February 2, 2021 – Root The Marauder Expansion introduces two new factions and gameplay enhancements. Designer Cole Wehrle dropped tons of new details on the 4th coming expansion for his famed forest control game Root. Via a live stream today and subsequent postings on BGG this new addition was announced with many details revealed. He kicked things off by waxing on his own history with the game, thinking the game could never surpass 6 factions and being immediately proved wrong by the fans.
Root The Marauder Expansion Key Takeaways
The expansion is called The Marauder
A top priority was to offer two factions that worked at pretty much every player count. We also wanted to make sure that these factions explored new dynamics from other higher reach factions.
Another key priority was to offer a new setup/draft system for advanced players who want a way to quickly generate interesting configurations so that the game is easier to expand in the future
A final priority was to make the game great at lower player counts, especially two people.
Faction #1 is the “Warlord” – charismatic and terrifying.
Faction #2 is the “The Stone Seekers” – outsides seeking the ancient relics of the past.
There are new balance mechanics given the new entrants to the forrest.
It comes with a new set-up draft system suitable for both casual and competitive play.
Direct quote from presentation regarding factions:
The Warlord is both charismatic and terrifying. He rules over a vast horde of warriors recently arrived to the woodland and is interested only in its domination. To help speed his conquest, he lights massive fires which can spread throughout the woods and destroy the buildings of other factions. The Warlord also interacts with crafted items, which he can plunder from players. These items increase his strength, but also cause him to develop an increasingly fearsome monomania.
The Stone Seekers are strangers to the Woodland, here only to recover the scattered and lost relics of an ancient civilization. The Seekers work to establish way-stations across the woodland and form alliances with other factions in hopes of recovering their relics more quickly. They will often find themselves deep within enemy territory as they search for their relics. Thankfully their finely crafted armor makes them difficult to dislodge.
Cole is very detailed in the process and what is going on. “As with previous campaigns, we’ll be posting a bunch of little articles here on BGG about the design and development of the new content. This is always one of my favorite parts of the process, because it forces us to take an account of what we’re up to.”
Designer and publisher Patrick Leder also chimed in. “Its been a pleasure designing the militant factions with Josh and Cole. The minor factions opens up 2 player a lot. I am very excited for you all to have this expansion to the game, it builds on the legacy of Root in so many wonderful ways.”
See More and Follow the Journey on Board Game Geek
ABOUT ROOT
You are one of of the different races found deep within the forest and you are all fighting amongst yourselves for forest supremacy. You might be someone strong and logical like the cats or someone mysterious that is small in numbers but nimble like the Racoon vagabond; regardless, everyone has their pros and cons. For 2 – 4 players. games last 60 – 90 minutes.
There are currently 3 other expansions: The Riverfolk, The Underworld and The Clockwork.
