Root, The Between, and more
Cloven Pine contributions to currently crowdfunding games
Greetings!
The start of the school year has kept me busy, but the game world is chugging along as well. Two exciting projects are crowdfunding now-ish that feature Cloven Pine designs: a Root expansion from Magpie Games and The Between from The Gauntlet. Let’s talk about them.
Root: Ruins and Expeditions
Magpie Games is kickstarting an expansion to their RPG based on the popular board game Root. In Root: The Roleplaying Game, you play as animalfolk vagabonds in a war-torn woodland, traveling from clearing to clearing and getting entangled with various powerful factions.
Ruins and Expeditions adds mechanical support for delving into ancient ruins deep in the woodlands, as well as confronting dangerous “monsters” in the form of gigantic snakes, beetles, pike, etc. There are also 4+ new playbooks for the game, and that’s where I come in.
I had the exciting job of designing two of the new playbooks as a contributing designer. Working with the Magpie team, I created The Scourge and The Dealer. The Scourge is a wronged vagabond out to enact terrible vengeance (think Inigo Montoya or Arya Stark). The Dealer is a savvy vagabond running a dubiously-legal business trafficking wares like contraband artifacts, dangerous potions, seditious literature, etc.
As of right now, there are 10 days to go on the Kickstarter. It is fully-funded and notching stretch goals. You can back at any level and get the original Root core book as an add-on. Check it out!
The Between
The Between is a game of Victorian monster-hunters investigating vampires, serial killers, and stranger threats in a dark and gothic version of London. It’s inspired by Penny Dreadful and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (and is as R-rated as those touchstones imply!). It’s designed by Jason Cordova and published by The Gauntlet.
I contributed a Threat, The Clockwork Cuttery, to one of the digital expansions to the original Between—which is now the “preview edition,” as the crowdfunding campaign for the revised, expanded, upgraded, physical edition of the game is about to launch!
The Between (preview edition) is available here for pay-what-you-want. Here’s the expansion with my threat, also pay-what-you-want. And here is the Backerkit page for the campaign that is about to launch—tomorrow as I send this post out.
The Clockwork Cuttery is not my only contribution! I created a playbook, The Dodger, that will be a stretch goal for the campaign. The Dodger is a former pickpocket, now working as a monster-hunter because of a dark secret: they stole a precious item that once belonged to a dragon, and now they can feel the dragon getting ever closer… Like some of the core playbooks, The Dodger comes with a special Threat that can come into play under certain circumstances. Their Threat, of course, is The Wyrm.
Here’s a preview of my draft of the Dodger. I’m excited about this playbook and I’m rooting for it to be quickly unlocked!
Games Fair in Takoma Park
Lastly, a local happening: next Saturday, September 28th, I’ll be selling my games and speaking on a panel at an indie games fair in Takoma Park, MD. The event is at People’s Book from noon–5pm.
I’m excited to present there, alongside other great tabletop designers—including Elizabeth Hargrave, creator of the smash-hit board game Wingspan! Learn more here. If you live in the area, come by, say hi, and buy a game from me!
Till next time, may you confront all the challenges of the world with a group of friendly vagabonds at your side.
Gamefully yours,
Alexi
The Dodger sounds amazing! 🤩