Munchkin Legends combines classic myths and modern

legends with the great Munchkin gameplay and humor you love! Starting and
Finishing the Game
This game includes 168 cards, one six-sided die, and these rules.

Setup Decide who goes first by consulting goat entrails or the

flights of birds or rolling dice or whatever other method you
Three to six can play. You will need 10 tokens (coins, poker choose.
chips, whatever – or any gadget that counts to 10) for each player. Play proceeds in turns, each with several phases (see p. 2).
Divide the cards into the Door deck and the Treasure deck. When the first player finishes his turn, the
Shuffle both decks. Deal four cards from each deck to each player. player to his left takes a turn, and so on.
The first player to reach 10th
Card Management level wins . . . but you must
reach 10th level by killing
Keep separate face-up discard piles for the two decks. You may a monster, unless a
not look through the discards unless you play a card that allows card specifically
you to! allows you to win
When a deck runs out, reshuffle its discards. If a deck runs out another way.
and there are no discards, nobody can draw any of that kind of card!
In Play: These are the cards on the table in front of you,
showing your Race and Class (if any) and the Items you are
carrying. Continuing Curses and some other cards also stay on Conflicts Between
the table after you play them. Cards and Rules
Your Hand: Cards in your hand are not in play. They don’t This rulesheet gives the general rules. Cards may add
help you, but they can’t be taken away except by cards that special rules, so in most cases when the rulesheet disagrees
specifically affect “your hand.” At the end of your turn, you may with a card, follow the card. However, ignore any card
have no more than five cards in your hand. effect that might seem to contradict one of the rules listed
When Cards Can Be Played: Each type of card can be below unless the card explicitly says it supersedes that rule!
played at a specified time (see p. 5).
Cards in play may not be returned to your hand – they 1. Nothing can reduce a player below Level 1, although
must be discarded or traded if you want to get rid of them. card effects might reduce a player’s or a monster’s combat
strength (p. 2) below 1.
2. You go up a level after combat only if you kill a
Character Creation monster.
Everyone starts as a Level 1 human with no class. 3. You cannot collect rewards for defeating a monster
(Heh, heh.) (e.g., Treasure, levels) in the middle of a combat. You must
Look at your initial eight cards. If you have any finish the fight before gaining any rewards.
Race or Class cards, you may (if you like) play 4. You must kill a monster to reach Level 10.
one of each type by placing it in front of you. If Any other disputes should be settled by loud arguments,
you have any usable Items (p. 5), you may play with the owner of the game having the last word. You
them by placing them in front of you. If you have could also read the Munchkin FAQ and errata pages at
any doubt about whether you should play a card, www.worldofmunchkin.com, or start a discussion at
you could read below, or you could just charge forums.sjgames.com . . . unless it’s more fun to argue.
ahead and do it.
 Sometimes a card, or a Class or Race power, will let you get
Turn Phases rid of the monster without killing it. This is still “winning,” but
you don’t get a level. Sometimes, depending on the card, you
At the start of your turn, you may play cards, switch items might not get the treasure, either.
from “in use” to “carried” or vice versa, trade items with other
players, and sell items for levels. When your cards are arranged Some monster cards have special powers that affect combat –
the way you want, go to phase 1. a bonus against one Race or Class, for instance. Be sure to check
these.
One-shot items, such as potions, may be played directly
(1) Kick Open The Door: Draw one card from the Door deck
from your hand during combat. You can also use one-shot
and turn it face up.
items that you already had in play. One-shot items say
If it’s a monster, you must fight it. See Combat. Resolve the “Usable once only.” Discard these cards after the combat,
combat completely before you go on. If you kill it, go up a level whether you win or lose.
(or two, for some especially nasty monsters!) and take the
Some Door cards may also be played into a combat, such as
appropriate number of Treasures.
monster enhancers (see p. 5).
If the card is a curse – see Curses, p. 6 – it applies to you
While you are in combat, you cannot sell, steal, equip, unequip,
immediately (if it can) and is discarded.
or trade items, or play items (except for one-shots) from your
If you draw any other card, you may either put it in your hand hand. Once you expose a monster card, you must resolve the
or play it immediately. fight with your equipment as it stands, plus any one-shot items
you choose to play.
(2) Look For Trouble: If you did NOT draw a monster when Discard the monster card, including any enhancers and
you first opened the door, you now have the option of playing a one-shot items played, and draw treasure (see p. 3). But note:
monster (if you have one) from your hand and fighting it, just as someone may play a hostile card on you, or use a special power,
