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Deep friar

Munchkin Clerics are here to spread the holy word… and do some smiting while they’re at it! They’ve got blessings for you and curses for your opponents, all for a low, low tithe!

- Smash Up: Munchkin rulebook

The Clerics are one of the 8 factions from the Smash Up: Munchkin set.

The clerics focus on returning cards from their discard pile to their hand and deck, as well as preventing cards from going to their discard pile.

Other factions from the same set: Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, Mages, Orcs, Thieves, Warriors.

Cards[]

Clerics

The Clerics have the usual 10 minions and 10 actions. The total minion base power (not counting any abilities) is the usual 30 or an average of 3 per minion. Additionally, there are several actions that can boost the power of minions beyond its base value but they also benefit opponents' minions.

Among their actions, there are:

  • 2 play-on-minion actions: Curse of Imprisonment, Curse of Uselessness,
  • 1 play-on-base action: Bin and Gone,
  • 7 standard actions (3 that affect one or more minions, in bold): Collection Plate (2x), Good Habits, Join the Club (2x), Remove Curse, Word of Recall,
  • 3 actions that directly increase a minion's power: Good Habits, Join the Club (2x).

Minions[]

1x Cardinal - power 5 - Talent: If your discard pile has at least five cards, place two of them, chosen at random, into your hand. FAQ

2x Deep Friar - power 4 - Special: After this base scores, you may move another one of your minions here to another base instead of the discard pile. FAQ

3x Turner - power 3 - Destroy an undead monster here OR shuffle a random minion from your discard pile into your deck. FAQ

4x Holy Roller - power 2 - You may shuffle a card from your discard pile into your deck. FAQ

Actions[]

1x Bin and Gone - Play on a base. Ongoing: After another base scores, you may move one of your minions from there to here instead of the discard pile. FAQ

2x Collection Plate - Place two random cards from your discard pile into your hand. FAQ

1x Curse of Imprisonment - Play on a minion. Ongoing: This minion loses its abilities. FAQ

1x Curse of Uselessness - Play on a minion. Ongoing: This minion adds no power to the base it is on. FAQ

1x Good Habits - All minions gain +1 power until the end of the turn. FAQ

2x Join the Club - Choose a base. All minions there get +1 power until the end of the turn. FAQ

1x Remove Curse - Destroy an action on a base or on a minion. FAQ

1x Word of Recall - Choose a random action from each other player’s discard pile. You may play one of them as an extra action. Return the others. FAQ

Clerics

Bases[]

Clarifications[]

Here are the official clarifications as they appear in the Smash Up: Munchkin rulebook:

Curse of Uselessness: A minion with CoU still has power, but that power does not count towards breaking the base or earning VPs. A monster with CoU doesn’t add to the breakpoint. If your only minion on a base has CoU on it, your total there is 0, but if 0 is one of the top 3 totals you can still earn VPs.

Deep Friar: This must use its ability while still on the scoring base. So if both Deep Friars are on a base, they trigger separately, so they cannot both save each other, Friar A can move Friar B, but B cannot go back and move A. (clarified by The Bigger Geekier Box)

Good Habits, Join the Club: This only affects minions currently in play, not those played later in the turn. This does affect monsters along with other minions. (added by The Bigger Geekier Box)

Turner: Undead monsters are only monsters with the “Undead” Identifier, not any faction minions, even if the faction seems like it (Zombies, Ghosts, Vampires). (added by The Bigger Geekier Box)

Mechanics[]

Clerics revolve around saving your cards from the discard pile, either by retrieving cards or by moving your minions instead of discarding them.

Deep Friars and Bin and Gone are very strong cards that allow you to save a minion after a base scores by moving it to another base, meaning that it gets to keep any actions and +1 power counters on it.

Unlike Zombies, which specialize in minions, and Time Travelers, which specialize in actions, Clerics can get back any cards from your discard pile, but it's mitigated as the cards are usually chosen randomly.

External Strategy Guides[]

FAQ[]

Questions on Cardinal[]

Q: Do I have to reveal which cards were randomly chosen from my discard pile?

A: Discard piles are "public knowledge", so you can check which cards are in any player's discard pile at any time. If you take a card out of the discard pile, players are supposed to know what card was taken out. So, you should reveal it.

Rule: If you take a card out of the discard pile, show it to everyone.

Q: I already have ten cards in hand. What happens if I decide to use this talent? Do I place the cards in my hand and immediately discard down to ten?

A: They are placed in your hand and you don't discard any card until your upcoming Draw 2 Cards phase. At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.

Rule: You wait until your Draw 2 Cards phase to discard down to 10; if your hand is bigger than 10 at other times of the game, that’s okay.


Questions on Deep Friar[]

Q: The card says "Special" so I can play it outside of my turn, right?

