Paladins of the West Kingdom Solo Rules

Hey there! I’m excited to share with you the solo rules for the awesome game Paladins of the West Kingdom. If you’re a fan of this game, you’re going to love playing it solo. It’s a whole new experience that allows you to dive into the world of knights and honor all by yourself. Let’s jump right in!

To play Paladins of the West Kingdom solo, you’ll need the base game and a few additional components. Don’t worry, it’s not complicated at all. Just follow these steps, and you’ll be on your way to an epic solo adventure.

First, set up the game as you normally would for the multiplayer version. Lay out the main game board, and place the round tracker and score tracker nearby. Then, shuffle the Paladin deck and deal yourself one Paladin card face-up. This card will represent your loyal companion on this solo journey.

Now, you’re ready to begin your quest. The solo variant uses a deck of AI cards, which will control the actions of your opponents. These AI cards provide specific actions for your opponents to take, creating a challenging and unpredictable experience.

On your turn, you’ll take the actions shown on your Paladin card, just like in the multiplayer version. However, instead of competing against other players, you’ll be strategizing to defeat the AI opponents. Each AI card will tell you which actions your opponents will take on their turn. It’s a clever way to simulate the dynamics of playing against real opponents.

As you progress through the game, you’ll face difficult decisions and challenging situations. But don’t worry, that’s all part of the fun! Each decision you make will have consequences that shape the outcome of the game. Will you focus on defending your kingdom? Or maybe you’ll try to accumulate wealth and resources. The choice is yours.

Keep an eye on the round tracker as you play. When the round tracker reaches the end of the round, you’ll need to follow the end of round steps. These steps ensure that the game remains balanced and challenging, even when playing solo.

I hope you have a blast playing Paladins of the West Kingdom solo. It’s an incredible game that offers endless hours of strategic gameplay, all in the comfort of your own home. So grab your Paladin card, set up the game, and get ready for an unforgettable adventure. Good luck, brave Paladin!

Remember, these rules are just a starting point. Feel free to modify them or come up with your own house rules to make the game even more enjoyable for you. Have fun exploring the world of Paladins!

So, if you’re wondering how to set up the AI player, let me break it down for you. The first step is to follow these instructions:

1. Choose a Player Board and flip it over to the AI Player Board side.
2. Just like the regular Player Board, put the 7 Monks, Outposts, and Absolves onto the AI Player Board.
3. Stack the AI’s Attribute Markers on the zero space. Put Influence on the Bottom, Faith in the middle, and Strength on top.
4. Put the Resource Marker on the left-most space of the Resource Track, on the left side of the AI Player Board.
5. First, set aside the 5 “King’s Favour” Scheme Cards. Then, shuffle the remaining Scheme Cards and put them facedown on the right card space of the AI Player Board.

6. If you choose Easy, you get 1 King’s Order Card.
7. If you choose Standard, you get 3 King’s Order Cards.
8. If you choose Hard, you get 5 King’s Order Cards.

So, here’s what you need to do – shuffle the King’s Order Cards and put three of them face-down on the Main Board, just like you usually do when setting up.

Once I place both the King’s Order and King’s Favour Cards on the Main Board, I’ll put an AI Workshop on each King’s Order Card and a “King’s Favour” Scheme Card on each King’s Favour Card, face up.

Round Setup And Tavern Cards

For Rounds 1-3, I’ll take the AI Player’s Workshop from the top of the King’s Order Card and put it on the corresponding action space. This will help the AI Player focus on completing the King’s Orders. For Rounds 3-7, I just need to add 1 “King’s Favour” Scheme Card to the Scheme Discard Pile.

When it’s time to reveal Tavern Cards, I’ll only reveal 2. I get to choose 1 as usual, but the AI Player won’t get any Workers from the Tavern Cards. However, they will immediately gain 1 Suspicion for each Criminal on the unchosen Tavern Card.

Game Play

Resource Track

When it comes to collecting resources in the game, I don’t gather Provisions, Silver, or Tax like you do. Instead, whenever I would acquire resources, I simply move the Resource Marker on my AI Player Board one space to the right along the Resource Track.

If I’m supposed to gain Silver from the Tax supply, I give back the necessary amount of Silver to the main supply. And of course, I also move the Resource Marker accordingly.

Now, when the Resource Marker reaches the right-most space, I return it to the left-most space and continue counting from there. This is when things get interesting – every time this happens, my lowest Attribute Marker goes up by 1!

If two Attribute Markers end up tied on the same space, I move the one that’s stacked on top of the others. So, it’s really important to keep stacking my Attribute Markers as they move up the Attribute Track, instead of placing them side-by-side.

