Architects of the West Kingdom: Age of Artisans — Rules Manual

game design - shem phillips & s j macdonald
illustration - mihajlo dimitrievski
graphic design & layouts - shem phillips

copyright 2020 garphill games
www.garphill.com

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introduction
In Architects of the West Kingdom: Age of Artisans, journeymen have returned to the city as master craftsmen,
equipped with knowledge of new crafts and tools. The guildhall has never been so busy! While some apprentices
spend time learning new skills, others adorn the city’s buildings with everything from golden tapestries, to stained
glass windows. But don’t let the shimmer of lights and fancy wares deceive you. For not all that glitters is gold.
components
2 Orange
Player Markers
1 Score Pad
1 Guildhall Board
24 Craft Cards1 Black Market
Overlay Card
12 Building Cards
(Marked with a )
12 Apprentice Cards
(Marked with a )
6 Player
Aids
2 Double-sided Player Boards
20 Orange Workers
6 Artisans
(In 6 Colours)

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3
setup
Setup Architects of the West Kingdom as described in the original rulebook, with the following changes:

1. Place the Guildhall Board over the top of the original Guildhall area of the Main Board. Also place the Black
Market Overlay Card in the middle space of the Black Market, covering the original iconography.

2. When preparing the Apprentice and Building Card draw piles, shuffle the new expansion cards into their
respective piles.

3. Shuffle all Craft Cards and place them in a facedown pile above the Guildhall. From the top of the pile, reveal
and place 4 Craft Cards faceup in a row along the top of the Main Board.

4. When choosing player colours, Orange is now also an option. If using the Standard Setup, the Orange player
may use either of the new Player Boards. If using the Variable Setup, Side 2 of these Player Boards provide
new powers and starting configurations for players to choose from
(see page 12).

5. Each player takes 1 Player Aid and 1 Artisan in their chosen colour.

6. In reverse turn order, each player hires
(at no cost), 1 faceup Apprentice from the Main Board. Once all
players have chosen a starting Apprentice, reveal new Apprentice Cards to replace those that were taken.
This Apprentice draft should be done before players draft Building Cards. Be sure to lose or gain Virtue from
chosen Apprentices if necessary.

Notes for games with 6 players:
- As with the 5 player game, the game ends once all spaces in the Guildhall have been filled with Workers.
- The base game rules require players to add “2 cards per player, plus 1” to the Reward deck. However, there
are not enough Reward Cards in the original game to make this true for 6 players. In this case, just use all
possible cards. If using any additional Reward Cards from future expansions or promos, be sure to refer
back to the original setup rules
(2 per player, plus 1).

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4
guildhall board
The new Guildhall Board includes 2 new possible actions (crafting Adornments and
Tools)
, and also 3 spaces that now trigger an Apprentice reset.

To craft an Adornment or Tool, players must lay down 1 of their Workers on top of 1 of
their previously placed Workers in the Guildhall. Players cannot place Workers on top
of their opponents’ Workers. Players can never have more than 2 Workers on a single
Guildhall space.

When placing the first Worker over 1 of the Guildhall spaces containing these
icons, discard both Apprentices in the left-most column on the Main Board and
refill the empty spaces as normal. This should only happen after the current
player has completed their turn in full. Any Silver on discarded Apprentice Cards
should be returned to the Supply.
crafting adornments
Adornments reward players with immediate benefits and additional Victory
Points at the game’s end. To craft an Adornment, players should follow
these steps:

1. Place a Worker from their supply on top of 1 of their previously placed Workers in
the Guildhall.

2. Pay 2 Silver to the Tax Stand and 3 Silver to the Supply.

3. Select 1 of the 4 Craft Cards above the Main Board. Note that these are multi-use
cards. When crafting an Adornment, players are only concerned with the top
section of each card.

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5
4. Tuck the crafted Adornment underneath 1 of their previously constructed Building Cards, so that only
the top section of the card can be seen.

Important Rules: Players can only have 1 Adornment attached to each Building. If players do not have an
available Building in front of them, they cannot craft an Adornment.

5. Resolve the immediate benefits
(or punishments) of the Adornment.

6. Turn over the top Craft Card from the draw pile to replace the card that was
taken. If there are no more cards in the draw pile, nothing happens. These cards
are intended to be a limited resource.

For example, a player just placed 1 of their Workers on top of 1 of their previously
placed Workers in the Guildhall. They paid the required Silver and decided to craft
the Adornment seen here to the right. They tucked the Adornment behind their
Courtyard and gained 3 Clay from the supply, as indicated on the Adornment.
This Adornment will also score them an additional 3 VP at the game’s end.

