Munchkin 5: De-Ranged
Munchkin 5: De-Ranged Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Hirelings
Hirelings, Sidekicks (from Star Munchkin and Super Munchkin), Mooks (from Munchkin Fu) and Minions (from Munchkin Bites!) are all the same for the purposes of these rules.
Hirelings are found in Door decks in some sets, Treasures in others. (In this set, there are two Hirelings, both Doors.) You can play a Hireling at any time, even in combat, as long as you have only one Hireling in play at a time. If you draw a face-up Hireling, you may put it in your hand if you cannot (or don't want to) put it in play. You may discard a Hireling at any time.
A Hireling is not an Item unless it has a price on it. You may only trade Hirelings that have a Gold Piece value.
A Hireling can sacrifice himself for you. If you lose a fight, then instead of rolling to run away, you may discard one Hireling and anything he is carrying. You automatically escape from all monsters in the fight, even if a monster card says escape is impossible. If someone was helping you in the fight, YOU decide whether that person automatically escapes as well, or must roll to escape.
Some Hirelings give you extra Hands, or let you carry an extra Big or Complex item. In this case, the Hireling does not actually have any items . . . he merely increases your own abilities. If something happens to the Hireling, your items are not affected.
Other Hirelings (not those in this set, heh heh) can specifically carry and use an Item themselves. In some cases, a Hireling can use an item you cannot use for yourself. The items a Hireling carries count for you and are affected by Traps, Curses, and Bad Stuff as though you were carrying them yourself. If your Hireling has an item:
- If your Hireling sacrifices himself to save you, any items he was carrying are lost.
- If your Hireling is killed, you loot the body yourself and keep the items.
- If your Hireling is taken away by a Trap/Curse, by Bad Stuff, or by a change in loyalty, the items go with him!
Using Monster Modifiers on Hirelings
You may play any monster modifier to improve a Hireling. Put the modifier behind and above the Hireling . . . so, for instance, your hireling can become Ancient.
However, these modifiers don't count as much on Hirelings. A +5 modifier card makes the hireling worth +1 level in any battle. A +10 makes it worth +2 levels.
Negative modifiers cannot be applied to a Hireling unless that Hireling already has a positive modifier. In that case, the negative modifier counteracts an equivalent positive modifier. So if a rival makes his hireling Ancient (+2 bonus), you could play Baby to it at any time (even in combat), making it a Baby Ancient Hireling with only a +1 bonus.
Hirelings and Monster Bonuses
If (for instance) you have the Dwarf Hireling (but you won't unless you have The Need For Steed) and you face a monster that gets a bonus against Dwarves, it gets the bonus against you unless you immediately discard the Hireling. And of course, a monster which has a penalty against Dwarves has that penalty against any munchkin with a Dwarf Hireling. The same is true for any monster that has a bonus or penalty against any race, class, or sex.
Bad Stuff does not affect hirelings unless it specifically mentions them.
Ignore your hireling's race, class, and sex when determining what a monster does to you.
Hirelings and Sex
No, don't even GO there.
The sex of a hireling does not matter except with monster reactions (above) or unless you want to give it an item that is male-only or female-only. In that case, the hireling is of the sex, if any, shown on its card. It should be pretty obvious, even to your munchkin players, which illustrations are male, which are female, and which hirelings (in some other sets) have no sex at all. Robots never have a real gender, regardless of the pronouns on their card text. Ralph the Wonder Dog used to be male, but we took him to the vet.
If you ever want to change the sex of a hireling, you need the Sex Change Potion.
Hirelings and Cheating
A Cheat card can be used to give you an extra Hireling, or to let a Hireling carry an item he normally could not (but why not just use the card on yourself and carry it yourself?) No power on heaven or earth will let the Budget Hireling carry anything.
Steeds
Dear to a Munchkin's heart is his mighty Steed. Because, of course, it gives bonuses. Steeds are found in the Door deck.
No player can have more than one Steed except by using a Cheat card.
Steeds are Items, and follow normal Items rules. Anything that affects an Item can affect a Steed.
Steeds carry themselves. A Steed is "big," but it does not count against the number of Big items you can carry (in fact, some let you carry more Big things). The "big" designation on Steeds is to control what Traps and Curses affect them, and to keep Thieves from pocketing and walking off with them.
Steeds can be enhanced by Monster Enhancers in exactly the same way as Hirelings can – see above. (But if a Steed is being fought as a monster, then Monster Enhancers work normally.)
There are also a few Items that specifically enhance Steeds. Steeds cannot use items unless the item card specifically says so, and "item enhancers" don't affect Steed items.
If a Steed has a bonus or penalty to Run Away, that specifically replaces the bonus of the rider. So an Elf, which normally has a bonus to Run Away, has a penalty instead if he is riding the Turtle! If your Steed gives you a penalty to Run Away, you may discard the Steed before you roll to flee. You don't suffer the penalty, but the card goes to the discard pile.
Treating Steeds As Monsters
A player who draws a face-up Steed may choose to treat it as a monster instead. In that case, its level is equal to twice the combat bonus at the top of the card, and defeating it is good for one Treasure and one level. The Bad Stuff for any Steed attacked as a monster is "Lose a level."
This is a wonderful rule because many of your opponents will forget about it until you use it to win. Show them this rulesheet and do a happy little dance.