Return to the world of Root with new factions, maps, and an alternative game deck!
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Please note that only the retail edition of Root: The Underworld expansion is available for order. The Kickstarter edition which came with the Kickstarter extras for free is now sold out but all extras from the campaign are available for separate purchase.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Digital Rules for Root
about 5 years ago
– Sat, Mar 30, 2019 at 01:41:13 AM
Hi everyone,
Over the past couple of days we've been out here in Boston preparing our booth at Pax East and showing Root to convention attendees. The show has been great so far, and we're all excited for what the next few days have in store.
That said, this morning I wanted to share with you a small bit of news. Over the course of the campaign, many people have asked us if the success of the campaign would unlock some kind of secret stretch goal. As I've said in the comments section, the answer to that question is no. At the same time, this campaign has reminded us of the outstanding community of players that have gathered around Root. It's success is an incredible testimony to you all and we want to find ways to say thank you. So, as the campaign comes to a close, we will have a few small surprises for everyone.
Today I want to share the first of those surprises: a digital adaptation of the Law of Root. We hope that this digital version will be extremely useful for quickly looking up faction specific rules on your computers, tablets, and phones. You can use the digital rules right now, and we’ll be updating with the new factions and map-specific rules once they’re finalized. We’ve been working with Jason Kotzur on this project, as he’s developing a system to make digital rules accessible to players without a lot of intensive development and maintenance from publishers. This is still an early version, and Jason is working on a few known bugs. We invite you to explore the adaptation (link: http://root.livingrules.io/) and reach out to Jason if you encounter any bugs or have any feature suggestions. Here’s quick word from him below.
Hello!
I’m on a small crusade, like a noble Vagabond, to make tabletop rules more accessible to players, through digital rules adaptations that are easy to search and navigate. If you click on the link provided, you will discover that you can now easily access the Law of Root (Third Printing edition) on any device connected to the internet, including the one that you’re using right now. There’s a bit more happening behind the scenes, but the really exciting thing is that this process uses the original rulebook files as a source, which means it’ll be super easy for Leder Games to update with the all new content.
I’ve written about the process in detail on my website (link:http://www.jasonkotzur.com/categories/adaptation/) which you might be interested in if you’re in the industry or strongly believe in the emancipation of content from medium, as I do. Please feel free to send me an email (jwkotzur at gmail dot com) if you’ve got any feature suggestions or would like to pursue an adaptation for a game that you’re working on.
I’ve identified a bug on Chrome iOS (and possibly other devices) which pops up when using the Find feature, and not properly closing it. Details on site. Please let me know if you experience the bug on any other device, and if you pick up anything else that doesn’t seem like it’s behaving as expected.
Cheers, Jason
We know that Root can be a little overwhelming for new players, and we hope that these digital rules help make the game a little more accessible. When Jason first showed me the project, I was floored by how well-executed his digital rule-book was and we are delighted to be working with him on this project.
Alright, that's all for now. Take care everyone!
Off to PAX East!
about 5 years ago
– Wed, Mar 27, 2019 at 11:21:37 PM
Hi everyone,
This morning everyone at Leder Games is flying out to Boston for PAX East. This is a special show for us. At this time last year we had just submitted Root to the factory and spent the convention celebrating the completion of the project and playing a lot of Root. Now, a year later, we have lots of new Root content to share with everyone.
Come by the booth if you'd like to demo the new maps or factions. Almost everyone on our staff will be at the show, so if you'd like to meet us please come by and say hello!
During the convention, we'll be a little less active in the comments here on the Kickstarter page. That said, we'll be sure to post some pictures and give you all an update about how the show is going. We will also be posting the print-and-play kit for the Exiles and Partisans deck this Sunday.
There are many questions popping up in the comments and Kickstarter messages and it is very difficult for us to track. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at [email protected]. Remember that since most of us are in Boston there will be some delay in getting back to everyone.
Insight into the New Automated Factions Development
about 5 years ago
– Wed, Mar 27, 2019 at 12:58:44 AM
Hello Everyone,
My name is Marshall Britt and I'm the Operations Manager for Leder Games. In addition to my responsibilities managing our finances and logistics, I'm helping develop the new automated factions that we are offering. I'd like to take a moment today to share a bit of what the process entails and what our development sessions tend to include. Our production intern Alex Werner has been assisting in the development and is actively playing games to identify areas where clarifications and improvements can be made.
It struck me today that not everyone may be aware of the origins of the new automated factions. The design that we are currently developing in the studio is called "The Better Bot Project." The designer, Benjamin Schmauss, and I have been meeting on a somewhat regular basis over the past few months. In talking with Benjamin it's clear that he's incredibly passionate about Root and genuinely wanted to see a more robust solo and automated system implemented. He's guided me through many of his decisions, iterations, and design challenges which has helped streamline our development process greatly. Pictured below is an example of a current bot board:
The first time I sat down for a session with Benjamin's version of the Mechanical Marquise I was thrilled to find that a single card informed their entire turn. Each of his factions has been extremely satisfying to play and offers an experience that is parallel to a multiplayer game, and most importantly, tells similar stories to those with multiple players involved. A great amount of care has been taken to reduce the player's overhead while maintaining the tension and strategic choice that Root offers.
