Ideas for mass combining munchkin sets

[griffinsclaw]

How would you go about combining, say, every munchkin set?

I recently binged and just about finished up my munchkin collection. I have every base set of munchkin, and almost every expansion and booster (though I haven't played most of the newer ones yet). I've had positive experiences mixing sets together and I'd like to mix them all together to get some truly wacky games. However, I've only mixed a few together at one time so far, and even then it leads to a lot of issues, and not things that could be fixed by just throwing in blender or cheat with both hands.

So my idea was basically to separate all the cards into types, and then pull from those stacks in specific quantities to create decks of maybe 200 treasures and doors that are still randomized from every set but contain balanced ratios of cards.

What I wanted to brainstorm was exactly how to do this. Without going so specific that I might as well just be picking the cards and building a cube, what types could the cards be separated into, and then in what ratios would you pull those cards to make a balanced deck? Even better, how could I do this in a way so as to keep cards that would go to the same type and have specific synergies together (lions, tigers, bears; obsessive, compulsive; slay the dragon, clear the dungeon; warhammer, warscrewdriver; various lotus powders; you get the idea).

My rough ideas go something like this:
Doors
-Monsters 1-5
-Monsters 6-10
-Monsters 11-15
-Monsters 16-20
-Races (similar numbers of each, maybe base set races a little heavier)
-Classes (as above)
-Non-Race, Non-Class cards that behave in a similar fashion (powers, accents, Factions, Naughty, Barbarian, Class/Race enhancers and the like)
--Alternatively, just combining the above 3 into one stack, as I might be putting too much importance on classes and races.
-Monster Enhancers and similar
-Wandering monsters and similar
-Cheats, multi-class, Multi-race and similar
-Hirelings and equivalent
-Steeds and equivalent
-Portals
-Misc cards that don't fit the above.

Treasures
-GUAL cards
-One shots that give a combat strength bonus
-One shots that remove monsters
-Other one shots
-Big items
--but maybe not, since there would be a lot of overlap with other equipment
-Unrestricted equipment
-Class/race/other restricted equipment
-Enhancers
-Misc other stuff
--Honestly I feel like I might be completely off-base with how to do treasures.

As for synergistic cards, my best idea was to take all such groups out, and replace them with trimmed notecards. If I pulled a notecard while building the deck, I'd replace it with the appropriate set of cards while maintaining the number balance.

Thoughts or ideas?

[Ironfixer]

Very interesting ideas there. I'm new to the game, but already I've got the base game, Adventure Time!, just bought expansion 2 Unnatural Axe and two packs (Promoted and Mars Attacks). Don't know about the seals but everything else seems to blend well. But I feel maybe too many cards can get to be a problem.
How many cards do you usually shoot for in a game? I want the experience of the other cards but I don't want to have such huge door and treasure decks that it's hard to get to some of the better cards.

[griffinsclaw]

Originally Posted by Ironfixer

Very interesting ideas there. I'm new to the game, but already I've got the base game, Adventure Time!, just bought expansion 2 Unnatural Axe and two packs (Promoted and Mars Attacks). Don't know about the seals but everything else seems to blend well. But I feel maybe too many cards can get to be a problem.
How many cards do you usually shoot for in a game? I want the experience of the other cards but I don't want to have such huge door and treasure decks that it's hard to get to some of the better cards.

What I've generally been doing is throwing all 8 munchkin base sets, munchkin conan, munchkin pathfinder munchkin legends and its expansions, and a few boosters together, shuffling the magnificent stacks, and then pulling stacks of maybe 200 cards whenever a game ends or we run out of cards. Then after we don't think we have enough cards for another game, we shuffle everything again.

it works out generally, because each set has its own curve of weaker to stronger cards, so the resulting megadecks are mostly balanced. But then you'll run into things where pockets either didn't get shuffled or just through random chance produce things that you'ld never get in a normal deck, like not getting a monster for 16 draws. On top of that, class/race/other restricted items will almost never be able to be played legally, because the deck is just so diluted.

[jcstephens]

I've been noodling with an idea (working title MegaMunchkin) in which the game starts out with standard Munchkin, but I've included some homemade cards that allow draws from other decks. There's a Time Warp card that allows for draws from Space Munchkins, The Stars Are Right which gives access to the Munchkin Chthulhu decks, and the Convergence Of The Million Spheres which blows the whole thing wide open. Come November I'll be asking all my gifting acquaintances for Munchkin sets I don't own yet, and then we'll see how it goes.

[21st]

This is a really cool idea for balance. What me and my friends would do is have multiple stacks of each of the treasures and doors (with all the sets it was usually 8 or so. Lots and lots of cards) and whenever you drew, you chose which stack. Each stack will inevitably have different backgrounds so you can keep your cards mostly to the same set, to have a much better shot at getting your class/race specific stuff.

[chrisn96]

I've been toying with something real similar. At first I tried it with all Fantasy, Legends, Pathfinder and Conan mixed, but didn't care for it. I'm going to redo it with just Fantasy w/ promos.

I base the amount of each type of card on the original munchkin, but add in 8 portals, 2 random mounts, 2 random heirlings plus Big Joe since he counts as both.

For races and classes I use 2 of each in static deck of staple cards (ie. cheat, super munchin, etc.) that goes in every game.

It's still a work in progress, but I feel that it works for me.

[Argendauss]

I've been meaning to set up a spreadsheet with sets and card functions as you're suggesting.

I've made a special deck before consisting of what I considered the most interesting cards from Classic, Legends, Conan, & Pathfinder and their addons. I based it on having 3 of every race & class in those decks and scaled up approximating base-deck ratios and then adding extras like birthrights & enhancers & CWBH cards. I got a little happy adding no-slot buffs like Impressive Title. The one game I played with it seemed a little overpowered, with one player at effective level 30 or 40. Balancing numbers of races/classes/etc is easy, but probably the more specific you get regarding loot level, slot, class-type, etc. and curse function, and monster level, the better.