Negotiating BEFORE Combat begins?

[Mugsy79]

Apologies if this is obvious, but I couldn’t find a clear answer on the forum.

Scenario: Player1 has a combat strength of 10, and is considering a Looking for Trouble with a lvl 14 monster. He starts asking for help from the other players BEFORE actually playing the card and initiating combat. He reads off the monsters levels, offers up its treasures, but has not played the card, yet. Only once Player2 (and elf with combat strength of 12) agrees to help does Player1 play his monster.

Is that allowed - to negotiate assistance before entering combat, or does Player1 need to play the monster card, initiating combat and THEN seek assistance?

Player1 was reading the rule set section “Asking for Help” opening line of “If you cannot win a combat on your own...” to allow this pre-emptive assessment of the combat (he’s 10, the monster is 14) as a green light to begin seeking assistance.

I tried to argue that assistance is only sought IN combat, so he needs to play the monster first (and risk all the other players leaving him to his fate) to initiate combat, and THEN start seeking helpers. Cross talking of what monsters “might” be played and what assistance “might” arrive if they’re played seemed against the spirit of the game, but is it against the rules?