Root - Core Book (2021-05-28)
Root - Core Book (2021-05-28)
Root: The Roleplaying Game text and design @ 2019-2021 Magpie Games. All rights reserved.
Root: A Game of Woodland Right and Might @ 2017 Leder Games. All rights reserved.
Leder Games logo and Root art TM & @ 2017-2020. All rights reserved.
What Is Root?
Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right is a board game
created and published by Leder Games, designed by Cole Wehrle and
with art by Kyle Ferrin. The game was originally published in 2018 and,
since then, has racked up a slew of awards, including four Golden Geek
Awards and the Origin Award for Best Board Game in 2019.
The board game is an asymmetric wargame featuring wildly different
factions of anthropomorphic animals vying for power. The Marquise
de Cat and her minions try to build workshops and lumber mills to take
control of the Woodland, while the Eyrie Dynasties manage a complicated
bureaucratic “program” of orders, and the Woodland Alliance starts
with no pieces on the board, only to spring forth with sudden force as a
surging insurrection against the greater powers. The base game includes
one faction—the Vagabond—who acts as a single, isolated roguish figure,
moving throughout the Woodland, switching allegiances between the
other factions, and performing quests for the denizens of the Woodland.
At the time of writing, two additional expansions are available for
the board game: one that adds the mercenary Riverfolk Company
and the cryptic Lizard Cult; and another that adds the arrogant Great
Underground Duchy and the anarchic Corvid Conspiracy. A third—
The Marauder Expansion—will soon be available for fans as well!
Root: The Roleplaying Game is based on the same fictional world as
Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right, playing with many of
the same themes and ideas, but from a different perspective—that of a
tabletop roleplaying game focused on the vagabonds themselves.
Chaper 1: Introduction 5
How Does Tabletop Roleplaying Work?
For the most part, a tabletop roleplaying game plays like a conversation—you
take turns speaking, describing the action or sharing dialogue, reacting to
each other, switching back and forth between in-character speech and out-
of-character speech. But the conversation leads to places of uncertainty,
times when no one is sure exactly what to say next, when no one knows what
happens in the story. When one character tries to jump from a flaming tree to
another, across a seven-foot gap, no one knows for sure what happens, whether
they successfully reach the next tree or go plummeting to the ground!
In those moments, you turn to the game’s rules. The rules of Root: The RPG
help you to figure out what happens in moments of tense uncertainty, guiding
the conversation forward into new, interesting, and surprising outcomes. The
rules themselves will provide plenty of guidance on exactly when they come
into play, what to do to resolve a situation, and what the outcomes are. But
much of the time, the GM will have to provide some additional interpretation
to help the mechanics fit the very specific situation in your game.
What’s more, the GM also acts as a kind of impartial judge, helping the table
determine when the rules actually come into play. If there’s ever doubt about
whether or not the rules apply, the GM acts as the final arbiter and decision maker.
For example, in the aforementioned case, when a character is jumping from a
flaming tree to another tree about seven feet away, the GM might look at the
rules and the situations in which they’re supposed to come into play, and then
decide that, yes, there absolutely is uncertainty here. Time to go to the rules!
If, on the other hand, a character is jumping from one tree to another when there’s
no fire and the two trees are touching, the GM might look at the rules, look at the
situations in which they’re supposed to come into play, and decide that there’s no
real uncertainty here. There’s no tension. The character just does it.
Think of it like this:
· Each
· The
player is in control of their own character in this fictional, imaginary world.
· When
GM describes the rest of the world, including other characters in it.
no one knows what happens next, the rules come in to provide
interesting results. The GM helps to interpret the rules, calling out when
·
they come in to play and which rules are relevant.
The GM acts as a kind of interpreter, making the rules and outcomes fit the
specifics of your fictional world at that particular moment.
Chaper 1: Introduction 7
The Woodland
For ages, different factions have fought for control of the Woodland’s denizens and
its resources, all amid conditions that amplify the threat of any battle. The place
has always been dangerous, the thick woods concealing a multitude of threats from
bears to bandits. It has resources to support life, but only after a great effort has
been poured into creating a safe place. The clearings carved out of the forest are
the best examples of this safety, little pockets where the greatest dangers have been
pushed back—and a whole new set of dangers have taken their place.
The denizens of the Woodland have seen war fairly recently. The Grand
Civil War between the Eyrie Dynasties rocked the Woodland a few decades
ago, tearing down whatever remained of the Eyrie’s established order. Some
clearings were left to govern themselves after the conflict. Others found
themselves endangered without the aid of Eyrie soldiers to guard the clearing
or nearby paths. While different clearings were affected in different ways to
different extents, no place was left untouched, no life unchanged.
In the absence of another great power controlling the Woodland, the
Marquise de Cat, a powerful and dangerous noble of a far-off empire, swept
in to seize opportunity. She led her forces to invade the Woodland, bringing
it under her control in the Marquisate. The Marquisate might have total
control if the Eyrie Dynasties hadn’t recovered enough to try to retake the
Woodland…and if the Woodland itself didn’t threaten rebellion with the
newfound Woodland Alliance.
Now, more upheaval seems imminent. The Marquisate looks upon the
Woodland with hungry eyes, eager to squeeze resources out of it; the Eyrie’s
claws stretch out to reclaim their lost territory; the Woodland Alliance arises to
push back all other powers; and more factions gaze upon the Woodland from
afar, a gleam in their eyes.
War returns to the Woodland, and the vagabonds will be drawn in.
Playing Safely
When you let the story go where it will, there are times when it can threaten to
go someplace that makes someone uncomfortable. That’s okay, just so long as
you and your group have the tools you need to handle just such a situation.
In general, it’s always a good idea to talk about the game. Talk about it before you
start, talk about it during play, talk about it after. Check in with your players. Be
mature and understanding with each other. Beyond that, there are many tools
for keeping your table on the same page, to make sure the game is comfortable
and fun for everyone. The X-Card is one of our favorites!
X-Card
The X-Card is a handy tool originally developed by John Stavropoulos. Take
an index card or a piece of paper and draw an X on it, and then put it in the
middle of your table. That’s your X-Card. If someone is feeling uncomfortable
in any way because of something happening in the game, they can point to the
X-Card, tap on the X-Card, hold up the X-Card—whatever works for them.
In that moment, everybody in the group agrees to stop and edit out whatever
was X-Carded. The player who uses the X-Card doesn’t have to explain
themselves, though the other players may have a few questions just to make
sure they understand exactly what was X-Carded.
In practice, the X-Card is as important just to have as it is to actually use. A
lot of players feel much more comfortable knowing that the X-Card is there,
whether or not they actually have to use it. It’s an especially great tool when
you’re playing with people you don’t know all that well!
Chaper 1: Introduction 9
What You’ll Need
To play Root: The RPG, you need a few friends willing to commit to playing
at least one session lasting 2–4 hours. A single session of Root is fun, but
the game will come alive if you can string together multiple linked sessions.
You also need one player to be the GM and 2–5 players to portray the main
characters of the game, the player characters or PCs.
Dice
You need at least two six-sided dice, like the kind you find in Monopoly or
Risk. One pair is enough to play, but it’s a lot better to have one pair of dice for
each player. The GM doesn’t need their own pair.
Playbooks
You need a printed copy of each of the playbooks you’re using in your game.
This book comes with nine playbooks, and you can easily have all nine printed
and ready to use. The Travelers & Outsiders expansion book comes with
another ten playbooks. We recommend either defaulting to the nine in this
book, or choosing a selection of the total available when you start a game.
Woodland Map
The GM fleshes out a map of the Woodland, either before or during the first
session. That map can be scribbled on a sheet of paper, drawn over one of the
map images we’ve provided, or even built off the map from the Root: A Game of
Woodland Might and Right board game.
Additional Materials
Here are some other materials you’ll need or want:
· The
equipment to use throughout the game.
Denizen Deck—to give you inspiration for denizen NPCs, along with all
· Printed
of their in-game mechanics and statistics.
copies of the basic moves, weapon moves, reputation moves, and
· APencils,
travel moves—one copy for each player including the GM.
· paper, and other materials for marking up your sheets and maps.
printed copy of the GM materials.
You can find the materials for running a game of Root: The RPG as downloads,
along with more information on the decks, at www.magpiegames.com/root.
In time, the Eyrie Dynasties came to be known as the ruling body of the
Woodland. All clearings paid taxes to them; their soldiers patrolled the paths
(though never enough to make them fully safe); their laborers and engineers
built up the clearings, even helping carve new paths; their bureaucracy ordered
the Woodland.
The Eyrie undeniably favored the birds of the Woodland over any other
creatures, and they brooked no dissent, enforcing their will through strength of
arms and control of the Woodland’s resources. Their rulers were preoccupied in
gaining and keeping power, and their turnover kept the Woodland’s leadership
in a chaotic churn, no ruler capable of getting much done even if they had
wanted to. The denizens of the Woodland were caught in more than one
squabble between power-hungry rulers, with all the costs that war entails.
So it was for the many decades of Eyrie rule over the Woodland—a kind of
self-balancing instability, perpetuating itself. A government useful enough that
it could avoid full-scale rebellion, and destructive enough that it would never
fully avoid the specter of revolt.
Then everything changed in the Grand Civil War.
The Interbellum
In the aftermath of the Grand Civil War, the Woodland was in ruins, without any
clear widespread authority capable of organizing defenses or reconstruction. The
denizens’ lives were hard, but many also found a freedom they had not known in
years. The crushing power of the Eyrie Dynasties was fragmented in some places
and completely absent in the rest.
Each clearing was more or less on its own—not because denizens wouldn’t
help each other (although some clearings were most certainly stingy with the
supplies and resources they did have), but because each clearing was dealing
with its own problems. The paths themselves became more dangerous and
overgrown as clearings traded only with their closest neighbors, and most
turned their attentions inward to focus on local problems and politics.
Through it all, the Woodland survived. The clearings rebuilt themselves even
as they formed their own new structures and ways of governing themselves.
In one or two cases, new minor “kingdoms” arose, gathering power over
neighboring clearings, but always fell apart with time. The lives of the
denizens became better, easier than at the height of the war, even if still
difficult in many ways.
The Invasion
In the world at large, there are many other territories, many other powers and
cultures, many other creatures, and many other beliefs. The Domination de Cat
is one of the greatest of powers elsewhere in the world, but it had never turned
its attentions to the Woodland before—there were always greater concerns in
its own territories, or in the territories closer by.
Only when an enterprising, ambitious, clever aristocrat of the Domination
saw the potential of the Woodland did the Domination—or at least, a part of
it—begin look at the Woodland more closely. The Marquise de Cat held power
within the Domination, but she wanted more. Struggling against her fellow
nobles promised little success; those who had power and assets worth taking
were too strong to assail. But the Woodland was a new piece of territory with
resources and potential subjects. And if her scouts were correct, the reigning
power of the Woodland had recently fallen apart, leaving it open to conquest…
The Marquise assembled her own forces and, with permission of the
Impératrice of the Domination, she marched to the Woodland.
The disparate clearings were in no position to resist the Marquise and her well-
trained, well-provisioned, well-equipped forces. In the first clearing she took,
located on the edges of the Woodland, she immediately set about building a
new power base from which to hold the rest. Meanwhile, her forces swept out
over the paths—cutting back the growth as they went—and captured clearing
after clearing. Some clearings resisted, but soon enough, word spread—fighting
the Marquisate forces was a losing battle.
In truth, of course, the Marquise’s forces were far from infinite, and as she took
control of the Woodland, they were spread thinner and thinner. Of necessity,
she recruited new warriors from the clearings themselves—a move that required
winning the goodwill of the denizens, at least enough for them to join up.
Marquisate forces began to implement techniques and devices from the
Domination within the Woodland clearings. They built lumber mills and
workshops. They helped construct effective irrigation for food within the
First they occupied their own edge of the Woodland, claiming the great
restoration had begun. And then they began to march into other clearings,
engaging the Marquisate forces directly.
The war between the Marquisate and the Eyrie had begun. All the clearings and
their denizens had hard choices to make: Would they join one side or the other?
Would they simply keep their heads down and hope the war passed them by?
Would they fight to stay free of either side?
That last thought grew louder and louder in many denizens’ minds, until the
war changed again…
The Marquisate
The invaders from another empire, led by the
Marquise de Cat. Industrializing, forceful,
opportunistic, and pragmatic.
The Marquisate is, at heart, a foreign power come
from far-off Le Monde de Cat to conquer the
Woodland. But it grows more tied to the Woodland
each day. It builds new structures across controlled
clearings; it recruits new soldiers and agents directly
from ruled denizens; and it forces the culture of
the Marquisate upon the Woodland, even as the
Marquisate itself changes to adapt.
The core goal of the Marquisate remains what
it has always been—to control the Woodland as
another holding of Le Monde, a base from which
the Marquise can further her ambitions. But as it
adds new members to its ranks, its goals are drawn
towards establishing order, industry, and prosperity
in the Woodland.
The Denizens
The average inhabitants of the Woodland.
Conservative, timid, downtrodden, and standoffish.
The denizens aren’t a faction, as such—they
don’t have a dominant organizing principle,
besides being “civilians.” They’re the individuals
throughout the Woodland who aren’t devoted to
any particular faction. They’re connected by trade
and by travelers’ stories.
The denizens, above all else, just want to live and be
safe. There may be outliers looking to pick fights, but
when denizens want to fight for causes, they veer
towards membership in one of the factions. What
defines the denizens is their dominant interest in
continued survival amid the more powerful factions
and their concern with the “ordinary” problems that
arise in their day-to-day lives.
The Conversation
What does a roleplaying game actually look like during play? If you
were to watch a group sitting down to a game of Root: The RPG,
what would you see and hear?
You’d see, at its most basic, a conversation playing out.
That’s what a roleplaying game like Root: The RPG is at heart—an
ongoing conversation between the players where they take turns
talking about what happens next, who says what, how the world and
other characters react, and so on.
When you hear “taking turns,” don’t think of something deeply rigid and
regimented, like taking turns in a traditional board game—instead, think
about an actual conversation you’d have with your friends. You “take turns”
speaking, asking each other questions, joking, sometimes interjecting. It
flows naturally and easily, and much of the time that’s how Root: The
RPG will feel during play!
Within the conversation, each player has a few roles to fill and jobs to
do, things that direct their part of the conversation. Most of the players
in the game have their own singular character—a player character, or
PC—for whom they speak. The player describes what their character is
doing or what their character looks like. They speak on behalf of their
character, saying what the character says. They ask questions about
what their character sees or knows, or where their character is.
But one person in the conversation has a different role: the
Gamemaster, or GM role. The GM is still a participant in the
conversations, but instead of speaking for one individual character,
they speak on behalf of the entire rest of the fictional world. They
describe the environment around the characters; they speak on behalf
of all of the non-player characters, or NPCs, of the fictional world; they
even say what happens when a character takes an action, though they
often have help from the rules.
Example
I’m the Gamemaster, playing with some friends—Mark playing Mint the Ranger;
Marissa playing Tali the Adventurer; Miguel playing Guy the Scoundrel; and Sam
playing Hester the Tinker.
“The cave mouth yawns wide, a big black hole amid the forest greenery around it,” I
say. “It matches the description of Bernird the smith perfectly—if he’s right, the bear
is in there.”
“Oh, I don’t want to go in there,” Sam says, speaking for Hester. “Maybe we can
lure it out?”
“We could do that,” Mark says, speaking for Mint. “Maybe we use one of us as bait,
and the others lie in wait on top of the cave! Who here is good at shooting arrows?”
Mark, Miguel, and Sam raise their hands. “I don’t have a bow,” says Marissa,
speaking for Tali.
“Looks like we have our bait!” says Miguel, speaking for Guy. “Don’t worry, we’ll get
the bear before he can get his paws on you.”
“I feel very reassured.” Marissa laughs.
Framing Scenes
To make the conversation flow, you have to frame scenes. You have to set up
situations in your game, in your story and your fiction, that then spur further
conversation and give players enough information to make decisions.
A scene here is like a scene in a movie or a book, with a bunch of characters in a
place, talking to each other or taking actions. The scene ends when it’s time to
move on and change something important—the location changes, or the characters
in the scene change, or what they’re doing changes, or time advances. For Root:
The RPG, you can even think of a scene as a discrete chunk of the overall
conversation of the game, as if it were one topic that you discuss to completion
before moving on to a new topic.
So every time you start a session of Root: The RPG, the GM starts things
off by framing a scene. When the time comes, they end the scene, too, and
frame a new one. That’s one of the key responsibilities of the GM—framing
and ending scenes.
Example
Tali the Adventurer, Marissa’s character, wants to go talk to the Earl of Flathome
to try to talk him into freeing some unwitting, innocent denizens from his prisons. I
could frame the scene with Tali talking her way past the guards and into the Earl’s
office…but instead, I decide to frame the scene hard.
“Tali, we pick up with you standing in the Earl’s office. He’s sitting behind his desk,
his wings folded in front of him, his yellow eyes focused on you. Behind you, two of
his elite hawk guardians stand with halberds—ready for anything to go wrong, or for
the Earl to give the word. They’ve already disarmed you as a condition to get inside.
The Earl opens his beak and says, ‘So, vagabond. I hope this is worthy of my time.’
What do you do?”
Example
Marissa, Tali’s player, describes Tali sitting down nervously in the chair across from the
Earl. “I try to put on a serious face. ‘Thank you for meeting with me, Earl,’” she says
As the GM, I speak for NPCs like the Earl, and I choose to set a dismissive tone. “‘Yes,
yes, get on with it,’ the Earl says, waving one wing at you dismissively.”
“Right. ‘I come to speak to you on behalf of Greta and Prewitt, the two rabbits you
imprisoned for being Woodland Alliance spies. They’re not spies at all—they’re just
foolish young bunnies who said things they shouldn’t have. They don’t deserve to be
locked up for a youthful mistake, my lord Earl.’ I look down when I say the last bit,
I’m trying to look deferential.”
I make the Earl’s scoffing snort. “‘You would have me release two individuals who
might be dangerous spies, just because you think they’re not? I need to make an
example of these dissidents for the clearing.’”
“‘But releasing them will make a different kind of example. It will show you’re
merciful, and it will deflate the Woodland Alliance’s efforts in the clearing. The
denizens will be grateful to you, and their will to fight will vanish.’”
I’m beginning to feel that uncertainty—I’m not sure how the Earl would react. He
might hate being lectured by a vagabond, but he’s also a shrewd operator, and Tali
is making a good point. I look at the list of moves, and see the trigger for persuade
someone: “When you persuade an NPC with promises or threats, roll with Charm.”
“Hey, Tali, it sounds like you’re persuading the Earl. You’re promising him that if he
does what you want, the Woodland Alliance presence in the clearing will start to die
down. Is that about right?”
Marissa groans, but nods. “Yeah, I guess I am. I don’t like that promise, but it
makes sense.”
“Great! Time to roll, then!”
The only times you use the dice during the conversation are when the moves
and rules call for it. Especially if you’re familiar with other roleplaying games,
you may feel a desire to use the dice to resolve moments in the conversation
that you think are uncertain, even when there isn’t actually a move to roll.
· Awanted.
7 or higher is called a “hit” and means you’ll get at least the main thing you
· Awanted,
10 or higher is called a “strong hit” and means you’ll get almost all you
Example
Marissa rolls for Tali’s persuade move—2d6 plus Tali’s Charm of +2. The dice,
unfortunately, come up a 1 and a 2—a total of a 5. A miss. I think about what to do,
and I see Tali’s reputation with the Eyrie Dynasties—a –1, not tremendously low, but
low enough to change the Earl’s opinions. It gives me an idea!
“Yeah, the Earl looks at you, considering your words, and then a terrible grin comes
over his face. ‘An interesting proposal, indeed. The one flaw, of course, is that I
One more important note here: the GM never rolls dice for moves during play. The
GM may roll dice for random tables to set things up—see “Making the Woodland”
on page 224—but they won’t roll dice to resolve what happens. It’s always the
players rolling dice on behalf of their PCs. That keeps the focus on those PCs, their
actions, and the results of those actions.
The Fiction
When you play Root: The RPG, your conversations are about the fiction—the
full, encompassing, fictional world of your game. The fiction includes all the
characters, the places, and the events of your ongoing game. It doesn’t just cover
the things that happen during your conversation—if one PC is the child of two
important Eyrie nobles, and their backstory says that those Eyrie nobles were
overthrown and have gone missing, then all of that is part of the fiction, too.
Think of the fiction almost as the “canon” of your game. What’s true? What’s
questionable? What’s been established? What makes sense? The fiction starts
off primed by everything in this book (see Chapter 1), but it changes as you play.
Everything you say and do during the game adds to and changes your fiction.
The fiction is all important to a game of Root: The RPG. Everything that
goes on in the game has to take it into account. It creates the boundaries of the
conversation that you’re having.
Can a bird character fly? To answer, you go to the fiction: yes, they can fly.
They have wings, and they live in the upper parts of the clearings. It makes
sense. And now that you’ve said that, from that point forward, all players can
reasonably assume a bird can fly.
Can a fox character fly? Go to the fiction: no, they can’t fly on their own. They
have no wings, they live on the ground. And now that you’ve said that, from
that point forward, all players can reasonably assume foxes aren’t going to be
found in the sky.
Can a bird character fly if they’re covered in plate mail and carrying a giant
hammer and three sacks full of gold? Go to the fiction: no, it’s too much. They
can’t take off; they’re too heavy. Now, all players can make assumptions about
Shared Understanding
When you play Root: The RPG, the world of the game, the fiction, doesn’t
exist in any one player’s mind, not even the Gamemaster’s. It exists between
everyone playing the game, a shared imagined world with its own truths,
history, and rules. To play well and effectively, to use moves and resolve
uncertainty, you must all be on the same page with the way you understand
the fiction.
Let’s say your character tells the guard, “I have served the Marquisate nobly, and
you should allow me to enter the clearing.” You must understand the fiction in
that moment to recognize whether the character is telling the truth and trying to
persuade the guard, or whether the character is lying and trying to trick the guard.
It’s crucial not only to have an understanding of the fiction, but to have a
shared understanding of the fiction. If you actually believe that you’re telling
the truth when you say you served the Marquisate nobly, but the GM believes
that you’re lying and tricking the guard, then there’s a problem—you don’t have
a shared understanding of the fiction, enough for the correct move to be used
and the conversation to flow forward.
When that happens, though, it’s easy to resolve—just have a conversation to get
on the same page!
Your game can be derailed if the players bring different assumptions about
the fiction to the game, but just like everything else, it’s all part of the
conversation—so always clarify, ask questions, and make sure everybody’s
understanding of the fiction is more or less the same.
Preparing to Play
Make sure you know the space you’re playing in. Whether it’s a table with chairs
or an online video call, think through what you’re doing; how to adapt to the
number of players; and the need for character sheets, reference sheets, and dice.
To start, each player needs their character sheet (for their particular playbook),
a basic moves reference sheet, and a character creation reference sheet. The GM
needs their GM reference sheets and should probably also have a basic move
reference sheet and a character creation reference sheet.
Each player needs a way to roll 2d6. You can get away with a single pair of dice
in a pinch, but it’s way easier if everyone has their own set. If you’re playing
online, pick out a shared dice roller and set it up. In tense moments, it’s a lot of
fun to watch together as the dice fall!
Each player needs some pencils and paper for extra notes. The GM, in
particular, must be able to take notes on the Woodland, on individual clearings,
and on NPCs. The Woodland Notepads are a great resource for these notes.
You’ll need your map of the Woodland, be it a piece of paper, an online sketch,
the board game map, whatever.
Finally, you’ll need some time, probably between 3 and 4 hours. The first time
you play, character creation is likely to take up to 2 hours to fill out all the
Woodland Expectations
Before you start play, everyone should be on generally the same page. That
usually means that the GM will provide a base-level explanation—drawn from
Chapter 2 starting on page 11—of the Woodland, the factions at play, the
nature of the denizens of the Woodland, etc. And the players can and should ask
questions to make sure everybody’s understanding of the Woodland is aligned.
But here are a few expectations that you should have about the Woodland to
keep you in sync with the rest of the game.
· IfIf aa character
· they no longersplits
stops being a vagabond, they no longer fit the story of the game.
character off from the band, the overarching group, for good, then
fit the story of the game.
Vagabonds are defined by their independence and their traveling natures.
They may grow in power in relationship to any of the factions but, ultimately,
they’re not a part of those factions—with all the costs and benefits associated
with remaining apart. If they ever fully join a faction, then they’re not really
vagabonds anymore. Similarly, vagabonds travel across the Woodland, moving
over path and forest. They may have a “home base,” a particular place they like
to come back to, where they can find safety and rest…but it’s not the same as a
real home, a place they call their own and don’t want to leave. If vagabonds ever
settle down, then they’re not really vagabonds anymore.
A vagabond band is not all that common—most vagabonds travel
independently and come together for temporary jobs before disbanding again—
but that’s why it’s so special, and that’s why Root: The RPG is about a band.
The vagabonds in the band are connected by professional ties, by friendship, by
real support and care, by mutual self-interest, or by something else altogether.
Whatever it is, they’re connected, and they’ve decided that they’re better off
sticking together than splitting up. If that ever changes and a vagabond wants
to leave the band, then they’re moving away from the game’s spotlight.
In any of these cases, the most likely result is that the vagabond PC who stops
being a vagabond or splits off from the band isn’t a PC anymore. They might
still be a character in the overall Woodland and in the fiction…but they’re not
one of the main characters of the story you’re telling anymore. It’s almost like
when a character leaves a TV show; they might come back to guest star in an
episode, but they’re not part of the main cast anymore.
That’s okay! Sometimes those moves make the most sense for a character and
a story! None of this is to suggest that you can’t have a vagabond settle down
or split off from the band. The real takeaway here is that a character who does
either of these things is moving away from the tone and focus of the game—so
it’s probably best to only do these things when everyone involved is okay with
that character ceasing to be a PC. The player can easily make a new vagabond to
jump into the band (see page 179), but the original character no longer fits the
story and is, in one way or another, retired as a PC.
Choosing a Playbook
To make a vagabond PC, you first need to pick a playbook. A playbook
is a particular archetype, a set of ideas bound together as a guideline
for your character—but not a straitjacket. Each playbook has plenty of
room for you to build a unique vagabond!
There are nine playbooks in this book, each corresponding to one
of the vagabonds in Root: A Game of Woodland Might and
Right, Root: The Riverfolk Company Expansion, and Root: The
Underground Expansion. These are the playbooks you’ll find: The
Adventurer, The Arbiter, The Harrier, The Ranger, The Ronin, The
Scoundrel, The Thief, The Tinker, and The Vagrant. Each player will
pick their own playbook, and no doubling up—each player must
choose a different playbook than the others. That way you’ll have
a band of vagabonds with different traits, different problems, and
different skill sets.
Each playbook is its own unique double-sided sheet. When you make
your character, you’ll print out your particular playbook and write all
the pertinent information on those sheets, using it as the actual record
of all your traits, abilities, equipment, and more, so this book often
uses the terms “playbook” and “character sheet” interchangeably.
For more on the individual playbooks, see page 132.
Example
Derrick is making his new character. He looks at the playbooks to see what
matches his interests. He’d like a socially oriented character—not so much a
fighter—so he’s looking at the Adventurer and the Vagrant. Since Marissa is
interested in playing the Adventurer, though, he decides to take the Vagrant.
Name
For name, choose one option from the name list on the character creation
worksheet or make up a similar option of your own. You might also have a
nickname, like Scar or Patches, that other denizens call you!
Species
Your species is what kind of animal you are; either pick one option from the list,
or add your own in the blank. There are four common animals in the Woodland—
birds, foxes, mice, and rabbits. Other animals are less common, but the Woodland is
a big place filled with lots of different creatures.
In fact, your species can more or less be anything, with a few limits:
· Don’t pick an animal that is bigger than a wolf in the real world. All denizens
in Root: The RPG are more or less person-sized, but it starts feeling a bit
strange if you bring in larger animals…and in the background of the Woodland,
· Don’t
a lot of the larger animals (deer, bears) are particularly strange or dangerous.
choose purely aquatic animals. Amphibious animals can work, but no
fish. The denizens of the Woodland—and the other player characters—are
going to be skewed heavily to land animals. Make sure you’re picking an
animal that can physically interact with the other denizens, and about whom
you won’t be asking every five seconds, “But how do your gills work above
water? How can you breathe?”
Details
For details, you have three lines of options with a few details that are mostly
unique to your playbook. Circle at least one option from each line, or fill in your
own and circle it. You can circle more options if you choose for them to apply.
The first line is always the pronouns that your character uses; the second
line is a small physical description of your character, to prime other players
Demeanor
For demeanor, choose one option and circle it, or fill in your own. Demeanor is just
a short cue about your character’s overall bearing and personality. As always, this is
meant to be a prompt, a way to get you started with options that fit your playbook
well—it’s not meant to be a hard limit.
Example
Derrick looks at the name list and likes the sound of “Jinx.” He considers for a
minute making Jinx a mouse, but “opossum” keeps calling to him. Derrick likes
the image of a vagabond who solves problems by playing dead and feels that an
opossum is great for that! He circles it, picturing Jinx as a grey-furred rat-tailed
opossum. But even though the character is an opossum, Jinx doesn’t get any special
advantage by playing dead—instead, Derrick will still roll to trick an NPC when
Jinx tries, and that’s when the Cunning stat will matter—but that’s all something to
think about later.
For details, Derrick chooses from the pronouns line that Jinx uses “they” pronouns,
and “patchwork” from the physical description line sounds good—Derrick sees Jinx
as having patched-up clothes sewn from countless other garments. He likes three
of the trinket options, so he circles all three—“tattered cloak,” “luck charm,” and
“gambling paraphernalia.” The good luck charm feels right, but he’ll figure out what
it is later. He sees the gambling paraphernalia as dice and a cup to roll them.
Background Questions
The background questions are prompts to get you thinking about and filling in
your character’s past. Every vagabond has a past, and those elements are great story
fodder for interesting, dramatic scenes down the line.
Each playbook has five questions, and each question has a few answers you can
select. The five questions are usually the same on every playbook, although
some of the options differ from playbook to playbook. If you feel strongly, you
can answer a question with a different answer from those provided, but you
should see if the presented answers work at all—most of them have plenty of
wiggle room to provide more specifics and further detail.
Example
It’s time for Derrick to fill in the background of Jinx. He decides that Jinx is from
somewhere far from here—Jinx is an opossum and they see themself as coming
from a family of opossums living deep in the woods. The reason Jinx is a vagabond,
Derrick decides, is that they are on the run for their lies and tricks. Jinx has run one
too many cons in one too many places; nearly anywhere they’d go, there are probably
a few denizens who might recognize them and try to take retribution.
Derrick also decides that Jinx recently left behind their best friend and former partner
in crime, a combination of two of the answers on the Vagrant playbook. Derrick sees
this friend, named Pell, as another scammer who ultimately settled down and left
the life of endless tricks. He names the clearing Pell still lives in, based on the options
on the map. Finally, Derrick decides that Jinx has served the Woodland Alliance
the most—Jinx’s tricks have been useful for the would-be rebels—and has earned a
special enmity with the denizens themselves. The regular denizens of the Woodland
are annoyed by the Vagrant’s cons. Derrick marks two prestige with the Woodland
Alliance, and one notoriety with the denizens.
Example
As a Vagrant, Jinx’s starting stats are Charm +2, Cunning +1, Finesse –1, Might 0,
and Luck 0. Derrick gets to add +1 to any one stat of his choice, as long as he doesn’t
raise it above a +2. Charm’s out, then. Derrick thinks about Luck—he can see Jinx
as someone who’s relied on sheer good luck and will to make it through tough
situations—but he ultimately chooses Cunning so that Jinx can run their tricks with
even greater facility.
Example
Derrick knows that he wants Jinx to be a tricksy con artist. He looks at the Vagrant’s
two natures, Drunk and Hustler, and instantly chooses Hustler—it fits Jinx’s
mischievous, deceptive manner way better. Then, Derrick looks at the Vagrant’s
drives. Clean Paws kind of speaks to his desire for Jinx to trick other people into
acting how Jinx wants and then appear to be innocent…but he’s most interested in
Chaos and Thrills. Derrick can see Jinx trying to fulfill those drives much more often
during play, so he picks Chaos and Thrills as Jinx’s two drives.
Connections
Your connections set up your relationships with the other vagabonds in
your band. Most vagabonds have heard of each other and know about each
other’s reputations—they’re all in the same “profession,” after all. But you and
your fellow PCs are particularly connected to one another. You’ve worked
together, pulled heists together, fled from the authorities together. You’re
friends, coworkers, allies, maybe even family. Your connections establish those
relationships between you.
Each connection includes a few elements: a category, a sentence with a blank
space, and a mechanical effect. The category is a general notion of how you feel
about the other vagabond in the connection—you see them as family, a fellow
professional, a friend, etc. The sentence is a description of the actual, specific
relationship and history you have with each other. You’ll fill in the blank with
the name of the other vagabond in the connection. Finally, the mechanical
effect is a change, tweak, or advantage that you get because of your relationship.
Unless otherwise noted, the mechanical effect applies only to you.
Every player has two connections on their own playbook. Each connection
links you and another PC. You’ll wind up with at least the two connections on
your own playbook linking you to other PCs, but you might wind up with more
connections when other PCs choose your character to fill in the blanks on their
own connections.
When you make your characters, you fill in your connections last. After everyone
has made their characters in all other respects, go around the table one at a time.
Choose a single connection, and fill in the blank with the name of another PC
vagabond. Always choose a PC—never an NPC denizen or vagabond. If there are
questions about the connection, answer them. The GM may ask a few additional
questions to fill in details of the connection, to make sure it’s fleshed out and
everyone has a shared understanding of the PCs’ histories with each other.
Protector Friend
When they are in reach, mark When you help them, you can
exhaustion to take a blow meant for mark 2-exhaustion to give a +2,
them. If you do, take +1 ongoing to instead of 1-exhaustion for a +1.
weapon moves for the rest of the scene.
Professional
Partner If you share information with them
When you fill in this connection, you after reading a tense situation, you
each mark 2-prestige with the faction both benefit from the +1 for acting
you helped, and mark 2-notoriety with on the answers. If you help them
the faction you harmed. During play, while they attempt a roguish feat,
if you are spotted together, then any you gain choices on the help move
prestige or notoriety gains with those as if you had marked 2-exhaustion
factions are doubled for the two of you. when you mark 1-exhaustion.
Watcher Family
When you figure them out, you When you help them fulfill their nature,
always hold 1, even on a miss. you both clear your exhaustion track.
When you plead with them to go
along with you, you can let them
clear 2-exhaustion instead of 1.
Faction Reputation
This is how you keep track of the ways other factions view you. Your reputation
is the number you have circled for a given faction, ranging between –3 and
+3. The higher the number, the better a faction’s view of you. A +0 means
members of the faction haven’t heard much about you, or what they’ve heard is
conflicted—they’re not sure if you’re a friend or foe. A +3 means that members
of the faction view you as practically a hero, certainly as one of their own. A
–3 means that members of the faction view you as a dire threat—and they’ll
probably try to take you down on sight.
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
notoriety prestige
Write the name of each faction in your game into the blanks on your character
sheet (make sure you remember to include “Denizens” in that set!). When play
starts, not counting any boxes you marked for connections or your background
connections, your reputation is a 0 with each of those factions—circle the
number 0 to indicate that.
Every time you’re told to mark 1 prestige with a faction, mark a box to the right of
the 0 on that faction’s line. Every time you’re told to mark 1 notoriety with a faction,
you mark a box to the left of the 0 on that faction’s line.
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
notoriety prestige
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
To go from a +1 reputation to a +2 reputation, you must fill all the prestige boxes
between 0 and +2, ten boxes in total. Similarly, to go from +2 to +3 reputation, you
must fill all the prestige boxes between 0 and +3, fifteen boxes in total.
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
Notoriety works much the same way. When you’ve filled all the boxes between
0 and –1, you would lower your reputation, erasing the circle around the 0 and
circling the –1, and clearing all your marked notoriety with that faction. To go
from –1 to –2 reputation requires you to fill all the notoriety boxes between 0
and –2—six boxes in total. To go from –2 to –3 reputation requires you to fill all
the notoriety boxes between 0 and –3—nine boxes in total.
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
If your reputation is above 0, then filling all the notoriety boxes between 0 and
–1 will drop it a level. For example, if your reputation is +2, and you fill the three
notoriety boxes between 0 and –1, erase your +2 reputation, circle +1, and erase all
the marked notoriety boxes for that faction.
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
If your reputation is below 0, then filling in all the prestige boxes between 0 and
+1 will raise it a level. For example, if your reputation is –2, and you fill the five
prestige boxes between 0 and +1, erase your –2 reputation and circle –1, and erase
all the marked prestige boxes for that faction.
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
-3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
Example
Because they served the Woodland Alliance most, Jinx has two boxes of prestige—
the first two to the right of the 0—marked. And because they managed to earn a
special enmity with the denizens, they have the first box of notoriety—the first to
the left of the 0—marked. Then, because Keera the Arbiter chose Jinx for her Partner
connection, Derrick has to mark two additional prestige boxes with the faction Jinx
and Keera helped, and two additional notoriety with the faction Jinx and Keera
harmed. Derrick winds up marking two prestige with the Marquisate, and two
notoriety with the denizens—pushing Jinx to a –1 reputation with the denizens!
Derrick erases the 0, circles the –1, and clears all the notoriety for the denizen track.
Example
Derrick has to pick three playbook moves for Jinx from the Vagrant playbook. He
takes a look at his options and likes the look of Let’s Play, a move that lets Jinx
gamble to get information out of people; Pocket Sand, a move that Derrick hopes
will give Jinx some options in a fight; and Desperate Smile, which Derrick thinks fits
Jinx’s likelihood to rely on desperate begging to save their skin. Derrick likes the look
of Instigator and Charm Offensive as more ways to handle fights, but he thinks
the other playbook moves suit his character better to start. He notes Instigator and
Charm Offensive for future advancements.
Harm Tracks
Your harm tracks represent different kinds of “harm” or “costs” you might
suffer. Usually, you’ll want to keep them as empty and unmarked as possible.
Every PC vagabond has three harm tracks: depletion, exhaustion, and injury.
They all start the game four boxes long. You won’t have to make any changes to
these tracks during character creation.
Depletion tracks how much assorted equipment and supplies you’re carrying. You
can mark depletion to have a small, useful item, pulling it from a pouch at the right
moment. You can also mark depletion for extra money, or on some moves that ask
you to pay it as a cost. When all the boxes on your depletion harm track are filled,
then your pockets are empty—you can’t mark any more depletion, for any reason.
Exhaustion tracks how much energy you have left, and how tired you are.
You won’t choose to mark exhaustion without a specific move, effect, or GM
move asking you to, but several moves have you pay exhaustion to avoid some
consequence (like attempt a roguish feat, see page 68). When all the boxes
on your exhaustion harm track are filled, you’re utterly drained, just about to
drop into unconsciousness or powerlessness—in this state, you can’t choose to
mark exhaustion for any reason, and if something else inflicts exhaustion harm
on you, you become unconscious or entirely removed from action.
Roguish Feats
Roguish feats represent particular larcenous skills that a vagabond has picked
up. Vagabonds are very skilled—no one lasts long as a vagabond if they aren’t
possessed of enough willpower and skill, so the only vagabonds around for an
extended time are all widely capable, with their own smaller array of specialized
skills. Roguish feats are how Root: The RPG represents some of the criminal
abilities vagabonds have acquired over their careers.
Roguish feats are used hand in hand with attempting a roguish feat. Over the
course of play, you often attempt tasks that fall in line with a roguish feat. If you
have that feat marked on your playbook—abbreviated to “having that roguish
feat”—then you’re attempting a roguish feat: you roll with Finesse, and the move
will give you more controlled results. If you don’t have that feat marked on your
playbook—abbreviated as “not having that roguish feat”—then you’re trusting
fate: you roll with Luck, and no matter how well you roll, you’re going to pay a
cost or suffer a complication. For more on both these moves, see page 83.
