make one a cultist. The Epic C.A.P can forcefully switch the class of another Epic Munchkin.

I thought I saw somewhere a rule about posting card ideas here to prevent loss of intellectual property, but I hereby waive my right to the idea and anyone may use it.

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

A thought - and I don't want to get too detailed, because I don't want to be posting custom cards or house rules or such...

If there's really, really a desire for more Races/Classes (though I still am liking the Pack o' Monsters booster idea), could it not include cards that:
A) Let you sort through the discards for more Races/Classes
B) Let you steal a race/class from another player
C) Is a "new" race/class that acts like a previous class w/r/t all card interactions but has a different power? Say, a Warlock that interacts with all other cards the same as a Wizard, but instead of the "Fight" or "Charm" spell, it would do something slightly different. Lizard Guy could be Frog Man, etc. You could throw out a booster of these and players could buy one and make them "rare" in their decks or buy seven and make them just as common as the other races/breeds - and their interactions with other cards in the decks could still be there without having to introduce a bunch of new cards.

Just random thoughts.

Re: Idea: Boosters with additional copies of Races and Classes.
 

Really they're not thinned out that much, and I don't honestly get why it's such a dilemma.

For the short answer, in the original Munchkin, the chances of getting either a Race or a Class card were 1:4.5 roughly; with pretty much everything else added now, it's 1:6.3 - however, this ISN'T taking into account the fact that both Hirelings and Steeds now exist, and as both those card types allow you the use more or different items and grant combat bonuses, they work fine as a substitute for a Class & Race.

I wrote out the numbers here: