From the publisher’s rulebook

Who goes first in The Liberation of Rietburg?

The player considered most heroic takes the first turn.

Rule details

The manual gives no scoring system for deciding who is most heroic.

This selects the first active player. Choosing a character and carrying out the setup instructions are separate steps.

The first game's recommended character selection does not assign the opening turn to a particular hero.

Source & edition

The Liberation of Rietburg: Thames & Kosmos rulesThames & Kosmos · Course of play, opening sentence; Game setup; credits · Checked 2026-09-23Printed page references: 1, 2, 4, 8
PDF page 1 PDF page 2 PDF page 4 PDF page 8

All 20 Thames & Kosmos starting rules

Image: © Thames & Kosmos and original cover artists (precise ownership not stated on archive page) · Thames & Kosmos (official product-image archive)

If there’s a tie

The rulebook doesn’t say.

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<blockquote class="whogoesfirst-rule" cite="https://whogoesfirst.fun/games/liberation-of-rietburg-kosmos-en-2020/">
  <p><strong>Who goes first in The Liberation of Rietburg?</strong> The player considered most heroic takes the first turn.</p>
  <p>Source: <a href="https://whogoesfirst.fun/games/liberation-of-rietburg-kosmos-en-2020/">Official starting rule on Who Goes First?</a> (Thames &amp; Kosmos English rules, ©2020)</p>
</blockquote>

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