A: "Special" does not mean the card can be played out of turn. "Special" simply means that it's an ability that can be used when its condition is met. Whether it can be used out of turn, activated straight from your hand/discard pile, or if it can only be used when it's already in play (essentially being a synonym of Ongoing), it entirely depends on the wording. In the case of Deep Friar, the condition is "after this base scores", this means that you can only activate it after its base is scored, "its base" being the base it is currently on. Obviously, if Deep Friar isn't in play, there's no "this base" that the condition can refer to. So Deep Friar is actually a Special card that can only be used when it is in play.

Rule: A Special ability will describe how it can be used.

Rule: Abilities that say "Before/When/After this base scores" can only be activated if the card is on the scoring base, if the card is attached to a minion on the scoring base or if the card is the scoring base itself.

Q: If the chosen minion has action cards attached to it, does the minion move to another base along with all the action cards? Or only the minion itself?

A: The minion moves with the actions attached to it.

Rule: When a minion or titan moves, anything attached to the minion or titan goes with it and stays attached.

Q: It tells me to move "another one of my minions". Can I move a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?

A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.

Rule: "Your minion" means "a minion that you control".

Q: I read the clarification, how come two Deep Friar on the same base can't save each other?

A: During the step where after-scoring abilities can be invoked/played, you can invoke both Deep Friars' abilities. They will allow you to replace "placing another one of your minions here into the discard pile" with "moving it to another base", but this is NOT done immediately. You don't even choose which minions will be saved yet. All will only be resolved during the step where the cards are placed in the discard pile. When it's time to discard all cards on the scored base, the two Deep Friars are to be resolved, so the current player decides which one is activated first. Once the order is decided, the Deep Friars' controller chooses which is the first minion to be saved from the discard pile by the first Deep Friar. At that point, they can choose the other Deep Friar. If they do, it's moved immediately. However, when it's time to resolve the second Deep Friar's ability, there's a problem: it's not on a scored base, so it's ability can't be used.

Rule: Check the steps for phase 3.


Questions on Turner[]

Q: Can you choose to attempt to destroy an Undead monster here with Turner even if there aren´t any? (Because you don´t want to shuffle a minion back)

A: Sure. When you resolve an "OR" ability, you choose which of the two effects you want to do, even if you can't do one of them, you can still choose it.

Rule: When you resolve an "OR" ability, you must choose one of the two effects and only do that one.

Rule: You can play or use a card even if its ability can’t happen.

Q: Can I see which minion was chosen before shuffling it in my deck?

A: Yes. Discard piles can be checked by any players at any time, so by extension, you should be allowed to know what card was removed from it. And actually, even the other players should be allowed to know what card was randomly chosen. So, you should also reveal it.

Rule: If you take a card out of the discard pile, show it to everyone.

Q: It's so annoying to choose a random minion from my discard pile. I have to separate all my actions and minions, then randomly choose a minion without looking at it, then shuffle it into my deck.

A: You don't have to separate your discard pile into two. You can just shuffle your entire discard pile and reveal cards until you reveal a minion. That will be the minion that will be shuffled into your deck.

Rule: N/A


Questions on Holy Roller[]

Q: Do I have to reveal which card I shuffled in my deck to the other players?

A: Discard piles are "public knowledge", so you can check which cards are in any player's discard pile at any time. If you take a card out of the discard pile, players are supposed to know what card was taken out. So, you should reveal it.

Rule: If you take a card out of the discard pile, show it to everyone.


Questions on Bin and Gone[]

Q: If the chosen minion has action cards attached to it, does the minion move to another base along with all the action cards? Or only the minion itself?

A: The minion moves with the actions attached to it.

Rule: When a minion or titan moves, anything attached to the minion or titan goes with it and stays attached.

Q: It tells me to move "one of my minions". Can I move a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?

A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.

Rule: "Your minion" means "a minion that you control".

Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so after another base scores, I too can save one of my minions there, right?

A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore the action only addresses them and the ability must be interpreted from their point of view. So "you" means "they" (i.e. your opponent) and "your" means "their" (i.e. your opponent's).

Rule: A play-on-base action doesn't give an ability to the base that any player can use.

Rule: "You" on a minion, action or titan means the controller of the card.

Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?

A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a base", which means that it is not a standard action.

Rule: Definition of "standard".


Questions on Collection Plate[]

Q: Do I have to reveal which cards were randomly chosen from my discard pile?

A: Discard piles are "public knowledge", so you can check which cards are in any player's discard pile at any time. If you take a card out of the discard pile, players are supposed to know what card was taken out. So, you should reveal it.

Rule: If you take a card out of the discard pile, show it to everyone.

Q: After playing this card, I have more than 10 cards in hand, do I immediately discard down to 10?