Put another way—having a roguish feat means that you’re much more likely to
keep control of a situation in which you're counting on your larcenous abilities. Not
having the feat doesn’t mean you can’t attempt those acts, but it does mean that
you are going to face some consequence or messy circumstance whenever you do.
Most playbooks have your roguish feats pre-selected, so you don’t have a choice to
make. Some playbooks give you a choice, and you pick one or more from the list.
Example
Derrick doesn’t need to pick any roguish feats for Jinx—for the Vagrant, they’re
preselected as Pick Lock and Sleight of Hand. Derrick likes the look of Sneak for
sure, and makes a note of it for future advancement. For now, though, when Jinx
sneaks, Derrick will roll to trust fate.
Example
Derrick gets to pick Jinx’s starting weapon skill from Improvise, Parry, Quick Shot,
and Vicious Strike. Improvise seems handy and like it fits Jinx’s style, but Derrick
settles on Vicious Strike—Jinx is the type to take advantage of dirty fighting across
the board.
Equipment
Vagabonds have plenty of bags, satchels, pouches, backpacks, pockets, and
more. They carry plenty of knickknacks, coins, assorted herbs, and more. Most
of that stuff is represented by the depletion harm track (see page 125 for more
on depletion) as general gear your vagabond carries.
When Root: The RPG refers to equipment, it refers to important, larger,
specific, and non-replaceable items. Your sword or your bow are pieces of
equipment. Your armor is a piece of equipment, as is your shield. Arrows aren’t
equipment in the same way…unless they’re very special arrows. A lockpick isn’t
equipment and is better represented by depletion…unless it’s a masterwork,
unbreakable lockpick.
In terms of the game’s rules, a piece of equipment is something that has both
a wear track and its own tags. Wear is a special harm track unique to an
individual piece of equipment, representing the equipment’s durability. When
all the boxes of a wear track are full, then the associated piece of equipment is
damaged pretty badly, to the point that it’s barely functional. If you ever need to
mark another box of wear on a piece of equipment with a full wear track, then
the equipment is destroyed entirely, beyond repair.
Load
You can’t carry an infinite amount of equipment without
consequence. Every vagabond can carry only so much Load
without being burdened—4 by default, modified by your
Might. If you have a Might of +1, you can carry 5 Load; if you
have a Might of –1, you can carry 3 Load. Carrying handheld,
pocket-sized, or lighter wearable items doesn’t use up any
Load. But larger, significant, or heavier items use up 1 Load.
Think of Load as an indicator of large and obvious items
when someone sees your vagabond. Your armor, your sword,
your bow, your shield—someone looking at your character
would see them all on the body, hanging from a scabbard,
slung over a shoulder—and each would use up 1 Load. The
knife that your character has in their boot, however, wouldn’t
use up any Load.
A particularly large or bulky item might have a flaw tag that
makes it take up 2 Load—a huge sword, for example. If an item
is small or easy to carry, then even if it has wear, you can carry it
without it using up any of your Load.
Example
Derrick has 8 Value to spend for Jinx on equipment. He knows he wants Jinx to have
a special dagger, so he picks out a baseline dagger from Chapter 7 (page 191), and
adjusts its traits a bit. Ultimately, he winds up with a blade that has two boxes of wear,
two ranges (intimate and close), the Vicious Strike weapon move tag (to make sure he
can use his starting weapon skill), and the Mousefolk Steel special tag, for a total cost
of 5 Value. He names it the Jinxblade and records it on the equipment section of his
sheet.
He also decides that he wants something armor-esque, but that Jinx wouldn’t really
be wearing armor. He picks out a robe with one box of wear and the special trait
Friendly, for a total cost of 2 Value. That leaves Jinx with 1 Value leftover, which
Derrick chooses to hold onto as a bag of coin. The Jinxblade started as a dagger, but
Derrick and the GM agree that because of its two ranges, it’s more of a short sword
now, so it uses up 1 Load. Jinx’s robes are specifically light and cloth, so they don’t use
up any Load, and the bag of money is small enough to just fit in their pouches, so it
uses up no Load. Jinx is only using up 1 of their 4 total Load!
· Hold is a resource, a “point” that you hold onto until you spend it as per the
move. For example, in the move figure someone out, on a hit you get some
hold, which you can spend one for one to ask the other character’s player a
question. The purpose of hold is that you don’t have to spend it immediately.
You can, if that’s what you want—but you absolutely do not have to. You can
hold it for as long as is reasonable, usually until the situation or the scene
meaningfully changes (GM’s call), and spend it when you choose using the
· +1Sometimes,
parameters of the move.
Forward means that on your very next roll, you add +1 to the result.
the move granting you +1 forward will give you a more specific
situation in which you apply the +1—for example, a move saying “take +1
forward against the NPC” means you only take +1 on the next move you
·
make that is “against” the NPC, involving them and directed towards them.
+1 Ongoing is similar to +1 forward, but instead of applying only to the very
next roll you make, it continues to be added to every roll that fits the move’s
conditions. For example, a move saying “take +1 ongoing against the NPC”
means you take +1 on each and every move you make that is “against” the
NPC. “Ongoing” bonuses usually end either when the move says they do, or
when the situation or scene has dramatically changed (GM’s call).
You know where the stolen Marquisate gold is, and you’re ready to climb up the
wall, sneak in through the window, and crack the lock on the door. Whichever
specific task you’re doing, you’re attempting a roguish feat!
Attempting a roguish feat is for applying the skills your vagabond has picked up
in illicit, non-combat arenas. It’s for lockpicking, pickpocketing, sneaking, and
so on—but only when your vagabond is actually skilled in that arena.
Every vagabond has a list of roguish feats on their playbook, and they start play
with some already selected. Look at the Roguish Feats table for a list of the
feats, descriptions of each, and their accompanying risks.
If you have a roguish feat marked on your playbook, then awesome! You’re
skilled at that particular action, and when you try to use the related skills in
some way, you’re attempting a roguish feat.
Crucially—if you don’t have the roguish feat marked on your character sheet
when you’re taking the appropriate action, then you're not attempting a
roguish feat. Instead, you're trusting fate! All vagabonds are skilled enough in
general that they can rely on luck to try to pull off these roguish feats, but they
get much more consistent, reliable results when they actually are skilled in the
appropriate roguish feat. See more on trusting fate on page 82.
When you attempt a roguish feat, always start by stating your goal—the thing
you’re trying to accomplish with your roguish feat. That helps you and the GM
pick the correct roguish feat for your aims. For example, if your goal is “Get
inside the guard tower,” then you’re sneaking—getting into or out of a place
Acrobatics Adeptly climbing, vaulting, Break something, detection, plunge into danger
jumping
Blindside Backstab, murder, sneak attack, Draw unwanted attention, leave evidence,
sucker punch plunge into danger
Counterfeit Copying, forgery, fakery Leave evidence, take too long, weak result
Disable Disarming traps, turning off Break something, draw unwanted attention,
Device mechanisms expend resources
Hide Disappear from view, remain Expend resources, leave evidence, take too long
hidden
Pick Lock Open a locked door, chest, etc. Break something, detection, plunge into danger
Pickpocket Subtly steal from a pocket Leave evidence, take too long, weak result
Sleight of Palming, switching, ditching, Draw unwanted attention, leave evidence, weak
Hand flourishes result
Sneak Get into or out of places without Break something, draw unwanted attention,
being seen plunge into danger
without being seen. On the other hand, if you just want to escape the notice
of the guards coming down the hall, you’re probably hiding—disappearing and
staying in one place—instead of sneaking!
Knowing your goal also means you know what’s at stake with the move—on a
hit (7+), you accomplish your goal, and that cannot be taken away from you by
any other conditions of the move. If your goal is to get into the guard tower,
you get into the guard tower! If your goal is to avoid those guards coming down
the hall, then you avoid the guards!
On a 7–9, though, a risk of your feat comes to bear, or you must mark exhaustion.
The choice between “risk” and “exhaustion” is the player’s, not the GM’s—so the
player who made the roll can choose to avoid risks if they have exhaustion to spare!
But if they do choose to have a risk come to bear (or if they don’t have enough
exhaustion to mark), then the GM determines what risk complicates the situation.
The table of all the feats has common, suggested risks associated with
particular feat, but the specific situation you’re in may indicate that some of
those common risks shouldn’t apply, and other risks should apply. For example,
if you’re performing a feat of acrobatics to get to the roof of a building while
fires surge up from within, maybe on a 7–9 you actually take too long and the
fire is poking through the roof when you get there! Ultimately, it’s the GM’s call,
and the player doesn’t get to know exactly what will go wrong before they make
the choice between marking exhaustion or suffering a risk.
Pickpocket - Slipping a coin pouch off a merchant’s belt, lifting orders from
the pocket of an officer’s uniform—any attempt to steal something subtly and
covertly from a denizen falls under the pickpocket roguish feat. This isn’t for
legerdemain or stealing things from a table, for example—those fall under
sleight of hand. But when you’re stealing something from another character,
you’re picking pockets.
Sleight of Hand - Making a key disappear from sight to a secret pocket on
your person, covertly lifting a piece of paper from among many on a table—
any attempt to perform a deft act of legerdemain that doesn’t directly involve
another denizen falls under the sleight of hand roguish feat. If it does involve
another denizen, it’s much more likely to be picking a pocket.
Sneak - Slipping down a hallway to the prince’s quarters, racing quietly through
the dark along a wall to reach the crack—any attempt to move quietly, silently,
and secretly from place to place falls under the sneak roguish feat. Sneak isn’t
useful for avoiding attention within a location—it’s only useful for moving from
place to place. Hide is the feat for avoiding attention within a location.
· Detection
Possibly mark wear.
· Draw
- Straight up get noticed by an onlooker. It has to matter.
unwanted attention - Either create hostile onlookers where before
no one cared, or call attention without actually being detected. Increase the
·
danger in the area.
Expend resources - Use up supplies. Mark depletion or exhaustion as the GM
·
chooses.
Leave evidence - Leave behind evidence that can later lead an investigation
·
against you or expose your allies to retribution.
Plunge into danger - Seize the chance to perform the feat and wind up
·
running straight into a more dangerous situation.
Take too long - Take too much time, leading the situation to change around
·
you in some meaningful way.
Weak result - Get a hard choice about exactly what you want, or straight up
don’t quite get everything you want.
Example
Cloak, played by Brendan, is on the run from a whole platoon of Marquisate
soldiers! He races to the edge of the clearing and leaps up to fly over the 15-foot wall
surrounding the clearing before the soldiers can open fire with their bows!
“This sounds like it’s uncertain, going over the wall, fast, while they’re firing arrows
at you. Do you have acrobatics?” the GM asks.
“Yes! Attempting a roguish feat!” Brendan rolls with Finesse and gets a 7–9!
“Okay, you get over the wall,” the GM says. But one risk comes to bear. The GM
takes a look at the common risks: detection doesn’t matter, as Cloak is already very
much detected. And plunging into danger doesn’t seem fun—that just seems like
repeating the situation. “When you fly over the wall, leaving all those soldiers behind,
you accidentally catch your belt and tear some pouches. Mark depletion!”
· iswhat
· what isdoesyouryourcharacter
your character telling the truth?
·
wish I’d do?
to _______?
You and the fox captain of the Eyrie guard are seated across the table from each
other, staring each other down, each trying to get inside the other’s head. In
this moment, you’re trying to figure someone out!
Figuring someone out is for getting into another character’s head, trying
to figure out what makes them tick in this scene, what they want and how
you might be able to get them to act differently. It’s a move for those intense
moments when a character is staring down someone else, but it’s just as often
a move for when you and a “friend” are laughing together and your eyes dart
towards them to determine what they are really laughing at.
Figuring someone out usually requires interacting with someone. You have to
be talking to them, watching them, saying something to see how they react and
then gauging that reaction. The GM might make exceptions for when you’re
watching someone without their knowledge—for example, when you’re in the
rafters watching someone from above—but those situations are only for when
you have an especially perfect vantage point to watch people who are active.
When you get a hit on figuring someone out, you get hold to spend on
questions. That means you don’t have to ask all the questions up front—you
can wait and talk to them more, shifting the conversation, before you spend
your hold. But if you want to spend all your hold to ask all those questions up
front, that’s awesome too!
When you spend a hold to ask a question, you’re not asking it in character, in the
fiction of the game world. You’re asking it at the player level, as yourself outside
the Woodland and the fiction, and the other player must answer it at the same
level, honestly. If you’re figuring out an NPC, then the GM answers for them.
Example
Copper the Ronin, played by Grace, is trying to get a Woodland Alliance operative
to lead her to the Woodland Alliance cell in the clearing. “Ah, this is going nowhere,”
she says. “Can I figure her out? I’m watching her carefully, gauging her every
reaction.” Grace rolls with Charm and gets a 10+. “I’ll spend 1 hold. How could I get
you to take me to your boss?”
The GM considers. “Her eyes keep shifting to sack of food on your back—she may be
a loyal Alliance agent, but her clearing hasn’t seen much food in weeks. Give her a
bribe, 1-Value of food, and she’ll help you out.”
“Awesome! I’m going to hold onto my other hold then, for now,” says Grace. “I give
her the bribe—I’ll mark off a depletion for 1-Value of food.”
“She takes the food from you, her eyes wide; it’s been a while since she’s seen this much
good food. She starts chowing down as she gets up and gestures for you to follow.”
You’re trying to get into the Mayor’s special dinner, and you pull out a knife to
threaten the guard into letting you past. You’re persuading an NPC!
Persuade an NPC is for getting NPCs to act the way you want them to, but in
an overt, fairly clear way—essentially using bribes or threats. It can only be used
on NPCs, as well. If you want another vagabond to go along with you, then you
should talk to them and, at best, plead with them (see page 88 for more on
pleading). Persuade an NPC can only be used on individual NPCs. The promises
and threats you make are always catered to individual NPCs, and the more
denizens you’re trying to make a promise or threat to at once, the more likely it
is that things go awry and someone is displeased—without another special move
helping out, trying to persuade a group is more trusting fate than anything else.
When you persuade an NPC, you’re trying to get them to do something. At
heart, this move isn’t about changing beliefs or ideology—that kind of of move
is more swaying an NPC with your Reputation (see page 117). Instead, this
move is about getting an NPC to actually take some concrete action. And while
you can try to persuade an NPC to act in a particular way in the future, if the
situation changes enough, they can change their mind. Most often, you use this
move to get an NPC to take action right now, so always try to have an idea for
what action you want them to take.
You must always persuade using a promise or a threat. A promise means that you’ve
promised they’ll get something they want if they do what you ask, whether you take
the action to give it to them, or someone else does—the proverbial “carrot.” A threat
means that you’ve threatened to do something bad to them or to something they
care about if they don’t do what you want—the proverbial “stick.”
Finally, persuading an NPC is an honest move. You ultimately might not follow
through on your end of the bargain, whether because you can’t or because you
choose not to, but you’re not trying to deceive the NPC into doing what you
want. At bare minimum, you believe you could fulfill your end of the bargain,
delivering on your promise or your threat in a meaningful fashion. Especially on
a 10+, you aren’t bound to do so—the situation might change, and you can always
reconsider...but at the time you make the move, you aren’t trying to fool them. If
you are tricking them, then you’re using the trick an NPC move (see page 79).
Example
Tali the Adventurer, played by Marissa, wants an Eyrie captain to leave the area
with all his soldiers so she can set it up as a Woodland Alliance camp. “But you and
your squad don’t even want to be here! It’s just an old ruin, and it’s hot out here, and
there’s no point!” Marissa says.
“It sounds like you’re trying to persuade the captain, but you haven’t made a
promise or a threat yet,” says the GM.
“Hm, you’re right. Okay, how about, ‘If you head back to town, I promise, I’ll put in a
good word for you with Duke Whitetalon. How’s that sound?’”
The GM arches an eyebrow. “Can you do that? Do you even know Duke Whitetalon?
This sounds more like it’s a trick than a persuade.”
“Fair,” says Marissa. “How about, ‘If you head back to town, I promise I’ll make it
worth your while,’ and I pull out a big pouch of gold.” Marissa knows that she’s only
promising the gold—on a 10+, she won’t have to give it to him right away!
“Nice!”
Marissa rolls with Charm and gets a 7–9.
“The captain is looking at the pouch of gold with greed in his eyes. ‘How about you
give me the gold up front, and then I’ll go,’ he says. You’re going to have to give him
the gold, but then he’ll head out.” Marissa groans, but agrees, and marks the gold off
her character sheet.
· what’s
· who or what
my best way out / in / through?
·
on the
Woodland Alliance rebels have just sprung out of the bushes pointing bows
at you! Your eyes dart around the path, trying to look for a way out of here—
you’re reading a tense situation!
Reading a tense situation is for evaluating your surroundings and
circumstances to figure out how to make the best of a bad scenario. The
situation has to be tense to read it, which means there has to be some sense of
uncertainty, danger, or concern. If the situation isn’t tense—there’s no electric
thrill of danger or threat in the air—then you can’t read it.
When you get a hit while reading a tense situation, you can ask some questions
from the list. You ask your questions immediately—you can ask them one at
a time, but you can’t save any for later in the same scene. They refer to the
situation right then and there, so no holding onto the questions!
The GM answers all the questions (one of their roles being to describe the world)
and answers truthfully. All of the answers they give are “true”—if they say that
something is the best way through, then it is actually the best way. Sometimes,
the GM can just answer the question, but other times the GM and the player will
go back and forth a bit to make sure they both understand exactly what question
is being asked so the GM can provide the appropriate answer.
When you act on the answer to the questions you receive, you take a +1 to
any moves you make—meaning that reading a tense situation gives you both
a path to follow and a bonus to follow that path. That bonus is normally
non-transferable—only the vagabond who read the situation gets the +1 to
follow the answers to their questions—but the Professional connection allows
vagabonds to share the bonus (see more on connections on page 50).
Example
Jinx the Vagrant, played by Derrick, has managed to talk their way into a secret
Woodland Alliance gathering in a cellar. While Jinx is mingling, trying to look
inconspicuous, an old enemy—Drylla Vines—walks into the meeting. “She doesn’t
see you,” says the GM, “but you’re pretty sure it’s a matter of time.”
“Ah, crud. Okay, I think this is a tense situation—I’m going to read it.” Derrick rolls with
Cunning and gets a 10+. “First, I want to ask, what’s the best way out?” Derrick says.
“Well, the meeting just started—bolting now would be conspicuous. But you
Trick an NPC
When you trick an NPC to get what you want, roll with Cunning. On a
hit, they take the bait and do what you want. On a 7–9, they can instead
choose one:
· they
· they
hesitate; you shake their confidence or weaken their morale.
The Eyrie sergeant has come to the ruins to take you captive—so you hide and cry
out that you have him and all his soldiers surrounded (by allies that don't exist). If
they don’t leave now, your allies will take them all! You’re tricking an NPC!
Trick an NPC is a move for deception, trickery, cons, and lies. If you’re telling
the truth or honestly trying to change someone’s mind, then you’re persuading
an NPC. But if you’re deceiving an NPC, then you’re tricking them.
As the name of the move suggests, just like persuade an NPC, you can only use
this move on NPCs. You can’t trick a PC with a move; you can lie to another PC,
but they can always figure someone out and see if you are lying!
Tricking an NPC doesn’t always have to mean a single NPC. You can
conceivably trick a group—if the trick you’re pulling is big enough, and the
group is really a group. A good rule of thumb—if the GM would stat up the
group as a group, instead of as individual members, then you can probably trick
them. See page 212 for more on how the GM stats up NPCs!
When you trick an NPC you should know exactly what you want the NPC to
do. This is immediate—you are trying to get them to do something right now.
If you need them to do something at all long-term, you’re better off persuading
them, or figuring them out and asking “How could I get you to _____?”
Pyreus Coldsteel is walking towards you, a sword in each paw, while the fires
lick the tapestries on one side of the room. Only one option—you dive out
the window, tuck and roll, and hope the drop wasn’t really all that high. You’re
trusting fate to get through trouble!
Trust fate is the move for taking tremendous risks, flinging yourself into
trouble and hoping you come out the other side, and generally being a
swashbuckling rogue! It acts a bit as the underlying basic move for the entire
game. If you’re taking action that feels risky and chancy, and you’re unsure of
what’s going to happen, but no other move applies—you’re probably trusting
fate. If any other move fits better, then it’s probably that move instead.
Because trusting fate to get through trouble is such a widely applicable trigger, you
should always keep that criterion in mind—if any other move applies, then it’s not
trusting fate—along with the idea that you’re only trusting fate if you’re taking a
real, uncertain, substantial risk. A bird character isn’t trusting fate to fly up to the
top of even a very high building if there’s no risk or chance to it. If they’re fleeing
from Marquisate guards and trying to get out of the clearing at high speed, then
they’re only trusting fate if they don’t have the acrobatics roguish feat; if they do
have it, then they’re attempting a roguish feat. But if the bird has a net thrown over
them while they fly up through a burning canopy of leaves and massed Marquisate
siege weaponry fires on them from below? Even if they have the acrobatics roguish
feat, it’s probably trusting fate—the situation is just too dire to be anything else!
Use this move when the situation is risky, over the top, and chancy enough that
the main determinant of whether or not things go well is a vagabond’s sheer
grit and luck. Keep in mind that it’s always possible for the GM to impose a
baseline cost on such a risky action, regardless of what the results are. If you
dive out of a tree from 30 feet in the air, you may suffer injury no matter what—
the question becomes “Just how much injury do you suffer?”
If you’re picking a lock without the roguish feat, then the lock is picked, but
probably not without paying depletion. Even on a 10+, you don’t avoid the cost
or complication. Wear, depletion, exhaustion, and injury are all fine costs, as are
more fictional costs that make your victory messy.
“On a 10+, fortune favors the bold; your panache also earns you a fleeting
opportunity” means that instead of avoiding the cost on a 10+, you actually get
a chance for some extra benefit! It’s icing on the cake for taking such a huge
risk, above and beyond the core success of the move. The GM says what the
opportunity is, and tells you what you must do to seize it. Getting a 10+ doesn’t
mean you automatically get a benefit—it just means you get an opportunity,
a chance. Maybe you see something valuable you can grab on the way out of
the burning room—but it’ll mean getting a bit more burned. Maybe when you
fall from a tree, you spot a place you can land out of sight of any enemies, just
without anything soft to cushion your fall, increasing the injury you suffer.
Example
Copper the Ronin, played by Grace, is talking to the Baroness Redly of the Eyrie
Dynasties, trying to get her to give up information about where she will next lead her
troops, when she gets a miss while trying to figure someone out!
“The Baroness sees you looking at her so closely, Copper, and tilts her head. ‘You
know, I do believe you seem familiar. I’ve heard reports of a raccoon vagabond
causing trouble out in the Woodland, fighting Eyrie soldiers with a blade...just like
that one.’ She gestures at your sword. It’s pretty clear she’s about a moment away
from figuring out who you really are. What do you do?” says the GM.
“I say…’Ah, yes, yes, I know well of whom you speak. That is the brigand Copper! But
I, Baroness, I, am...her twin! My name is Bronze! And I am certainly nothing like
that criminal!’ Am I tricking her?” asks Grace.
Wreck Something
When you wreck something, roll with Might. On a hit, you seriously
break it; it can’t be used again until it’s repaired. On a 7–9, you’re impre-
cise and dangerous; you cause collateral damage, attract attention, or
end up in a bad spot, GM’s choice.
Your friend is locked behind bars inside a prison, so you reach out and begin to
pull the bars apart! You’re wrecking something!
Wreck something is for breaking, smashing, and ruining objects. You can’t
“wreck” a living being—it’s just for nonliving things. Wrecking also isn’t subtle.
When you wreck something, you’re using brute force to break it. If you’re
relying on smarts, there’s a good chance you’re attempting a roguish feat.
There are obvious cases of wrecking—smashing down a door, ripping apart jail cell
bars, snapping a lock, cutting down a tree—but it can also extend to other methods
that rely on pure strength. Rolling a boulder down a hill at a building, knocking
down a tree into something else—these are all great ways to wreck something!
Wrecking something is fairly versatile, as well. If you want to wreck a cave and
bring the ceiling down, as long as there’s some way you can actually do that
(knocking out support beams, shoving your sword into a crack and prying it
apart, etc.), go for it! If you want to wreck a road to make it impassable, go for
it! As long as it’s an object and not a character you can probably wreck it!
Of course, remember that moves are based on uncertainty—in this case, the
uncertainty of whether or not you can successfully wreck the thing in the first
place, and the uncertainty of what the other consequences of wrecking it will be. If
you’re tearing a piece of paper apart, you’re not really wrecking it—you know you
can tear it apart, and you know that the immediate consequences of ripping the
paper are likely to be entirely insignificant. Kicking in a door might be wrecking it
if the door is locked with a dead bolt—it’s uncertain whether you can kick it in in
Example
Keera the Arbiter, played by Kate, decides that enough is enough—she’s going to knock
down this guard tower from which the guards are pelting her with arrows. First,
she reads a tense situation and gets a question. Kate asks, “Who or what is most
vulnerable to me? I’m looking specifically for ‘vulnerable’ so I can wreck the tower.”
“Well, the tower’s sturdy, but you can maybe knock down that big dead tree next to
the tower directly into it. That’s definitely vulnerable to you,” says the GM.
“Excellent! I go wreck that!” says Kate.
“How do you do that?” asks the GM.
“I break out my greatsword and hack at its base until it’s broken enough that I can
just shoulder-check it!” The GM nods and Kate rolls with Might, getting a 7–9.
Help or Interfere
When you help or interfere with another vagabond, mark exhaustion to
add +1 or –2 to their roll (after rolling). Mark exhaustion again to select
one of the following:
· conceal
· create an opportunity or obstacle
your help or interference
Your friend is frantically waving back at the clearing and claiming the
Woodland Alliance is attacking to trick the guards into leaving—so you jump
in, screaming about how it’s horrible and they’re lighting fires everywhere!
You’re helping your friend to trick an NPC!
By default, PCs make moves individually. You trigger your move on your own,
make the roll, and then make your own choices. But your fellow vagabonds can
influence a move you make by either helping or interfering.
Helping or interfering is a major move in which there is no roll—you just mark
exhaustion, and the move happens. There’s no uncertainty to the outcome,
only the question of how much you’re willing to pay to accomplish your end.
Unlike most moves, you only use the help or interfere move after you’ve seen
what the other vagabond has rolled. You might say something that describes
you physically helping, but don’t trigger the move and pay its costs until you
actually see the dice result.
When you help, you can give them a +1, and when you interfere, you can give
them a –2. There’s no point in triggering the move for a friend who already got
a 10+, and there’s no point in triggering the move against a foe who already got
a 6–. Similarly, if only one vagabond can help, then they’re only able to affect
the result if it’s a 6 or a 9—on all other numbers, there’s no point in helping.
In those cases, even if you do something in the fiction to help or interfere, you
don’t make the move—you’d just be paying the move’s costs with no effect.
To help or interfere, you also have to be able to actually do something that would
impact the outcome of the other vagabond’s move! If you’re nowhere near each
other, you probably can’t help or interfere. If your friend is doing something
Example
Quinella the Harrier, played by Sarah, wants to interfere with Keera’s attempt
to persuade an Eyrie sergeant to lead his troops away from angry denizens (with
Woodland Alliance infiltrators!). Kate, Keera’s player, rolled a total of 10 for her
persuade an NPC move. “I don’t want this situation to get calmer—I want the
denizens to rebel! I start a chant from the sidelines, something like ‘Get out Eyrie!’”
says Sarah.
“You can only bring the roll down to an 8, though, by providing a –2 through
interfering. Is that okay?”
“Yep! I’m hoping that Keera won’t be willing to do what she has to do to get the guy
to leave on a 7–9.” Sarah marks exhaustion for interfering.
“Do you want to hide your interference, or create an obstacle?” asks the GM.
“Oh, I think I’ll hide my interference. I start the chant, and then I slip away quietly,”
says Sarah.
“Excellent. Mark another exhaustion!”
You really want to go chase down the Marquisate treasure wagon, but your
friend wants to stay in town, so you look at them and say, in a whining tone,
“Pleeeeaaaase?” You’re pleading with a PC to go along with you!
Pleading with a PC to go along with you is the one real way you can
mechanically bribe another PC into following your plans. You can always figure
out another PC, of course, asking them “How could I get you to _____?” and
then taking appropriate action. But if you don’t want to do that, you can plead
with them!
Pleading just means that you’re making an impassioned plea in whatever
manner suits your character’s personality.
When you plead with another PC, they don’t have to agree. They can turn down
the offer to go their own way. If they do, that still counts as your one use of this
move per session.
Use this move both in the fiction and on the level of the players themselves. If
another PC turns down your offer, then they’re signaling that they are adamant
about not doing that thing—so move on and find something else to do!
Example
Tali the Adventurer, played by Marissa, wants the group to remain where they are,
in Crestfallow Falls, to try to deal with the terrifying Woodland Alliance leader in
the area, but her fellow vagabond, Hester the Tinker (played by Sam), is interested in
leaving to earn prestige elsewhere. “‘Come on, Hester! We need to help these people!
Please, let’s stay here and finish what we started,’” says Marissa as Tali. “I want to
offer you a cleared exhaustion to stay!”
“No, I really want to get on the road,” says Sam.
Marissa keys in on Sam turning down the offer, and says, “Okay, I get it, let’s hit the
road. But I’m going to push us to come back here eventually!”
Weapon Moves
Even though the rest of the moves give you plenty of ways to resolve problems
or overcome obstacles, there are going to be times when you get into a real
fight. Swords come out, bows are drawn and fired, and lives are on the line.
All of the basic moves still apply to those fights—you can absolutely read a
tense situation to try to get an edge in a fight or figure out your opponent in an
attempt to see what they really want while you’re sword to sword. You can even
make a threat and try to persuade an NPC to surrender—though if they’re ready
to fight, it’s probably going to take some doing to convince them that surrender
is a better option.
This section covers the weapon moves, special moves that are used only for
fighting or fighting-adjacent activities. These aren’t used nearly as much as
the basic moves because they’re so tied to fighting; the vagabonds trick and
persuade the denizens of the Woodland every day, but fights aren’t usually a
daily occurrence. Any time you use one of these weapon moves, you’re starting
a fight (or getting really close to starting one) if one hasn’t already broken out.
· Have the weapon skill marked on your character’s playbook, indicating that
· Wield
the vagabond has learned the skill in question.
a weapon tagged with the same weapon skill, indicating that the
· Satisfy
weapon is well-suited to that particular maneuver.
the specific conditions of the weapon skill move, performing the
trigger of the move in the fiction.
It’s never enough to just have the skill marked, or just have a weapon with the
right tag. You need both the skill and the tag on a weapon to use one of the
special weapon skills during a fight.
Ranges
Many of the weapon moves refer to a particular range, meaning a distance
between you and your target. Range in Root: The RPG is not a carefully
measured thing—you don’t keep track of specific quantities of distance, and
you’re certainly never that worried about the difference between someone 25
feet away and someone 20 feet away. Instead, Root: The RPG uses three basic
ranges entirely based on the fiction.
·
to start wrestling, to poke a finger into someone’s chest, to hug someone.
Close: You’re close enough to talk comfortably, to fight with weapons—not
close enough to touch without effort, but certainly close enough to lunge at
the other denizen and reach them. The kind of range you’d be in to sword-
fight (or to fistfight from a distance), to walk in each other’s company without
·
holding hands, to easily toss something.
Far: You’re far enough that you have to speak louder, even yelling, to hear
each other—but you still can hear each other. The kind of range you’d be in
to shoot a bow, to spot each other from a distance, to be able to easily break
line of sight and hide.
Anything farther than far range is functionally too far to be accessible for
combat—you’ll have to close distance to be able to use any of these weapon moves.
If you don’t have a weapon that can hit at the appropriate range, then you aren’t
able to inflict any harm at that range, and you aren’t able to trigger moves that
only work at that range.
Engage in Melee
When you engage an enemy in melee at close or intimate range, roll with
Might. On a hit, trade harm. On a 10+, pick 3. On a 7–9, pick 1.
· inflict
· shift your range
serious (+1) harm
· impress, dismay,one
suffer little (–1) harm
·
step
or frighten your foe
You’re swinging your sword at your foe while they, axe in hand, charge you
down. You’re engaging an enemy in melee!
This is the all-purpose “fight close-up with weapons” move, the “swords
clashing” move, the “battle of staves” move, and so on. Every time your
vagabond engages an opponent in an exchange of melee strikes, they’re
engaging in melee!
You have to exchange blows to trigger engaging in melee—you’re taking swings,
they’re blocking your swings and returning attacks. This move covers a whole
exchange of blows, not one strike. If your enemy isn’t capable of returning
attacks, then you’re not engaging them in melee—you’re just hitting them, and
you just inflict your harm on them.
An “enemy” can also cover small groups of foes, instead of just individual
combatants. Just keep in mind, a group of enemies is likely to inflict
phenomenally more harm and be much harder to defeat—and a large group
of enemies might be too big to actually engage in melee, leading you to trust
fate to deal with a whole large group of soldiers. If you really want to be able to
handle groups of enemies, look into storming a group on page 106. There’s
also more on the mechanics of fighting groups on page 214.
Engaging in melee can also include fist fights, instead of just fights using
weapons. The difference is between boxing and wrestling. If you’re up close,
wrapping limbs around each other, then you’re grappling (page 94). If you’re
keeping a bit of distance, holding up a guard, sending a series of punches at your
enemy without getting tied up in their limbs, then you’re engaging in melee—
although, that kind of melee is very likely to turn into a grapple at any moment!
“Trade harm” means that you inflict your harm on your target, and your target
inflicts their harm on you. The two of you are engaged in a series of blows
against each other, so you each inflict harm on the other.
Grapple an Enemy
When you grapple with an enemy at intimate range, roll with Might.
On a hit, you choose simultaneously. Continue making choices until
someone disengages, falls unconscious, or dies. On a 10+, you make one
choice first, before beginning to make simultaneous choices.
· you
· you wear
strike a fast blow; inflict injury
· you exploit
you them down; they mark exhaustion
·
weakness; mark exhaustion to inflict 2-injury
withdraw; disengage to close range
You’re face-to-face with your opponent, your paws and their wings entangled,
rolling around in the dust and punching each other. You’re grappling an enemy!
This is the move for up-close intimate wrestling, when you’re all tied up with
your foe. Grappling is inherently a “weaponless” move—you grapple with your
limbs, not your sword. However, some weapons might have tags or abilities
that make them useful while grappling (see more on tags on page 186). It’s
also only for wrestling with a single opponent—if you wind up grappling with
multiple opponents, you’re in trouble, and you’re likely trusting fate to get out.
Grapple an enemy is a small and fast exchange of blows that lasts until someone
either loses or concedes. You make choices from the list, inflicting harm (injury
or exhaustion) on each other or disengaging from the grapple.
Example
Keera the Arbiter, played by Kate, has closed to intimate range with an Eyrie hawk
guard, and now grabs him with both paws in order to grapple him. She rolls with
Might and gets a 10+. As she and the hawk guard begin wrestling, she makes one
early choice and decides to exploit a weakness, going for a low blow and marking
exhaustion to inflict 2-injury on the hawk guard. The hawk takes the 2-injury on his
armor, marking boxes of wear—but that uses them all up, and because the hawk is
an NPC, that’s all he has. Then, both Kate and the GM write down their next choices
on slips of paper, revealing them simultaneously. Kate chooses for Keera to strike a
fast blow and inflict injury, while the GM chooses for the hawk guard to wear Keera
down and make her mark exhaustion. Keera is punching the hawk guard with fast,
hard strikes while the hawk tries to overpower her. Keera has 2-exhaustion marked,
but the hawk guard has 1-injury marked now—and because the hawk guard only
has 3-injury boxes in total, if he marks 2 more, he will be unconscious or dying! Kate
and the GM both write down another choice on their slips of paper and reveal them
simultaneously. Kate chooses for Keera to strike another fast blow, while the GM
chooses for the hawk guard to disengage. Keera inflicts 1 more injury on the hawk
guard, marking the second out of his three boxes, but then the hawk disengages to
close range—and likely to try to run for help! The grapple ends; Keera has to catch the
hawk to grapple him again if she wants to continue to wrestle him into submission.
You draw back your arrow, sight down the shaft, and let loose at the Woodland
Alliance rebel charging at you. You’re targeting someone!
This move is the basic weapon move for ranged attacks, using bows and thrown
weapons. The base range of the move is far—using bows and crossbows at close
range is a bit trickier and often requires special skills or weapons. If you try to fire
a bow at close range without any special skills or weapon tags, you’re probably
just handing the GM a golden opportunity to make a move against you and tell
you how it all goes awry (see more on golden opportunities on page 203).
To use this move, you must take aim at a vulnerable foe—that is to say, a foe
who might actually be injured or affected by your attack. If you’re shooting a
simple shortbow at an enemy clad from head to toe in plate armor, then your
enemy might not be vulnerable to you—their armor is just too thick. Similarly,
you might not be able to successfully target someone who is hiding amid the
battlements and crenellations of a castle wall—they’re not vulnerable to you
while they’re so well hidden behind cover.
Example
Cloak the Thief, played by Brendan, lifts his bow and takes aim on the lead guard of
a caravan moving down a Woodland path. He’s hidden up in the branches of a tree,
at far range. He rolls to target someone, rolling with Finesse, and gets a 10+. His
arrow arcs down and strikes the guard, inflicting injury (which the guard marks as
wear). Then, Brendan chooses to have Cloak keep his position hidden so the guards
won’t know where the arrow came from. But the guards are alert now, and they start
to break out their own bows…
Cleave special
When you cleave armored foes at close range, mark exhaustion and roll
with Might. On a hit, you smash through their defenses and equipment;
inflict 3-wear. On a 7–9, you overextend your weapon or yourself: mark
wear or end up in a bad spot, your choice.
You heft your warhammer and smash it into the armored guard in front of you,
right on the breastplate, with all your might. You’re cleaving!
The cleave weapon skill is all about breaking armor and tearing it to pieces. It’s
a specialized move for dealing with foes who are dangerously well protected.
Using cleave often looks a lot like engaging an enemy in melee—the difference
lies in the character’s intent, and in marking exhaustion. If you want to inflict
injury, then you are engaging in melee; if you want to break armor, then you
are cleaving. If you can’t mark exhaustion, you can’t cleave—hitting hard
enough to break armor is tiring!
You’re scrabbling back to your feet after a massive hammer strike knocked you
down; you fill your paw with dirt as you stand back up, throwing it into your
opponent’s face to stun them! You’re confusing their senses!
The confuse senses weapon skill is all about throwing your opponent off
balance using dirty tactics. You’re throwing dirt in their eyes, you’re throwing a
smoke bomb on the ground, you’re waving a torch in their face, etc. The move
is used to create opportunities for something else, whether it’s escaping or
getting in close for a strike while they’re off-balance.
Confuse senses can work on multiple opponents at once if you have the right
way to distract a group and thwart their senses. Throwing dirt can probably
only confuse one enemy at a time, but using a flash bomb or a smoke bomb
might do the trick against a group.
Unlike most other weapon skills, confuse senses doesn’t require a tagged
weapon for you to use it—you just have to have something on hand that might
work to impair your target, and you need to have the weapon skill marked on
your playbook.
Disarm special
When you target an opponent’s weapon with your strikes at close range,
roll with Finesse. On a hit, they have to mark 2-exhaustion or lose their
weapon—it’s well out of reach. On a 10+, they have to mark 3-exhaus-
tion instead of 2.
You and your opponent are circling each other before you suddenly lash out
with your sword, aiming for the hilt of their blade, trying to knock it from their
grasp! You’re disarming!
Disarm is a weapon skill for quickly leaving your enemy unarmed or forcing
them to pay a terrible cost to hold onto their weapon. Because the move always
leaves the option for your opponent to either drop their weapon or suffer
exhaustion, it won’t reliably inflict harm on your foe—but hopefully an enemy
who drops their weapon is a great deal easier to handle!
Weapons tagged with the disarm weapon skill are likely longer (like a rapier)
and may have some kind of notch or guard that allows the wielder to catch the
enemy weapon, twist, and rip it from their foe’s grasp.
· inflict
· they are pinned or blocked
2-morale harm
A group of bandits is coming your way; you lift your bow and fire arrow after
arrow, letting them rain down on the incoming foes. You’re harrying a group!
Harrying a group is essentially “suppressing fire.” You’re firing a hail of arrows
in the hopes of making your foes keep their heads down, not really worrying if
any given arrow hits any given target. That’s also why it’s always against a group
of foes—when you’re firing at a single enemy, you might as well just target
them. The skill represents your ability to fire arrows very rapidly, and to fire
them with just enough accuracy that your foe is forced to duck and seek cover.
Harrying a group uses up your arrows and puts fatigue on your bow, so you
have to mark wear to use it. It also only works at far range, when you can fire
from enough distance that you can put many arrows into the air safely before
anyone can react and reach you.
The Marquisate has found you in the bar! You quickly knock over your barstool
and break off a leg, holding it up in front of you as a makeshift weapon. You’re
improvising a weapon!
Improvising a weapon is about arming yourself quickly and effectively using
makeshift tools or items. The weapons you make by improvising will never
really match up with those you get from a blacksmith, but they can get you
through trouble in a pinch. Broken bottles, table legs, rocks tied hurriedly to
branches—these are weapons of desperation, but they’re better than nothing!
The skill for improvising weapons represents your knowledge of and practice
at stringing together materials into a usable item. Anyone can try to smash
a bottle to create a jagged edge, but most denizens will just wind up with a
pawful of unusable broken glass.
Improvising a weapon never requires a specific weapon tagged with the skill,
but it does require some supplies. If you’re in a prison cell, you’re probably
going to have a hard time improvising a weapon…although, enterprising
vagabonds with the right skill set can do a lot a with a fork and a plate…
· Blunted:
· Fast:
This weapon inflicts exhaustion harm, not injury harm.
· Flexible:
Mark wear when engaging in melee to suffer 1 fewer harm, even on a miss.
When you grapple with someone, mark exhaustion to ignore the
· Quick:
first choice they make.
· additional harm.
Mark exhaustion to engage with Finesse instead of Might.
Sharp: Mark wear when dealing harm with this weapon to inflict 1
On a 7–9, the GM will also tell you a weakness tag the item might have, something
that makes it less effective. A few good examples of weakness tags include:
· Fragile: When you make a weapon move with this weapon, mark wear on it.
· Mark
Mark exhaustion to ignore this effect.
Slow: When you engage in melee with this weapon, choose one fewer option.
· moves—made
wear to ignore this effect.
Unwieldy: Take a –1 to all weapon moves—both basic and special weapon
with this weapon. Mark exhaustion to ignore this effect.
An improvised weapon has the equivalent of zero boxes of wear. If you have to
mark wear on it, then the weapon is destroyed entirely.
Parry special
When you try to parry the attacks of an enemy at close range, mark ex-
haustion and roll with Finesse. On a hit, you consume their attention.
On a 10+, all 3. On a 7–9, pick 1.
· you
· you disarm
inflict morale or exhaustion harm (GM’s choice)
·
you your opponent; their weapon is out of hand, but in reach
don’t suffer any harm
Your enemy hefts their club and lashes out at your leg—but you bring your staff
into the way, and proceed to twist it around the club, throwing your enemy’s
strike off entirely. You’re parrying!
Parry, as a weapon skill, is all about keeping an enemy preoccupied and
off-balance, without being able to inflict harm on you. When you engage in
melee with an enemy, you’re assumed to be doing some degree of parrying and
· you
· you don’t
don’t mark wear
· you move
you mark exhaustion
·
quickly and change your position (and, if you choose, range)
keep your target at bay—they don’t move
A ruffian with a hammer is closing in on you where you’re hiding behind a tree,
so you quickly step out of cover and loose an arrow at her, with barely any time
to aim. You’re making a quick shot!
At its core, the quick shot weapon skill is designed for using a bow or other
ranged weapon at close range. Most ranged weapons are tagged for far range,
but with quick shot, you can fire them right up close at an enemy when you
would otherwise be fighting sword to sword. The disadvantage of making a
quick shot, of course, is that you can’t really aim all that well when you have
only a second to pull and loose your arrow.
The quick shot weapon skill is also useful because it might surprise a foe—you
can make a quick shot without having your bow up and already aimed. But the
risks of firing from the hip are fairly high. The move uses Luck, and it has a lot
of potential costs, so you likely won’t want to use it every time you’re shooting!
Weapons tagged with quick shot are generally smaller or more compact, more
easily readied and fired. Quick shot does require the bow to be ready to use at
close range, as well, so the bow must have that additional range.
· you
· you avoid
show them up; you inflict 2-morale harm
You heft your twin swords and leap off the wall, directly into the midst of the
soldiers. Before they know what’s happening, you’re whirling and slashing like a
devil. You’re storming a group!
Storming a group is the best method available to most vagabonds for actually
fighting a whole group of enemies. Most of the time, a group of enemies—even
a mob of villagers!—is pretty dangerous for an individual vagabond to engage
with directly. But if a vagabond can storm a group, then they have the skill set
to keep multiple combatants preoccupied and off-balance, enough to survive
and maybe even come out on top!
Storming a group is only for melee—if you want to deal with a group from afar,
you’re looking to harry a group (page 100) with a ranged weapon. Just like
engaging in melee, storming a group works only at close or intimate range.
You have to mark exhaustion to storm a group. It costs you a lot of energy to
successfully balance a fight against many foes at once.
Weapons tagged with the storm a group weapon skill are likely to be some
combination of very fast, long, or wide-sweeping. A massive two-handed
hammer might do it, as might a pair of fast scimitars.
· your shot lands in any target of your choice within range, even if it’s
· your
behind cover or hidden (inflicting injury or wear if appropriate)
· over, shot
shot strikes a second available target of your choice
your cuts something, breaks something, or knocks something
The sheriff is hiding behind the bar, and you’re on the other side of the tavern,
hiding behind a table. You take a quick look at the environment and plan your
shot—you’ll fire an arrow at the lantern over there, where it will ricochet into
the shelves of bottles above the bar, knocking them down on top of the sheriff.
You’re firing a trick shot!
The trick shot weapon skill represents your ability to land ridiculous,
complicated, and impressive shots with a bow, a sling, or other ranged weapons.
This is for ricocheting an arrow around corners, or putting a slung rock exactly
where it will hit the crank and drop the drawbridge. If you don’t have the skill,
trying one of these incredible shots is trusting fate at best, and much more
likely just outside of your abilities.
You can make a trick shot at any range as long as you have a ranged weapon.
You can make trick shots only at ranges the weapon is tagged with—usually far
range, but sometimes close as well (and very rarely intimate).
You must always mark wear on your weapon to make a trick shot. Firing such a
complicated shot requires you to use your weapon in unintended ways, and it
always puts undue stress on the weapon!
After another vagabond fires an arrow into the soldier’s knee, you decide to take
advantage of the wound—when you close in on the soldier, you thrust your
dagger right at their knee! You’re making a vicious strike!
Vicious strike as a weapon skill is all about knowing exactly where and how to
strike an opponent to inflict the most damage. It’s not particularly nice—more
like a “sucker punch” or a “cheap shot”—but it’s effective.
A vicious strike is not an exchange of blows, by default. You’re making a
significant enough attack that this move resolves the single strike and its
immediate aftermath.
To use vicious strike, you have to know where your opponent is weak.
Sometimes it’s obvious, but sometimes you’ll have to use another move to get a
read on the situation first—or even create a weakness, like an unarmored area.
You must also mark exhaustion when you trigger the move.
Weapons tagged with vicious strike are usually dangerous and fast, often small,
and effective at targeting specific areas on your opponent—something like a
dagger, for example.
Mark Prestige
When you mark prestige, mark the next box on the positive (right) side of 0
on the appropriate faction’s track. When you mark enough boxes to reach (not
pass, reach) the next highest positive number on the track, your Reputation
with that faction increases! Clear all prestige boxes on the track, and circle
the next highest number up from your current Reputation. If you had –2
Reputation and marked enough prestige to increase your Reputation, you
would circle –1; if you had +0 Reputation, you would circle +1. Note that this
means you need to mark five boxes to advance from –2 to –1, or from –1 to +0,
or from +0 to +1 Reputation, but you need to mark ten boxes to advance from
+1 to +2, and 15 boxes to advance from +2 to +3.
+3 Legendary - You are a hero of the faction, about whom positive stories (some true,
some false) are regularly told.
+2 Esteemed - You are an honored figure of the faction, whose deeds are recognized.
+1 Respected - You are treated with politeness and valued by members of the faction.
+0 Unknown or Ambivalent - You are either unknown to the faction, or the faction
lacks a clear and consistent view of your actions and character.
–1 Disdained - You are disliked by the faction, treated with mild contempt and derision.
–2 Reviled - You are deeply scorned by the faction, viewed as a real problem two steps
away from being a real enemy.
–3 Feared or Hated - You are a foe to the faction, seen with a combination of deep fear
and deep hatred.
Mark Notoriety
When you mark notoriety, mark the next box on the negative (left) side of 0
on the appropriate faction’s track. When you mark enough boxes to reach (not
pass, reach) the next lowest negative number on the track, clear all notoriety
boxes on the track and circle the next lowest number down from your current
Reputation. If you had +2 Reputation and marked enough notoriety to damage
your Reputation, you would circle +1; if you had +0 Reputation, you would
circle –1. Note that this means you need to mark three boxes to drop from +3
to +2, from +2 to +1, from +1 to +0, or from +0 to –1, but you need to mark six
boxes to drop from –1 to –2, and nine boxes to drop from –2 to –3.
Reputation Moves
The rest of the moves in this section are the special moves you can use your
Reputation for in a more active fashion. Some of them require you to have a
certain Reputation level with a given faction to use, but otherwise all of these
moves can be used by any vagabond towards any members of any faction.
Each PC tracks Reputation independently, and each PC tracks Reputation for
each faction independently of the others. It’s possible for one vagabond to have
a great Reputation with a faction while their friends are all perceived as foes.
These moves require the vagabond to roll with their Reputation with a faction. If
multiple vagabonds are meaningfully involved in the situation, just sum up their
Reputations and roll with the total (min –3, max +4). Only a vagabond with the
minimum Reputation requirements can actually make the more extreme moves,
even if the combined Reputation of the group would reach the requirement.
Reputation Favor
· you’ve heard stories; ask a question about them, and the GM will tell
· they’ve
you one story you’ve heard about them or their interests as an answer.
heard something in your favor; take +1 forward when you first
try to play up your connection with them and their faction.
On a miss, you only know the basics about them, and they’ve heard
stories about you and the things you’ve done, true or false—prepare for
major complications.
You arrive at Opensky Haven, and you’re met at the gate by an eagle wearing
a laurel, a massive bronze scepter in one wing, flanked by elite Eyrie guards on
all sides. You look at the eagle as their piercing eyes take you in. You’re meeting
someone important!
Meeting someone important is the move for encountering significant NPCs—
the kind who are likely returning members of your game’s cast, movers and
shakers of either the setting or the drama. “Someone important” is pretty
versatile in usage. It can refer to characters who are leaders of factions, generals
· the
· the
faction employs significant military strength to chase you down
faction deploys an available, capable NPC agent (of your choice) to
On a miss, your enemies are already moving against you quietly; the GM
tells you how they catch you unprepared.
You know the Marquisate is about to launch an attack on the local Woodland
Alliance cell, so you step out in front of the local Marquisate general’s quarters.
You call out a challenge, loud enough the general should be able to hear
you from inside, calling him a coward and asking for a duel. You’re drawing
attention to yourself!
Draw attention is the move for large-scale misdirection. It might look like
you’re tricking an NPC, but the chief difference is that you’re relying on your
negative Reputation instead of cleverness—you’re not so much deceiving as
you are making yourself a big, obvious target and threat. With a low enough
Reputation (–2 or lower), you might present such a good target that your foes
can’t help but come after you.
When you roll this move, treat your negative Reputation as positive for
purposes of adding it to the dice result. You must have a –2 Reputation or a –3
Reputation with the appropriate faction to make the move, so you will either be
rolling with a +2 or a +3 on the actual roll.
“You draw out the faction’s resources to oppose you; brace yourself,” means
that you got what you wanted—the faction is coming after you, but they aren’t
going to take it easy on you.
“The faction employs significant military strength to chase you down” means
that they have deployed actual real military resources against you—squads of
soldiers, couriers to spread news of your whereabouts, even large siege-level
weapons to try to destroy the entire area you’re in. The good news? If those
resources are coming after you, they aren’t somewhere else! This is a great way
for you to draw military forces away from another target.
You’re pleading with the Mayor of Limmery Post, begging her to end her crackdown
on any dissent in the clearing. You’ve only ever worked for the denizens’ favor, you
say to her, and you know her mindset won’t help anyone. You’re swaying an NPC!
Sway an NPC is the move for truly changing someone’s mind instead of merely
persuading them. Think of the difference as offering someone a good reason
to do something specific (persuasion) and getting someone to see the world in a
whole new way (swaying). The latter can lead to real, significant, ongoing change!
In order for you to sway an NPC, they have to be open and vulnerable to you,
and you have to appeal to their belief in your reputation. If you’ve betrayed
this specific NPC before it might not matter what your Reputation is—they
probably aren’t open to what you’re saying. “Open and vulnerable” also means
you probably can’t sway the NPC again and again and again before they become
“closed”...no matter how highly they think of you.
“On a hit, you can change their mind about the world; say what you want
them to believe, and the GM will rewrite their drive accordingly” means
exactly what it says. You and the GM have a conversation about how you’re
trying to change their mind, what new belief you hope they hold, and then
the GM will rewrite the NPC’s drive based on what you say. You might take an
NPC whose drive is “To utterly destroy the Marquisate and its supporters” and
change their drive to “To defend the denizens of the Woodland,” for example.
“On a 7–9, you use up some goodwill; clear 3-prestige” means that changing
someone’s mind like this comes at a a cost. You’re using up your clout to get it done.
“On a miss, the NPC takes the wrong message away from what you say;
the GM will rewrite their drive accordingly” means that you’ve successfully
changed the NPC’s mind, but not the way you wanted. The GM gets to decide
how exactly they misunderstand you, but expect an exaggerated or twisted
version of what you had hoped to achieve by swaying them.
The local Woodland Alliance cell has openly attacked the clearing…and you’re
trying to stop them. You face off against their leader and tell them if they hurt
anyone, you’re never ever going to stop hunting them—you’re the famous Fang
of the Marquisate! You’re making a pointed threat!
Making a pointed threat is a way to use your extremely negative Reputation to
get your enemy to back down or make a mistake. It’s most useful in situations
where you couldn’t normally persuade—enemies with whom you have a –3
Reputation are unlikely to listen to you! You treat your –3 Reputation as +3 for
purposes of the roll—add +3 to whatever you roll on 2d6.
On a 10+, the NPC is rattled—the GM chooses whether they surrender, retreat,
or charge. “Surrender” means give in to you and your demands; “retreat” means
they withdraw; and “charge” means they attack you, hard, fast, and poorly. If
an NPC “charges” at you, they are still giving you the upper hand—they’re not
thinking straight, and you can take advantage of their carelessness.
“On a 7–9, you must make a demonstration of your dangerous intent first,
before they are rattled” means that they will be rattled—you did get a hit, after
all—but you have to prove your dangerous Reputation and your threat here
and now. This demonstration has to be something significant, something the
target would feel as real, upsetting, and serious. Drawing your sword can be
intimidating, but likely isn’t enough. Drawing the sword you took from the
enemy faction’s greatest hero and showing it off might do the trick. Drawing the
sword and putting its edge against a hostage’s throat definitely sends a message.
“On a miss, your reputation precedes you; they reveal how they prepared
for someone like you” means that when you try to make your pointed threat,
you find out that you’ve stumbled right into a terrible trap. Your Reputation
is fearsome and dangerous, after all—your foes probably heard about your
approach and cooked something up just for this situation. It might be guards
hidden somewhere nearby; it might be poison slipped into the food you just
left; but whatever it is, it’ll be bad.
Command Resources
REQUIRES +3 REPUTATION
When you command an NPC to give you significant, valuable resources,
roll with Reputation for their faction. On a 10+, you get what you need
as soon as they can get it to you. On a 7–9, they impose a condition on
how you can use the resources, or what you must return to the faction
in recompense. On a miss, they don’t have what you need, but they tell
you a way you can get it at a steep cost or some serious difficulty.
You storm into the local Marquisate legate’s office, smash your dagger down into
their map of the Woodland, and demand they assign troops to follow you to a
local clearing help free it from the Eyrie Dynasties. You’re commanding resources!
Command resources is the move for wielding your positive Reputation like
a hammer to get what you want from allies. You’ve achieved such a high
Reputation—you’re basically a legend among that faction—that you can
straight up give them commands, and they can’t possibly just brush you off.
“…Give you significant, valuable resources” means that you aren’t just giving
any command—you’re commanding them to give you resources you otherwise
couldn’t get under your control. Commanding them to give you a bed for the
night isn’t really a “significant, valuable resource” so this move wouldn’t be
triggered; but commanding them to assign a whole siege weapon to you would
definitely trigger this move.
· carefully,
tively marks an exhaustion for each band member; –1 to the roll
avoiding trouble: the band collectively marks one depletion
· as+2 quickly
or exhaustion for each band member; +1 to the roll
as possible: everyone marks exhaustion and depletion;
to the roll
On a hit, you pass through the forest to any clearing on the other side.
Along the way, one of you spots an interesting site; you leave markers so
you can return after you finish your trip. On a 10+, the transit is largely
safe. On a 7–9, something from the forest is following you; you can let it
track you, or every vagabond marks exhaustion to lose it. On a miss, you
run afoul of one of the forest’s dangers during the trip, and you can’t escape
it easily; deal with it before you can reach the clearing on the other side.
You and your band depart from Opensky Haven, diving into the forest to try to
take a shortcut to nearby Mellowhill. You’re traveling through the forest!
Traveling through the forest is dangerous—only vagabonds are brave and
skilled enough to do it often. But there’s no better way to quickly cut across a
wide swath of the Woodland and arrive at an important destination.
When you travel through the forest, the band collectively decides how it travels,
including where it’s going—any clearing on the other side of an intervening
forest, no matter how far away it would be by path. That means all the players
should have a discussion. If there is real disagreement, it’s a great chance to
plead with another PC to convince other PCs to go along with you (page 88),
or to find out just how committed to their plans they are. If there is still major
disagreement, go with the majority vote of the players.
· atmarks
a relaxing pace: everyone clears 3-exhaustion; the band collectively
· atmarks
a total of 2-depletion; –1 to the roll
an average pace: everyone clears 2-exhaustion; the band collectively
On a hit, you reach the next clearing in a timely fashion. On a 10+, the
trip is uninterrupted and quick. On a 7–9, you encounter something
noteworthy on the path—a caravan, a battleground, or something else
odd passing through. On a miss, you are caught in the middle of a dan-
gerous situation before you arrive at the next clearing.
You and your band depart from Opensky Haven, taking the path to the
neighboring clearing of Pruitt’s Brook. You’re traveling along the path!
Traveling along the path is, in general, safer than going through the forest—
that’s the point of the paths. But you’re also more likely to encounter forces of
a faction or other denizens on the path, as only vagabonds are brave enough (or
foolish enough) to travel through the forest.
When you travel along the path, the group collectively decides how it
travels. That means all the players should have a discussion. If there is real
disagreement, it’s a great chance to plead with another PC to convince other
PCs to go along with you (page 88), or to find out just how committed to
their plans they are. If there is still major disagreement, go with the majority
vote of the players.
Traveling “at a relaxing pace” means taking your time, ensuring you won’t
be exhausted. The advantage is that you clear exhaustion—each vagabond
gets to clear 3-exhaustion. The disadvantage is that it costs you more in food
and supplies, and it makes you more likely to run into something along the
road. The band must collectively mark 2-depletion—that means between the
entire group of vagabonds, as long as two boxes of depletion are marked, the
condition is satisfied. Both can be marked by a single vagabond, or they can be
marked by two different vagabonds.
Marking Harm
Throughout Root: The RPG, you’ll find a few ways of representing and
marking harm. Here is a technical and specific breakdown of all of those ways:
· “Mark
· “Mark
[harm]” means you mark a single box of that harm track.
2-[harm]” means you mark two boxes of that harm track. The same
· “Inflict
applies for “mark 3-[harm]” and “mark 4-[harm]” and so on.
· “Inflict
[harm]” means you cause your target to mark a single box of that track.
2-[harm]” means you cause your target to mark two boxes of that
· “Clear
harm track. The same applies for “inflict 3-[harm]”, "inflict 4-[harm]", etc.
· “Clear 2-[harm]”
[harm]” means you clear a single marked box of that harm track.
· “Harm,”allas[harm]”
“Clear means you clear two boxes of that harm track, and so on.
· kinds of harm.
means that you clear all marked boxes of that harm track.
described above, refers to the general idea of all the different
If something says “inflict harm,” then the harm is suited to the
fictional situation; for example, when you engage in melee, you might inflict
·
harm, with that harm being dependent upon the weapon you’re wielding.
“Suffer harm,” as in the construction “When you suffer harm,” refers to when
·
you mark harm on your own harm tracks.
“Additional [harm]” means that the amount of harm is increased. If no
·
amount is specified, increase it by one.
“Fewer [harm]“ means that the amount of harm is decreased. If no amount is
specified, decrease it by one.
Clearing Harm
Over the course of Root: The RPG, you will mark harm on all your tracks,
and eventually you’ll be in real danger of needing to mark harm past the end—
so you need to find a way to clear them out from time to time!
You can clear depletion by gaining new supplies or money—filling your
pockets with useful items and coin again. Gathering useful supplies from the
forest and scrounging about in someone’s home both clear depletion.
· Clear
normal denizen’s larder, a few hours spent foraging in the forest
2-depletion: a decent wage from a denizen, rummaging through a
· Clear
normal denizen’s whole house, a day or so spent foraging in the forest
3-depletion: a decent wage from a wealthy denizen, rummaging through
· Clear
a workshop of a wealthy denizen, a couple days spent foraging in the forest
4-depletion: a significant wage from a powerful denizen, rummaging
through a wealthy denizen’s whole house, a week spent foraging in the forest
You can clear exhaustion by fulfilling your nature (page 49), or by getting
some good rest—sleeping, recovering, and taking a break. Getting a night’s rest
in a real bed is the best way to recover exhaustion.
· Clear 1-exhaustion: a night’s rest in a safe and well set-up camp site in the
· Clear
forest, a night’s rest in someone’s loft, a notably good meal
2-exhaustion: a week’s rest in a safe and well set-up camp site in the
· Clear
forest, a night’s rest in a bed in a denizen’s home, an exceptional meal
3-exhaustion: a week’s rest in a bed in a denizen’s home, a night or
· Clear
two’s rest in a nice plush bed in a very safe place, a safe and indulgent feast
4-exhaustion: a week’s rest in a nice plush bed in a very safe place, good
eating and drinking for a week
·
supplies), a week of bed rest
Clear 2-injury: a healer spends a day or less tending to your wounds (and
·
requires 2-Value of supplies), two weeks of bed rest
Clear 3-injury: a healer spends a week or less tending to your wounds (and
·
requires 3-Value of supplies), a month of bed rest
Clear 4-injury: a healer spends two weeks or more tending to your wounds
(and requires 4-Value of supplies)
You can clear wear by repairing the damaged item—restringing, tightening,
rebinding and making repairs, instead of making the item anew. Vagabonds are
adept at making low-level repairs, but serious repairs require greater skill.
· Clear 1-wear: a vagabond spends a few hours repairing the item (marking
depletion), a trained expert spends an hour repairing the item (and requires
·
1-Value of supplies)
Clear 2-wear: a vagabond spends a couple days repairing the item (marking
2-depletion), a trained expert spends a few hours repairing the item (and
·
requires 2-Value of supplies)
Clear 3-wear: a trained expert spends a couple days repairing the item (and
·
requires 3-Value of supplies)
Clear 4-wear: a trained expert spends a week or more repairing the item (and
requires 4-Value of supplies)
When the session ends, one at a time, each player reads their drives out
loud. The players and GM discuss whether the player fulfilled their drive
during the session in an instance that wasn’t already called out during
the session. If they did, and they did not already advance this session for
the drive in question, then they advance.
This end of session move exists just to make sure that every player gets a chance
to advance, even if they forgot to call out how they were fulfilling their drive in
the heat of the moment. Each PC only has two drives, but it’s far easier for each
player to track their own drives than for the GM to try to track every player’s
drives—and even then, players who get caught up in the excitement and fun of
the moment might not realize they fulfilled a drive. Use this move just to make
sure that players get credit for the cool things they did during the session!
When the session ends, one at a time, each player may choose one ele-
ment of their playbook to update or change. They do not have to choose
anything, if they don’t want to. They may choose one of the following
options:
· Replace
· Replace nature
one drive with a new drive from any playbook
This end of session move lets players keep their characters updated throughout
play—sometimes, a vagabond’s nature, drive, or connections will stop making sense.
A Ranger fully achieves their vengeance. An Arbiter breaks with their “master.” A
friendship cools and becomes professional, or strengthens and becomes a familial
bond. Changing these elements of a vagabond is not a matter of advancement, but
it is important that a vagabond’s elements continue to reflect the state of the fiction.
This move lets players do just that—a Ranger who has finally defeated the target
of their Revenge can choose a new drive, or an Arbiter who has given up on their
Principles can take a new drive to match their more pragmatic sensibilities.
· Arbiter
forging connections and maybe even changing the Woodland.
- A strong, battle-ready vagabond, acting often as defender
· Harrier
and interceding in unfair conflicts.
- A fast, freelancing vagabond, specializing in smuggling and
· Ranger
speedy movement within and without clearings.
- A forest-savvy, antisocial vagabond, quite skilled but more
a creature of the forests between clearings than of the clearings
·
themselves.
Ronin - A highly trained outlander vagabond, cast forth from their
·
homeland and now masterless in the Woodland.
Scoundrel - A destructive, risk-taking vagabond, with a heavy
·
inclination towards arson and over-the-top action.
Thief - A skilled, criminal vagabond, expert in burglary and theft but
·
with a tendency to bite off more than they can chew.
Tinker - An innovative, technically-competent vagabond, interested in
·
mechanisms, crafting, equipment, and dangerous new philosophies.
Vagrant - A deceitful huckster vagabond, master of cons and trickery.
Species Details
• fox, mouse, rabbit, • he, she, they, shifting
bird, owl, other • formal, colorful,
multicultural, simple
Demeanor • medal of service,
• charming, diplomatic, beaded jewelry, carved
agreeable, stern flute, pouches with
pretty stones
Subduing Strikes
When you aim to subdue an enemy quickly and nonlethally, you can engage
in melee with Cunning instead of Might. You cannot choose to inflict serious
harm if you do.
Orator
When you give a speech to interested denizens of a clearing, say what you are
motivating them to do and roll with Charm. On a hit, they will move to do it as
they see fit. On a 10+, choose 2. On a 7-9, choose 1.
• They don’t try to take your intent too far
• They don’t disband at the first sign of real resistance
• They don’t demand you stand at their head and lead
On a miss, they twist your message in unpredictable ways.
Well-Read
Take +1 Cunning (max +3).
Fast Friends
When you try to befriend an NPC you’ve just met by matching their
personality, body language, and desires, mark exhaustion and roll with
Cunning. On a hit, they’ll look upon you favorably—ask them any one non-
compromising question and they’ll answer truthfully, or request a simple favor
and they’ll do it for you. On a 10+, they really like you—they’ll share a valuable
secret or grant you a serious favor instead. On a miss, you read them totally
wrong, and their displeasure costs you.
Species Details
• fox, mouse, rabbit, • he, she, they, shifting
bird, badger, other • large, scarred, well-
groomed, old
Demeanor • faded military insignia,
• intimidating, honest, eyepatch, repaired
brusque, open clothes, tarnished locket
Hardy
Take 1 additional injury box. Whenever time passes or you journey to a new
clearing, you can clear 2 injury boxes automatically.
Strong Draw
When you target someone with a bow, mark wear on the bow to roll
with Might. On a hit, mark exhaustion to inflict 1 additional injury. Mark
exhaustion again to make your shot ignore the enemy’s armor—they cannot
mark wear to absorb the injury.
Guardian
When you defend someone or something from an immediate NPC or
environmental threat, roll with Might. On a hit, you keep them safe and choose
one. On a 7–9, it costs: expose yourself to danger or escalate the situation.
• Draw the attention of the threat; they focus on you now.
• Put the threat in a vulnerable spot; take +1 forward to counterstrike.
• Push the threat back; you and your protectee have a chance to maneuver or flee.
On a miss, you take the full brunt of the blow intended for your protectee, and
the threat has you where it wants you.
Species Details
• fox, mouse, rabbit, • he, she, they, shifting
bird, squirrel, other • roguish, kitted out,
vibrant, scarred
Demeanor • half-started maps,
• excited, energetic, sewn bandana,
passionate, flighty ball and cup, wide-
brimmed hat
0 Charm Your Nature choose one
Dutiful: Clear your exhaustion track when you
-1 Cunning
take on a dangerous or difficult task on behalf
of another.
Competitive: Clear your exhaustion track
+2 Finesse
when you take dramatically unnecessary risks
to show off.
+1 Luck Your Drives choose two
Crime: Advance when you illicitly score a
0 Might significant prize or pull off an illegal caper against
impressive odds.
Add +1 to a stat of your Discovery: Advance when you encounter a new
choice, to a max of +2 wonder or ruin in the forests.
Infamy: Advance when you decrease your
Weapon Skills reputation with any faction.
Choose one weapon skill Wanderlust: Advance when you finish a journey
to start to a clearing.
Disarm
Harry
Your Connections
Quick Shot See page 51 for mechanical effects of connections.
Trick Shot • Professional: ___________ and I tried to blaze
a new trail between two clearings; without the
Roguish Feats support of the major factions, it never fully came
You start with these: to fruition.
Acrobatics, Sneak • Friend: ___________ and I forged a bond while
Equipment investigating a ruin deep in the woods. What
strange minor trinkets do each of you carry from
Starting Value 9
that expedition?
Parkour
When you dash your way through a chaotic scene or fight, roll with Finesse.
On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 2. Spend your hold 1-for-1 to dash to something
within sight and reach without being stopped, or to dash away from something
nearby without being stopped. You can dash away from an enemy even at the
moment they attack. On a miss, your surroundings trip you up, and you’re
caught in place while danger closes in.
Traveler Extraordinaire
When you travel along the paths to another clearing, you can always give +1 to
the roll or clear 2-exhaustion, your choice. When you travel through the forest
to another clearing, you can always give +1 to the roll or clear 2-depletion, your
choice. In both cases, before you arrive at the next clearing, you can ask the GM
any two questions about the next clearing, based on what you remember from
your last time through.
Smuggler’s Path
You’ve got a good sense for finding secret paths and doors. When you spend
time looking for a secret way in or out of a place that might have one, mark
exhaustion and roll with Luck. On a hit, you find a hidden path—the GM will
detail it and to where it leads. On a 10+, there’s something along or inside the
path of value to you—the GM will tell you what. On a miss, you find a secret
path...and someone else is using it right this second. They probably won’t be
happy you found their secret.
Species Details
• fox, mouse, rabbit, • he, she, they, shifting
bird, wolf, other • unkempt, scarred,
natural, practical
Demeanor • forest charm, leafy
• terse, mistrusting, cloak, smoking pipe,
polite, kind stolen ring
Slip Away
When you take advantage of an opening to escape from a dangerous
situation, roll with Finesse. On a hit, you get away. On a 10+, choose 1. On a
7-9, choose 2:
• You suffer injury or exhaustion (GM’s choice) during your escape
• You end up in another dangerous situation
• You leave something important behind
On a miss, you escape, but it costs you—mark injury or exhaustion, GM’s choice—
and you leave ample evidence behind for your foes to track and follow you.
Forager
When you travel or pass into a forest, before making any travel move, you can
clear your choice of:
• Up to 3-depletion
• Up to 2-exhaustion
• Up to 2-injury
Threatening Visage
When you persuade an NPC with open threats or naked steel, roll with Might
instead of Charm.
Dirty Fighter
Take two of the following weapon skills: Trick Shot, Confuse Senses, Improvise
Weapon, Disarm, Vicious Strike. None of the skills you take with this move count
against your limit.
Species Details
• fox, mouse, rabbit, • he, she, they, shifting
bird, racoon dog, other • militaristic, outlandish,
simple, colorful
Demeanor • lord’s token, mark
• gruff, polite, direct, of esteem, stringed
dangerous instrument, board game
Your Connections
to start
Cleave
Harry See page 51 for mechanical effects of connections.
Storm a Group • Partner: __________ and I worked together on
Vicious Strike my first real task of significance in the Woodland,
deposing a dangerous authority figure of a faction.
Roguish Feats Who did we depose? Why?
You start with this one: • Watcher: I see in ____________ many reminders
Blindside of my old master. I am drawn to them, even as
Equipment I watch them carefully. What is it that reminds
me of my old master? How do they feel about my
Starting Value 11
watchful eyes?
Well-Mannered
When you enter a social environment dependent on manners and etiquette,
roll with Cunning. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 2. Lose all hold when you
leave or when social rules fall apart. Spend hold 1-for-1 to:
• Cover up a social faux pas on behalf of yourself or an ally; clear 1 exhaustion.
• Call out someone else’s social faux pas; inflict 1-morale harm on them.
• Charm someone; take +1 ongoing to speak to them while you have hold.
• Demonstrate your value; mark prestige with a powerful denizen’s faction.
On a miss, the rules of etiquette here are far different from what you expected;
mark exhaustion as you commit a gravely impolite error.
Fealty
When you commit yourself to the cause of someone you deem worthy, swear
an oath to them stating what task you will complete on their behalf. Mark
exhaustion to reroll a move made in pursuit of that task. You cannot commit
yourself to another cause until you accomplish the first, or break your oath. If
you break your oath, fill your exhaustion track and mark 4 notoriety with the
faction whose trust you betrayed. If you fulfill your oath, mark 4 prestige with
the faction whose trust you kept.
Always Watching
Take +1 Cunning (max +3).
Well-trained, willful, expatriate, free. The Ronin is a former servant and warrior
of some master in a land far from here, now broken from their lord and come
to this land as a free agent.
As the Ronin, you are quite a capable fighter, but you’re also a social
character—a “servant” well used to figuring out the vagaries of the court,
the needs of a lord, and the ways of propriety. You’re at home both on the
battlefield and in the halls of power.
The Ronin, by definition, is originally from somewhere other than the
Woodland. They left that life behind with the demise of their master—one of
the background questions on the playbook is all about what happened to that
master. As such, the Ronin has a different cultural background with different
traditions and ideas than a Woodland denizen.
That said, the Ronin is still a denizen like the other characters. They have the same
overarching drives and desires. And the Ronin certainly has been in the Woodland
long enough to be able to easily function there, though NPCs recognizing the
Ronin’s background and treating them differently can make for dramatic trouble (if
everyone at the table is on board with those issues coming to the fore).
In playing a Ronin, be sure to avoid some of the pitfalls of playing a character
of a different culture—no accents, no silly misunderstandings about
commonplace objects, no broken grammatical constructions. The Ronin is
competent and capable, and they’ve learned how to navigate the Woodland.
Species Details
• fox, mouse, rabbit, • he, she, they, shifting
bird, cat, other • suspicious,
impoverished, flea-
Demeanor bitten, scarred
• shifty, slimy, • full face mask,
straightforward, naive mousesteel spark
lighter, overly large coat,
sulphurous pouches
+1 Charm
Your Nature choose one
-1 Cunning Arsonist: Clear your exhaustion track when
you use needlessly destructive or damaging
methods to solve a problem.
0 Finesse Combative: Clear your exhaustion track when
you try to start a fight against overwhelming
opposition.
+2 Luck Your Drives choose two
Chaos: Advance when you topple a tyrannical or
0 Might
dangerously overbearing figure or order.
Thrills: Advance when you escape from certain
Add +1 to a stat of your death or incarceration.
choice, to a max of +2 Crime: Advance when you illicitly score a
Weapon Skills
significant prize or pull off an illegal caper
against impressive odds.
Choose one weapon skill Infamy: Advance when you decrease your
to start reputation with any faction.
Confuse Senses
Improvise Your Connections
Quick Shot See page 51 for mechanical effects of connections.
Vicious Strike • Friend: ____________ and I once met and pulled
Roguish Feats off a mad, impossible stunt together. What did
You start with these: we do? Why?
Acrobatics, Sneak, Hide • Partner: ____________ and I destroyed a
faction’s resource, on behalf of an opposing
Equipment faction. Why?
Starting Value 8
Create to Destroy
When you use available materials to rig up a dangerous device, roll with
Finesse. On a hit, you cobble together something that will do what you want,
one time. On a 10+, choose one. On a 7-9, choose two. The device is:
• more dangerous than intended
• larger or more unwieldy than intended
• more temperamental and fragile than intended
On a miss, you need some vital component to finish it; the GM will tell you what.
It’s a Distraction!
You gain the roguish feat Blindside (it does not count against your limit). When
you attempt a roguish feat to blindside someone while they are distracted by
environmental dangers (a raging fire, an oncoming flood, etc.), roll with Luck
instead of Cunning.
Daredevil
You’re at your luckiest when you go into danger without hesitation. When
you dive into a dangerous situation without forethought or planning, treat
yourself as having “Luck Armor,” with 1 box of wear (remember, armor is only
“destroyed” when you would mark another box of wear, and all its boxes are
full). The “Luck Armor” automatically goes away once the danger has passed,
and the next time you would have “Luck Armor,” you gain it as if it was brand
new with clear boxes.
Danger Mask
You have a mask or outfit you wear when you go about your most destructive
work—more of a calling card, an identifier of “the real you,” than a disguise.
Treat it as a piece of equipment with two boxes of wear. While you have your
mask on, any notoriety you gain is doubled, any prestige you gain is halved,
and take +1 to trust fate and all Scoundrel playbook moves. If your mask is
ever taken from you, mark exhaustion. If your mask is ever destroyed, mark
4-exhaustion. If your mask is destroyed, you can make a new mask when time
passes.
Species Details
• fox, mouse, rabbit, • he, she, they, shifting
bird, racoon, other • worn, fidgety,
inconspicuous,
Demeanor flamboyant
• fast-talking, quiet, • black cape, large bag,
angry, friendly old broken weapon,
stolen scarf
Your Connections
to start
Confuse Senses
Improvise See page 51 for mechanical effects of connections.
Parry • Professional: I stole something important,
Trick Shot something needed or craved, for ___________.
I proved my worth to them.
Roguish Feats • Friend: ____________ sprang to get me out of
Choose any four roguish holding, whether they bailed me out or rescued
feats to start (page 69) me. I owe them.
Equipment
Starting Value 6
Rope-a-Dope
When you evade and dodge your enemy so as to tire them out, roll with
Finesse. On a hit, you can mark exhaustion to make them mark 2-exhaustion.
On a 10+, you can mark exhaustion to make them mark 3-exhaustion. On a
miss, they catch you in the middle of a dodge—you’re at their mercy.
Small Hands
When you grapple with an enemy larger than you, roll with Finesse instead of
Might. On a miss, they overpower you—you’re at their mercy.
Master Thief
Take +1 Finesse (max +3).
Crafty, professional, nimble, quiet. The Thief is the ultimate criminal, taking
whatever valuables they can grab from any treasure room, vault, or safe, no
matter how secure.
As the Thief, you are likely the single best vagabond in your band with regard
to roguish feats. Your high Finesse and your four chosen roguish feats make
you more than capable of shoring up any gaps in your band’s skill set or solving
problems through illicit action. You should be looking for ways to bring your
skills to bear and solve problems.
You’re not in trouble when it comes to fights—you are a vagabond, after all—
but by default, you’d likely prefer to solve things through stealth and guile. That
said, part of the push-pull in the playbook is that your fellow vagabonds aren’t
going to be able to follow you into every place you sneak. The more you can
create opportunities for your fellows to follow by opening doors, leaving ropes
out open windows, and so on, the more you can rely on them when a fight
(inevitably) breaks out.
