Blog

Hello everyone! Josh here, designer of the Homeland Expansion. Today we’re releasing the third print-and-play, including some stuff that you haven’t seen yet: the three new Hirelings and all of the Captains for the Knaves of the Deepwood. You’ll find all of that here.

All in all, the project is right on schedule. On the design side, I expect a couple more months of serious development. I’ll release one more Print-and-Play when we’re all done, which will include the maps, landmarks, and three new Vagabonds. On the production side, we’ve received and approved samples for almost all of our hard components. Here’s a (literal) handful of them, including the three new Captains.

Today, I’d like to talk about how the factions’ development has come along, highlighting what we learned from the first print-and-play release and further playtesting, and giving a sense of how I feel about their current state and where we need to go next.

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.

Hey everyone, I want to give you a quick peek at the maps and how we’re thinking through them as we spin up their development. I’m so glad to see all the excitement for the Homeland Expansion, and I’m looking forward to seeing your reaction on launch day.

The Homeland Expansion will be the second time we’re adding new maps to the game. It includes two new maps: the Marsh map and the Gorge map.

Sickened by the enduring conflict, the Twilight Council hosts assemblies to end the war, bringing together all the Woodland from the lowliest mouse-in-a-sack to the mightiest hawk with a royal claim. The assemblies emphasize political connections over pure numbers of warriors, pushing the factions away from bloody battle and toward heated debate. As the Council progresses in their mission, they can declare edicts to change how the assemblies work, manipulating their enemies’ incentives and actions.

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.

Currently, there are four published factions that will gain Automated support with the release of The Clockwork Expansion 2. Automated factions for the Lizard Cult, Riverfolk Company, Corvid Conspiracy, and the Underground Duchy have all been in development for over a year. 

Root's Marauder expansion is the first addition to the game that offers a new system to the game's core design. Even typing that sentence makes me nervous. A game of Root can be overwhelming enough—why on earth should we add more to it!?