Custom Card Ideas: Soul of the Warlord
Intro
To more easily introduce the Soul cards to my audience, I'll introduce one of the simpler ones. On the surface, it seems like a fairly straightforward perk of a card, but it may actually alter one's way to play substantially. I give you, Soul of the Warlord.
What Does the Card Do?
Soul of the Warlord's card description reads thusly. "This munchkin gains an extra level for every monster they kill or help kill which can be a winning level. The munchkin cannot level up in any other way."
This card's effects are similar to the Elf race and the Samurai class in regards to gaining extra levels for killing monsters. Anytime the user of this card kills a monster, they gain an extra level. They can kill a monster by themselves, help another player kill a monster, or use a card that auto-kills monsters (as long as the card enables you to get levels). Also, it's for every monster that's killed. Fight one monster, gain 1 extra level. Fight two monsters, gain 2 extra levels. This is all on-top of the monster's level reward, meaning at the very least you'll always get 2 levels.
Sounds fantastic, right? Well, it's in design that Soul cards have pros and cons. The con is this, "The munchkin cannot level up in any other way." Get a Level Up Card? It's useless in your hands. Want to sell something? You can't, because you can't level up. Someone plays a card that affects everyone in the group to level up? Whether you play the card or someone else does, it skips over you. That's not to say you can't be Cursed to lose levels, but you can't recover those levels unless you kill other monsters.
*exception is the Divine Intervention. Since the rule makers have decided to make it more applicable to other decks (such as losing one's Cultist status in Munchkin Cthulu when Divine Intervention is played), we'll allow it to supersede the Warlord's handicap.
Strategy
This is a great card when you've got a great start in the game by having a lot of equipment. It also may help in convincing other players to allow you to help them for better deals than other players, since you don't have to bargain for the level you're getting. However, be careful how quickly you ascend in Levels, because not only will you be faster than everyone else but you'll be the one most easily targeted. Because of your speed, you'll be getting less items to protect yourself with compared to someone your level without the Soul of the Warlord.
However, in a game where you're unlucky enough to never draw or face a monster, then you're relatively screwed. You'll have to figure out exactly how to barter with other players in order to level up. Your Go Up a Level cards and your expensive items will mean nothing on their face value to you.
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More Munchkin!
Interested in hearing more about my Munchkin Soul Card series?
I've got plenty more Munchkin Custom Card Ideas that I invite for you to look through. Also, as I've spent far too money on numerous Munchkin decks and expansions, I can tell you which ones are worth it, which aren't, and why.