Root Marauder Expansion Guide: Hundreds, Keepers, Hirelings & ADSET
Root: The Marauder Expansion adds two militant factions—the Lord of the Hundreds and Keepers in Iron—plus four Hirelings and the modern setup draft commonly called Advanced Setup.
What Marauder adds
- Lord of the Hundreds faction
- Keepers in Iron faction
- Four Hirelings
- Faction setup cards and a new setup draft
- New faction-specific pieces, cards and dice
Lord of the Hundreds
The Hundreds are an aggressive military faction led by a Warlord. They score through Oppress: ruling clearings that contain Hundreds pieces but no enemy pieces. Their mobs can destroy enemy cardboard, while crafted items feed the Warlord’s hoard and affect which moods are available.
This faction rewards map dominance, pressure and denying opponents safe space.
Keepers in Iron
The Keepers are a militant relic-hunting faction. They delve relics from forests, move them across the map and recover them at matching waystations. Their Retinue supplies actions but can be disrupted when relic actions go badly.
The faction rewards careful route planning and risk management rather than pure territorial spread.
Hirelings
Marauder includes four Hirelings. Hirelings are smaller faction-like forces that players can temporarily control. Leder Games specifically describes them as useful for adding tension and interaction at lower player counts.
Advanced Setup
The expansion introduced faction setup cards and a draft-oriented setup system. This creates more flexible faction selection and replaces several older fixed-corner setup assumptions.
Modern Root rules continue to support this approach, and later expansions such as Homeland also use faction setup cards.
Does Marauder require Root?
Yes. A copy of the Root base game is required.
Who should add Marauder?
Marauder is especially useful for groups that play Root with two or three players, because the new militant factions and Hirelings help keep the Woodland contested. It is also a strong choice for experienced groups that want two highly distinctive, conflict-heavy factions.
Related guides
Publisher sources
Expansion contents and current rules framework checked September 2026.