Viscounts of the West Kingdom FAQ
196 questions players ask · Updated Nov 7, 2026 · Full rulebook
Components and General Rules
- Does the game come with 40 or 50 silver coins?
- Is Viscounts of the West Kingdom a 1 to 6 player game?
- Which components are limited: workers, buildings, resources, silver?
- Can I play a Townsfolk card with the same name as one already in play or in my discard pile?
- Which card effects are optional and which are mandatory?
- Are Discard and Destroy effects mandatory or optional?
Setup and Starting Cards
- Do the Debts and Deeds from my Player Card come from the Poverty and Prosperity piles?
- If a starting card gives a free Townsfolk, where does it go and do I get its hire effect?
- Which Townsfolk can a starting card give me?
- Where can I place the free Trading Post from starting card 8?
- Which Manuscript can I take for free with a starting card?
- On starting card 3, do I flip one of the Debts or Deeds I just took?
- On the starting resource card that gives a Debt and a flip, do I get the flip's resource?
- Where do the two free workers from a starting card go in the Castle?
- Is the Destroy on the starting card optional, and do I gain Silver?
- Do I place all three starting cards on my board at the start?
- What do the red numbers on the main board mean?
- Can I rearrange the Castle tiles between games, or must I keep them punched in place?
- What happens to the Hero cards nobody drafted?
Turn Order, Movement and Cards
- Does each player finish all phases of their turn before the next player starts?
- When does a drop-off effect resolve relative to placing my new card?
- Does discarding a card trigger its drop-off effect?
- Can I draw back up to my hand limit before I play a card?
- What if I am at or above my hand limit, or my Draw Pile runs out while drawing?
- What does the rule about never having fewer than 3 cards on my board mean?
- Can I look through my Draw Pile to pick a card to discard or destroy?
- Do I gain Silver when I destroy or discard a card?
- Can Rearrange move a card into an empty space on my board?
- If a Rearrange moves the card I just played, is my movement still based on that card?
- Does passing through another Viscount's space let them rearrange?
- What does the +0/1 movement on the first Trading Post mean?
- Where can I take a free Townsfolk hire from?
- If I hire a card that shuffles my discards, is the hired card included?
- Can I dismiss a Townsfolk and also recruit one in the same turn?
- Do hire and dismiss effects (top right) resolve?
- Do ongoing abilities still work once the card is in my discard pile?
- Do icons on cards in my discard pile count for my primary action?
Primary Actions
- Can I take more than one primary action, or build more than one building, in a turn?
- Do I need a matching icon on my board to take a primary action?
- What happens if I cannot afford any primary action?
- Do I declare how much I spend before resolving the action?
- Can I pay for less than I could afford, like building a Workshop when I could build a Guildhall?
- Which actions does my Viscount's space allow?
- Can I dismiss a Townsfolk whose icons do not match my action?
- Can icons from a dismissed card be converted by Benefactor or Strongman?
- Can I dismiss a Townsfolk if I can't afford any primary action?
- What does a Trade action give me?
- Where can I place a building when I construct?
- In what order do I get the Building Spot reward and Link reward?
- Must I build the left-most building on my player board first?
- When does the first Workshop's discard ability trigger?
- Can I transcribe a Manuscript without Cleric icons?
- When I take a Manuscript, do I get its immediate effect, even if a second Manuscript is involved?
- Must a free Manuscript from a card be a black-backed one?
- What happens when a Manuscript pile or Townsfolk pile runs out?
Castle and Workers
- In what order do I move Castle workers when I have three in a section?
- If other first-tier sections end up with three of my workers, do I resolve them again?
- How do four workers in one section resolve before bumping?
- Can sideways Castle moves move other players' workers?
- Do other players' workers also move after my Castle action?
- What does the tier-2 move-a-worker icon do?
- Is the bumped-worker reward paid per worker?
- What if I run out of workers, or am asked to place more than I have?
- Does a tie in tier-3 workers change the Castle Leader?