The Resource Track is pretty cool because it does two things. First, it helps me get better at certain skills just by gathering resources. Second, it’s important for certain types of cards that I interact with. The Resource Track is set up to look like the Townsfolk Cards, the King’s Favour Cards, and the Outsider Cards.

When I have to interact with one of these cards, I’ll try to interact with the card that has the Resource Marker on it first. If that card isn’t available, I’ll try the next card to the right. But if I’m already on the right-most card, I’ll go back to the left-most card. With Outsider Cards, if I can’t target the fifth card from the left, I’ll try the sixth card before going back to the left.

When I play as the AI Player and I need to remove a Suspicion or Debt Card, but I don’t have one to remove, I do something different. Instead, I take 1 Tax from the Tax supply and put it back into the Main supply. But keep in mind, this doesn’t change the position of the Resource Marker on the Resource Track.

Now, here’s an important rule: I don’t pay attention to Provisions or Silver costs. I simply ignore them.

Let’s talk about Workers.

As the AI Player, I see all Worker types or colors as the same. It doesn’t matter if they’re blue or green or any other color. But there’s one exception – when I gain a Criminal (which is purple), I still get suspicion. And I don’t gain Workers from Paladin Cards or Tavern Cards.

Instead, at the start of each Round, I have a specific number of Workers. This number is based on the Current Round plus 3. That’s how many Workers I begin with.

Now, let’s take a look at Scheme Cards.

Here’s how I, the AI Player, take action. You always go first in each Round. After you take your action, flip over the top card from the Scheme Card Draw Pile and place it face up on the left.

This card will show which action the AI Player will try to take. If I don’t have enough workers or if the action is already blocked, I’ll instead try to take the leftmost available action from the ones in the top left of my Player Board (Recruit, Pray, Trade, Conspire, Rest). After I take my action, it’s your turn again, followed by my turn, and so on.

Just like in the regular game, you keep doing things until you decide to stop. The AI keeps doing things until they run out of Workers or choose to take a break on their AI Player Board.

So, guess what? I just found out about this interesting AI Scheme Card called “Commission.” Let me break it down for you. Basically, if the AI already has 1 Workshop on their Commission action space, they only need 2 Workers to complete it. Simple, right?

Now, here’s the catch. If the AI only has 1 Worker available in their supply, things get a little tricky. Instead of placing 2 Workers and completing the Commission action, they’ll try to take the left-most action across the top left of their AI Player Board.

AI Actions

Recruit

When the AI Player takes this action, they’ll try to get rid of a specific Townsfolk Card. The card they choose is based on the position of the Resource Marker on the Resource Track. If the chosen card isn’t available, they’ll move on to the next one, just like it says on Page 28.

And here’s the cool part: just like us human players, when the AI Player discards a Townsfolk Card, they’ll get rewarded with 1 or more cool bonuses right away. Not bad, huh?

Pray

When I take this action, I need to clear all Workers from the right side of the AI Player Board. I should note that Workers placed on the left side should not be removed. However, if there are no Workers on the right side, I will receive 1 Worker from the supply. In both cases, I must shuffle all Scheme Cards, including the Draw Pile and Discards, to create a new Scheme Card Draw Pile.

Now, let’s talk about the Trade action. When I take this action, all I have to do is move the Resource Marker 1 space along the Resource Track.

Next, we have the Conspire action. When I choose this action, I will gain 1 Suspicion Card and 2 new Workers from the supply. In addition, for each Tax icon on the revealed Suspicion Card, I need to return that amount of Silver from the Tax supply to the main supply. Finally, I should advance the Resource Marker 1 space along the Resource Track.

Lastly, we have the Rest action.

When you take this action, move the Resource Marker forward 1 space on the Resource Track. If you still have any Workers in your supply, move the Marker forward an additional space for each Worker. Also, this action causes the AI Player to finish their turn for the round.

Mission and Garrison

When the AI Player takes either of these actions, they always try to place their leftmost token (a Monk for Mission, an Outpost for Garrison) on the Main Board. They also immediately gain the Attribute increase shown on the revealed token.

Similar to human players, the AI Player must have the required Attribute to take the action. When placing Monks and Outposts, they follow a specific order to select available spaces on the Main Board.

If there are multiple spaces with the same reward, the AI Player always chooses the leftmost space on the Main Board.

If you want to play the game smart, start by focusing on the “Free Recruit” spaces. After that, if you have any unpaid Debts, consider the “Pay a Debt” option. Next, try the “Pray” action or go for the “Gain 2 Workers” or “Gain 1 Worker” choices. If you’re short on cash, go for the “Gain 2 Silver” option. Lastly, if you have any suspicion, use the “Remove 1 Suspicion” action. Remember, when you use the Recruit action, always discard a Townsfolk Card for an immediate reward. And when you pray, it will clear the right side of your player board or give you an extra Worker, and don’t forget to shuffle all Scheme Cards. So, prioritize these actions to play strategically!

