Can a player voluntarily discard?

DojimaDragon · 07-01-2012, 05:15 AM

Hi everyone,

yesterday we played a game of Munchkin and came across this problem:
At the end of a player's turn the "Divine Intervention" card was on top of the discard pile. The next player was a level 9 cleric.
To avoid that the next player uses his cleric ability ressurection to use "Divine Intervention" once more we were looking for ways to put something else on top of it. Selling items was out of question since these go on the other discard pile (and to my understanding you need to sell at least 1000 coins worth of items, no less). Nobody held any curses or other cards you could use anytime. The only solution seemed to be to voluntarily discard something.
But can a player do that? Just voluntarily discard something from his hand? Another part of the discussion was how this could affect charity. The player who was about to end his turn was lowest level anyway, so in that case it didn't matter, but still...

After thinking about it for some time, I think it is not possible. But then again, why shouldn't someone be able to just "drop" something? I'd really like your opinions on that.

Clipper · 07-01-2012, 06:00 AM

It depends on the card type. You can't arbitrarily discard from your hand, no. However, you can discard your current Race or Class at any time. You can also discard any Hireling at any time. You can play a non-persistent Curse, which will go to the discards after it resolves. If you are playing with dungeons, you can play a Portal or if the player before the Cleric had 4 cards in his hand, he could discard 4 cards to Discover an Exit.

MunchkinMan · 07-01-2012, 08:12 AM

If a player could voluntarily discard cards without any other reason than the desire to discard those cards, Charity would have no purpose. Also, the rules do not indicate that you may discard a card or cards for no reason. The same goes for cards in play. They stay in play until they can be discarded to support a purpose, with the rules-stated exception that Classes and Races can be discarded at any time.

As in most cases, the rules tell you what you can do, and the lack of a restriction is not meant to be an invitation to ignore those rules. This means that if the rules don't tell you that you can do it, you can't do it. Of course, the rules tell you that the text on the cards override the rules, which is why if the cards tell you to do something, you can.

RL · 07-01-2012, 09:44 AM

Another way to cover it up would be if you had a race/class ability that is powered by a discard (like the Thief's stealing ability).

stienf9 · 07-01-2012, 05:28 PM

Or if you are a thief, you can choose to stop being a thief at any time and discard it.

07-01-2012, 05:15 AM	#1
DojimaDragon Join Date: Mar 2010	Can a player voluntarily discard? Hi everyone, yesterday we played a game of Munchkin and came across this problem: At the end of a player's turn the "Divine Intervention" card was on top of the discard pile. The next player was a level 9 cleric. To avoid that the next player uses his cleric ability ressurection to use "Divine Intervention" once more we were looking for ways to put something else on top of it. Selling items was out of question since these go on the other discard pile (and to my understanding you need to sell at least 1000 coins worth of items, no less). Nobody held any curses or other cards you could use anytime. The only solution seemed to be to voluntarily discard something. But can a player do that? Just voluntarily discard something from his hand? Another part of the discussion was how this could affect charity. The player who was about to end his turn was lowest level anyway, so in that case it didn't matter, but still... After thinking about it for some time, I think it is not possible. But then again, why shouldn't someone be able to just "drop" something? I'd really like your opinions on that.

07-01-2012, 06:00 AM	#2
Clipper Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Sydney, Australia	Re: Can a player voluntarily discard? It depends on the card type. You can't arbitrarily discard from your hand, no. However, you can discard your current Race or Class at any time. You can also discard any Hireling at any time. You can play a non-persistent Curse, which will go to the discards after it resolves. If you are playing with dungeons, you can play a Portal or if the player before the Cleric had 4 cards in his hand, he could discard 4 cards to Discover an Exit.

07-01-2012, 08:12 AM	#3
MunchkinMan Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Macungie, PA	Re: Can a player voluntarily discard? If a player could voluntarily discard cards without any other reason than the desire to discard those cards, Charity would have no purpose. Also, the rules do not indicate that you may discard a card or cards for no reason. The same goes for cards in play. They stay in play until they can be discarded to support a purpose, with the rules-stated exception that Classes and Races can be discarded at any time. As in most cases, the rules tell you what you can do, and the lack of a restriction is not meant to be an invitation to ignore those rules. This means that if the rules don't tell you that you can do it, you can't do it. Of course, the rules tell you that the text on the cards override the rules, which is why if the cards tell you to do something, you can. __________________ Erik D. Zane *Munchkin* NetRep -- munchkin@sjgames.com MiB #1029

07-01-2012, 09:44 AM	#4
RL Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Colorado	Re: Can a player voluntarily discard? Another way to cover it up would be if you had a race/class ability that is powered by a discard (like the Thief's stealing ability).

07-01-2012, 05:28 PM	#5
stienf9 MIB Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Los Angeles, CA	Re: Can a player voluntarily discard? Or if you are a thief, you can choose to stop being a thief at any time and discard it.