dnmunchkin

[dnmunchkin]

The DM: They should get a chance to win, too

Ok so I was thinking about this and I want the DM to be able to win (and also I forgot to say DMs could discard Gain a Level cards so I thought, “Hey, why not write them in?”)

Basically, the DM can gain levels just like the other players. For each player they kill (not defeat, kill), they go up a level themselves. They have to reach the same number of levels as the other players to win.

I haven’t tested this, so when I do, if it makes it too easy for the DM to win, I’ll change it to the DMs being able to apply the Go Up a Level to one monster in one combat.

[dnmunchkin]

Classes and Races: More ways to enhance your Dungeons & Plutonium Dragons game

Here are some more ways you could use classes and races to affect how your game goes. Since you can change your class/race quite easily and suddenly, your character might go through many personality changes because of it!

This post may or may not be updated as I get more ideas.

Classes

Traits are taken from the Wikipedia page for that class. Rolling Rules refers to how your class affects your ability scores if you play with rolling. See my last post for those rules!

Cleric

Traits: divine magic, healers, control or repel undead creatures (choose control or repel at beginning of game)

Rolling Rules: add +2 to Constitution and +2 to Wisdom

As clerics in D&D can control/repel undead creatures, you can now control or repel Undead Monsters! Choose one as soon as you become a cleric and write it on your character sheet, if you have one, next to your class.

If you control Undead Monsters, add their Combat Strength (Level plus any bonuses or penalties) to yours

If you repel Undead Monsters, throw them in the discard pile if they came from a Door, or if someone played it from their hand, it goes back into their hand

Thief (Or in D&D, Rogue)

Traits: sneaky, nimble, stealthy, dexterous, sense and disarm traps, pick locks, sneak attack

Rolling Rules: add +2 to Dexterity and +2 to Charisma

Against large monsters that are likely to be slow, clumsy, or just generally limited by their size, Rogues gain an automatic +1 to their Combat Strength. The DM determines which monsters these are. Be reasonable!

If using Rolling rules, rogues are more likely than anyone else to sense a curse behind a door. How this happens is up to the DM, but here’s an example:

Say the DM requires a 7+ Intelligence roll to sense a monster behind a door and a 17+ Intelligence roll to sense a curse. If a rogue is making this roll, the DM may only require a 14+ to sense the curse.

Warrior (Or in D&D, Fighter)

Traits: weapons-oriented, skill, strategy, tactics

Rolling Rules: add +2 to Strength and +2 to Constitution

If the warrior has any weapon in play, that item automatically gives an extra +1 Combat Strength

In a fight with multiple players, the warrior may choose what order the players go in. In a play with multiple warriors, the one with the highest level chooses first, then they alternate choosing the order of play.

Wizard

Traits: arcane magic, less effective in melee combat

Rolling Rules: add +2 to Intelligence and +2 to Wisdom

Hand-held weapons the wizard uses do 1 give one less Combat Strength. If the weapon gives 0 Combat Strength, it does not go below 0 (I’m not even sure if this is a thing, but just in case it is here’s a rule for it).

Wizards can throw one saving throw against curses when playing with Rolling. They need a 5 or 6 on a D6.

Races

Dwarf

Traits: underground/mining, short and stout, bold and hardy, weigh as much as a normal person, courage, endurance, long memory, long grudges, enduring, loyal, determined, true-to-word

Rolling Rules: add +2 to Strength and +2 to Constitution and +1 to Wisdom

Dwarves have an extra -1 Combat Strength against anything that flies.

However, they get an extra +1 Combat Strength against anything big and dumb, like trolls and bulls, and anything that came out of the ground, like zombies. This is up to the DM’s discretion.

If they helped someone in combat in an earlier round and the same person asks for help again, and the person asking for help has not harmed the dwarf since, the dwarf must help them again.

Elf

Traits: otherworldly grace, forests or pretty places, slightly shorter than humans, slender, often amused and excited, curious over greedy, unfazed by petty happenstance, flexible, diplomacy

Rolling Rules: add +2 to Dexterity and +2 to Intelligence and +1 to Wisdom

Elves are unlikely to join in on player-versus-player fights. They must have lost a Charisma roll against the other player to join a battle.

