Defenders of Hogwarts Setup Guide

Setup for 2 to 5 players, step by step.

Setup has about twenty small steps, and most first games go wrong in two places: the number of Dark Arts Pawns and the cards that start face-up on the Side Board. This page fixes both. Choose how many people are playing and the numbers below update.

How many people are playing?

4 players means 1 Dark Arts Player and 3 House Players.

The Dark Arts Player uses 6 Dark Arts Pawns: 4 start on the Deployment Spaces in the grounds and 2 wait in their pool. Return the rest to the box.

Players	House Players	Dark Arts Pawns	On the board	In the pool
2	1	4	4	0
3	2	5	4	1
4	3	6	4	2
5	4	7	4	3

How the table looks

Table layout

Side BoardDark Arts Path around the edge, Hogwarts Loyalty Track, Library books, Acquire rows, Location decks

Main BoardHogwarts castle and grounds

Dark Arts PlayerPlayer board, Starter and Acquire decks, Event decks, pawn pool

House PlayersOne board each, Starter deck, 3 Location Cards, items area

Put the Side Board above the Main Board so everyone can read the Path.

Choose the Dark Arts Player first

Exactly one player controls the Dark Forces in every game. The rulebook suggests giving this seat to whoever knows the rules best, because the Dark Arts Player has more timing decisions and is the one most likely to answer rules questions during the first game.

Setup checklist

Main Board

Place the Main Board in the middle of the table.
Shuffle the 6 Defence Shields and put 1 face-up on each Defence Shield Space.
Put each of the 7 Hogwarts Tokens on its own space in the castle or grounds.
Give the Dark Arts Player their pawns (see the numbers above). Place 4 of them on the 4 Deployment Spaces in the grounds (the mask icon). The rest form the pool.
Each House Player puts 3 of their 4 pawns in the Great Hall.
Keep the Room of Requirement piece and the 4 D.A. Coins next to the board. They enter play later.

Side Board

Place the Side Board above the Main Board.
Shuffle the Library Book Deck, put it face-down on its space and reveal 2 books face-up beside it.
Shuffle the House Player Acquire Deck (check that no starter cards, marked with a banner in the top corner, are mixed in). Deal 2 cards face-up to the Advanced Acquire Row next to the deck and 2 face-up to the Acquire Row.
Put the Dark Arts Marker on the first space of the Dark Arts Path (top left).
Place the 3 Progress Tokens (Giant, Acromantula, Dementor) on their spaces along the Path.
Put the Dark Detector on its space on the Hogwarts Loyalty Track.
Stack the Parchment Scrolls on their space.
Each House Player puts their 4th pawn on the first space of the Loyalty Track.
Shuffle the House Player Location Deck and the Dark Arts Player Location Deck and put each face-down on its space.

Dark Arts Player

Take the Dark Arts Player Board. Shuffle the 7-card Dark Arts Starter Deck onto its draw space.
Shuffle the Dark Arts Acquire Deck and keep it within reach.
Sort the Event Cards into three decks by colour (white, orange, red), shuffle each and place them near your board.
Draw 5 cards.

Each House Player

Choose a house and take its House Player Board. Return unused houses to the box.
Shuffle your 7-card Starter Deck onto your board's draw space.
Put your House Marker on the Items space of your board.
Draw 3 House Player Location Cards and keep them in hand.
Draw 5 cards from your Starter Deck. Keep a Player Aid Card nearby.

Who goes first

The House Player to the left of the Dark Arts Player starts. Turns then go clockwise. If you are new, keep the House Player turn summary open on a phone at the table.

Speed tip for the first game

Before you start, let every House Player read their three Location Cards aloud and point at the places on the map. Knowing where your scrolls are is half of an efficient opening.

Setup mistakes to avoid

Using all 7 Dark Arts Pawns in a smaller game. The count depends on the number of House Players.
Putting the 4th house pawn on the map. It belongs on the first space of the Loyalty Track.
Placing the Room of Requirement on the board at the start. It only appears when a Loyalty pawn first reaches space 5.
Mixing the Event Cards. They are three separate decks by colour.
Dealing only one row of Acquire cards. There are two rows: the normal Acquire Row and the Advanced Acquire Row.

Ready? Continue with how a turn works or jump to opening strategy.