Round 4: Romance of the Four Kingdoms - FAQs

[Liar Game]

If you have any questions regarding the rules of Romance of the Four Kingdoms, please ask them here.

[Liar Game]

Can I start my Merchants in someone else's Kingdom?

No. Merchants must start in the player's home Kingdom.

[Liar Game]

Can I have a demonstration of how to send in decisions for the MRS Phase?

First, an overview. In MRS Phase, you must give your Merchants a to-do list, and tell the Robber and Spy where to stand for the current Season. This decision cannot be changed during the Season. There are no attacking decisions in the MRS Phase, although you can send it in as an advance decision. Failure to submit a full set of MRS instructions is technically inactivity, although any partial instructions received will be accepted.


Next, remember that you have three Merchants. They act individually and can have different instructions (although you can choose to make them have the same instructions). Also remember that ALL movement decisions (Move to X, or Stay) for Merchants occur during the MRS Phase. So in the MRS Phase, your Merchant decision form for a given Season should look something like the following:

Merchant A
Step 1)
Step 2)
Step 3)

Merchant B
Step 1)
Step 2)
Step 3)

Merchant C
Step 1)
Step 2)
Step 3)

A sample randomized “Merchant A” decision from a Wood Kingdom player:
Step 1) Move to Iron
Step 2) Stay
Step 3) Move to Silk


Finally, your Robber and Spy go on Roads instead of Kingdoms and don’t move elsewhere. Since there are four Kingdoms and each Kingdom is connected by a Road so that the Merchants can Move between Kingdoms, there are six Roads. Three of the roads connect your own Kingdom to elsewhere. For a visual aid, think of a square with an X inside. The lines of the square and X are the Roads. Here is a list of Roads:

1) Wood-Clay
2) Wood-Iron
3) Wood-Silk
4) Clay-Iron
5) Clay-Silk
6) Iron-Silk

Your Robber and your Spy each pick one of those Roads and stays there until the end of the Season. They can pick the same Road or a different Road. If a foreign Merchant uses the chosen Road, the Robber and/or Spy effects apply depending on which one(s) chose that Road to wait on.

Can I have a demonstration of how Merchants move?

Merchants proceed step-by-step. They can “Move" if that Merchant’s current location is not attacking the destination/being attacked by the destination. A Merchant will move by using the connecting Road. Merchants will always successfully execute a “Stay”. Obviously, a Merchant does not use a Road for "Stay".


For the sake of demonstration, here is a sample randomized “Merchant A” decision from a Wood Kingdom player:
Step 1) Move to Iron
Step 2) Stay
Step 3) Move to Silk

Here are the possible outcomes in Round 1 as the Merchant tries Move to Iron:
1) Wood Kingdom attacks Iron Kingdom and/or Iron Kingdom attacks Wood Kingdom...

Merchant fails to execute Step 1, thus remaining in Wood Kingdom and does not gather the iron resource. The Merchant will try Step 1 (Move to Iron) again in Round 2, and again in Round 3 if the Merchant failed to move in Round 2.

Note that if a Merchant fails to execute a Step, they won’t get to execute all of the remaining Steps. For example, if the Merchant fails to move all three rounds, that Merchant gathers nothing and never executes Step 2 (Stay) and Step 3 (Move to Silk). If the Merchant successfully executes Step 1 (Move to Iron) on Round 2, they execute Step 2 (Stay) but never have the opportunity to execute Step 3.

2) Wood Kingdom and Iron Kingdom do not attack each other...

Merchant travels the Wood-Iron Road, Moves into Iron Kingdom and earns one iron resource. Iron Kingdom becomes the Merchant’s current location. Since Stay will successfully execute “Stay” from Step 2 no matter what, the Merchant will try Step 3 (Move to Silk) in Round 3. If Iron Kingdom attacks Silk Kingdom and/or Silk Kingdom attacks Iron Kingdom, the Merchant fails to move and does not earn a Silk resource. If Iron Kingdom and Silk Kingdom do not attack each other, the Merchant travels the Iron-Silk Road, Moves into Silk Kingdom and earns one silk resource.

Note that since the Merchant is currently in Iron Kingdom after successfully executing Step 1 (Move to Iron), that specific Merchant will be unaffected by the Wood Kingdom attacking situation; it doesn’t matter who Wood Kingdom is attacking and who is attacking Wood Kingdom.

3) Inactivity...

For Round 1, the Merchant earns nothing and remains in Wood Kingdom even if Iron Kingdom did not attack. The Merchant will attempt to execute the current Step 1 (Move to Iron) in Round 2.

[Liar Game]

Will I get the benefits of my Robber and/or Spy if I am inactive during one of the Rounds after the MRS Phase?

No. If a Merchant would trigger your Robber and/or Spy on a Round when you were inactive, your Robber will not steal points and your Spy will not generate any reports.