if you had found it when you kicked open the door. Don’t play just as you think you have won. When you kill a monster, you
a monster you can’t handle, unless you’re sure you can count on must wait a reasonable time, defined as about 2.6 seconds, for
getting help! anyone else to speak up. After that, you have really killed the
monster, and you really get the level(s) and treasure, though they
(3) Loot The Room: If you did not find a monster by kick- can still whine and argue.
ing open the door and you did not Look For Trouble, you loot
the room . . . draw a second card from the Door deck, face down,
and place it in your hand. Fighting Multiple Monsters
If you met a monster but ran away, you don’t get to loot the Some cards (notably Wandering Monster) allow your rivals
room. to send other monsters to join the fight. You must defeat their
combined combat strengths. Any special abilities, such as
(4) Charity: If you have more than five cards in your hand, forcing you to fight with your Level only, apply to the
you must play enough of them to get down to five, or give the entire fight. If you have the right cards, you can eliminate one
excess to the player with the lowest Level. If players are tied for monster from the combat and fight the other(s) normally, but
lowest, divide the cards as evenly as possible, you cannot choose to fight one and run from the other(s). If
but it’s up to you who gets the bigger set(s) you eliminate one with a card or your Race or Class power,
of leftovers. If YOU are the lowest or tied but then run from the other(s), you don’t get any Treasure!
for lowest, just discard the excess.
Asking For Help
It is now the next player’s turn. If you cannot win a combat on your own, you may ask any
other player to help you. If he refuses, you may ask another
Combat player, and so on, until they all turn you down or someone
helps. Only one player can help you, adding his combat strength
To fight a monster, compare its combat strength to yours. to yours. Anyone can play cards to affect your combat,
Combat strength is the total of Level plus all modifiers – however!
positive or negative – given by items and other cards. If the
You can bribe someone to help. In fact, you’ll probably have
monster’s combat strength is equal to yours, or greater, you lose
to. You may offer your helper any Item(s) you are currently
the combat and must Run Away – see below. If your combat
carrying, or any number of the Treasure cards the monster has.
strength totals more than the monster’s, you kill it and go up a
If you offer him part of the monster’s treasure, you must agree
level (two levels for some big monsters). You’ll also get the
whether he picks first, or you pick first, or whatever.
number of Treasures shown on its card.
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 The special abilities or vulnerabilities of the monster also apply If two players are cooperating and still can’t defeat the
to your helper, and vice versa. For instance, if a Warrior helps monster(s), they must both flee. They roll separately. The
you, you will win if your combined total ties that of the monster, monster(s) CAN catch them both.
and he can Berserk and discard cards to add to his combat If you are fleeing from multiple monsters, you roll separately
strength (but only once per combat, not once per monster). If you to escape each one, in any order you choose, and suffer Bad
are facing Grendel and a Dwarf helps you, the monster’s combat Stuff from each one that catches you as soon as it catches you.
strength is reduced by 3 (unless you are also a Dwarf). But if you Discard the monster(s).
are facing Pluto and a Cleric helps you, he is able to use his Turn
Undead ability to give bonuses to your side.
If someone successfully helps you, the monster is slain.
Death
Discard it, draw treasure (see below), and follow any special If you die, you lose all your stuff. You keep your
instructions on the monster card. You go up a level for each slain Class(es), Race(s), and Level (and any Curses that were
monster. Your helper does not go up . . . unless he’s an Elf, in affecting you when you died) – your new character
which case he also gains one level for each monster slain. You will look just like your old one. If you have Half-Breed or
draw the Treasure cards, even if it was your helper’s special Super Munchkin, keep those as well.
ability that defeated the monster. Looting The Body: Lay out your hand beside the cards you
had in play. Starting with the one with the highest Level,
each other player chooses one card . . . in case of ties in level,
roll a die. If your corpse runs out of cards, tough. After
Interfering With Combat everyone gets one card, the rest are discarded.
You can interfere with others’ combats in several ways: Dead characters cannot receive cards for any reason, not
Use a one-shot item. You could help another player even Charity, and cannot level up.
by casting a potion against his foe. Of course, you can When the next player begins his turn, your new character
“accidentally” hit your friend with the potion, and it will appears and can help others in combat . . . but you have no cards.
count against him. On your next turn, start by drawing four cards from each
Play a card to modify a monster. These cards (usually) deck, face-down, and playing any legal Race, Class, or Item
