Munchkin Apocalypse in a Tournament

[Jarl Wilm]

The Tournament rules don't have anything about Apocalypse yet, and I'm running a tournament in February. Discussing Munchkin Cthulhu, the tournament rules state: Tournament Rounds which use only
Munchkin Cthulhu cards – at all tables –
may use the “More Scary Cultist Rules.”
Rounds that combine Cthulhu with other
sets, either at a single table or with different sets
at different tables, should not use those rules, to
avoid disparity in Tournament Levels. In either
case, whether those rules are used should
be announced to all players, and (if the rules are used)
the rules should be explained before the games begin.

Since the Seventh Seal has the same sudden-death potential as the "More Scary Cultist Rule," does that mean we shouldn't use Apocalypse in tournaments; that we shouldn't use the Seals in tournaments; or that we should only play Apocalypse in tournaments where every table is playing either Munchkin Apocalypse or Munchkin Cthulhu?

[Mister Ed]

I played in an Apocalypse Tournament just this past weekend, and I found the way they determined who made it to the final table rather curious. It was a "points" system, where, when the game ended you got points equal to your level (and those points were doubled if you won the game).

I found this method rather unsatisfying, since it was very possible for somebody to win, yet get less points than somebody else at the table if they won by opening the Seventh Seal while they were at a lower level.

As it turned out, it didn't really matter because every game ended with the Seals being opened, and I think the winner always ended up with more points than anybody else at the table. But it just seems like winning the game, by EITHER method, should be weighted the same.

[Andrew Hackard]

This is the official stopgap answer: if you are the winner of a tournament round using either Cthulhu or Apocalypse, you are awarded Tournament Levels as though you had won by reaching the final level (10, unless you are playing Epic), even if you won by an alternate method.

The Tournament Rules don't reflect this yet, but I have no objection to being quoted on this until such time as we can revise the rules to make things fairer for the folks who really want to use those sets.

[Jarl Wilm]

Thanks, Andrew! Munchkin Cthulhu is very popular with my players, and so far people have really enjoyed Apocalypse too. I'm sure people will be glad to see them in the mix for the "Swampcon 2013 Munchkin Tournament."

[offsides]

How does this work for the non-winners, specifically for Apocalypse when the 7th Seal is opened? Do they just get tournament levels normally, even though the winner was determined by bonuses? The one concern with that is that the #2 "scorer" for winning purposes could be dead last for level purposes. I had this happen in a tournament I ran, but Apocalypse was the final only, so it wasn't as big a deal since it was winner-take-all at that point.

[Clipper]

It sounds to me that this is what the rule is there to combat, offsides. Otherwise, in Apocalypse, it's possible the winner of the game could get less points than the opponents he beats (even after the Level doubling). It seems fair that everyone else should get their Level as it shows how close they were to beating the game normally.