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How to play
Grounded in Lords of Waterdeep's rulebook — cite-checked answers, not guesses.
Get a straight answer with the exact rulebook passage to back it up.
The easy-to-forget bits, straight from the rulebook.
First player
The player who has most recently been to another city goes first.
Starting Gold
The starting player gets 4 GOLD, and each subsequent player to their left receives 1 more GOLD than the player to their right.
Game end
The game ends after 8 rounds of play.
Lord cards
At the start of the game, each player is dealt a Lord card face down, kept secret until final scoring.
Extra Agent
At the start of Round 5, each player takes an extra Agent piece and adds it to their pool for the rest of the game.
VP tokens on Buildings
At the start of each round, 1 VP token is placed on each face-up Building in Builder's Hall.
Sample Wares
If a second Sample Wares card is played in the same turn, the second Agent cannot be assigned to a Building in Builder's Hall that already has an Agent on it.
To set up the game of Lords of Waterdeep, follow these steps: * Unfold and place the game board in the center of the play area. * Each player chooses a color and takes their Agents based on the number of players: 4 Agents for 2 players, 3 Agents for 3 players, or 2 Agents for 4-5 players [SETUP]. * Additionally, each player places 1 more Agent of their color near the Round 5 space on the rounds track [SETUP]. * Each player places their score marker on the "0" position of the scoring track [SETUP]. * Place the Adventurer cubes and Gold tokens within easy reach to form the supply [SETUP]. * Place the Building stack, Quest deck, and Intrigue deck in their appropriate spaces on the game board [SETUP]. * Draw 3 Building tiles and place them face up in the 3 spaces in Builder's Hall[SETUP]. * Each player takes a player mat [SETUP]. * Deal 1 Lord card face down to each player [SETUP]. * Deal 2 Quest cards face up to each player [SETUP]. Then, place 1 face-up Quest card in each of the 4 spaces of Cliffwatch Inn [SETUP]. * Shuffle the Intrigue cards and deal 2 cards face down to each player[SETUP]. * Place 3 Victory Point tokens on each space of the rounds track [SETUP]. * The player who has most recently been to another city goes first; give that player the First Player marker[SETUP]. * The starting player receives 4 Gold[SETUP]. Each subsequent player, moving to the left, receives 1 more Gold than the player to their right until all players have received their starting Gold[SETUP].
During your turn, if you have Agents available to assign, you can take one or both of the following actions: * **Assign Agent** You assign 1 of your Agents from your pool by placing it on an unoccupied action space of a Building. When you assign an Agent, you follow the instructions for that action space. You cannot pass your turn if you have Agents available; you must assign one. * **Complete Quest**
The game is played over eight rounds. The player with the most Victory Points (VP) at the end of the final round is the winner. This is determined during final scoring, which occurs after the eighth round of play. During final scoring, players count up VP from several sources: * Each Adventurer in your Tavern is worth 1 VP. * Every 2 gold in your Tavern (rounding down) is worth 1 VP. * Lord cards provide bonus VP as specified on the card. Each player reveals their secret Lord card at the start of final scoring and scores the bonus VP described on it. The player with the most VP after final scoring wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most gold wins.
Rules summaries are AI-generated from the official rulebook and may contain mistakes — check the manual for anything critical.
Scoring in Lords of Waterdeep works as follows: The game is played over eight rounds, and the player with the most Victory Points (VP) at the end of the final round is the winner. Throughout the game, you score Victory Points mainly by completing Quests. Some Buildings and other game effects also provide Victory Points. Unpurchased Buildings accumulate Victory Points over time. At the end of the game, during Final Scoring, each player counts up their Victory Points: * Each Adventurer in your Tavern is worth 1 Victory Point. * Every 2 Gold in your Tavern (rounding down) is worth 1 Victory Point. * Each player reveals their secret Lord card and scores the bonus Victory Points described on it. The player with the most Victory Points after final scoring is the winner. In the event of a tie, the player with the most Gold wins.
The game of Lords of Waterdeep ends after 8 rounds of play. At the end of the eighth round, final scoring is performed for each player. During final scoring, players count up Victory Points (VP) for: * Each Adventurer in their Tavern, which is 1 VP. * Every 2 Gold in their Tavern (rounding down), which is 1 VP. * Their Lord card, as specified by the card. The player with the most VP after final scoring is the winner. In the event of a tie, the player with the most Gold wins.