Overview

Dungeon Lords is a strategy game where 2-4 players take on the roles of aspiring dungeon lords trying to earn their dungeon lord license from the Ministry of Dungeons. Over two years, players build and populate their dungeons during Building phases, then defend them against invading adventurers during Combat phases. The game alternates between worker-placement for resource management and tactical combat. After two years of building and fighting, players score points for dungeon quality, imprisoned adventurers, and various achievements. The player with the most points wins.

Components

• Central Board (2-sided for different player counts)
• Progress Board (2-sided: Building/Combat)
• Distant Lands Board
• 4 Dungeon Boards (double-sided: game/training)
• 4 sets of player components: 10 imp figures, 2 minion figures, Achievement Tile, Burrow Board (with quick reference), 8 Orders Cards, 2 Overview Cards, Evil Counter, Adventuring Party Marker
• Monster (and Ghost) Tiles (silver/gold-backed for Year 1/2)
• Room Tiles (silver/gold-backed)
• Adventurer Tiles (silver/gold-backed)
• Tunnel Tiles
• Trap Cards
• 9+9 Combat Cards (silver/gold for Year 1/2)
• 3 Event Tiles
• Special Event Cards (full game)
• Paladin tiles
• Damage Counters
• Food Tokens, Gold Tokens
• Imp figures (general supply), Troll figures
• Progress Marker, Starting Player Token
• Item Tokens (variant)

Setup

1. Place Central Board centrally (4-player side for 4 players; arrow side for 2-3).
2. Place Progress Board (Building side up). Put Progress Marker on first space.
3. Set up token banks: Food, Gold, Imp figures, Troll figures, Damage Counters, Tunnel Tiles.
4. Shuffle and stack Monster Tiles (gold-backed bottom, silver-backed top), Room Tiles (same), and Adventurer Tiles on Progress Board spaces.
5. Shuffle Trap Cards into a face-down deck.
6. Place Combat Cards: shuffle 9 silver-backed, choose 4 randomly for the Central Board. Shuffle 9 gold-backed, choose 4 for the Distant Lands Board.
7. Shuffle 3 Event Tiles and place face-down on spring, summer, fall spaces.
8. Place Paladins on their space (silver on top).
9. Each player takes their color components: Dungeon Board, 3 Minion Figures in office, 3 Tunnel Tiles (dark side up) on construction site, 3 Food, 3 Gold, 3 Imps in den, Evil Counter on Evilometer starting space. Shuffle Orders Cards; place 2 face-up as Inaccessible, keep 6 in hand.
10. In 2-3 player games, set up non-player Dungeon Boards with their own Orders Cards.
11. Give Starting Player Token to the nicest player (or random).

Turn Structure

The game spans 2 Years. Each Year has:

• Building Phase (4 rounds: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall)
• Combat Phase (4 rounds of adventurer attacks)

Building Round Phases (per Progress Board):

1. New Round: Reveal exhibitions, restock shops.
2. Orders: Each player secretly selects 3 Orders Cards from hand and places them face-down. Reveal simultaneously. Orders determine which action spaces on the Central Board players visit.
3. Resolve Actions: In player order, resolve each action space. Actions include:
   • Get Food, Get Gold
   • Buy/recruit Monsters (from the Underground Tavern)
   • Buy Traps
   • Mine Tunnels, Build Rooms
   • Hire Imps
   • Gain/lose Evil
4. Event: Reveal and resolve the round’s Event Tile.
5. Adventurers Arrive: (Spring, Summer, Fall) New adventurers appear. The most evil players attract the most powerful adventurers. If a player’s Evil reaches the paladin threshold, the paladin targets them.
6. Pay Day: Pay wages for monsters.

Combat Phase:

Adventurers enter the dungeon in a party of 3 (or 4 if a paladin is present). Combat runs over multiple rounds, one per dungeon tile:

1. Planning: Choose which trap (1 per tunnel, costs 1 Gold per room) and which monsters/ghosts to send.
2. Traps: Trap activates, dealing damage. Thieves in the party reduce trap damage.
3. Monsters Attack: Each monster attacks once then is knocked out. Ghosts are not monsters (no limit on ghosts per room). Attack types: standard (first adventurer), attack anyone, attack everyone.
4. Healing: Priests heal damage, but only if a monster attacked this round.
5. Fatigue and Conquering: Adventurers take 2 fatigue damage (to front adventurer first). If any adventurer survives, they conquer the tile (flip light side up).

Tunnels allow 1 trap + 1 monster (+ any ghosts). Rooms allow 1 trap (costs 1 Gold) + 2 monsters (+ any ghosts).

Actions

Evilometer

Tracks each player’s evil reputation. Higher evil attracts stronger adventurers. Reaching the paladin space causes the paladin to join the attacking party.

Monsters and Ghosts

Monsters are recruited from the Underground Tavern (require wages). Ghosts follow different rules and do not count toward monster limits. Each monster has unique attack abilities.

Traps

Purchased from the Trap deck. Various effects: direct damage, skip conquering, special conditions. Traps are one-use (discarded after activation).

Tunnels and Rooms

Tunnels are basic dungeon tiles. Rooms are upgraded tiles with more capacity but require Gold to trap.

Orders Cards

Each player has 8 unique Orders Cards. 2 start inaccessible; 6 in hand. Each round, play 3 secretly. Card selection is a key strategic decision.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

After the Second Year’s Combat, score points:

Positive Points:

• +1 per unconquered room
• +3 per monster remaining (not ghosts)
• +5 per imprisoned adventurer (eliminated during combat)
• +2 per imprisoned paladin (if applicable)

Negative Points:

• -2 per conquered dungeon tile
• -3 per unpaid tax

Titles (bonus points for majority):

• Lord of Dark Deeds (highest on Evilometer): +3 (or +2 in 2-player)
• Lord of Halls (most rooms): +3 (or +2)
• Lord of Imps (most imps): +1
• Lord of Riches (most food, gold, and unused traps): +1

Player with the most points wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Non-player boards (2-3 players): Use extra Dungeon Boards with automated Orders Cards to block action spaces.
• Adventurer party order: Warriors go first (take damage), thieves reduce trap damage, priests heal after monster attacks, wizards cast spells.
• Fatigue damage is dealt 1 point at a time (if the front adventurer dies, remaining fatigue goes to the next).
• Knocked out monsters return face-down to the lair after combat; they are available again after the last combat round.
• Priests only heal if a monster dealt damage that round (trap damage alone does not trigger healing).
• Full game additions: 9 Special Event Cards add variety to Building events. Item Tokens provide an optional variant.
• First game simplification: Use simplified rules (no Special Events, no Items).

Player Reference

Game Structure: Build (4 rounds) -> Combat (4 rounds) -> Build (4 rounds) -> Combat (4 rounds) -> Score

Building Round: New Round -> Orders -> Actions -> Event -> Adventurers -> Pay Day

Combat Round: Planning -> Traps -> Monsters -> Healing -> Fatigue/Conquering

Tunnel: 1 trap + 1 monster + any ghosts Room: 1 trap (costs 1 Gold) + 2 monsters + any ghosts

Scoring: Unconquered rooms, monsters, imprisoned adventurers; minus conquered tiles and unpaid taxes