Scythe Setup Guide: Faction Mats, Player Mats, Factory Cards & First Player

ByBoardGame Archive

Scythe setup is asymmetric: every player begins with a Faction Mat and a Player Mat, and those two components determine starting power, popularity, coins, cards, action costs and special abilities. This guide covers the original base game with current Stonemaier rules and FAQ/errata.

Quick answer: prepare the shared decks and encounter tokens, use player count + 1 Factory cards, randomly deal one Faction Mat and one Player Mat to each player, then set each faction from the printed starting values. The player with the lowest number on their Player Mat goes first.

1. Prepare the shared board

Place the game board where every player can reach the map and tracks. Put one encounter token on each printed encounter territory. Keep wood, metal, oil, food, coins and multiplier tokens in a shared supply beside the board.

Shuffle the combat, encounter and objective decks and place them on their designated board spaces.

2. Prepare the Factory cards

Shuffle the purple Factory cards and randomly select a number equal to the number of players plus one. Place those cards face down on the Factory space and return the rest to the box without looking at them.

This matters later because a character reaching the Factory for the first time may choose one of the remaining Factory cards. The first visitor therefore sees the largest selection.

3. Choose the structure bonus tile

Randomly select one structure bonus tile and place it face up at the bottom of the Popularity Track. Return the unused tiles to the box. The selected tile affects endgame structure scoring, so all players should be able to see it before play begins.

4. Deal a Faction Mat and Player Mat to each player

Randomly deal one Faction Mat and one Player Mat to each player. These are two different systems: the Faction Mat gives the faction ability, mech abilities and some starting information, while the Player Mat controls the four action sections, starting economy and upgrade paths.

Use the current publisher FAQ when randomizing combinations. Rusviet–Industrial and Crimea–Patriotic are banned combinations under the current official guidance, with the publisher’s stated first-game exception for completely new players.

For the full abilities and pairing rules, see our Scythe factions and Player Mats guide.

5. Seat players near their faction home bases

Players should sit near the home base printed for their faction. The standard board is fixed rather than modular; the separately sold Modular Board uses a different setup procedure.

6. Set up each Faction Mat

Take the pieces matching your faction. Place your character on your faction home base. Put one worker on each of the two land territories adjacent to that home base, for two workers on the map at the start.

Place the four mechs on their spaces on the Faction Mat and the six star tokens in the faction area. Set your Power Track marker to the value shown on the Faction Mat and draw the listed number of combat cards.

7. Set up each Player Mat

Place your technology cubes, remaining workers, structures and recruit tokens on the spaces printed on your Player Mat. Set your Popularity Track marker to the printed starting value, take the printed starting coins and draw the number of objective cards indicated by the mat.

Keep your action token available beside the four action sections. Do not place resources into a private stockpile: resources produced during the game stay on map territories.

8. Determine the first player

Look at the number printed on each Player Mat. The player with the lowest Player Mat number takes the first turn, and play proceeds clockwise.

Scythe setup checklist

  • Encounter tokens placed on all encounter territories.
  • Combat, encounter and objective decks shuffled.
  • Factory cards = player count + 1.
  • One structure bonus tile revealed.
  • Faction and Player Mats dealt, with banned combinations checked.
  • Character on home base; two workers on adjacent land territories.
  • Starting power, popularity, coins, combat cards and objective cards set from the mats.
  • Lowest-numbered Player Mat starts.

Common Scythe setup mistakes

Using all Factory cards

Only player count + 1 are used in the standard setup.

Giving every player identical starting values

Scythe is asymmetric. Starting power, popularity, coins and cards can differ because the mats define them.

Moving resources off the board

Resources are produced onto territories and stay there until spent or moved through control of units.

Treating the base board as modular

The standard board is fixed. The Modular Board is a separate accessory with its own setup.

Continue learning Scythe

Official sources

Checked September 27, 2026. Base multiplayer setup only; Automa, Modular Board and expansion modules can change setup.

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