Once attached to a Building, Adornments cannot be moved to a different Building.
Reactivate the immediate
reward of the attached
Building
(attaching this
to an end-game scoring
Building has no effect).
Release all your captured
Workers or make 1
Capture.
Discard all Apprentices
from the Main Board.
Reveal 8 new Apprentices,
then Hire 1 at no cost.
Release all your Workers
from Prison.
Adornment Effects
Most Adornments either reward resources, gain Debts, or affect Virtue. However, there are a few that may
require more clarification:

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crafting tools
6
Tools upgrade Apprentices with new abilities and earn additional Victory Points at the game’s end.
To craft a Tool, players should follow these steps:

1. Either place a Worker from their supply on top of 1 of their previously placed Workers in the Guildhall, or place
a Worker at the middle space of the Black Market
(this costs 2 Silver and 1 Virtue, rather than committing a
Worker to the Guildhall permanently).

2. Select 1 of the 4 Craft Cards above the Main Board. Note that these are multi-use cards. When crafting a Tool,
players are only concerned with the bottom section of each card.

3. Tuck the crafted Tool Card underneath 1 of their Apprentices, so that only the bottom section of the card can be
seen.

Important Rules: Players can only have 1 Tool attached to each Apprentice. If players do not have an
available Apprentice in front of them, they cannot craft a Tool.

4. Turn over the top Craft Card from the draw pile to replace the card that was taken.
If there are no more cards in the draw pile, nothing happens. These cards are
intended to be a limited resource.

For example, a player just placed 1 of their Workers on top of 1 of their previously
placed Workers in the Guildhall. They crafted the Tool seen here and tucked it
behind their Trader Apprentice. From now on, once per turn, when using their
Trader, they may also choose to lose 1 Virtue to gain 1 Marble. As this was their
first Tool, this will score them 1 VP at the game’s end. Players are reminded of
how Apprentices are scored along the bottom for their new Player Aids.

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7
Attaching Tools to Apprentices can create a variety of weird and wonderful combinations. For this reason, there
are a few important rules to outline:

- Each Tool can only be activated once per player turn or Black Market Reset.

For example, regardless of how many times this Debt Collector is used in a player’s
turn, it will only ever reward 1 Silver that turn (not 1 per Debt paid).

- Players must be able to benefit from an Apprentice’s ability in order to activate the
effect of their Tool. However, if this would be true, players may decide to resolve a
Tool before resolving their Apprentice.

For example, if a player needed 6 Silver to pay off their Debt, but only had 5, they
could activate the Tool from their Debt Collector (gaining 1 Silver), as this would
allow them to pay off a Debt, therefore activating their Debt Collector’s ability.
In other words, Tools can be treated as a reward, or as a discount when applicable.

- Once attached to an Apprentice, Tools cannot be moved or removed. If however, an
Apprentice must be discarded by some effect, any Tool they had may be repurposed
to 1 of their other available Apprentices. In the rare case that this is not possible,
they must discard the Tool from the game.

Note that some combinations should be avoided strategically. For example, having a Tool that captures Workers
when taking an action would not pair well with the abilities of Squires or Peddlers (it would never activate the
Tool, as their abilities activate during a Black Market Reset).

More examples of how Tools and Apprentices can work together can be found on the next page.
Tool Effects

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8
tool & apprentice examples
To offer some more clarity around how some Apprentices and Tools can work together, here are a few examples:
This Tool is never
activated. Instead,
it provides this
Abbot with 1
more Skill of each
type. This counts
for constructing
Buildings and
also when scoring
Buildings such as
the Mason’s Hut and
Dormitory.
During each Black
Market Reset, this
Squire will earn 1
Gold if they have no
Workers in Prison.
However, if they
had only 1 Worker
in Prison, this Tool
would allow them
to free that Prisoner,
as it would result
in their Squire
benefiting from the
Tool’s ability.
When placing
a Worker at the
Town Centre, the
Antagonist always
acts as if they have
an extra Worker
present. As this is a
passive ability, their
Tool will activate
every time they use
the Town Centre,
gaining them 1
Building Card.
This Strongman
allows players to
pay 2 less Silver
when placing their
Artisan. If they
benefited from this
Strongman’s ability,
they may also
immediately capture
up to 2 Workers
of a single colour
(but not their own
Artisan)
from the
location where they
placed their Artisan
(captures with this
Tool must always
be from their placed
worker’s location).
This Conspirator
allows players to
pay 1 less Silver
when capturing
Workers. The first
capture always
requires 1 Tax to be
paid. However, they
may use the Silver
they would gain
from the Tool to pay
the Tax requirement
of the first capture
(but only if they
were to make a
second capture,
therefore activating
their Conspirator
that turn).