Absolving

When I take this action, I need to have enough Influence to target my left-most Jar. If I do, all I have to do is flip over that Jar. By doing so, I immediately increase my Faith by 1 on my Attribute Track and remove 1 Suspicion. And that’s not all—I also have a choice. I can either flip an unpaid Debt or remove an additional Suspicion, but remember, I have to do it in that order.

Fortifying

When I take this action, I need to have enough Influence to build my next Wall. Just like when human players Fortify, I’ll place the Wall in the left-most space above my Player Board and gain all the rewards that are printed on it.

Keep in mind that if the Wall card gives me a choice of rewards, it will always favor the left option first.

Attacking

If you decide to take this action, you should always try to attack the Outsider Card that you have targeted. You can figure out which card to attack by looking at where the Resource Marker is on the Resource Track.

However, if the card you wanted to attack is no longer available, you’ll have to move on to the next card. You can find more information about this on Page 28. But remember, you can only attack Outsider Cards if you have enough Strength to do so.

This means that you can only attack Outsider Cards that match your Strength Attribute. When you attack an Outsider Card, just like human players do, you will get some immediate rewards. You’ll also keep the Outsider Card face down next to your Player Board.

Convert

If you decide to take this action, you should always try to attack the Outsider Card that you have targeted. You can figure out which card to attack by looking at where the Resource Marker is on the Resource Track.

If I don’t have the specified card, I’ll move on to the next card, just like it says on Page 28. But here’s the thing: I also need enough Faith to successfully Convert the Outsider.

So I can only target Outsider Cards within the limits of my Faith Attribute. Just like you when you Convert Outsiders, I add them to the left-most available space below my Player Board. Oh, and there’s an important rule: I always score at least 1 VP for each Converted Outsider.

Now, let’s talk about the King’s Order. When I take this action, I’ll always try to grab the right-most revealed King’s Order that I haven’t completed yet.

But wait! What happens if I’ve done everything that the King asked me to do? Well, in that case, I’ll give it one last shot and try to complete the right-most action on my list. If that’s not possible either, I’ll move on to the top row actions on my Player Board. I’m determined to make the best out of every situation!

Let me give you an example to explain. I’ll use three King’s Orders: Commission, Convert, and Fortify.

First, the AI will try to Commission. If that’s not possible, it will try to Convert. And if it can’t do either of those actions, it will try to Fortify.

But here’s the twist. If the AI has already done 5 Commissions, it will skip that action and go straight to trying to Convert. And if its Commission action space is already full, it will also try to Convert instead.

The King’s Favour

When the AI takes this action, it always aims for the specific King’s Favour Card. It looks at where the Resource Marker is on the Resource Track to determine which card to target.

If that card is no longer available, the AI will move on to the next card, just like it says on Page 28. If the AI can’t action any of the revealed King’s Favour Cards, it will instead move on to the top row actions of the AI Player Board.

So, I got an interesting situation here. The AI Player in the game just revealed a Scheme Card called “King’s Favour”. And get this, depending on where the Resource Marker is, they’re gonna try to put a Worker on the fifth King’s Favour Card.

But, hold on, somebody already beat them to it and blocked that spot. Oh well, they’ll just follow the flow of the Resource Track and try the first King’s Favour Card instead.

Dang it, that one’s blocked too. So, their next move is to place a Worker on the second King’s Favor Card. By doing that, they’ll lower their Suspicion by 1 and get 2 Tax. They don’t need any resources this time, so they’ll give back 2 Silver from their Tax supply and move the Resource Marker 2 spaces along the Resource Track.

Here’s the tricky part: when the Marker wraps around, it lands on the second space again and the AI Player’s lowest Attribute increases by 1.

The Round Ends

Hey there! Just a quick heads up, when playing against the AI, you won’t be able to carry over any workers from one round to the next. Each round starts fresh with the specified number of workers. And speaking of rounds, you should keep in mind that you shouldn’t shuffle your scheme cards between rounds. That only happens if you decide to pray. Pretty important stuff, right?

Now, in the regular game, if you still have the rightmost Townsfolk Card or leftmost Outsider Card in play, you’ll have to discard them. But, and this is where it gets interesting, in the Solo Game, you’ll also have to discard the second-rightmost Townsfolk Card and the second-leftmost Outsider Card. It’s a little twist to keep you on your toes!