Your general skill set is about getting through trouble stealthily, without
calling attentions, so your natures instead push you to cause some problems
for yourself. That’s great! Embrace the trouble you get into by selfishly stealing
things and grievously insulting authority figures.
Your natures—“Kleptomaniac” and “Rebellious”—are both likely to get you
into hot water. “Selfishly steal something” always means that you’re stealing
something you want, and something likely to cause you and yours trouble,
instead of stealing something that you and your whole band have agreed is
Species Details
• fox, mouse, rabbit, • he, she, they, shifting
bird, beaver, other • scattered, organized,
grubby, singed
Demeanor • eccentric tool belt,
• hopeful, cheerful, beautiful whetstone,
inquisitive, cynical former patron’s
insignia, massive packs
Repair
When you repair destroyed personal equipment with your toolbox, the GM
will set one condition as per the toolbox move. Fulfill it, and clear all wear for
that equipment. When you repair damaged personal equipment with your
toolkit, you do it as long as you spend depletion or value, 1 for 1, for each box
of wear you clear.
Big Pockets
Take two extra boxes of depletion.
Jury Rig
When you create a makeshift device on the fly, roll with Cunning. On a hit,
you create a device that works once, then breaks. On a 10+, choose one:
• It works exceptionally well
• You get an additional use out of it
On a miss, the device works, but it has an unintended side effect that the GM
will reveal when you use it.
Nimble Mind
When you attempt roguish feats involving mechanisms or locks, mark
depletion to roll with Cunning instead of Finesse.
Dismantle
When you dismantle a broken or disabled piece of equipment or machinery,
clear 2-depletion.
· “Time
complicated, rare, or special device might take four conditions to create.
taken” means the GM tells you how long the work will take; you need a
· “Materials
safe space to work for that time, and new events may occur while you’re busy.
needed,” “help needed,” and “facilities/tools needed” focus on
additional resources or aid of a specialized nature that you need to accomplish
·
your goal. Obtain those resources or aid and you fulfill the condition.
“The limits on the project” means the GM can tell you how you can’t quite
manage the full extent of what you had asked for; if you want to build a fully
functional sentient wooden robot, the GM might tell you that the limit is
creating only a clockwork automaton, not really a robot. Accept the limit,
and the condition is satisfied.
For Big Pockets, these two extra boxes of depletion do not count against the
maximum (six total) you can get through normal advancement.
For Jury Rig, you still need materials to construct your makeshift device. The
GM might ask you to mark depletion if the materials are not available in your
environment. You’re also limited by what makes sense based on those materials.
If you use a makeshift device, then it usually just works, no additional move
necessary; only in extremely uncertain circumstances should the GM ask
you to make another move to see what happens. You cannot make out-and-
out weapons (like swords or bows) with this move, though you could make
mechanisms to blow down doors or walls.
For Nimble Mind, remember the stat swap is for any roguish feat attempted
using a mechanism or lock, not just pick lock or disable device. For example,
if you’re trying to attempt a roguish feat and fling yourself into the air using
a chandelier’s winching mechanism and ropes, then you could roll with
Cunning instead of Finesse. Though you do still need to have the feat marked—
otherwise you’re trusting fate!
For Dismantle, taking apart a piece of equipment takes a bit of time, but you can
take apart everything from a broken cart to a smashed door if you aren’t in a rush.
-1 Finesse
to spring a con on a powerful or dangerous mark.
Your Connections
Choose one weapon skill
to start
Harry See page 51 for mechanical effects of connections.
Improvise • Family: After ____________ and I pulled off an
Quick Shot impressive heist and stole something very valuable
Vicious Strike from a powerful faction, my bad choices landed
me in dire straits. But they bailed me out, and
Roguish Feats we’ve been close ever since.
You start with these: Pick • Watcher: ____________ saw through one of my
Lock, Sleight of Hand cons, and turned it back on me. How? Why did we
Equipment forgive each other?
Starting Value 9
Pleasant Facade
When you suck up to or otherwise butter up an unsuspecting NPC, roll with
Charm. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 2. Spend your hold 1 for 1 to deflect
their suspicion or aggression away from you onto someone or something else.
On a miss, your attempts at flattery are suspicious—they’re going to keep their
eye on you.
Desperate Smile
When you trust fate to see you through by begging, pleading, or abasing
yourself, roll with Charm instead of Luck.
Charm Offensive
When you play upon an enemy’s insecurities, concerns, or fears to distract
them with words during a fight, roll with Cunning. On a hit, you create an
opening for yourself—make any available weapon move against them at +1, or
strike quickly and deal injury to them. On a 7-9, you also tick them off; they
aren’t listening to you anymore, no matter what you do, until the situation
drastically changes. On a miss, you infuriate them—they come at you, hard,
and you’re not prepared.
Let’s Play
When you play a game of skill and wit to loosen another’s tongue, roll with
Charm. On a hit, they let slip something useful or valuable. On a 7-9, you have
to lose the game to get them there; mark one depletion. On a miss, they’re
better than you ever thought; either mark one depletion and cut your losses, or
mark three depletion and they’ll start talking.
Pocket Sand
Take the weapon skill Confuse Senses (it does not count against your limit).
When you throw something to confuse an opponent’s senses at close or
intimate range, roll with Cunning instead of Finesse.
Advancement
“Advancements” in Root: The RPG are explicitly the rewards for a
vagabond who pursues their drives (see page 49 for more on drives.)
Earning Advancements
A vagabond can earn one advancement each session for each drive they
fulfill. That means in any given session of play, a vagabond might earn
two advancements at most—one for each drive. Vagabonds cannot
earn more than one advancement per drive per session.
The conditions for fulfilling a drive are described on each playbook in
the Drives section. While any given playbook might have a different set
of drives, every playbook pulls from the same overall pool.
A PC advances just as soon as they fulfill the condition of the drive. At
the end of each session, GMs and players should go around and see if
anybody fulfilled a drive but just missed it; if they did (and they haven’t
advanced for that drive already), they can advance then, at the end of
the session.
Ambition
Advance when you increase your Reputation with any faction.
Your Reputation is the number, not simply prestige boxes. The actual value of
your Reputation has to go up. You advance for any time your Reputation with
any faction goes up (although again, only once per session). Whether your
Reputation moves from –3 to –2 or +2 to +3, it still counts.
Chaos
Advance when you topple a tyrannical or dangerously overbearing figure or order.
“Topple” means that the figure or order has been deposed, removed from
power, at least temporarily (it doesn’t always have to be permanent). Who or
what qualifies as a “dangerously overbearing figure or order” is a matter of
discussion between players and GM, with the GM having the final call.
Clean Paws
Advance when you accomplish an illicit, criminal goal while
maintaining a believable veneer of innocence.
An “illicit, criminal goal” should be a goal that any force of law and order in the
area would frown upon. “A believable veneer of innocence” means that, by and
large, most denizens aware of the crime have no reason to blame you. Maybe
they are suspicious of you, but they definitely don’t have evidence.
Crime
Advance when you illicitly score a significant prize or pull
off an illegal caper against impressive odds.
“Illicitly score a significant prize” or “pull off an illegal caper against impressive
odds” offer two ways to advance with this drive. “A significant prize” can be
relative to the vagabonds’ circumstances, but it should always be something
either of extraordinary monetary value or of extraordinary intrinsic value—an
incredibly valuable gemstone, or the gemstone that determines the next ruler of
the Eyrie, respectively. “Pulling off” the caper in no way means that everything
went well; all it means is that you more or less achieved your desired end. When
determining whether “impressive odds” applies, think about whether or not it
makes a good story; you wouldn’t recount the tale of duping some guard, but
you would absolutely recount the tale of robbing the local governor’s mansion.
Both the “new wonder” and the “ruin” are understood to be “in the forests”—
this drive is for vagabonds interested in exploring the forests. A new ruin is one
you haven’t been to before, not necessarily one that no one has found before. A
new wonder is anything impressive, surprising, exciting, or special that you find
in the forests—think of it as something you could tell other denizens about and
have them listen with rapt attention.
Freedom
Advance when you free a group of denizens from oppression.
“Free a group of denizens” doesn’t mean “permanently free,” but it does mean
that for the moment, their bonds are removed. “Oppression” can take many
different shapes, but it must be real; the oppressed denizens must themselves
believe fully in their own oppression.
Greed
Advance when you secure a serious payday or treasure.
Infamy
Advance when you decrease your Reputation with any faction.
Your Reputation is the number, not simply notoriety boxes. The actual value of
your Reputation has to go down. You advance for any time a Reputation with
any faction goes down (although again, only once per session). Whether the
Reputation moves from +3 to +2 or –2 to –3, it still counts.
Justice
Advance when you achieve justice for someone wronged by
a powerful, wealthy, or high-status individual.
“Justice” is highly dependent upon the exact situation and should be discussed
between the GM and the players. If need be, the GM has final say. “Wronged by a
powerful, wealthy, or high-status individual” means that the victim was genuinely
harmed, and the perpetrator is of greater power, whether de facto or de jure.
You can name any character, including an NPC you make up from scratch or
another PC if you so choose. If you name an NPC, make sure you consider how
you get orders from them—if they stay put and you travel, then you can still
receive orders from them through missives. “At a great cost to yourself” means
that you undertake great risk or suffer great consequence in carrying out their
orders. If you carry out their orders while suffering nothing, risking nothing,
and paying no cost, then you haven’t satisfied the drive.
Principles
Advance when you express or embody your moral
principles at great cost to yourself or your allies.
“Your moral principles” have to be real—no “but my moral principles say it’s fine
to steal from anyone at any time!” By choosing this drive, you are saying your
character has real moral principles, a code of conduct that matters to them. You
don’t have to outline every aspect of their principles, but at character creation
you should have a notion of some overriding principle that matters to your
Protection
Name your ward. Advance when you protect them from significant
danger, or when time passes and your ward is safe.
You can name any character, including an NPC you make up from scratch or
another PC if you so choose. If you name an NPC, then you should either plan
on their traveling with you, or you should understand that you are unlikely
to advance with this drive unless time passes or you are specifically in their
home clearing. “Protect them from significant danger” means that you either
prevented them from coming to harm or rescued them from a worse fate. “When
time passes and your ward is safe” means that whenever “time passes” and the
Woodland’s war progresses, if your ward is more or less safe, you advance.
Revenge
Name your foe. Advance when you cause significant harm to them or their interests.
You can name any NPC, including one you make up from scratch. Do not
name a PC. Whomever you choose should be a powerful foe—a real enemy
who can return again and again. If you choose someone easily disposed of,
then this drive will quickly become irrelevant. “Significant harm” is left up to a
conversation between the GM and the players, with the GM having final say.
Thrills
Advance when you escape from certain death or incarceration.
Wanderlust
Advance when you finish a journey to a clearing.
This is one of the most direct, simplest drives in the game—every time you
arrive at another clearing, you advance. Not when you begin the journey, of
course; only when you arrive.
Advancements
When you advance by following a drive, choose one from the list:
· Take
· Take a new
+1 to a stat (max +2)
· Take up to two
Take a new move from your playbook (max 5 moves from your own playbook)
·
any one harm track (max 6 each)
(max 6 total)
When the session ends, one at a time, each player may choose one ele-
ment of their playbook to update or change. They do not have to choose
anything, if they don’t want to. They may choose one of the following
options:
· Replace
· Replace
one drive with a new drive from any playbook
This move allows you to say at the end of any session, “I have changed, and
here is how.” It lets you pick a new drive for your character and thereby indicate
that they will be pursuing a new course of action. It allows you to replace your
nature with a new one, indicating a major change to the core of your character.
It even lets you say your relationships to other characters change, swapping out
the mechanical benefits of one connection for another.
Use this move to make sure your understanding of your character matches
what’s on your character’s playbook, and that the other players and the GM are
all on the same page with you about what matters most to your character on
both emotional and mechanical levels.
If you find yourself wanting to change more elements at the same time, talk it
over—it’s not impossible some major upheaval could change both your drives and
your nature all at once, but that should be far from commonplace, and everyone
at the table should agree with the change and understand why it is happening.
If you want to undergo an even more massive change to your character, however…
· Details: You may pick new descriptors from the options for your new playbook
· Background:
if they apply. Explain how and why your character’s description changed.
Your background stays the same; don’t change or make any
· Stats:
new choices here.
You will keep your vagabond’s stats mostly the same. Look at the new
playbook’s starting stats, and pay attention to the new playbook’s highest and
lowest stats. You may decrease the new playbook’s lowest stat by one for your
vagabond to raise the new playbook’s highest stat by one for your vagabond. This
cannot raise a stat above +2 or lower a stat below –2. Example: When switching
to the Arbiter playbook, the Arbiter’s highest stat is Might, and its lowest stat is
·
Luck. You may decrease your Luck by –1 to increase your Might by +1.
Nature and Drives: Change your nature to one from the new playbook,
·
and both your drives to two from the new playbook.
Connections: Change two of your connections to the types from your new
·
playbook—explain why you see those characters in that new light.
·
Reputation: Your Reputation, prestige, and notoriety all stay exactly the same.
Moves: You may swap moves from your old playbook for moves from your
new playbook, one for one. You do not gain any new moves—the overall
number of moves you have remains the same. Furthermore, the overall
number of moves you have must follow normal advancement limits—so you
are only allowed two moves from outside your new playbook, and five moves
from inside of it. Explain why your skills are changing and what changed
·
about you to match.
·
Equipment: Your equipment stays exactly the same.
Harm tracks: Your harm tracks stay exactly the same.
· Weapon
chosen from the new starting playbook. The rest stay the same.
skills: You may swap one weapon skill to match one you could
have chosen from the new starting playbook. The rest stay the same.
And you’re set!
Anything complicated or confusing, work out with your GM and your table—
exceptions are perfectly fine, so long as everyone is okay with them and they
make sense within the fiction.
In general, though, just keep in mind that the degree to which you can advance
and expand your character should make the option of changing your character’s
playbook only necessary for the most extreme cases—otherwise, you should be
able to develop the way you want!
If a player accepts their PC becoming an NPC in the Woodland, then the GM has
a duty to portray that character in a way honest to that character’s nature and
desires—just like with any other NPC. But the GM does not have any obligation
to check in with the original player before making new choices for the former
PC. The former PC can change and become a different character, as long as it
makes sense in the fiction and matches up with the GM’s agendas, principles,
and moves (see page 194 for more on these GM tools).
Put another way, if a player absolutely doesn’t want their PC to become
something they wouldn’t have chosen, then the PC should retire well outside
of the Woodland’s story. If the player accepts that their PC becomes an NPC
still active within the Woodland in any way, then they are trusting the GM to
portray that character as interesting, complicated, and dramatic, just like with
any other good NPC.
For any vagabond who had connections pointing at the now retired/removed/
dead character, they may point those connections to other characters in the
band, including the new character.
· When you flesh out the new PC’s background, think about where the PC has
been during the events of the game so far. What do they think of the band’s
actions? And because the new PC is joining the band, make sure to think
·
about why they want to join up with the band now.
When you choose connections, you can fill them out as usual. A vagabond
who had connections pointing at the old character can swap them to match
up with the new character, even changing the connection type at the GM’s
·
they are accepted by the current members of the band.
Choose moves, stats, and equipment as normal. At the GM’s discretion, the
new vagabond may have one or two free advances to start, and may have
an additional 4-Value to spend on equipment—mostly this is in situations
where the rest of the vagabonds have earned many advances already or have
·
significantly improved equipment.
Finally, resolve how the new vagabond joins the group. This is better handled
as an event that occurred during a stint of time passing—not as an actual
out and out scene. The core questions of such a scene—”Will this new
vagabond join the band? Will the band accept this new vagabond as one
of their own?”—are already answered. Yes, the new vagabond will join the
band, and yes, the band will accept this new vagabond as one of their own
(more or less). Instead, make sure everyone is on the same page about the
circumstances of that joining and about how the characters know of or have
heard of each other, and then get to playing!
Equipment
Equipment is an important part of Root: The RPG. A vagabond is incredibly
capable, but one with bad tools is going to have a hard time, no matter their skills.
Throughout the game, vagabonds will put strain on their existing equipment and
then spend resources to repair it or to buy new equipment altogether. They’ll
steal noteworthy or valuable items to upgrade their existing kit. They’ll debate
whether to wield twin daggers or to wield one enormous greatsword.
That said, it’s important to note up front that equipment is far from the be
all and end all of a vagabond’s competency. While a vagabond can have better
or worse equipment, there is plenty going on that no equipment will help
resolve. A vagabond with the epic greatsword of Eyrie Dynasties legend Yorick
Thunderwing will still have a hard time going up against a whole platoon of
soldiers, and if the vagabond doesn’t maintain a good reputation with the Eyrie,
that’s what they might find themself facing one day.
So while vagabonds are going to spend time paying attention to their
equipment, it also shouldn’t become the sole focus of the game. It’s a part of
their overall story in the Woodland, but not the focal point.
There is some information about equipment earlier in this book in the section
on making characters (page 58). Here you’ll find some of those rules restated
to keep them in one place.
Value
There is no single consistent currency in the Woodland, no coin of the realm
that you can rely upon. Barter and exchange are the order of the day. As such,
in Root: The RPG, the financial worth of objects is measured in Value, an
abstract generalization of price. A single box of depletion on a vagabond’s harm
track provides roughly the equivalent of 1-Value in coins or other objects.
The actual going price of items and objects varies based on the circumstances—
1-Value of food might normally be a couple loaves of bread, but in a clearing
suffering from famine, the same loaves might go for coin worth 4-Value—but
here’s a rough approximation of the kinds of things you might find for a few
different Value amounts.
Value Item
2 A very simple dagger, basic tools for farming or smithing, a traveling cloak
3–4 A basic sword or bow, simple leather armor, a shield, a decent wheelbarrow, a week’s
rest at an inn
5–6 A decent sword or bow, good leather or chain armor, a wagon cart, two weeks’ rest at
an inn
7–10 An excellent weapon, good plate armor, a chest laden with gold, an ancient jewel-
encrusted cup from a ruin, a simple riverworthy boat
Tags
Equipment tags are special traits held by a piece of equipment that give it
additional abilities. Each positive tag adds 1-Value to the overall worth of the
item in question. Each negative tag refunds 1-Value from the overall worth of
the item, lowering its price by 1-Value. In parentheses after each tag, you’ll find
an idea of the kind of item the tag could apply to; although, as always, use these
tags as inspiration to create more specific or appropriate tags as you need them.
Positive Tags
+ Arrow-proof: Ignore the first hit dealing injury from arrows that you suf-
fer in a scene. (Armor)
+ Blunted: This weapon inflicts exhaustion, not injury. (Hammer, staff)
+ Catfolk Steel: Mark wear when engaging in melee to shift your range one
step, even on a miss. (Armor, weapons)
+ Ceremonial: Choose an attached faction. While this item is displayed, treat
yourself as having +1 Reputation with that faction, and –1 Reputation with
other factions. (Anything)
+ Comfortable: This item counts as 1 fewer Load. (Armor)
+ Durable: If this item would ever be destroyed, permanently remove 1-wear
from it instead. If it ever has no wear remaining, it is destroyed. (Anything)
+ Eaglecraft: Mark wear when engaging in melee to both make and suffer
another exchange of harm. (Weapons)
+ Fast: Mark wear when engaging in melee to suffer 1 fewer harm, even on a
miss. (Smaller or thinner weapons)
+ Friendly: When you meet someone important, mark exhaustion to roll
with your Reputation +1. (Armor, nonthreatening weapons like staves)
Negative Tags
- Bulky: This weapon cannot be hidden and is always visible while on your
body. Mark exhaustion whenever you attempt a roguish feat or trust fate to
sneak, hide, blindside, or perform an act of acrobatics. (Large weapons)
- Cumbersome: Mark 1-exhaustion when you don your armor—clear 1-ex-
haustion when you take it off. (Heavy armor)
- Fragile: When you make a weapon move with this weapon, mark wear on
it. Mark exhaustion to ignore this effect. (Light weapons)
- Hated: Take –2 Reputation with the faction that loathes this item while it is
displayed. If you reveal this item to foes from that faction, they clear morale
as they are energized by anger at you. (Anything)
- Shoddy: Repairing this item costs twice as much Value per box of wear
cleared. (Anything)
- Slow: When you engage in melee with this weapon, choose one fewer op-
tion. Mark wear to ignore this effect. (Heavy weapons)
· Ifyouyouwant.
can, find an existing tag and mirror it into the new version of the tag
· Aharm;
tag’s effects do not have to be limited to fighting and blocking or inflicting
they can interact with Reputation or even just the fiction itself
without issue. See the tags Unassuming and Friendly for examples of tags that
·
do more than just address harm and combat.
