Yes, I pulled the wool over your eyes. Surprise! Many people have noticed that when talking about what the Homeland Expansion added, I’ve said it will add two new maps and new factions, leaving out the number. Seiryia, Woodland Warriors regular and developer of our lovely Leder Card Library among many other excellent web apps, even mentioned, “Knowing the writer and his penchant for specificity, to call out one thing but leave the other ambiguous is either out of character or intentional.” So, good job everyone who noticed—you were right!
Throughout concepting the Homeland Expansion, the question loomed: "What's the other thing in the box?" In each big expansion, we try not to just add more of the same, but something fundamentally new. Riverfolk included our earliest attempt at a bot. Underworld had new maps along with a new piece type that would become the landmarks. Marauder introduced hirelings and advanced setup.
Even though our fans clearly desired new maps, and there were plenty of good map ideas, Homeworld still needed that New Thing. Although I’ve mentioned that I’ve been working on a third faction, I didn’t want to promise anything until I knew I could make it work. I know they can work now, so here they are—the Knaves of the Deepwood.
The Knaves reconceptualize and expand on the Vagabond by using its pieces in a totally new way. If there’s anything we know about the Vagabond, it’s this: People love ’em, and people hate ’em. Root would not be Root without the Vagabond, so I want to offer Vagabond-lovers an extra way to play with their favorite little friends, and give Vagabond-haters a chance to dust off their Vagabond stuff for once.
To dig in a little more, the Knaves use three character cards and meeples from the Vagabond at once, supported by a small crew of skunk warriors. All Vagabonds—whether from the base game, Riverfolk, Vagabond Pack, or future content—will be usable with the Knaves. Because they’re using many of the same pieces, you cannot play in a game with both the Vagabond and the Knaves. But! The Homeland Expansion includes three new character cards and meeples that you can use either as Vagabonds or with the Knaves. Here’s how I pitch them thematically:
Nobody really knows how the Knaves of the Deepwood got together, but the myths are many. From the treeline these miscreants and ne’er-do-wells sally forth, raiding barracks and baggage trains and making off with warriors in tow as hostages. Why? For ransom, that’s why. Some say they give the proceeds to the needy. Some say they spend it lavishly. Either way, their celebrations ring out through the night, the music swelling from the forest depths where few dare to go.
So, brigands. Raiders. Bandits. Robin Hood and the Merry Men cosplayers. Let’s dig into their mechanics a little more, but just know that, unlike the other two factions, the Knaves’ mechanics could still change quite a bit between now and their print-and-play release on November 8th.
The Three Captains
The driving force of the Knaves is their three Captains—your Birdsong Captain, Daylight Captain, and Evening Captain. They’re warriors with some important changes:Captains cannot share the same clearing. They’ve got their own turf, and they’re a tad protective. They work together, but at arm’s length. This supports the core movement puzzle of the Knaves—you can’t group them up!
Captains take Hostages. Attacking with them lets you shunt enemy pieces you remove into an adjacent forest. Over time, you will score points from these Hostages, but you will have to gradually return them to their factions.
Captains get removed last. In battle, a Captain takes hits like a building—only after their other defending warriors are removed. But if they do get removed, the removing player scores a point and will likely get to free some Hostages.
Captains can move in and out of forests. (Dragging along their skunk apprentices, of course.) Importantly, they ignore rule while moving into and out of forests, but not when moving between clearings! This is the second part of their movement puzzle—they’ll need to route through forests more often than the Vagabond.
Their Actions
In terms of action structure, the Knaves of the Deepwood ask you one question for each of your three Captains: “Do I prepare, or do I strike?” Preparing lets your Captain place warriors and get items. Striking lets you move, battle, and use the Captain’s items. A typical turn will have you preparing with one or two Captains and striking with one or two of them.
This choice gives the faction a neat rhythm, a looming tension that builds as the Captains prepare, and then released when they strike. And the action structure makes the Knaves much less complex than the Vagabond. Really, they’re one of the easiest factions to learn—if not the easiest, period. In fact, you’ve already learned most of their rules; here’s their current player board:
Items and Hostages
Let’s wrap up by talking about items and Hostages a little more.You’ll start with a bag full of items defined by your character cards. Over the game, you’ll draw from this bag by using prepare and you’ll place items back in the bag as you use items and your Captain gets hit. If you’ve played the Vagabond, most of the items’ effects should make sense, except probably for bags, which let you place a warrior. The thematics on this may seem fuzzy to you, but I assure you that it all makes sense in the world of Root. Let’s just say that every sack might be dangerous…
Moving on—each Evening, you’ll get to ransom your Hostages of a single faction. This is a simple roll of the dice, and the logic works much like a battle: you’ll score points equal to the higher roll, maxed out by the number of Hostages you’re ransoming from that faction, and you’ll have to return Hostages equal to the lower roll. If they choose to give you a card, they can place the Hostages back in a matching clearing they rule. If they don’t, they get released and run home, get lost in the woods, or otherwise go missing from the faction’s view.
The Road Ahead
The Knaves are a younger faction than the Lilypad Diaspora and Twilight Council and there are still a bunch of questions to be answered—such as the timing of item use and setup, the specifics of ransoming hostages, and torch functionality (Scoundrel, anyone?). They will probably also get some kind of token or building. But they’re already shaping up beautifully, and I’m excited to see how you like them!
Root: The Homeland Expansion adds new factions and two new maps to Root! Its Kickstarter launches on October 22nd, 2024. To find out more, click here.
Find all of Josh's Root: The Homeland Expansion Design Diaries on BoardGameGeek!