Throughout history, diasporas have played a critical role in societies and their politics. Because of their precarious position, they have been used and abused by monarchs, empires, and hegemonic cultures, whether through labor exploitation, use as a political wedge, or scapegoating. So it’s about time that they got their due in Root, in the form of the Lilypad Diaspora. In case you’re not familiar with them yet, here’s how I pitch them:

I started to ponder the expansion: what part of Root was I interested in exploring? Here’s what: Root is a living, breathing ecosystem because of the Woodland. The factions are not self-contained—they rely on the creatures of the Woodland to accomplish their goals. The Marquise works (and Overworks) the Woodfolk, the Eyrie enact their Decree through Woodfolk advisors and notables, and so on. You, as the faction leadership, are nothing without the Woodfolk. So, I first wanted to focus on this multiple, fractious nature of the factions.

In the first diary I wrote for New Foundations, I described how many ideas for this expansion came out of the process of making Arcs. In the same way that Oath’s development had seeded Arcs’s design both thematically and mechanically, the development of Arcs had done likewise with New Foundations. This virtuous circle is pretty rare for me. Mostly I feel like I work against myself. Each game tends to be a reaction against the project I just completed. Oath and Arcs are perhaps the lone exceptions to this rule. The designs sometimes seem like they are speaking to one another. They don’t agree about everything, but they also haven’t resorted to shouting at each other, yet.