2.6 Seconds?

[Pookiebob]

We were playing and my friend flipped a high-level monster. He was a wizard and instantly declared that he was going to use his "charm spell" to discard the monster. My other friend wanted to play "mate" to make him have to face the monster.

There is the 2.6 second rule that applies when you are defeating a monster. It also says, "However, if you removed the only monster from the fight (with Magic Lamp, for instance), they cannot play Monster Enhancers or other similar cards that affect a specific monster, because there isn't one there to fight, and they can't use any special rules for bringing in monsters (such as the Shark rules from Munchkin Booty) that depend on having a monster in the fight."

FAQ also says, "A. A Mate is like a Wandering Monster. There are now two monsters, and you have to get rid of them individually. If you play the get-rid-of-it card before somebody plays Mate, though, there's no monster left for the Mate to join, so Mate can't be played."

So here's the question: does it just come down to whoever throws cards down the fastest, or is there some chance to interrupt that? If he yells "charm spell" right away and throws his hand in the discard pile, do we get a chance to do something about it?

[daizero]

The Monster has been charmed, and is, technically, out of the combat, but the other players can do things to affect whether you're done combat just yet. They can add more Monsters to the combat (with Wandering Monster cards, of course) or find other ways as long as they don't try to modify the Monster you charmed.

[natesroom]

hmmm... a declaration of intent to use a certain power does not mean the monster is gone. I would say until he discarded his entire hand you could still play the mate card.

[SmokeRulz]

Note that the 2.6 second rule is mainly just a joke, it shouldn't be taken to the very letter. It's meant to mean "a reasonable amount of time" not "exactly 2.6 seconds no matter what." :D

[snarky]

We actually had this happen during a game a couple weeks ago, and based on a cursory search of the board, along with the fact that there's no "stack" in Munchkin, what happened is perfectly legal.

The player drew his card, which was a monster. He then declared he was using Charm and discarded his hand. The monster is gone. Barring someone adding in another opponent using Wandering Monster, that's about it for combat (unless someone can steal his level or something to that effect).

We basically resolved it with a house rule that you must pause after every action to see if someone wants to play a card as a reaction. It slows down the game a bit, but only at high levels where it really matters.

[Pookiebob]

Originally Posted by SmokeRulz

Note that the 2.6 second rule is mainly just a joke, it shouldn't be taken to the very letter. It's meant to mean "a reasonable amount of time" not "exactly 2.6 seconds no matter what." :D

Yes obviously. I was mostly asking if he could just drop his hand and charm the monster before we had time to react, which apparently he can.

[natesroom]

hmmm... a declaration of intent to use a certain power does not mean the monster is gone. I would say until he discarded his entire hand you could still play the mate card.

I still think that if he dropped his hand, and charmed it before you figured out how to stab him, its legal.

[Andrew Hackard]

The only trigger for the "reasonable time" rule is when the main fighter declares that he has defeated all the monsters.

There is no other use of that rule.

None.

Really -- none.

Charming a monster happens as soon as the hand is discarded. There's no "wait, wait!" interval. Ditto for anything else -- if you play a Magic Lamp, that monster is GONE.

Now, if the final (or only) monster in a combat is charmed/Magic Lamped/Pollymorphed/whatever, the "reasonable time" window is still open, and if a player has a way to enter a new monster into the fight, the combat can continue with the munchkins fighting the new monster. However, no card and no rule that depends on the prior monster being in the fight will work -- it cannot be Mated, it cannot be Enraged, and you cannot use the special Bat/Shark/goth/In Black rules to bring a new monster in, because they all rely on a monster being there at that moment.

And please note one other thing: The rule is "a reasonable amount of time." The joke, explaining it for the hard-of-humor, is that 2.6 seconds is NOT a reasonable time.

[aeronaut]

Originally Posted by Andrew Hackard

The rule is "a reasonable amount of time." The joke, explaining it for the hard-of-humor, is that 2.6 seconds is NOT a reasonable time.

In our group, we keep this joke alive as follows:

"OK, I'm at 17, and the monster is at 4, so I'm winning. Going once (pause), Going twice (pause), going two point six (pause), and done. I win the combat, and get the level and treasures."

That gives everyone sufficient time to play cards. And of course, if someone says "wait" while one is counting, we pause and let them make their play (or not.)

Regards,
aeronaut

[Andrew Hackard]

Originally Posted by aeronaut

In our group, we keep this joke alive as follows:

"OK, I'm at 17, and the monster is at 4, so I'm winning. Going once (pause), Going twice (pause), going two point six (pause), and done. I win the combat, and get the level and treasures."

That gives everyone sufficient time to play cards. And of course, if someone says "wait" while one is counting, we pause and let them make their play (or not.)

And THAT is perfectly fine. The point is that you can't win a combat without giving the other players a chance to react.