How to Play Lords of Waterdeep: Agents, Quests & Buildings
Lords of Waterdeep is an eight-round worker-placement game. Players secretly represent Lords who send Agents to buildings around the city, recruit adventurers, collect gold, take Quests, play Intrigue cards and construct new buildings.
Base-game guide. This excludes Scoundrels of Skullport and its Corruption system.
Each round, players alternate placing one Agent
Choose one of your available Agents and place it on an open action space. Resolve that space immediately. Most spaces accept only one Agent for the round unless the building says otherwise.
Core actions provide adventurers, gold, quests and Intrigue cards
Adventurer cubes represent Clerics, Fighters, Rogues and Wizards. Quests list the adventurers and gold required to complete them. Other spaces provide money, new Quests, Intrigue cards or special flexibility.
Complete Quests when you can pay their requirements
On your turn, after resolving your Agent’s space, you may complete an eligible Quest by returning the required adventurers and gold. Gain its VP reward and any printed ongoing or immediate benefit.
Mandatory Quests can restrict an opponent
Some Intrigue effects assign a Mandatory Quest. A player with one must complete it before completing ordinary Quests, making it a tempo tool as well as a source of points.
Buildings add new action spaces
Castle Waterdeep’s building action lets players purchase available buildings by paying their gold cost. Place the building on an open board space. Its owner usually receives a benefit when another player later sends an Agent there.
Waterdeep Harbor resolves Intrigue cards, then redeploys Agents
Agents assigned to Harbor spaces let you play Intrigue cards. At the end of the round, those Harbor Agents are reassigned to legal empty action spaces in order, effectively giving them an additional placement after most other Agents have acted.
At the end of round 8, reveal Lords and score
After the eighth round, complete final scoring. Add end-game bonuses from your hidden Lord card and any remaining-resource scoring specified by the rulebook to the VP already earned from Quests and other effects.
Continue learning
Source: Wizards of the Coast: Lords of Waterdeep rulebook. Checked September 20, 2026.