make a monster stronger . . . and give it more treasure. You cards you want to, just as when you started the game. Then
can play these either during your own combats or during take your turn normally.
someone else’s combat.
Play a Wandering Monster along with a monster from
your hand to join any combat.
Treasure
Backstab a player in combat, if you’re a thief. When you defeat a monster, either by killing it or using a
card to eliminate it, you get its Treasure. Each monster has a
Curse them, if you have a Curse card.
Treasure number on the bottom of its card. Draw that many
treasures. Draw face-down if you killed the monster alone. Draw
face-up, so the whole party can see what you got, if someone
Running Away helped you.
If nobody will help you . . . or if somebody tries to help, and Treasure cards can be played as soon as you get them. Item
your fellow party members interfere so the two of you still cards can be placed in front of you. “Go Up a Level” cards can be
cannot defeat it . . . you must run away. used instantly. You may play a “Go Up a Level” card on any
player at any time.
If you run away, you don’t get any levels or treasure. You don’t
even get to Loot the Room. And you don’t always escape
unharmed . . . Character Stats
Roll the die. You only escape on a 5 or better. Some magic Each character is basically a collection of weapons, armor,
items make it easier or harder to run away. And some monsters and magic items, with three stats: Level, Race, and Class. For
are fast, and give you a penalty to your roll. instance, you might describe your character as “a 7th-Level
If you escape, discard the monster. You get no treasure. There human Warrior with the Staff of Asclepius, a Digital Cloak,
are usually no bad effects . . . but read the card. Some monsters and Glass Slippers.”
hurt you even if you get away from them! Your character’s sex starts off the same as your own.
If the monster catches you, it does Bad Stuff to you, as Level: This is a measure of how generally buff and studly you
described on its card. This may vary from losing an item, to are. When the rules or cards refer to your Level, capitalized, they
losing one or more levels, to Death. mean this number.
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 Race: Characters may be Humans, Elves, Dwarves, or Halflings.
Example of Combat, If you have no Race card in front of you, you are human.
With Numbers and Everything Humans have no special abilities. Each other Race has special
abilities (see the cards). You gain the abilities of a Race the
Diane is a 5th-Level Cleric with the Feathered
moment you play its card in front of you, and lose them as soon
Headdress (which gives her +4 to her combat strength).
as you discard that card.
She kicks open the door and finds Slender Man, a Level
12 Undead monster. Diane is only at 9 combat strength, Some Race abilities are powered by discards. You may
so she’s losing. discard any of your cards, in play or in your hand, to power a
special ability.
Diane: Sorry, gang, but I gotta uncork this.
You can discard a Race card at any time, even in combat:
She plays the Potion of Sphinx Stinx, adding
“I don’t wanna be an elf anymore.” When you discard a Race card,
+5 to her combat strength. Now she’s winning,
you become human again.
14 to 12.
You may not belong to more than one race at once unless you
Sam: Surprise! He’s the Titanic Slender Man.
play the Half-Breed card. You may not have two copies of the
Sam plays Titanic, adding 10 to Slender Man’s combat same Race card in play.
strength. Now he’s winning again, 22 to 14.
Diane: EEK! Lucky for me that he’s Undead . . . turn, Class: Characters may be Warriors, Wizards, Thieves, or
turn, turn! Clerics. If you have no Class card in front of you, you have no
Diane discards one card from her hand and two Items class. Yeah, I know, we did that one already.
she wasn’t using from the table to activate the Cleric class’s Each Class has special abilities, shown on the cards. You gain
Turn Undead ability. Each discard gives her +3, for a total the abilities of a Class the moment you play its card in front of
of +9, so now she’s barely winning, 23 to 22. you, and lose them as soon as you discard that card. Some Class
Diane: Anyone else? abilities are powered by discards. You may discard any card, in
She holds a Door card from her hand and stares menac- play or in your hand, to power a special ability.
ingly at the group. Although Sam has an Undead monster, See the Class cards for when abilities can be used. Note that
Cerberus, in his hand, he decides not to add it to the fight. a Thief cannot steal while he or the target is fighting – and as
Diane: Awesome! Thanks for the extra Treasures, Sam! soon as a monster is revealed, the fight is on!
Sam: Grumble. You can discard a Class card at any time, even in combat:
Diane goes up one level for killing Slender Man, “I don’t wanna be a wizard anymore.” When you discard a Class
taking her to 6th Level. She draws five Treasures face card, you become classless until you play another Class card.
down: three from Slender Man himself, and two more You may not belong to more than one class at once unless you
from the Titanic monster enhancer. play the Super Munchkin card. You may not have
And the game goes on . . . two copies of the same Class card in play.

