Can someone finally officially clarify the Hireling and Cheat! cards?

[Gnathion]

What do they allow you to use? Class/race restricted items? Extra big items? Extra slots?

Thanks.

[bonetm]

There is a clarification in this thread:

Originally Posted by MunchkinMan

The Cheat! card causes some confusion, so here's a list of everything that it can do:

• It lets you use another Hand Item (i.e., any Item that requires at least one Hand) when your hands are full, OR
• It lets you use another piece of Armor when you're already wearing Armor, OR
• It lets you use another piece of Headgear when you're already wearing Headgear, OR
• It lets you use another piece of Footgear when you're already wearing Footgear, OR
• It lets you carry another Big Item (and use it, too) when you already have reached your limit, OR
• It lets you use an extra Complex Item, OR
• It lets you have an extra Steed, OR
• It lets you have an extra Ship, OR
• It lets you use an Item that your current Class/Race/Loyalty/Accent/Mojo/gender can not use, OR
• It lets you use an Item that some other card's effect says you can't, OR
• It lets you use a Steed/Ship/Hireling Enhancer that is an Item on its own (i.e., not played on a Steed/Ship/Hireling), OR
• It works with any other card or promotional item that specifically says, or comes with rules which specifically say, that you can use it to do something related to that card or promotional item (e.g., Hireling cards, T-shirts).

In all cases, the Item in question must be one you have in your possession legally, either already in play in front of you, or just played from your hand (with the Cheat! card if necessary). You can play Cheat! on a valid target even if the target is legal for you at the time. If you need to apply more than one of the above options for the Item to work (a non-Elf trying to use the Bow With Ribbons with a Cheat! card does not have to have both Hands empty, too), that's fine. If there's an Item that fits all of these, I have a feeling the card wouldn't fit in with the rest because it would be too big, or it would need very small print and have to come with a magnifying glass.

Anything not on that list is not a legal play. Don't ask, because the answer will be, "No."

The Cheat! card does not change the inherent nature of the Item on which it is played (with the exception of specific types of Enhancers, see below). A Big Item is still Big, even if you have Cheat! on it. The same goes for Armor (it's still Armor), same for Headgear (it's still Headgear), same for an Elf-only Item (it's still Elf-only), and so on. The player of a Cheat!-ed Item simply ignores any restrictions caused by the type of Item that it is. So, as an example: Playing Cheat! on a Big Item does not make it no longer Big, so it can be lost to Curses/Traps/Bad Stuff that take Big Items, and it can not be stolen by a Thief (or someone with the theft meta-ability). However, if you have Cheat! on a Big Item, you can play another one to the table later.

Cheat! can not be removed from an Item, normally, therefore it can't be exchanged between Items. The Cheat! card is, however, lost whenever the Item it is played on is lost to the current owner. That means if the Item is stolen, lost to a Curse or Bad Stuff, or taken from the owner in some other way, the Cheat! card attached is discarded. If a player dies, all of his Cheat! cards become lootable as individual cards, and do not go with the Item to which they were originally attached.

Andrew adds: Here's a shortcut guideline that may be helpful: When you are looking over your cards to make sure your "character" is legal, ignore any card with Cheat! attached -- it's like it's not even there.

[Andrew Hackard]

Originally Posted by Gnathion

What do they allow you to use? Class/race restricted items? Extra big items? Extra slots?

The Cheat! card is already covered in Igor's response above, so I won't repeat it here.

Hireling cards vary in what they allow. The original Hireling, found in Munchkin, Munchkin 3, Munchkin Legends, and a few other sets, is like a Cheat!, but you can change the attached Item and the Hireling is vulnerable to the Kill the Hireling Go Up a Level card.

Some other Hirelings say "You can use any Item that is legal for <X> to use," where <X> is usually a Class or Race. In this case, you can use any Item that is not barred to <X> or allowed only to some other group that is not <X>. It functions like a Cheat! for that Item, but cannot lift the <X> restriction.

And if a Hireling doesn't mention carrying or using Items at all, then it can't.

I hope these posts were helpful. If not, please write back and explain what is still unclear.

[Gnathion]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the quick response. So, the normal hireling can carry just about anything, including class/race restriced items? That's the main question.

[Andrew Hackard]

Anything. He's a Cheat on feet.