Dungeons & Dragons Lords of Waterdeep: Scoundrels of Skullport Expansion Board Game

LoW the base game has been the *most* popular and replayable board game. It's good enough to play /w 2 people or 5 people.This expansion (which is really two expansions) makes EVERYTHING BETTER.You get Skullport (new resource in the form of corruption/-points) and Undermountain (more intrigue, bigger quests) and new lords, intrigue, and buildings appropriate to the new mechanics. You also get a new color to add a new player.We've primarily played Undermountain and it makes the game MUCH more forgiving when there's more players b/c it's harder to 'lock' a single player out of a key resource. My wife and mother in law don't like the idea of corruption (mom's a little religious/goody goody) so we haven't played it much, but based on reading through the buildings, cards, etc., it adds a lot more volatility to determining who wins in the end.There's extra agents to play a 'long game' variant, which is nice (broke 200 points once o.O).Some folks have mentioned issues with the first run (which I think i have). The quest cards are printed 'upside down' compared to the base game. Makes it easier to sort for us afterwards b/c we just sort based on orientation of the back of the card. There are icons on everything so you can easily see which expansion it belongs to.There's a game mode that lets you play with both expansions, but then you remove cards and buildings from the original expansion, which can give you a lot of different synergies/combos compared to just playing with one expansion.There are some really cool synergies/combos around certain quests, intrigue cards, and buildings. For example, mom completed a quest that allowed her to draw an intrigue card after she plays one and then there's another building that allows you to play multiple intrigue cards (I think 3) and another quest? I think that gives you victory points for intrigue cards. She literally couldn't use all the intrigue cards she accumulated, but it was pretty fun and cool since we had to change our strategy to try to prevent her from playing intrigue cards.Finally, there's a intrigue card that allows you to 'steal' resources from an opponent, but then that player gets the intrigue card (so they can 'attack' you back later). The flavor text is: Cue Evil Laugh. So we made mom do an evil laugh everytime she used it, which is hilarious in and of itself.

This expansion is an absolute game changer! After playing it at a friend’s house, I had to order it immediately. Now, it’s the only way my husband and I want to play Lords of Waterdeep. The Scoundrels of Skullport expansion adds so many exciting new elements that we find ourselves playing late into the night, completely immersed. It brings a fresh level of strategy and intrigue that keeps the game feeling new and challenging every time we play. If you’re a fan of Lords of Waterdeep, this expansion is a must-have addition to your collection!

If you love Lords of Waterdeep, you will probably love this expansion. Lords of Waterdeep is easily in my top 5 favorite games. The base game plays very well and I will happily play it once or twice a week and don't get tired of it. In other words - you don't *need* this expansion to enjoy the base game. (Which bodes well for the game, but not necessarily the expansion.)So why did I get the expansion? I mainly got this because I wanted to add in the option to play with a 6th player. When my sister and her sons come over to play, we're sometimes in the 6 player range and it's unfortunate to make anyone sit out. Scoundrels of Skullport adds a 6th player as well as two new modules to the game. You are required (per the rules) to use at least one module any time you are playing with 6 players. If you're playing with new players, this is easily done by using the Undermountain module. It adds 3 new buildings to assign your agent to without adding a ton of extra complexity. There are new buildings, Lord cards, quests, and intrigue cards - but you can simply tack on the extra board and forego all of those. If you want to use the cards/buildings that come with Undermountain, there will be nothing unfamiliar. It introduces no new complexities other than some quests which require a ton of "resources" for a huge payoff in VP. This may seem overpowered - but the sheer fact that you're doing those quests means you'll be doing less overall quests. It really does balance out just as well as the big 25 point quests balanced in the base game.If you want to add complexity to your game, add the Skullport module. It introduces a new resource - Corruption. It, too, comes with new cards and a couple of new boards to sit beside the main board. I haven't played with this one yet, but definitely think it will add fun dynamics for when we want a slightly heavier 2-3p game. I won't introduce it to new players until they've played the base game a few times, but at that point I think it could work with 5-6p too.