Help me out here????

[rab12]

Got a question... I was playing with just the normal munchkin set and was at level nine. I was tied with the monster I was battling and had a help me out here card in my hand. I played it and wanted to know if I could use the help me out here card to take an item from the carried (backpack) area on the opponents side? The card I chose was the doppleganger which would have given me the victory. Thanks for your help.

[Andrew Hackard]

That sounds like a perfectly legal (and very smart) play.

[MunchkinMan]

For future reference, there is no "backpack" defined in the game, and since I've seen that term used 3 different ways recently, I feel confirmed in our decision to request people not to use it here on these forums in order to avoid confusion. All Items in play are carried, even those being used. Help Me Out Here doesn't specify that you must take only used Items, just that you must take an Item, which means it has to be in play (i.e., carried), since the rules state that cards in your hand don't count.

[Leuco]

It's my understanding that in order to play the help me out card, you need to just win the fight in order to take an item. If that is the case, my question is can you prevent the theft of the item by playing another card?

[Andrew Hackard]

Your understanding is incomplete. You take the Item immediately, and AT THAT MOMENT it must be the difference between you losing to the monsters and leading the monsters. There is still time for the other players to interfere with you after that point, and you may still end up Running Away, but the Item is yours to keep.

[Mister Ed]

It is only required that the item make the difference between losing and winning at the time the card is played. So if somebody has already played "Help Me Out Here", you could not, for instance, play a one-shot to their side of the combat to put them ahead and thereby prevent them from taking an item. "Help Me Out Here" would have to resolve first.

I suppose somebody that had "Help Me Out Here" could always let people KNOW that, and ask them to help them in other ways to avoid his playing the card and taking their cherished item. But once it has been played, you can't change the status of the combat after the fact to prevent it taking effect.