Root is taking its all-out woodland war into a roleplaying game

Root, Cole Wehrle’s astoundingly asymmetrical board game of warring animals, is headed to the world of roleplaying.

Behind the upcoming RPG adaptation of the Redwall-meets-‘Nam epic is Magpie Games, which plans to launch a Kickstarter for a core rulebook in the middle of next year, followed by a scheduled release in shops in early 2020. A number of supplements are also planned.

In the game, players will take on the role of vagabonds – one of the board game’s staggeringly different roles – who venture into the woods in search of fortune and excitement.

Root’s other uniquely-controlled factions – including the industrially-minded Marquise de Cat, revolution-stirring Woodland Insurgency and aristocratic Eyrie – will appear as opposing sides of the conflict that may attempt to bring the players onto their side, or try and stand in the way of their plans.

“From the moment we sat down to play Root at Gen Con, we wanted to see more of the woodland,” said Magpie CEO Mark Diaz Truman. “All of us at Magpie Games love tense, political fiction, and Root immediately stood out as an amazing example of just how emotionally compelling a board game can be.”

The deal between Magpie and Root publisher Leder Games is described as being a “multi-year licensing agreement”, suggesting the potential for further roleplaying instalments set in the universe.

Reviewing Root for the October 2018 issue of Tabletop Gaming magazine, Tom Mendelsohn praised the game’s stylish treatment of its drastic asymmetry and described the game as “one of the most grimily-satisfying anything-goes free-for-alls since Kemet”.