You gain a level when you kill a monster, or when a card says
that you do. You can also sell items to buy levels (see Items).
Items
Each Item card has a name, a power,
You lose a level when a card says you do. Your Level can
a size, and a value in Gold Pieces.
never go below 1. However, your combat strength can be
negative, if you get hit by a Curse, are backstabbed, or suffer An item card in your hand does
some other kind of penalty. not count until you play it; at that
point, it is “carried.” You may carry any number of small items,
but only one Big one. (Any item not marked Big is considered
Level Counters: It’s Not Cheating, Small.) You may not simply discard one Big item to play
another; you must sell it, trade it, lose it to a Curse or Bad
It’s Using the Rules! Stuff, or discard it to power a Class or Race ability.
If you have an iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or Android If something lets you have more than one Big item (for instance,
phone, you’ll like our Level Counter smartphone app. Just the Dwarf race) and you lose that ability, you must either correct
search for “Munchkin level counter” or click the link at the problem immediately or get rid of all but one Big item. If it’s
levelcounter.sjgames.com. Even better, it gives you your turn and you’re not in combat, you can sell the excess Big items
personal in-game advantages to make your friends jealous (as long as you have at least 1,000 Gold Pieces of Items to sell).
. . . which is what being a munchkin is all about! Otherwise, you must give them to the lowest-Level player(s) who
can carry them! If any Big items are still left over, discard them.
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 Anyone can carry any item, but some items have use restric- Undead, without using a Wandering Monster card. If you have a
tions: for instance, the Golden Fleece can only be worn by a card that can be used to make a monster Undead, you may play it
Thief. Its bonus only counts for someone who is, at the moment, with a non-Undead monster to use this rule.
a Thief.
Likewise, you may also use only one headgear, one suit of
armor, one pair of footgear, and two “1 Hand” items (or one “2
Monster Enhancers
Hands” item) . . . unless you have a card that lets you ignore these Certain cards, called monster enhancers, raise or lower the
limits. If you are carrying two Headgear cards, for instance, only combat strength of individual monsters. (Yes, you can have a
one of them can help you. negative enhancement.) Monster enhancers may be played by any
player during any combat.
You should indicate items that can’t help you, or extras not
being worn, by turning the cards sideways. You may NOT All enhancers on a single monster add together. If there are
change your used and carried items during a combat or while multiple monsters in a combat, the person who plays each
running away. You cannot discard Item cards “just because.” enhancer must choose which monster it applies to.
You may sell items for a level, or give an item to another player
who wants it. You may discard to power certain Class and Race Items – Playing Them
abilities. And a Curse may force you to get rid of something! Any Item card may be played to the table as soon as you
Trading: You may trade Items (but not other cards) with other get it, or at any time on your own turn other than in combat
players. You may only trade Items from the table – not from (unless the card itself says otherwise).
your hand. You may trade at any time except when you’re in
combat – in fact, the best time to trade is when it’s not your turn.
Any Item you receive in a trade must go into play; you can’t sell
Items – Using Them
it until it’s your turn. Any one-shot Item can by played during any combat,
whether you have it in your hand or on the table. (Some
You may also give Items away without a trade, to bribe
one-shot Items, such as the Wishing Ring, may also be used
other players – “I’ll give you Excalibur if you won’t help Jill
outside of combat.)
fight Loki!”
Other Items stay on the table in front of you once they
You may show your hand to others. Like we could stop you.
are played. You may keep Items in front of you that you
Selling Items for Levels: During your turn, you may discard cannot currently use (because of your Class or Race, or because
items worth at least 1,000 Gold Pieces and immediately go up you’re already using other Items of that type). Turn these Items
one level. If you discard (for instance) 1,100 Gold Pieces worth, sideways. These Items are “carried” but not “in use.” Exception:
you don’t get change. But if you can manage 2,000 worth, you can You may have only one Big item in play at a time unless you
go up two levels at once, and so on. You may sell items from have a Class or card that will let you use more.
your hand as well as those you are
carrying. You may not sell items
to go to Level 10. Other Treasures
Other Treasure cards (like Go Up a Level cards) are
When to Play Cards “specials.” You may play these at any time, unless the card itself
says otherwise. Follow the card’s instructions, then discard it,
A quick reference guide . . . unless it has a persistent bonus like an Item.