The automated factions provide more than just a solo experience! Players can insert these factions into a multiplayer competitive game as well as cooperate games against one or more bots. Alex and I will be working with the editing team from Leder Games in the coming weeks to make sure these factions and the rules follow the Leder Games' house style. If you'll be at PAX East this coming weekend I'll have a copy of Root with the current iterations of the automated factions with me, so feel free to come by the booth to ask for a chance to try them out. Thanks again for your incredible support; we are extremely excited to be adapting "The Better Bot Project" into an official product.
There are many questions popping up in the comments and Kickstarter messages and it is very difficult for us to track. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at [email protected].
The Lake Map!
about 5 years ago
– Tue, Mar 26, 2019 at 01:21:04 AM
Hi everyone,
Today we are releasing the lake map! This map is a little more conventional than the mountain map, but it offers some really interesting situations. Here the river has been “replaced” by a large central lake. One coastal clearing will have a special pawn called the Ancient Ferry. This clearing is considered connected to all other lake clearings. However, if you move using the Ferry then the Ferry moves too! The lake essentially offers a different spin on king of the hill style gameplay, prioritizing offense rather than defense.
The PNP kit is pretty straightforward: you get a single 6 fold board and a short paragraph of rules. You’ll also need some kind of marker to use for the Ancient Ferry. We’ve gone ahead and set the map with a recommended combination of clearings, but if you want to use your variable clearing markers you can use those too! As you might notice, this map just has our prototype art on it (done up by Mike Ptak). Kyle will be posting the actual Lake art sometime in late April.
There are many questions popping up in the comments and Kickstarter messages and it is very difficult for us to track. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at [email protected].
The Corvid PNP, a Surprise Stream, and a Development Diary.
about 5 years ago
– Fri, Mar 22, 2019 at 09:33:25 PM
Finally, I wanted to say a few words about the design of the Corvid Conspiracy. One thing that I really enjoy about Root is the robust framework that lives at the center of the game. You could build a simple wargame off of these mechanics alone, and, I think, it would prove to be an interesting game. I think this is one reason why Root saw so many fan factions generated by its players. Even as early as April of last year, playtesters started creating their own factions based on the publicly shared PNPs for Root. The stream fan-generated factions only increased when the game saw a general release.
This past summer I handed off Vast: TMM to Cole and Nick for final development, I found myself with my first creative break since I began working on Vast in 2014. I tinkered a little with some old designs, but eventually found myself being pulled towards Root. At this point new fan factions were being posted nearly every day, and I wanted to get in on the fun.
Before I started designing, I looked closely at the game and how the roles interacted with the base mechanics. The Cats police the board. The Woodland Alliance gives a tax to moving and fighting—the better the player sets up that tax, the more prosperous they will become. Each faction in Cole’s design explored different elements of the core system, but the six factions that had been built left a lot of room yet to be explored. One place that immediately jumped to mind was the players' hands, so I started to think about how a faction could be built around manipulating those cards. Generally I don't like making someone else discard cards. A person’s hand should be a sacred, protected space. But in Root, so little is sacred. I think it’s fair to say that Cole showed me a little about the narrative value in designing games that violated some norms. Perhaps playing with another player’s hand was okay in the context of Root.
Along these lines, the Corvid Conspiracy quickly jumped to life. Thematically, the faction represents a collection of spies (and moles!) that are infiltrating the other factions. The Crows use their influence to manipulate the other players by essentially ransoming their hands, and place infiltration tokens to spread their agents into the hands of the other players. Agents take up space in other players' hands just like any other cards, but they can’t be spent or used for anything. A player can voluntarily give up their agent cards at the end of their turn, or they can be removed by force by the Crows.
Anytime an agent leaves a player’s hand, all Agent cards leave that player’s hand. The Crow player then scores two points and resolves an effect based on the number of agents returned.
As you can see, these effects are pretty strong, and usually players will want to return agents before they find themselves stuck with a potential bomb-maker. At the same time, if they shed agents too frequently, players are going to quickly find the Conspiracy breaking out of the pack.
The best way for opponents to rein in the Crows is simply to knock out those pesky infiltration tokens. To protect those tokens, they have a few handy tools. For one, they can recruit using their nest, which allows them to reinforce quickly. Second, the they can move their warriors around the board very easily, as they ignore rule.
Like with the Great Underground Duchy, the key challenge to playing the Crows is their hand management. Many of their actions are powered by spending cards, and trying to decide how to divide your cards among your different strategic priorities is critical.
The Crows have been an absolute blast to test in the studio. We’ve so far been using them mostly as a replacement for the Woodland Alliance in three-player combinations, but we think they really shine in four- and five-player games!