A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.

Rule: You wait until your Draw 2 Cards phase to discard down to 10; if your hand is bigger than 10 at other times of the game, that’s okay.

Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?

A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it doesn't affect any minions in play and so its effect can't be copied.

Rule: Do exactly what the card says.


Questions on Curse of Imprisonment[]

Q: An opponent has Elder Thing in play. Can I play Curse of Imprisonment to remove its immunity?

A: Not really, if you try, your action will be discarded without effect. That's because their Elder Thing cannot be affected by your cards, and playing an action on it counts as affecting it, so it's prohibited.

Rule: Definition of "affect". Playing an action on a minion counts as affecting the minion.

Rule: If conditions prohibit playing a chosen card, discard it instead.

Q: Does the minion also lose the abilities of actions on it?

A: No, a minion's abilities are the ones printed on the card and those given to it by certain abilities (e.g. Copycat, Potion of Redundancy Potion, Flighterizer, The Touch, Passengers). The abilities of actions on it are separate from the minion's abilities. Besides, if that was the case, Curse of Imprisonment would also lose its abilities, which would make it useless.

Rule: A play-on-minion action doesn't give an ability to the minion it is attached to.

Q: Can you play it on a minion in stasis?

A: No, cards in stasis cannot be affected by cards that do not explicitly state they work on cards in stasis.

Rule: Cards in stasis may not be affected by, or chosen as the target of, any ability that does not refer to stasis.

Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?

A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a minion", which means that it is not a standard action.

Rule: Definition of "standard".


Questions on Curse of Uselessness[]

Q: What does it mean "This minion adds no power to the base it is on."? Is it the same as reducing its power to 0?

A: It's not the same as reducing its power to 0. The minion is still considered as having its modified power for cards that target minions of a certain power. You just don't count the minion when you calculate your total power and the minion doesn't help break the base it's on. For example, if you play it on a minion of power 5, it's still considered as a minion of power 5, so it can't be targeted by Seeing Stars, but it can be targeted by Justice Friends. When you check if its base scores, you don't count it when determining the total power there. And when the base scores, this minion isn't counted when you calculate its controller's total power there. In the case of an uncontrolled monster, the monster doesn't add its power to the base's breakpoint.

Rule: Do exactly what the card says.

Rule: Specific words are not synonymous no matter how similar they seem.

Q: Can you play it on a minion in stasis?

A: No, cards in stasis cannot be affected by cards that do not explicitly state they work on cards in stasis.

Rule: Cards in stasis may not be affected by, or chosen as the target of, any ability that does not refer to stasis.

Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?

A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a minion", which means that it is not a standard action.

Rule: Definition of "standard".


Questions on Good Habits[]

Q: If I play Good Habits and then play another minion afterward, does the new minion get +1 power from Good Habits?

A: The official answer is yes[1].

A: UPDATE. The Bigger Geekier Box now rules that it only increases the power of minions currently in play at the time the card is played, and not the power of minions played afterwards.

Rule: Abilities that say “Do X until Z” (e.g. “Each of your minions gains +1 power until the end of the turn”) only affect the cards currently in play, not those played after that ability triggers.

Q: An opponent plays Good Habits. On the same turn, I manage to play a minion afterward (e.g. Shinobi), does the new minion get +1 power from Good Habits?

A: The official answer is yes[1].

A: UPDATE. The Bigger Geekier Box now rules that it only increases the power of minions currently in play at the time the card is played, and not the power of minions played afterwards.

Rule: Abilities that say “Do X until Z” (e.g. “Each of your minions gains +1 power until the end of the turn”) only affect the cards currently in play, not those played after that ability triggers.

Q: Can you boost the power of minions in stasis?

A: No, cards in stasis cannot be affected by cards that do not explicitly state they work on cards in stasis.

Rule: Cards in stasis may not be affected by, or chosen as the target of, any ability that does not refer to stasis.

Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?

A: It doesn't interact with them at all. Remember that their mechanic is making a standard action affect an additional minion that wasn't already directly affected by it. Good Habits already affects all minions in play.

Rule: Do exactly what the card says.


Questions on Join the Club[]

Q: If I play Join the Club and then play another minion there afterward, does the new minion get +1 power from Join the Club?

A: The official answer is yes[1].

A: UPDATE. The Bigger Geekier Box now rules that it only increases the power of minions currently in play at the time the card is played, and not the power of minions played afterwards.

Rule: Abilities that say “Do X until Z” (e.g. “Each of your minions gains +1 power until the end of the turn”) only affect the cards currently in play, not those played after that ability triggers.

Q: An opponent plays Join the Club. On the same turn, I manage to play a minion there afterward (e.g. Shinobi), does the new minion get +1 power from Join the Club?

