How to Play

Lords of Waterdeep

2-5 players 60-120 min 7.7 Board Game Geek Rating

In this worker placement strategy game for 2-5 players, you're a secret ruler of Waterdeep recruiting adventurers for quests. Deploy agents to gather resources, complete missions, construct buildings, and play intrigue cards against rivals. Earn points through quest completion, building construction, and forcing opponents to use your properties. Highest score after eight rounds wins.

Published 2012

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Unfold the game board

Place the board in the center of the table within reach of all players

Choose player colors

Each player selects one of five faction colors (Knights of the Shield, City Guard, Silverstars, Harpers, or Red Sashes)

Take agents based on player count

2 players take 4 agents each, 3 players take 3 agents each, 4-5 players take 2 agents each

Place reserve agent

Each player places one additional agent near the fifth space on the round track

Position scoring markers

Each player places their round wooden scoring marker on the "0" space of the scoring track

Collect player mat

Each player takes the mat matching their faction color

Prepare the supply

Place all adventurer cubes (white Clerics, orange Fighters, black Rogues, purple Wizards) and gold tokens near the board

Set up building tiles

Draw 3 building tiles and place them face-up in Builder's Hall; place remaining tiles as a face-down stack

Prepare card decks

Shuffle Quest cards, Intrigue cards, and Lord cards separately; place Quest and Intrigue decks on their designated board spaces

Deal Lord cards

Deal 1 face-down Lord card to each player; keep your identity secret; return unused Lord cards to the box

Deal Quest cards

Deal 2 face-up Quest cards to each player as their active quests; place 1 face-up Quest card on each of the 4 spaces in Cliffwatch Inn

Deal Intrigue cards

Deal 2 face-down Intrigue cards to each player; keep these hidden from opponents

Place victory point tokens

Place 3 VP tokens on each space of the round track

Determine first player

The player who most recently visited another city receives the First Player marker

Distribute starting gold

First player receives 4 gold; each subsequent player clockwise receives 1 additional gold (5, 6, 7, 8)

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Assign one agent

Place one agent from your pool onto an unoccupied action space of any building; you must assign if you have available agents

Execute the action

Immediately perform all instructions associated with that action space; this can only be done once per assignment

Collect adventurers

When an action provides adventurers, take the indicated cubes from the supply and place them in your Tavern

Collect gold

When an action provides gold, take the indicated amount from the supply and place it in your Tavern

Complete a quest (optional)

After assigning an agent, you may complete one active quest by paying the required adventurers and gold from your Tavern

Handle Mandatory Quests

You cannot complete any other quest until all Mandatory Quests assigned to you are completed first

Purchase buildings at Builder's Hall

Pay the gold cost, place the building on an empty board space with your control marker, gain any VP tokens on it

Play Intrigue cards at Waterdeep Harbor

You must play one Intrigue card from your hand when assigning to this location

Reassign agents from Waterdeep Harbor

After all agents are assigned, players with agents in Waterdeep Harbor reassign them to other available action spaces in order (space 1, then 2, then 3)

Gain owner benefits

When you assign to another player's building, that owner immediately receives the benefit shown in the Owner section

Draw cards

When instructed, draw from the appropriate deck (Quest or Intrigue) and add to your hand or active quests

Round start procedures

At the beginning of each round, remove VP tokens from the current round track space and add 1 VP token to each face-up building in Builder's Hall

Fifth round bonus

At the start of round 5, each player adds the extra agent from beside the round track to their agent pool

End of round cleanup

After all agents are assigned and Waterdeep Harbor agents are reassigned, all players return their agents to their pools