Elves get a -1 Combat Strength against pretty monsters (like the Amazons) or “natural” monsters (like Crabs). Again, up to the DM’s discretion

Halfling

Traits: small, practical, kind, curious, cheerful, bonds of family and friendship, few dreams of gold or glory, easily moved to pity, hate suffering, assimilate well, work well with others

Rolling Rules: add +2 to Dexterity and +2 to Constitution and +1 to Charisma

Will help a player who will lose a battle otherwise. Will take loot if offered, but will help even without the offer of loot.

Gets first pick when Looting the Body because of their natural curiosity.

Human

Traits: interest in conquest, adaptable, ambitious, live in the present, opportunist

Rolling Rules: add +1 to each ability score

Will only help in fights if they lose a Charisma roll, are offered half of the loot or more, or are offered the best pick of the loot. They must receive something for their assistance if the group defeats the monster/opposing players.

[dnmunchkin]

Dungeons & Plutonium Dragons Rules

Alright, here are the basic guidelines for how I smash D&D and Munchkin together into one big blobby mess. Note that it helps if you have played Munchkin before because this is largely based on the original Munchkin rules! And this is a very rough guideline. You may come across things that I haven’t encountered or thought about, so agree with your party what you want your rules in those situations to be (and if you think of it, submit the circumstance + the rules you decided on to me so I can pass them on!).

If anything in here is wonky, I wrote this post in the rich text editor, put it into HTML, and then back again and it fucked everything up. Naturally. So sorry about that (and please let me know)!

Read More because of length.

Game pieces:

Pen/pencil and paper

A basic Munchkin game (no expansions (unless you wanna add those and figure out rules for them yourself, but I’m just using the basic game))

168 cards

1 six-sided die

the rulesheet (can be found online here if you’ve lost yours)

(optional) 10 tokens OR 1 ten-sided die per player

(optional) 4 more six-sided dice if playing with rolling

(optional) 1 or more (probably at least 2) twenty-sided dice

Gameplay:

The basic gameplay is the same as normal Munchkin with the following exceptions and changes.

Roleplay is, of course, encouraged!

Cards in play can be taken back into your hand.

My friends and I prefer to play Munchkin without the 5-card hand limit and without the third phase (Charity) of gameplay, just because we find it’s more fun. If you want your game to be easier, do the same! If you want your game to be more realistic, play with the hand limit and the Charity phase. Think about it, you can only carry a certain number of things in real life, so if you want to play a serious game, you might want to make the same true for your characters.

Winning

If you want, you can decide to play as a party, but it does take some of the fun of backstabbing away. I like to play with multiple parties, or alliances, and that way you can still get the backstabbing-fun of Munchkin with the teamwork of D&D.

If you play as a party/parties, you can decide A) whether you can change/dissolve/etc the parties during the game or not, and B) if only one person in the party has to make it to the winning level number for the party to win or if everyone in the party must make it to that level.

If you want a longer game, you can up the number of levels you need to win to 15 or even 20. I like to read the room and decide this when people start to make it to around level 7; if people are bored, we end at level 10, if people are still into it, we go to 15 or 20.

Players may choose to fight each other, but defeating another player does not kill them.

The loser loses half of their levels and gives all of their items, in play or not, to the winner. They keep their race, class, and sex.

If the winner was a higher level than the loser, they gain one level.

If the winner was a lower level than the loser, they gain enough levels to match the loser’s level before the combat.

The DM: see the section below

If you play with a DM, another option is adding rolling! There’s also a section on that.

If you play with rolling, there’s another section on classes and races and some nice bonuses they can get you!

The DM:

In keeping with the D&D theme, I’ve decided to try to create a DM player. You don’t necessarily need one, you can just play without a DM and follow the traditional rules for monsters and things, but this gives you someone to fight. Here’s how the DM works.

The DM gets their own hand, but no character. If they draw any race or class cards, they must discard them.

The DM must end each turn with 4+ Door and 4+ Treasure cards. They must draw until they meet this requirement. This is to be done last, after every other player has done everything they want that turn.

The DM uses their cards to aid the monsters that the other players encounter, whether they came from a door or from Looking for Trouble. They play their curses and modifications to the monster or players after the players do their own, and then after the DM, the players can do more, and then the DM can do more, and so on.

(Optional rule, but I like doing it.) When players enter a room, the DM describes it. The players can also ask questions about the room. Players then use what was described to their advantage, and the DM uses it to the monsters’ advantage. For instance:

If the room is dark and the monster could reasonably be assumed to have better night vision than the player(s), perhaps the DM will get to play curses before the players.

If the players think to say that they climb up onto a ledge and attack from above, maybe the DM will say they get one extra combat point.