- Where do workers from a Manuscript or card go and are they resolved immediately?
Virtue, Corruption and Collisions
- Do I gain Virtue or Corruption every time I shuffle, or only when my Draw Pile runs out?
- If I have no discards and the shuffle is skipped, do I still gain Virtue or Corruption?
- Is a reshuffle icon mandatory even if I still have cards in my Draw Pile?
- When I reshuffle, do the other players also check for Virtue or Corruption?
- When do I gain Corruption from Criminal icons: when I play the card or every turn?
- If I dismiss a Criminal Townsfolk, do I gain Corruption?
- Are Criminal icons wild, and do they count at end-game scoring?
- Can a Criminal icon count as an action icon my board does not otherwise have, and can one count as two icons?
- If I gain Corruption and Virtue at the same time, which resolves first?
- When is a collision resolved, and what happens to the markers afterwards?
- In what order are collision effects resolved?
- Does the second Workshop's Virtue gain apply to every collision or only my own?
- Do collision effects on cards and the four-meeple collision icon affect all players?
- What does the Criminal-icon condition on a collision mean for the other players?
- Where is the shuffle Virtue/Corruption reminder?
Townsfolk Cards and Abilities
- Can Townsfolk conversion and payment abilities be used more than once per turn?
- How do the arrow icons on Townsfolk work?
- Can ongoing abilities work on other players' turns?
- How does the Debt Collector work?
- How does the Racketeer work?
- What does the Trader give me?
- How do Benefactor, Strongman and Traveler convert icons?
- How do Diplomat and Mason pay for icons?
- Does the Woodcutter give Virtue per Stone used or once per build?
- How do Artist, Priest and Sculptor work?
- How does Emma work for Manuscripts?
- Can Larena's discount apply to both a dismiss and a recruit?
- What do the Enforcer and Bishop do?
- Does Overseer's trash resolve before the action?
- What do the green X and white X on Townsfolk cards mean?
- Does Ada's collision ability resolve before the markers are evaluated?
Debts, Deeds and Game End
- What if a flip effect asks me to flip a Debt or Deed and I have none?
- Can resources or Silver I gain during an action pay for that same action?
- What happens after the Poverty or Prosperity card is revealed?
- Can I still gain Debts and Deeds during the final round?
- Can both the Poverty and Prosperity cards be revealed?
- Who wins a tie at the end of the game?
- How do the Poverty and Prosperity rewards work in a 2-player or solo game?
- How are ties for Poverty or Prosperity rewards split?
- How many VP are Debts and Deeds worth at the end?
Manuscripts and End-Game Scoring
- Which icons count for Manuscripts that score per icon at game end?
- Do ongoing Townsfolk conversions (like Strongman) count during final scoring?
- How do Manuscript ribbon sets score?
- How does the Manuscript that scores per building work?
- How does the Manuscript scoring per two Castle workers count?
- How does the Manuscript worth 1 VP per two Manuscripts work?
- How do Manuscripts with a flag and an icon below it score?
- Do icons on Cleric Bonus Cards count for end-game Manuscripts?
- Can the Cleric icons on Manuscripts I already own pay for new ones?
Solo Play (AI)
- Does the solo AI gain Virtue or Corruption when it reshuffles?
- Do Criminal icons on the AI board count for its Corruption and wild actions?
- When does the AI resolve a collision, and for whose collisions do its icons apply?
- What does the AI do when told to flip a card and cannot?
- Which card type does the AI flip?
- Does the AI ever gain or spend Silver?
- Does the card-focused AI treat all resources as the same?
- How does the AI place workers in the Castle?
- What does the AI get when I bump its workers?
- Which building does the AI build and where?
- What does the AI gain when it dismisses a Townsfolk?
- How do Future Scheme cards get added and scored for the AI?
- How does the AI score Manuscripts?
- How does the Manuscript AI choose and take a Manuscript?
- Which Scheme and Future Scheme cards do I remove at solo setup?
- Where do the AI's starting Debts and Deeds come from in solo?