Monsters Curses
If drawn face-up during the “Kick Open The Door” phase, If drawn face-up, during the “Kick Open The Door” phase,
they immediately attack the person who drew them. Curse cards apply to the person who drew them.
If acquired any other way, they go into your hand and may be If drawn face-down or acquired some other way, Curse cards
played during “Looking For Trouble,” or played on another may be played on any player at any time. ANY time, do you
player with the Wandering Monster card. hear me? Reducing someone’s abilities just as he thinks he has
Each Monster card is a single monster, even if the name on killed a monster is a lot of fun.
the card is plural. Usually, a Curse affects its victim immediately (if it can) and
is discarded. However, some Curses give a penalty later in the
Undead Monsters game or have a continuing effect. Keep these cards until you get
Several monsters in this set are tagged Undead. You may play rid of the Curse or the penalty takes effect. If someone plays a
any Undead monster from your hand into combat to help any other “your next combat” Curse on you while you are in combat, it

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counts in that combat! (Curse cards you keep as a reminder may
not be discarded to power Class or Race abilities. Nice try!) Super-Sized Munchkin
If a Curse can apply to more than one Item, the victim Studies have shown that 8.4 out of 9.7 Munchkin play-
decides which Item is lost or Cursed. ers just can’t get enough of the game. Here are some ideas
If a Curse applies to something you don’t have, ignore it unless to take your Munchkin games to new heights – or lows:
the Curse has instructions to the contrary. For instance, Combining different Munchkin sets. There are
if you draw De-Feet-ed and you are not wearing lots of different Munchkin sets: zombies, pirates,
Footgear, nothing happens; discard the card. superheroes, vampires, and more. You can
There will be times when it will help you to combine two (or more) sets for a genre-crossing
play a Curse or Monster on yourself, or to “help” mega-Munchkin adventure! Space plus Old
another player in a way that costs him treasure. West? Kung fu spies? No problem! See it all at
This is very munchkinly. Do it. sets.worldofmunchkin.com.
Expansions. These add still more monsters to kill, new
Classes and Races Treasure to loot, and sometimes entirely new kinds of cards.
These cards may be played to the table as soon as they are Ask for all the Munchkin sets and expansions at your
acquired, or at any time during your own turn. The same is true local game or comic store – find it using our Store Finder,
for Super Munchkin and Half-Breed, but you must already have gamerfinder.sjgames.com – but if you don’t have a local
a Class to play Super Munchkin or a Race to play Half-Breed. store, we’ll be happy to sell them directly to you at
www.warehouse23.com.
Turn it up to EPIC! Playing to Level 10 just isn’t
More Munchkin! enough for some people. To satisfy their insane cravings,
Visit www.worldofmunchkin.com for news, errata, we’ve created Epic Munchkin, a new set of rules that
updates, Q&A, and much more. To discuss Munchkin gives all your Munchkin sets that high-octane boost you
with our staff and your fellow munchkins, visit need to make it up to Level 20! Look for it on our
our forums at forums.sjgames.com. Check out online PDF store, e23.sjgames.com – it’s completely,
www.worldofmunchkin.com/resources.html for refer- absolutely FREE!
ence cards, play mats, and dozens of links.
Other ways to connect to the Munchkin social network: Faster Play Rules
Twitter. Our Twitter feed often has Munchkin news For a faster game, you can add a “phase 0” called Listen
(or bonus rules!): twitter.com/SJGames. At The Door. At the start of your turn, draw a face-down
Facebook. Connect with other fans on our pages for Door card, which you may play or not. Then arrange cards
Munchkin (www.facebook.com/sjgames.munchkin) and and Kick Open The Door normally. If you Loot The
Steve Jackson Games (www.facebook.com/sjgames). Room, draw a face-down Treasure, not a Door.
For more information about this Munchkin game, go You can also allow shared victories – if a player reaches
to legends.worldofmunchkin.com. Level 10 in a fight where he had a helper, the helper also
The icon for this set is wins the game, no matter what Level he is.

Game Design by Steve Jackson • Illustrated by John Kovalic

Card Design by Andrew Hackard and Steve Jackson
Development Help: Monica Stephens • Chief Operating Officer/Print Buyer: Philip Reed
Munchkin Czar: Andrew Hackard • Munchkin Baron: Leonard Balsera • Production Manager: Samuel Mitschke
Production Artist: Alex Fernandez • Prepress Checkers: Monica Stephens and Leonard Balsera • Director of Sales: Ross Jepson
Playtesters: Dean Burnham, Eric Dow, Devin Lewis, Jerron Nanneman, SuZan Severson, Jaime Steger, James Vicari, and Fred Yelk Woodruff.
Munchkin, Munchkin Legends, the Munchkin character, Warehouse 23, e23, the all-seeing pyramid, and the names of all products published by
Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are trademarks or registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license.
Dork Tower characters © John Kovalic. Munchkin Legends is copyright © 2013 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated.
All rights reserved. Rules version 1.0 (April 2013).

legends.worldofmunchkin.com
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