Newbie looking for some advice.

[StompyChar]

Greetings one and all,

Several years ago I was introduced to Munchkin.
A couple of friends had the base set and Unatural Axe and it was great fun.
The next few years passed where the friends grew apart and the game wasn't played anymore...

That is untill this weekend; with a group of even closer friends we found out that one of them owned a whole mountain of Munchkin cards and told him to bring them - much hilarity ensued and I decided that It was time for me to own my own set.

I went out and bought the Base set, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 (I was told 6 wasn't that good.)
And thats where my troubles begin...

There are SO MANY cards; My friends from the weekend explained to me that he had created seperate Decks of cards as to not have too many Class or Race cards to be drawn.
The entire game went by without a single "You go up a level" seen so I figured he's removed them from that Deck. (Honestly I like that idea)

My burning questions are:
-How do I create a fun deck without causing game lag by including too many race/class cards?
-Can I actually remove all "You go up a level" cards and still have a good game?
-What should the ratio of doors to treasures be and more inportantly how many monsters to curses?

I always thought to just add everything together and then take half and use that - but the chance of only Wizard items appearing in the game as opposed to a healthy mix for everyone would bog down the game I'd say.

So is there anyone out there that can give me some tips?
They are much appreciated.

[Brf]

The ratio of Doors to Treasures is irrelevant since they are in their own separate decks.

[Eben]

Originally Posted by StompyChar

So is there anyone out there that can give me some tips?
They are much appreciated.

Try just using the base set and one or two expansions till you get used to playing with more cards.

[six's monkey]

Good thing there are handy icons on the cards which identify them by package. :-)
Go-Up-A-Level cards are (to me) a pleasing element in the mix, especially since they can be held for use at strategic moments, and on other players.