Most tags with potent abilities that allow users to swap stats, inflict
additional harm, ignore armor, or otherwise achieve extra effect will have a
cost attached. In other words, if a PC would always want to have the effect
whenever they use the item because the effect is so potent, then it should
likely be limited by a cost. “Mark exhaustion,” “mark depletion,” and “mark
wear” are all common costs.
For example, if you wanted a version of Weighty that made an item count as 2
additional Load, then it should refund a total of 2-Value. If you wanted a tag
that made a sword completely ignore armor, then it could just be a renamed
version of Heavy Bludgeon worth the same (1-Value) and still requiring a
character to mark exhaustion to use it. If you wanted a new tag that indicated
a weapon could light fires with every strike, perhaps because of a special oil
channel running down its length, then such a specific and expert tag could
be worth 2-Value to match its uniqueness, and likely would still require the
character to mark wear on the weapon to use it (as lighting it on fire might
cause some damage to the item).
Dagger Greatsword
Value: 5 | Load: 0 | Range: Intimate, close Value: 6 | Load: 2 | Range: Close
Weapon skill tags: Parry, vicious strike Weapon skill tags: Cleave, storm a group,
disarm
+ Quick: Mark exhaustion to engage in
melee with Finesse instead of Might. + Sharp: Mark wear when inflicting
harm with this weapon to inflict 1
Mousefolk Short Sword additional harm.
+ Large: Mark exhaustion when inflict-
Value: 6 | Load: 1 | Range: Close ing harm with this weapon to inflict 1
Weapon skill tags: Parry, disarm additional harm.
+ Mousefolk Steel: Mark wear to engage in - Bulky: This weapon cannot be hidden
melee using Cunning instead of Might. and is always visible while on your
body. Mark exhaustion whenever you
attempt a roguish feat or trust fate to
Foxfolk Longsword
sneak, hide, blindside, or perform an
Value: 5 | Load: 1 | Range: Close act of acrobatics.
Weapon skill tags: Disarm, vicious strike
Shortbow Chainmail
Value: 6 | Load: 1 | Range: Close Value: 3 | Load: 2
Weapon skill tags: Quick shot
+ Tightly Woven: When you take a few
+ Short Limbs: Mark wear to fire a quick seconds to repair this armor after a
shot at far range. fight, clear 1-wear you marked during
the fight.
Longbow - Weighty: This item counts as 1 addi-
tional Load.
Value: 5 | Load: 1 | Range: Far
Weapon skill tags: Harry a group
Plate Armor
Value: 3 | Load: 2
Trick Bow
+ Arrow-proof: Ignore the first hit deal-
Value: 5 | Load: 1 | Range: Close
ing injury from arrows that you suffer
Weapon skill tags: Harry, trick shot in a scene.
- Cumbersome: Mark 1-exhaustion
Crossbow when you don your armor—clear 1-ex-
haustion when you take it off.
Value: 6 | Load: 1 | Range: Far
- Weighty: This item counts as 1 addi-
Weapon skill tags: Trick shot tional Load
+ Oiled String: Mark wear to use the
weapon skill quick shot even if you Robes
don’t have it.
Value: 2 | Load: 1
+ Hair Trigger: Mark wear to target a
vulnerable foe at close range instead + Unassuming: Until you harm an enemy,
of far. they will never deem you more of a
+ Iron Bolts: This weapon inflicts 1 addi- threat than other vagabonds with arms
tional wear when its harm is absorbed and armor.
by armor.
The GM
In most tabletop roleplaying games, there is some kind of Gamemaster
or equivalent role with a different name. In Root: The RPG, the role
is “Gamemaster” because of the familiarity and ease of reference of
the term. But here’s a breakdown of what the GM does in Root: The
RPG and what (if anything) you’re really the “master” of in this role.
After this broad overview of a GM’s job during a game, you’ll find more
about the GM’s goals, principles, and moves.
· What
· What
the principles demand
· What
the rules demand
· Describe
· Address
the world like a living painting.
· Sometimes,move,
Be a fan vagabonds.
Soft Immediacy,
Hardest Moves
Hard Severity
Hard Immediacy,
Softest Moves
Soft Severity
Less dramatic
· Inflict
· Reveal
injury, exhaustion, wear, depletion, or morale (as established).
· Show
an unwelcome truth.
· Put someone
signs of an approaching threat.
· Disrupt someone’s
Capture someone.
Writing Up an NPC
In general, the vast majority of characters in a clearing don’t need any special
development or attention. The NPCs who do deserve attention either have some
significant role to play, or the vagabonds care about them. Every single clearing in
the Woodland is assumed to have plenty of NPCs all throughout it, and the simple
fact is that most of them will wind up as background characters. That’s fine!
When an NPC moves from being a background NPC to a named NPC
who speaks to and interacts with the PCs, and who might have their own
motivations, personality, and relationships with the PCs independent of their
role, they deserve some attention. At that point, make sure they have a name,
a description (including species), a job, and a drive. When an NPC gets into
a fight with the PCs or would mark harm, or if you know in advance that the
NPC is likely to get into a fight, then give them harm tracks and equipment.
· Standard
· Large
blade: 1-injury
· Tricky
blade or axe, wielded with strength: 2-injury
· Wielded by a skilled
weapon, like a whip: 1-injury, 1-exhaustion
· Wielded by a powerfulandandcunning
Heavy weapon, like a huge two-handed hammer: 1-injury, 1-wear
·
mighty fighter: +1-injury
convert all harm to wear, +1-wear
NPC Groups
Sometimes, the vagabonds go up against whole groups of enemies instead of
just individuals. In many such cases you can treat the whole group of NPCs as if
it was a single entity. An NPC group, called a “mob” regardless of who is within
it, will have higher harm tracks and deal more harm with each blow.
To figure out the harm tracks and harm inflicted by a mob, first figure out
the harm tracks and harm inflicted by a single average member of the mob,
someone who represents the majority of NPCs inside the mob. Then, expand
on it as follows:
· 5–10 denizen mob: +2 boxes above the average harm track, x2 the average
· 11–20
harm inflicted
denizen mob: +4 boxes above the average harm track, x3 the average
· 21+
harm inflicted
denizen mob: +6 boxes above the average harm track, x4 the average
harm inflicted
So a mob made up of completely average denizens with one box in each harm
track, who just inflict injury, would look as follows at different numbers:
· 5–10
· 11–20
denizen mob: 3 boxes of each harm track, inflicts 2-injury
· 5–10
· 11–20
soldier mob: 5 boxes of each harm track, inflicts 4-injury
Baseline NPCs
Here are a few NPCs you can pull from when you need a generic set of harm tracks.
Example
The vagabond band composed of Keera the Arbiter (played by Kate), Guy the Scoundrel
(played by Miguel), Hester the Tinker (played by Sam), and Jinx the Vagrant (played by
Derrick) have gotten themselves into quite the pickle. They’re in a cave in the woods,
surrounded by some Marquisate deserters-turned-bandits, a crew who’s been causing
trouble for the local clearing, and now—after a failed series of tricks on the part of Jinx
and Guy—the bandits are ready to put the vagabonds to the sword.
“The four of you can see in the light of Hester’s torch that you’re surrounded on all
sides. They’ve got swords and axes, but the weapons look worn and chipped,” the
GM says. They quickly mark down the group’s stats—trained soldiers, but kind of
a rabble, with worse equipment, and about 10 of them. The GM goes with 2 injury,
1 exhaustion, 1 wear, and 1 morale for the baseline soldier, so for the small group,
4 injury, 3 exhaustion, 3 wear, and 3 morale. They inflict 2-injury as a group. Their
drive is “To be free from any authority that would control them.”
“Keera, you already had your sword drawn,” the GM says, honoring the fiction that
came before this moment. “You’re ready. What do you do?” The GM is pointing the
spotlight at Keera because Keera was ready, and letting the Arbiter start the fight is
going to give her a chance to be awesome.
“I hoist my greatsword and dive into them, swinging in a broad arc. I want to scatter
them,” Kate says.
“Sounds like you’re engaging in melee. Roll with Might!” says the GM.
“Wait, I have the storm a group weapon skill. And my greatsword is tagged with it.
Can I do that?” Kate asks.
An Example of
Woodland Creation
I draw my first circle and roll. I
get a 3 for dominant community,
a 7 for number of paths, and
a 2+6 for name—a mouse-
dominated clearing with 3 paths
called Sundell.
Next, I draw my next clearing
and roll. I got a 4 for dominant
community, a 5 for number of
paths, and a 6+2 for name—
another mouse-dominated
clearing with 3 paths called
Opensky Haven.
5–6 Reroll
Then, starting with each clearing directly connected
to the Marquisate’s stronghold, roll on the
Marquisate Control table to see if the Marquisate is in control of any given
clearing in the Woodland. “Paths Away from the Stronghold” refers to how
many paths must be crossed from the stronghold clearing to reach the clearing
in question.
The Marquisate stronghold is the place where the Marquisate entered the
clearing, and it is their most heavily fortified base of operations. Removing
them from that clearing would be difficult for any faction or vagabond.
Marquisate control over a clearing means that they certainly have de facto
control, if not de jure control—perhaps there is a nominal civilian government,
but the Marquisate is definitively in charge.
Example
First, I roll a 3 for the Marquisate’s stronghold, getting “southwest corner.” I interpret
that as Allaburrow, the most southwest clearing on the map. Then I roll for every
other clearing, resulting in a Woodland that looks like this:
1 path away 5–, Eyrie not in control. 6–8, Eyrie in control, no Roost.
9+, Eyrie in control with a Roost.
2 paths away 8–, Eyrie not in control. 9–10, Eyrie in control, no Roost.
11+, Eyrie in control with a Roost.
3 paths away 10–, Eyrie not in control. 11, Eyrie in control, no Roost.
12, Eyrie in control with a Roost.
Example
I choose the closest thing to an “opposite corner” from Allaburrow—namely,
Firehollow—to be the opening Eyrie Roost. Then I roll for every clearing resulting in
a Woodland that looks like this:
No Roll
Example
I roll for each controlled, non-stronghold, non-base, non-roost clearing. All stay
under control (roll of 10 or less), except for Milltown. I remove the Eyrie control. My
final map of the Woodland looks like this:
Important Inhabitants
2D6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 Mayor Smith Guard Captain Rebel Leader Enemy Captain Village Elder
Important Buildings
2D6 1 2 3 4 5 6
Problems
2D6 1 2 3 4 5 6
Where Are They Being Sent? What Are They Supposed to Do?
1D6 Location 2D6 1–3 4–6
1 “Trusted Benefactor”
A powerful leader of the faction with whom the PCs collectively have the best reputation
3 “Local Help”
A leader of a neighboring clearing
4 “Scratch My Back...”
A would-be usurper of the leadership of a neighboring clearing
Targets: Threats
2D6 1 2 3 4 5 6
Complications
2D6 1 2 3 4 5 6
· 2–7: Untouched. This clearing is by and large unaffected by the war directly.
Its buildings haven’t been stricken by destruction, and it doesn’t have a
·
particularly noteworthy buildup of martial forces or defenses.
8–10: Battle-scarred. This clearing shows the signs of battle, the scars of
fighting. The faction in control has it well in hand, but everyone in the
·
clearing has felt the sting of the war.
11–12: Occupied, battle-scarred. This clearing has seen war, recently, and
shows the scars. Furthermore, it is likely occupied, or has recently been
·
occupied, by another faction.
13+: Fortified, battle-scarred, occupied. This clearing has seen war, recently,
and shows both the scars and the defenses required to survive. Furthermore,
it is likely occupied, or has very recently been occupied, by another faction.
· Marquisate:
· Woodland Alliance:2+ 3+Roosts
5+ total clearings, workshops, sawmills, or recruiters
·
Eyrie Dynasties: or 4+ clearings
sympathy or at least one base
On a hit, the faction scores a victory; choose one minor boon. On a 10+,
choose another minor boon—in the same clearing or another—or a major
boon instead. On a miss, the faction suffers a defeat—it loses control of a
clearing (returning it to the control of its own denizens); a fortification or
structure (Roost, base, or Marquisate building); or a valuable resource.
MINOR BOONS
Attack: Take control of a clearing adjacent to one already controlled. If that clearing has fortifications,
destroy those instead. If that clearing has no fortifications but has a Roost, a Woodland Alliance base,
or any Marquisate structures, destroy all of those instead.
Fortify: Fortify a controlled clearing with defensive structures and more troops. The next time an
enemy faction would take control of a fortified clearing, they only remove the fortifications instead.
Obtain: Gain a valuable resource from the forests, ruins, or a clearing. On the next faction roll, the
faction takes +2 if it retains control of the resource.
Stamp cells: Remove sympathy from all clearings the faction controls. [Marquisate/Eyrie]
Build industry: Construct one sawmill, workshop, or recruiting post in each of two different
controlled clearings. [Marquisate]
MAJOR BOONS
Revolt: A revolt occurs in a clearing with sympathy; the Woodland Alliance gains a base there, taking
control and removing all other faction structures. [Woodland Alliance]
Build Roost: Add a Roost to a clearing the Eyrie controls without a Roost. [Eyrie]
Capture: Seize an important figure in an enemy faction; that faction takes –1 on all faction rolls while
that figure is held captive.
At First Sight
A stagnant, brackish smell fouls the air long before Gelilah’s Grove
is sighted. Deep pools of standing muddy water connect the roiling
river to the clearing’s floor. Gelilah’s Grove was always a moderately
industrial clearing, with structures sprouting up alongside the waterfall
and environs to take advantage of the flow of running water for the
sawmill, but now the river has blurred the line between water and
land. Drowned clover and herb ground cover can still be felt underfoot
around the structures still standing, and hanging moss blocks the
sunlight from reaching far into the water.
Rocky hills rise to one side, with seemingly poorly-maintained
shacks sprouting from sheer rock faces. Industrial structures, such
as the mill and workshops, line the bank of the river, saved from
catastrophe by a rise in elevation. Even the larger homes are water
stained and covered with fungal growths, although delicate, intricate
carvings can be seen underneath.
How it Develops
If the vagabonds never came to the clearing, Gelilah’s Grove would turn to ashes.
Mirrim is confident in the sweet offer from the Marquisate she’s dangling in front of
the goats, but they view the Marquisate as an even more annoying and constricting
version of the Eyrie, when they’ve done just fine on their own up until now. First
the foxes ruined everything by causing the flood, and now those pesky varmints
are cozying up to the Marquisate! Ultimately, the goats would rather burn down
the clearing than let someone else have what they’ve built, so once they believe the
foxes are entirely committed to submitting to the Marquisate and the only way out
is destruction, they would destroy all their hornwine equipment with a massive fire,
damaging already waterlogged homes and hurting ill denizens in the process.
How it Develops
If the vagabonds never arrived in the Grove, Kellsie and his fox acolytes would most
likely end up in a major clash with the goats and their friends. Once blood was
spilled, the fighting would spread to the rest of the clearing. Dru is not a fighter,
but any threat to Alpine would cause them to run headfirst into danger, and they’d
become an early casualty. Kellsie would likely get out without much harm, but
several of his followers would end up on the wrong end of the goats’ horns. Once
the conflict cooled and bodies were counted, several foxes would be banished from
the Grove by Danna, and the arrow-making business would never recover from the
loss of some of its youngest artisans. The Grove’s overall economic situation would
deteriorate, and its inhabitants would be pressed to leave or take desperate measures.
How it Develops
If the vagabonds never arrived in the Grove, Elixen gets impatient and begins to
attack Bethan’s character, which is too much for proud granny Ceridwen. Ceridwen
rounds up all the Morgans and advances on the Urswicks, who gather at Elixen’s
shack. Things escalate when Ceridwen can’t find Bethan (who has left for Purewater,
see Gone Baby Gone), and accuses the Urswicks of goat napping. Sheriff Danna
Blazeoak gets wind of the trouble and shows up in time to be the first casualty. The
remaining Grove Guard quickly disperses and flees. With no authority around, the
goats’ conflict would spill out into the rest of the clearing. Ultimately the goat families
would injure and wound each other enough to undermine their power in the clearing,
leaving the few survivors unable to ultimately carry on the hornwine business, and
that much more likely to just burn down the whole clearing when pressed.
How it Develops
If the vagabonds never arrived in the Grove, the search for the missing goatlings and foxes
rises in intensity as more go missing, until one day the entire cohort of Bethan’s peers and
followers leaves in the night. Soon the Grove discovers where they went, but also discover
that they can’t persuade the young denizens to return. Eventually, Purewater’s new
residents wind up bringing the bear down upon their nascent home, and the bear’s attack
destroys what they’ve built and scatters them. Some of them are scared badly enough
to return to Gelialh’s Grove, but Bethan and her true believers won’t be deterred. They
wander farther afield, farther and farther away, never to be heard from again.
Purewater
When you consume purewater (or food made with purewater) for the first
time in a day, clear an additional 1-exhaustion or injury, your choice.
Water taken from this pool loses this effect over time—it’s only really
valuable to those directly in Purewater.
Hornwine Liquor
The potent liquor is a transparent black with an herbal scent, and the goats
suggest serving it in cups made from cast off horns. Ingesting a horn of the
liquor has quite the effect.
Hornwine
For PCs:
When you indulge in hornwine, roll with Might. On a 7-9, choose up to 2,
and on a 10+, choose up to 3. For each one you choose, clear exhaustion.
· You
· You
reveal something you shouldn’t to someone around you
· You make
insult someone you shouldn’t
·
You yourself sick (mark injury)
damage a piece of equipment in reveling (mark wear on one item)
On a miss, mark injury—it’s too potent for you.
For NPCs:
When an NPC drinks hornwine, inflict morale harm on them—it lowers
their walls and stubbornness.
· Dru Gale approaches the PCs and makes the case that the Marquisate is only
delivering the food and medicine to lure the clearing away from the Eyrie.
Dru is willing to turn over much of the coin remaining in the Eyrie's stores if
·
the vagabonds can quietly rid the Grove of Mirrim and her forces.
Lenk would like assistance in finding his missing daughter Phyre, and is
willing to commit what little coin he has to hiring the vagabonds to find her.
·
He thinks maybe she followed some goats out of the clearing to the east...
A fight breaks out in front of Alpine’s between Kellsie's followers and a few
goats, but the Grove Guard don’t step in—yet. Danna would love some help
rounding up the brawlers, or either side would welcome an extra fist or two.
More than one of these things can happen—pull the PCs in multiple directions
and let them decide what’s most interesting to them. Complicate the situation
so there are no simple solutions or enemies, and keep the PCs involved in the
clearing’s issues by engaging them with the NPCs connected to each conflict.
As things continue, make an escalation—a move designed to intensify the situation
and draw the PCs in further. Escalations can provide new opportunities, create
new dangers, or close down outlets for escape. If things get too quiet or slow, or the
vagabonds aren’t sure what to do, make an escalation. Here are some examples:
· Phyre comes back to the Grove—a bear was spotted around Purewater and
she got scared. Her father is thrilled she’s okay, but also demands to know
·
where she was, and Phyre does a very poor job of hiding the new clearing.
Mirrim brings in a new shipment of food, medicine, and equipment, but
demands Drusign a new Marquisate charter to put the clearing under the
·
Marquisate banner. Elixen and Ceridwen protest and join forces against Mirrim.
Kellsie’s followers take it upon themselves to break into Alpine’s and set fire to
·
the stores of hornwine in the basement, sending the whole place up in a blaze.
Morgan goats and Urswick goats get into a brawl in the goat hills. Danna has
to break it up before things get worse—she could use help, not least because
she lacks a good place to imprison the offenders after the fight.
You can use multiple of these escalations, as well—your goal is to bring the Grove
to a boiling point! Accusations over missing goatlings, hornwine money, and
who’s really in control of the Grove will start flying, and then it’s just a matter of
time before the fighting goes from hooves and fists to bows and swords.