The Root 60-Second Film Celebration!
about 3 years ago
– Fri, Feb 26, 2021 at 01:33:39 AM
Hello, everyone!
A quick introduction: I’m Brooke and I recently joined the Leder Games Team as Social Media and Marketing Coordinator. This is my first Kickstarter on the creator side and wow, you’ve all really delivered on excitement!
Alongside this this campaign, we’d like to celebrate all things Root! Do you have a short video about Root laying around? Do you want to make one? Stop motion, costumes, puppets ... it's all on the table.
Learn more with this 60-second film: https://youtu.be/AZR-io9CYXE
Entries are due by midnight CST on Sunday, March 7! A selection of entries will be featured on our Root Fan Festival Livestream, happening in March! (Details TBA, stay tuned.)
Find more information on the 60-Second Root Film Celebration 2021 page on YouTube!
Other Questions about the Kickstarter?
If you need assistance, please email us at [email protected] and we'll help you out! Please refrain from using the Kickstarter messaging system for questions or assistance.
First Print-and-Play: The Keepers and The Warlord!
about 3 years ago
– Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 11:24:17 PM
Hello everyone,
First and foremost, thank you all so much for your support. We've been flooded with kind comments over the past few days, and I cannot tell you how much it means to everyone at Leder Games to see those comments. Making games can sometimes be a solitary business, and this has been made more acute by the fact that we spent a lot of this year working from home and were unable to see many of you in the usual sorts of places. Your words are welcome reminders why we do what we do.
Faction Release!
It is my pleasure to offer you all the first of our two print-and-play kits. This one features the two new factions included in The Marauder Expansion. You can find the rules to both factions here.
These rules are formatted a little differently from our usual rules. For public print and plays like this, we use a hybrid style that incorporates the Law of Root with the Learning to Play booklets. Rest assured that the final expansion will include both a Learn to Play and an updated Law.
One of my favorite things about working on Root is how easy it is to prototype new content. If you've got some extra cubes around and access to a printer, you can get these new factions on the table in no time at all. You can find the pdfs for the new factions here.
We've also prepared a digital version of the new factions for use in Tabletop Simulator. These factions are built as saved objects, so you can easily drop them in whatever Root mod you prefer.
You can find the TTS objects as well as instructions for how to import them here.
Finally, it's worth mentioning that both factions are still in development. At Leder Games, we do our best to be as transparent as possible about the development process and we like brining you as close to the bleeding edge of the design as we can. As in the past, we won't be keeping this kit updated beyond this initial release, but will likely release at least one new version after the campaign is over as development finishes up.
Today's Live Stream
To celebrate the release of the new factions, we'll be showcasing them in our first livestream! You can find the livestream at 2pm CST over on our Twitch channel. We will be posting the stream to YouTube after it has been broadcast for folks that are unable to watch it live.
We'll be doing these livestreams each Thursday during the campaign and next week we'll be showing off the hirelings and the new setup draft.
Have Questions? Contact Support
As always, the best way to contact us is to write an email to [email protected]. We will do our best to get back to you as quickly as possible.
Looking Back on this Incredible First Day
about 3 years ago
– Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 12:23:32 AM
Dear Backers,
Two years ago I brought what was then the Underworld prototype to PAX: South in a little box, on top of a Root core set. In that box I had the start of a faction of super spies, which I had started working on a few months before. At that time, I did not know if there would be demand for more Root expansions. I designed them just because I wanted to design them. I did not have a booth at the show. Instead, I just wandered the hall doing what I love, showing the thing I had made and getting advice on how to improve it. I listened a lot, and the audience responded well to the new faction. It seemed like there might be demand for more Root.
We launched the Underworld Kickstarter later that year. We didn’t know what to expect. We knew demand would be inflated. At that time, it was very hard to find a copy of Root in retail. We had tried to keep up with demand, but we were still a very small team. Printings that we thought would last for months sold out even before the boat made landfall. We hoped that the Kickstarter could help us do a bigger print run and maybe give us some sense of the true size of Root's audience. As you know, the campaign blew us all away and easily became our most funded project to date.
After Underworld, it was not immediately obvious what we should do with Root next. We didn't want to fall into any kind of formula for what a Root expansion should look like. At the same time, we wanted to create some self-imposed limits to focus our efforts. Cole and I often talk about the benefits of constraint in creative pursuits. Simply put it is easier to create something when you don’t have the full limits of your imagination to work with. Too much choice can create paralysis in the design process. For this expansion, Cole suggested we focus on lower player counts. Instead of just building two factions and a map, we opted to build out the core design to accommodate a whole new system: hirelings. This approach has its risks and we were worried that we might scare people off. Without a doubt our concerns have been dismissed.
Everything I have done to build the company comes at a price, whether it be time, money, or the efforts of the people around me. I am constantly looking at that cost and deciding if it was worth it. I have made mistakes, but even those mistakes have taught me something, have shaped me (and us) into the company we are now. Today you have told me loud and clear that the effort was worth it. Root continues to grow, you are excited to support the game, and we are delighted to continue developing our beloved title. For us this is not just the money, you have validated our team as artists and creators.
Thank you all, thank you for your faith in us, and I look forward to a few weeks of celebration as we continue to bring you the best we can.
As always if you have a question that needs an answer please contact [email protected].
Please stay safe and I will talk to you all soon,
Patrick Leder
