Shuffle each development card deck separately, and then place them in a column in the middle of the table in increasing order from bottom to top (O;OO;OOO), so that the deck with one circle is in the bottom.

Then deal 4 cards from each level to create a row. Cards in this row are called Development Cards.

Shuffle the noble tiles and reveal as many of them as there are players plus one (example: 5 tiles for a 4 player game) and place them on top of the Development Cards. The remaining tiles are removed from the game; they will not be used during the game.

Finally, place all the tokens in 6 distinct piles (sort them by color) within reach of the players. There are 5 piles of gems and one gold.