Wow, this is absolute genius! I love the concept and the theme, and the art supports it in such a wonderful way. I've wanted to build a dual faction myself for a long time, and this is definitely the most promising example I've seen so far.
Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to dig too deeply into the mechanics yet, but I feel like they might still need to be ironed out a bit to be truly functional. I don't think you've made a dedicated thread on the Discord for your faction yet, have you? I'd be glad to help support its development after the jam if you plan on taking it further!
You can really feel your playtesting experience in this design! You definitely know what makes a faction work in the Root ecosystem and how to make it fun to play both with and against. Congrats! The nomad quests are a super smart, fresh, and original engine. I look forward to giving it a spin once I'm on TTS.
One quick question: what are the bulwarks supposed to be thematically, especially now that they can be activated? I might just be missing something because I didn't actually know the word at first, so I originally thought they were the remnants of the lost bastion.
The three of you are genuinely my top Root artists, so seeing you collaborate on this was so exciting! The theme and lore are so cool and funny: I love the counselors' shady influence on the game, and the grumpy queen you have to protect.
I think if you develop it further, the faction would really benefit from having ONE clear identity/goal. Right now, it feels like it's hesitating a bit (is it the ballot? The queen? The trophies? Honeypots?). But this might just be a wording problem, or maybe because I totally missed what their main scoring engine is supposed to be!
Edit: Just to clarify, I didn't mean to suggest discarding the other elements entirely! I just wanted to emphasize the importance of highlighting which one serves as the true core mechanic that ties everything else together.
I honestly don't have the words to describe how much I love this faction and how blown away I was when I first saw it. The art and design are pure mastery, and the tome mechanic is probably the most beautiful, appealing engine I've seen yet. I'm genuinely excited to try it just to feel what it's like to flip the pages and unveil the story! On top of that, the narrative is incredibly poetic, super "Rooty", and so coherent. I really expect this to become a massive hit!
If I had to nitpick (but take it with a grain of salt), I think the current weakness lies in the mechanics around the hero quest. A faction with such a massive thematic and narrative core engine doesn't really seem to need so many extra pieces (6 buildings, 8 tokens, 20 warriors). This plethora of pieces risks (?) making the gameplay lose its tension and mechanical elegance. Also, the shrews' daylight actions might be a bit flat and linear. I could be completely wrong, but my gut feeling is that it offers a bit too much agency, which takes away from that tight puzzle feel.
But hey, this might just be an aesthetic worry that doesn't actually show up once you get it to the table!
Oh sorry, I used the wrong wording. Of course it is dynamic, and I like it a lot. I meant more, the "sending VIP" mechanism itself is static (you send one and it remains there for the rest of the game). I was just thinking that playing around the fact that a faction could send more VIPs (and lose them, somehow), at the price of immobalizing their warriors and feeding the beavers, would reinforce the theme. But that was just a random idea that you can discard if it's a bad one 🙂
This looks like such a fantastic idea! I love the vibe and the overall concept of the board creating waste that serves this faction's goal. The art is also incredibly evocative and touching, right down to the board background.
I have a vague impression that there might be a little too much happening at once, but since I haven't had the time to dive deep into the mechanics yet, that feeling might be completely wrong. I'll definitely give it another read after the jam!
Thanks for the detailed breakdown, it makes total sense now! Sorry I skipped over that entirely. It’s definitely a cool idea to work on. From my limited experience writing rules for Root, changing how a specific piece category behaves can be dangerous. Maybe the loot shouldn't be tokens, especially if they can't be removed in battle. What about making them items? 😅
Also, I'd suggest making movement between the box and the board its own separate action (if you leave it as a standard move, because it gets easily tricky because of so many mechanics affecting movement).
One final thought: starting the game with (kinf of) unlimited actions is risky. I only say that because I’ve fallen into that trap before. Even if boardwiping the Moles T1 isn't the goal for your pirates, just having the option open can feel game-breaking.
Hope this helps, and I'm excited to follow the faction on Discord after the jam!
Thanks a lot! One of the funniest things the playtests revealed is that some factions (I’ll let you guess which ones) can actually benefit from pushing the Woodland toward collapse, which ended up creating some really unusual interactions.
And honestly, hearing compliments about my little doodles from such a talented artist means a lot to me.
Nice idea, I really like the vibe. Big shoutout as well for the setup (“just flip it and play on”), that’s genuinely fun.
So the ship can’t turn back, right? Does that mean it can only move forward until it eventually leaves the map? In that case, the +1 movement bonus feels a bit useless, especially on maps with only three river clearings.
I also don’t think making the ship a token is the best choice, since it doesn’t really behave like a token mechanically. Maybe a pawn would make things clearer?
And maybe I’m just tired, but I can’t figure out from the board how they actually get warriors onto the map (do they move them from the quarters?)... and… how they score victory points!
As the comments below already mention: brilliant idea, brilliant implementation, and brilliant mechanics. It’s genuinely impressive to see this level of variability and engaging interaction while still keeping the engine clean and readable.
Massive congratulations as well to your sister-in-law: the character designs are fantastic. From now on, I’ll firmly deny that my marmots look like beavers (though I’m still not entirely sure what they actually resemble in the end ;)).
As a possible direction to explore further, I wonder whether the VIP mechanic could be made more dynamic. I find it slightly underwhelming that VIPs are assigned once during setup and then remain mostly static throughout the game. Perhaps the system could revolve exclusively around other factions’ VIPs, potentially allowing factions to manage multiple VIPs at once (which could also serve as a clearer representation of corruption) somewhat analogous, though mechanically very distinct, to how Otter funds operate. I think this could reinforce the thematic cohesion even further.
Mechanically, I really love this faction. The gameplay feels simple, highly interactive, and genuinely interesting to play. And the artwork is gorgeous (no burning books reflected in the owl's eyes, though? 🙃)
My only slight critique would be regarding the tokens. While "Bookshops" absolutely works mechanically, the concept feels a little flat compared to the rest of the theme. I feel like the faction would gain even more narrative depth with a slightly punchier or more evocative name for them. But that might just be my personal taste!
Under "King o the dugs" it says that he can take actions with any Highland warriors. Which made me understand that he can't take an action alone. But perhaps your phrasing is good and it's just me 😅
The narrative of infected possums playing dead is hilarious! However, the gameplay left me a bit wanting; personally, I think that if you want to successfully bring a "Pandemic" vibe into Root, the mechanics would need to be interactive with the other factions.
I love the general concept and think it's very original. Changing the victory condition is a bold move that feels fresh, though balancing it sounds complex and will require a lot of work. It's definitely worth it, so good luck to the designer! Also, I'm very intrigued by the lore: what kind of people are they, and what do these warriors look like?
And nope, the numbers don't actually mean anything. I just noticed some players (especially on TTS) using clearing priority markers, so I figured I'd throw in "official" numbers for anyone who wants to keep things totally legit. I also included a universal grid because people mentioned wanting it to work with custom maps (and for Marshes, since I couldn't quite figure out how to make a modular map work). In those setups, the numbers are just there to help identify the clearings.