This way of playing does take agreement and negotiations to make work, but it can be lots of fun!

Rolling:

If you choose to play with rolling, here’s how I would incorporate it.

On a piece of paper, write the six basic D&D abilities (see below). For each ability, roll four 6-sided dice. Add up the highest three and write them next to each ability. This is how you generate your ability scores (the same as in D&D). For example, your character might get:

Strength: 13

Dexterity: 14

Constitution: 12

Intelligence: 8

Wisdom: 10

Charisma: 15

Don’t forget to apply changes based on your race and class, and change this when your race and/or class changes (if you wanna add in that aspect). Then determine each ability modifier by subtracting 10 from the score and dividing by 2. If you end up with a half number, round down. Write each modifier next to each score. With the earlier example, if the player started out as a human cleric (+1 to each score; +2 more to Constitution and Wisdom) their sheet would look like this:

Strength: 13 14 (+2)

Dexterity: 14 15 (+2)

Constitution: 12 15 (+2)

Intelligence: 8 9 (-1)

Wisdom: 10 13 (+1)

Charisma: 15 16 (+3)

Now, when the DM determines it, you and another player (or a monster) can roll against each other in different ability checks to see who would get to do something or perceive something first. Each roll a D20 and add your modifier, and the higher scorer goes first or “wins.” You can also roll to check doors and things like that. Roll a D20 and add your modifier, and if the DM thinks the number is high enough, you can gain information. For example:

Kicking down a door

Say the DM requires a 7+ Intelligence roll to sense a monster behind a door and a 17+ Intelligence roll to sense a curse.

DM: You approach the door.

Human Rogue: I listen at the door.

DM: Roll for Intelligence.

HR: Rolled an eight, +4 Intelligence modifier for a total of 12.

DM (after checking the card and seeing a curse): You don’t sense any signs of a monster in the room.

HR: I enter.

Finding allies

Elf Thief (fighting a monster, in need of assistance): I ask the Halfling for help.

Unclassed Halfling: I’m unsure if I think it’s worth it.

DM: Elf, roll for Charisma.

ET: Rolled a 16, +3 Charisma modifier for 19.

DM: Halfling, the Elf quickly persuades you to join the battle, and convinces you to not take any of the treasure.

And more!

I’m planning on making another post, too, going through all the monster cards and assigning them ability scores and modifiers so if you want to you can roll to see who attacks first after kicking down a door or something like that. That’s for the future, though.

Classes/Races:

Classes:

traits are taken from each class’s Wikipedia page

Cleric - divine magic, healers, control or repel undead creatures (choose control or repel at beginning of game)

If playing with rolling, add +2 to Constitution and +2 to Wisdom

Thief - (D&D, rogue) sneaky, nimble, stealthy, dexterous, sense and disarm traps, pick locks, sneak attack

If playing with rolling, add +2 to Dexterity and +2 to Charisma

Warrior - (D&D, fighter) weapons-oriented, skill, strategy, tactics

If playing with rolling, add +2 to Strength and +2 to Constitution

Wizard - arcane magic, less effective in melee combat

If playing with rolling, add +2 to Intelligence and +2 to Wisdom

Super Munchkin - This card acts as it does in normal Munchkin play.

Races:

traits are taken from each race’s  D&D Beyond page

Dwarf - underground/mining, short and stout, bold and hardy, weigh as much as a normal person, courage, endurance, long memory, long grudges, enduring, loyal, determined, true-to-word

If playing with rolling, add +2 to Strength and +2 to Constitution and +1 to Wisdom

Elf - otherworldly grace, forests or pretty places, slightly shorter than humans, slender, often amused and excited, curious over greedy, unfazed by petty happenstance, flexible, diplomacy

If playing with rolling, add +2 to Dexterity and +2 to Intelligence and +1 to Wisdom

Halfling - small, practical, kind, curious, cheerful, bonds of family and friendship, few dreams of gold or glory, easily moved to pity, hate suffering, assimilate well, work well with others

If playing with rolling, add +2 to Dexterity and +2 to Constitution and +1 to Charisma

Human - interest in conquest, adaptable, ambitious, live in the present, opportunist

If playing with rolling, add +1 to each ability score

Half-Breed - This card acts as it does in normal Munchkin play.

[dnmunchkin]

For Reference:

At the bottom of this site, you can find a drop-down menu of all the Munchkin cards in the original pack (look for Munchkin Card List), which is what I plan to use to create my game rules.

Also, here are the original Munchkin rules.