- What does the AI do when it cannot perform its Focus action?
- Does a revealed building bonus apply when the AI draws a Future Scheme?
- What happens when I land on the AI's space?
- Who takes the last turn in solo?
The West Kingdom TomesagaExpansion
- Do I need Architects to play the Tomesaga campaign?
- Can the Tomesaga campaign be played solo or with an AI opponent?
- How many players can play the Tomesaga?
- What is a major victory in the Tomesaga?
- When do I gain a Tome and what if two players qualify together?
- What do Crests do?
- Should players keep the same seats across campaign games?
- Can I use variable player powers in the Tomesaga Architects game?
- Do victory tomes give bonuses in later campaign games?
- What counts as a worker for tomes that pay provisions per worker on an unchosen tavern card?
- Do temporary Paladin boosts count toward a Tome's attribute requirement?
- Can a new player join a Tomesaga campaign partway through?
- Does the Tome that counts Townsfolk count recruited ones I dismiss?
- Does the Architects tome that pays 2 silver to avoid a debt work in Viscounts?
- Can I remove both Overlord workers from a space in co-op?
- How is the 2-player Viscounts co-op setup arranged?
- Is placing a worker to block Overlord workers optional in Viscounts co-op?
- How do the extra co-op points for flipped Debts and Deeds work?
- Can Paladins co-op be played solo?
- Can I share action rewards with my partner in Paladins co-op?
- Do starting Townsfolk need influence in Paladins co-op?
- Is Paladin selection open information in co-op?
- How does the Architects co-op Overlord place workers?
- Does the Overlord count as a player for the Guildhall end-game trigger?
- In Architects co-op, is paying off a Debt and donating it separate, and what does an Overlord demand require?
- Can Architects co-op be played with six players?
- How do capture icons work with Overlord workers?
Viscounts of the West Kingdom: Gates of GoldExpansion
- Do I start with a King's Order, and where does it go?
- Can I take a King's Order instead of hiring a Townsfolk?
- What happens to a King's Order or Hero that slides off my board?
- Do I need a King's Order to refuse an Outsider, and when do I get the 3 coins?
- Can Arnulf and Louis welcome or refuse Outsiders without a King's Order?
- Can I discard or destroy an Outsider?
- Is there a hand limit in Gates of Gold?
- Can I play Gates of Gold with five players?
- What do Smithy, Huntsman, Ferryman and Profiteer's trade-with-lightning icons do?
- How does Scarlette's Manuscript action work?
- Are the Overseer, Woodcutter and Deacon moves mandatory?
- How does the Envoy's extra ribbon score?
- What does a red X on an action requirement mean?
- What does the 3/4 Manuscript icon on the Scholar do?
- How do Rogue and Assassin interact with Poverty and Prosperity scoring?
- Is the Gates of Gold bonus to hire at full price mandatory?
- What does the AI do when directed to take a Hero card?
- Should base and Gates of Gold hero cards be shuffled together?
- Does the starting Manuscript on the board count toward sets and Cleric Bonus?
Viscounts of the West Kingdom: Keeper of KeysExpansion
- When does a Chest Tile pay out?
- If a Rearrange moves a card off a Chest Tile, do the chest's extra icons still count?
- Do Chest Tiles respond to Criminal icons or count in end-game Manuscripts?
- How does a chest that converts a Cleric icon into two other icons work?
- Does building a Public Guildhall move my Corruption marker?
- What does a half-number starting position (like 3.5) mean?
- Where does the solo AI start with Keeper of Keys player cards?
- How do chests interact with the solo AI?
- How does the new Scheme Card work for the AI?
- Can Keeper of Keys be played with five players?
- How does the Shieldmaiden score her lock symbols?
- What does the upward green arrow on Isabette or Engelier mean?
- Can I exceed my hand limit with a card or Hero from Journeyman?
- Do public buildings count as my buildings?
- What do I pay to build a public building?
- Does acquiring a Hero count as a hire?