A: The official answer is yes[1].

A: UPDATE. The Bigger Geekier Box now rules that it only increases the power of minions currently in play at the time the card is played, and not the power of minions played afterwards.

Rule: Abilities that say “Do X until Z” (e.g. “Each of your minions gains +1 power until the end of the turn”) only affect the cards currently in play, not those played after that ability triggers.

Q: If I play Join the Club and then move a minion to the targeted base. Does the minion get +1 power from Join the Club?

A: Yes. Even though Join the Club is discarded, its effect still persists until the end of the turn, so any minion on the targeted base gets the boost.

A: UPDATE. The Bigger Geekier Box now rules that the power boost is granted as a definitive effect. The restriction to the base is only for when the card is played, so minions that didn't get the boost won't get it by later moving on the base.

Rule: On-play abilities are resolved only once and have no further effect.

Rule: An effect “until Y” lasts until Y even if the card that caused it leaves play or moves away, or even if any precondition stops being true.

Q: If I play Join the Club and then move a minion from the targeted base to another base. Does the minion lose the +1 power from Join the Club?

A: Yes. Even though Join the Club is discarded, its effect still persists until the end of the turn, so any minion on the targeted base gets the boost and any minion moved away from it loses it.

A: UPDATE. The Bigger Geekier Box now rules that the power boost is granted as a definitive effect. The restriction to the base is only for when the card is played, so minions that got the boost still keep it if they are moved to a different base.

Rule: On-play abilities are resolved only once and have no further effect.

Rule: An effect “until Y” lasts until Y even if the card that caused it leaves play or moves away, or even if any precondition stops being true.

Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?

A: It doesn't interact with them at all. Remember that their mechanic is making a standard action affect an additional minion that wasn't already directly affected by it. Join the Club already affects all minions on the base.

Rule: Do exactly what the card says.


Questions on Remove Curse[]

Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?

A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it doesn't affect any minions in play and so its effect can't be copied. Yes, destroying an action affects that action, but not the card (minion or base) it is on.

Rule: Definition of "affect".


Questions on Word of Recall[]

Q: If I play another player's Madness card and use it to draw two cards, where is the Madness card discarded?

A: You played it, so you've got control of, which makes you its owner as well. Non-standard actions are discarded into their owner's deck, so the Madness card goes into your discard pile, not the other player's.

Rule: The current possessor or controller of each Madness card is treated as its owner as well.

Q: This is so annoying to use. Each other player must first separate their actions from their discard pile, then shuffle them, then pick one at random.

A: The other players don't have to separate their discard pile into two. They can just shuffle their entire discard pile and reveal cards until they reveal an action. Each one will be that player's "random action".

Rule: N/A

Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?

A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it doesn't affect any minions in play and so its effect can't be copied.

Rule: Do exactly what the card says.

Trivia[]

  • The artists are John Kovalic, who is well-known for drawing the art of many boardgames including Munchkin and several of its expansions, and Francisco Rico Torres, who also designed the art of many other factions.
  • Their divider features Cardinal.
  • The font used for the Cleric cards is Quasimodo.
  • A Ghoul is being repelled by the Turners.
  • A Web Troll is present on both Curses cards.
  • Curse of Uselessness is the first card that stops a minion from contributing any power without reducing its power to 0.

In other languages[]

Language Name Translation (if different)
French Prêtres Priests
German Priester Priests
Russian Клирики
Spanish Clérigos


Smash Up: Munchkin
Factions: Clerics  •  Dwarves  •  Elves  •  Halflings  •  Mages  •  Orcs  •  Thieves  •  Warriors
Mechanics: +1 Power Counters  •  Monsters  •  Treasures
Sets
Main: Core Set  •  Awesome Level 9000  •  The Obligatory Cthulhu Set  •  Science Fiction Double Feature  •  Monster Smash  •  Pretty Pretty Smash Up  •  Smash Up: Munchkin  •  It’s Your Fault!  •  Cease and Desist  •  What Were We Thinking?  •  Big in Japan  •  That ’70s Expansion  •  Oops, You Did It Again  •  World Tour: International Incident  •  World Tour: Culture Shock  •  Smash Up: Marvel  •  Smash Up: Disney Edition  •  10th Anniversary  •  Excellent Movies, Dudes!
Big Boxes: The Big Geeky Box  •  The Bigger Geekier Box
Event Kits: All Stars Event Kit  •  TITANS Event Kit
Booster Packs: Smash Up All Stars  •  Smash Up Sheep Promo  •  Smash Up Penguins  •  Smash Up TITANS  •  Dead Reckoning Promo  •  Smash Up Goblins  •  Smash Up Knights of the Round Table  •  Smash Up Teens
Cancelled: World Tour Event Kit

References[]

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