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9
artisans
Each player now has 1 Artisan. For most intents and purposes, this is like any other Worker. However,
there are some additional rules for this unique Worker:

- When placing an Artisan, it counts as 2 Workers. However, it only counts as a single Worker on future turns.

For example, if a player, having no Workers at the Forest, placed their Artisan there, they would gain 2 Wood.
However, on their next turn, if they placed a regular Worker at the Forest, they would still only gain 2 Wood
(as their Artisan now only counts as a single Worker, not as 2 when it was placed).

- When placing an Artisan, it may ignore 1 Virtue loss.
For example, if a player used their Artisan at the Tax Stand, they would only lose 1 Virtue, rather than 2.
Likewise, if they used their Artisan to hire an apprentice that would usually result in a Virtue loss, they would
ignore it.

Players are reminded of these 2 Artisan abilities on their new Player Aids.

Artisans can be captured, just like any other Worker. They are still worth only 1 Silver when sent to Prison and
count as just 1 Worker while in Prison. As a general rule, any action that can affect a regular Worker, can also
affect an Artisan in the same way. Artisans may never be placed into the Guildhall.
= Any Worker (regular or Artisan) = Artisan

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10
end-game scoring
The game ends in the same way as the original game. Players can use the provided Score Pad to tally up their
scores. In addition to the original scoring steps, players also score Victory Points for their Adornments and Tools.

Adornments score Victory Points as indicated in the top right of each card.
Players score increasing amounts of Victory Points, with each Tool they acquire.

For example, as seen on the Player Aid here, if a player had 3 Tools, they would
score 4 VP, whereas 5 Tools would score a total of 9 VP.
solo variant
Setup the Solo Variant for Architects of the West Kingdom as described in the original rulebook, with the
additional steps also outlined on page 3 of this rulebook.
Your opponent plays exactly the same way as in the original game, with 1 exception. Any time they place a Worker
in the Guildhall, not only do they follow any steps outlined on their Scheme Card, but they also craft 1 Adornment.
Note that they still only place 1 Worker to make this happen. They never stack Workers in the Guildhall.

When crafting Adornments, they are not affected by any of the immediate benefits
(or punishments) of the cards.
They are only concerned with the printed Victory Points of Adornments. Simply take the card and keep it faceup
near your opponent’s Board for end-game scoring.

Your opponent will always craft the faceup Adornment with the most Victory Points printed in the top right of
the card. If there is more than 1 possible option
(equal VPs), shuffle these cards and give 1 to your opponent
randomly. Return the other cards back to the faceup display. After doing so, turn over the top card from the Craft
Card Draw Pile to replace the 1 that was taken.

In addition to the original scoring steps, your opponent will also score Victory Points for all their crafted
Adornments.

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11
new apprentices
Antagonist - Treat the Town Centre as if you have an extra Worker there.
Abbot - Gain 1 Silver when placing a Worker at the King’s Storehouse.
Lookout - Treat the Guardhouse as if you have an extra Worker there.
Enforcer - Gain the indicated items when sending Workers to Prison.
Strongman - Upgrade the abilities of your Artisan. They also have 2 Skills, rather than just 1.
Your Artisan will be released
from Prison during each
Black Market Reset.
Your Artisan always pays up
to 2 less Silver when placed,
for a single action that turn.
For example, this might
provide a discount on hiring
an Apprentice, visiting the
Black Market or using a
Merchant’s ability at the
King’s Storehouse.
Your Artisan captures all
Workers of a single colour
from the location where it
is placed. You may use this
ability to capture your own
Workers, but cannot be used
to capture your own Artisan.
Strongman Abilities

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12
variable player powers
new buildings
Arc - Gain 2 Debts.
Courtyard - Gain 1 Stone, Wood and Clay.
Gallery - Gain 1 Adornment at no cost.
Garrison - Gain 1 Tool at no cost.
Parish - Gain 1 Building Plan per level you have
advanced work on the Cathedral.
Pillar - All players gain 3 Silver.
Academy - Gain 1 VP per Tool.
Arcade - Gain 1 Virtue per Adornment.
Cellar - Gain 1 VP per Adornment.
Dormitory - Gain 2 VP per set of 3 unique Skills.
Meeting Room - Gain 1 Virtue per Tool.
Storehouse - Gain 1 Virtue per set of 3 unique Skills.
Walaric
Begins the game with no Workers in Prison, no Silver, 12 Virtue, 1 Tool
(chosen from those available
after the Building Card draft)
and 1 Debt. His Artisan also counts as 3 Workers when being placed.
Gisela

Begins the game with no Workers in Prison, 2 Silver and 13 Virtue. Any time she crafts a Tool,
she also gains the immediate benefit printed on the Adornment section of that Craft Card, before
attaching it to an Apprentice.

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