Whats a Munchkin?

[Stonebender]

I have constantly herd this term used. Often with very different viewpoints on what exactly it means.

To me, I think Munchkin means someone who tries to excede the intended balance of a game or someone who Min/Maxes they're character to be extremely effective in a very narrow field while drasticaly reducing capability everywhere else.

Example 1: a fighter who is as strong as possible, wears the heavyiest armor possible, carries the biggest weapon possible, and has no other redeming qualities or storyline/roleplaying purpose. Munchkin

Example 2: a wheelchair bound character who has a child, requires frequent medical attention, is a pasifist, and is a extremely powerful psychic would not be munchkin in my openion as long as the campaign involved psychics.

The nature of its disadvantages means there is a lot of roleplayability in the character and some inherent dependency on the other PCs who are more physicaly capable. It would of course be totaly unacceptable in a game where mental powers are not part of the storyline in some manner.

How do you guys define Munchkinism? Examples would be apreciated. munchkin and non munchkin

[Captain-Captain]

Originally Posted by Stonebender

I have constantly herd this term used. Often with very different viewpoints on what exactly it means.

To me, I think Munchkin means someone who tries to excede the intended balance of a game or someone who Min/Maxes they're character to be extremely effective in a very narrow field while drasticaly reducing capability everywhere else.

Example 1: a fighter who is as strong as possible, wears the heavyiest armor possible, carries the biggest weapon possible, and has no other redeming qualities or storyline/roleplaying purpose. Munchkin

Example 2: a wheelchair bound character who has a child, requires frequent medical attention, is a pasifist, and is a extremely powerful psychic would not be munchkin in my openion as long as the campaign involved psychics.

The nature of its disadvantages means there is a lot of roleplayability in the character and some inherent dependency on the other PCs who are more physicaly capable. It would of course be totaly unacceptable in a game where mental powers are not part of the storyline in some manner.

How do you guys define Munchkinism? Examples would be apreciated. munchkin and non munchkin

It's a derogatory and insulting term coined by elitist gamers to describe players of power gaming styles in what is literally a belittling way. No specific definition was ever made, the term started being used generally and used as often as not against player types that the person using the word it didn't happen to like.

Similar to cases where "Rules Lawyer" was used to villify players whose style consisted mainly of blatant rules breaking!

[Tiger Maggot]

Munchkinism is like obscenity as compared to art: hard to define specifically, but you know it when you see it. If that was good enough for the Supreme Court, it's good enough for me.

[roguebfl]

see: The Munchkin's Guide to Power Gaming ISPN 1-56634-347-7

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

Originally Posted by Stonebender

Example 1: a fighter who is as strong as possible, wears the heavyiest armor possible, carries the biggest weapon possible, and has no other redeming qualities or storyline/roleplaying purpose. Munchkin

That's a Brick, which is a character archetype which may often be played by a munchkin, but a character archetype itself isn't a munchkin per se.

Originally Posted by Stonebender

Example 2: a wheelchair bound character who has a child, requires frequent medical attention, is a pasifist, and is a extremely powerful psychic would not be munchkin in my openion as long as the campaign involved psychics.

That's another character archetype, the bodiless Mentalist, it has many forms and names, it might be a cripple, a brain in a jar, or a mouse, or just a 90 lbs weakling, but again, just because munchkins often play such characters, it doesn't make the archetype itself a munchkin.

Originally Posted by Stonebender

How do you guys define Munchkinism? Examples would be apreciated. munchkin and non munchkin

Munchkins think that RPGs are something you win at, and often the way they go at it, is by trying to make the most powerful character in order to beat all the other characters of the players they're gaming with, 'cause the munchkin thinks that if his character is better at stuff than all of the other characters, that somehow the munchkin in "beating" the other players.

IMO, Munchkinism is usually people doing stupid things, totally out of character, in an attempt to "win", and/or going for the power build in order to show off.

[Doktor Teufel]

A munchkin is, in short, someone who will put a pink whirligig hat on his traditional fantasy barbarian solely because it increases his ST. (And any other player who tends to do this sort of thing).

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Stonebender

How do you guys define Munchkinism? Examples would be apreciated. munchkin and non munchkin

Munchkin: Someone who maximizes their own satisfaction in playing a role-playing game without consideration for the enjoyment of the other players or the integrity and viability of the campaign world.

[Der Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Doktor Teufel

A munchkin is, in short, someone who will put a pink whirligig hat on his traditional fantasy barbarian solely because it increases his ST. (And any other player who tends to do this sort of thing).

Truly if I would be facing dead everyday I would take ANYTHING (even wearing a pink whirligig hat) that would help me, so this seems to be really just a wise decision...
And truly I don't know many people (exactly noone actually), who don't want to win (yes there are those who don't mind so much if they don't, still they prefer to win)

My experience is that if someone yells Munchkin at you, its because you have optimized your character better than him (of course if he had your skills at optimizing he would do so too)

Technically, a powergamer is someone who Min/Maxes his character ad extremum (but still within the rules). A munchkin on the other hand sees the rules more flexible (some may be bent, others broken)...

[Der Wanderer]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Munchkin: Someone who maximizes their own satisfaction in playing a role-playing game without consideration for the enjoyment of the other players or the integrity and viability of the campaign world.

I always thought that one is called EGOIST??? I once played in a group of Munchkins (everybody had ridiculous powerfull characters, considering their point levels), still everybody hat lots of fun, though you might not call it ROLEpg, it was more like Dungeon Hack...

[Akahige]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Munchkin: Someone who maximizes their own satisfaction in playing a role-playing game without consideration for the enjoyment of the other players or the integrity and viability of the campaign world.

I think the quoted description is best because it addresses the real issue, as opposed to shifting the blame onto either the rules or the inventiveness of players. It's about being responsible enough to to reign-in your gaming ambitions for the betterment of the plot and the mutual enjoyment of the game.