22 Free RPG Day BookletFree RPG Day Booklet

Root: The Roleplaying Game is based on Leder Games’s

award-winning Root: A Game of Woodland Might and

Right board game about conflict and power, featuring

struggles between cats, birds, mice, and more.

In Root: The RPG, you all play vagabonds, denizens of

the Woodland who have been cast out of “civilized” society,

whether by their own volition or by exile. You venture

throughout the Woodland fulfilling jobs, having adventures,

and tipping the scales in the conflict between the factions.

This game focuses on fun adventurous action and escapades,

on the meaningful, lasting backdrop of the Woodland and

its war. You’ll get into big fights and stage cunning heists,

and you’ll earn reputation with different Woodland factions,

perhaps even helping them to take control over clearings.

The Woodland

The Woodland is defined by the dense forests from which it

takes its name. They obstruct travel and construction, and

even after years of habitation, the Woodland denizens are

largely confined to “clearings”, mostly-treeless areas amid a

sea of timber. The denizens cut paths between the clearings,

facilitating travel and trade, but those are far from real roads.

Striding out into the forests between paths and clearings

is a foolish, dangerous endeavor. The forests play home to

bandits and outlaws, to bears and deer, to harsh conditions

and dangerous terrain.

There are many species of Woodland denizen, but the

dominant species include foxes, mice, rabbits, and birds.

Clearings are populated mostly by one of the ground-

across the Woodland.

Until relatively recently, the Woodland was held in the talons

of the Eyrie Dynasties. Then the Dynasties tore themselves

apart in a civil war, ultimately destroying what control they

had over the clearings of the Woodland. In the new vacuum

of power, many clearings were left in disarray, while others

began to govern themselves…

When the Marquise de Cat took notice, she led her soldiers in

from a far-off empire, along with their knowledge of industry

and engineering. She took control, by force, by enticement, by

whatever means necessary. And soon most of the Woodland

clearings were under her sway.

Now, the Eyrie Dynasties have finally managed to regroup

and muster their forces. They are pushing to take their

ancestral domain, while the Marquisate stands strong

against them. And all the while, the other denizens of the

Woodland are beginning to stir in new, defiant ways, forming

a Woodland Alliance to try to rebel against the other powers

and take back the Woodland…

The Vagabonds

There have always been vagabonds in the Woodland. Exiles,

outcasts, strangers, oddities. Idealists, rebels, criminals,

freethinkers. Those who don’t fit into the clearings and the

paths. Those who would prefer to live in the spaces between.

Most of the time, the life of a vagabond is focused on survival.

They take what jobs they can when they visit clearings—

often the least desirable or most difficult jobs around—to

get enough food and supplies to survive. Some even resort to

other denizens are more bandits or robbers than vagabonds.

But along with those harsh realities, the vagabond gets

something else: freedom. The social structures of clearings

rarely have any hold on the vagabonds. The rulers and

politicians may threaten the vagabonds into compliance

using force of arms, but even then, vagabonds have been

hardened and sharpened by their lives. They carry great skill

in combat, and some are more than a match for even squads

of soldiers or guards.

The Players

In the full game of Root: The RPG, each player creates a

character, their own vagabond, using a playbook. A playbook is

a kind of vagabond archetype, a set of abilities, character traits,

and story elements all designed to help you make the coolest

character possible. In this booklet, there are six prefilled

playbooks to get you playing quickly—just choose the one you

like best and start the game!

The Gamemaster

One player in your game of Root: The RPG (likely the first

one to read this booklet) will take on the role of Gamemaster

(GM), with the responsibility to represent the world of the

Woodland. The GM will portray all of the other denizens

who fill up the story. The GM isn’t playing against the other

players; their job is to portray the Woodland and make it an

interesting, dramatic place of consequence and change.

Root: An OverviewRoot: An Overview

Root: The Roleplaying GameRoot: The Roleplaying Game 33

The Factions
The Woodland plays home to many denizens and powerful

groups, all vying for control of its resources. These powerful

groups are called “factions”, and they extend over the width

and breadth of the Woodland.

Talon Hill, the premade clearing in this booklet, predominantly

involves internecine squabbles within one faction—the Eyrie

Dynasties—with two other factions, the Riverfolk Company

and the Lizard Cult, playing additional roles. In the Woodland

at large, the Eyrie and the Marquisate are at war with each other

for control over the Woodland, and the internal conflict in Talon

Hill has the potential to change the course of that war.

There is one more “faction” of note within the Woodland—

the Woodland denizens themselves. This faction is broken

up and disunified—fox-dominant clearings don’t necessarily

agree with mouse-dominant clearings. But the opinions of the

regular denizens will affect the vagabonds wherever they go.

In all cases, no faction is “good” or “evil”. All factions do right

and wrong. All factions help the denizens sometimes, and

hurt others. All factions have members who have empathy and

honor and care about those around them, and members who

are in this fight purely for their own selfish benefit.

The Eyrie Dynasties

The history of the Eyrie Dynasties stretches deep into the Woodland’s past. They claim that they

have always ruled the Woodland, and always shall. True, their reign was characterized by infighting,

by regime change (often at the edge of a blade), by bird dominance and oppression of the other

Woodland denizens...but they also protected the clearings from bandits and the wild. They built

and maintained the paths between clearings. They enforced law and order, and they made the

Woodland what it is today.

Everything came crashing down in a recent civil war, one of the more vicious conflicts to ever
face the Eyrie. The Dynasties nearly tore themselves to pieces back then. Now, a newly resurgent

Eyrie is caught in a new war with the Marquisate to retake the Woodland clearings—their rightful

domain. And with an enemy outside of itself for once, the Eyrie is ready to wage total war. After all,

the denizens of the Woodland need its protection.

The Lizard Cult

The Lizard Cult originated in a distant land, and its missionaries, priests, and soldiers spread out across

the world, sometimes acting as with kindness and succor, sometimes acting as invaders and conquerors,

but always spreading the message of the Great Dragon. The Cult’s core hierarchy and structure is far, far

away from the Woodland, and those missionaries who have made it to the Woodland have adopted all

those different tactics and more to share their ideology with the denizens. They even go so far as to alter

elements of Cult orthodoxy to match the Woodlanders’ belief and better bring them in to the Cult.

Despite its name, the Lizard Cult isn’t actually composed only of lizards. Especially in its Woodland

incarnation, the Cult has found supporters across all the different Woodland species as it caters to the

downtrodden of the clearings. But the Cult, like nearly any faction, is not one simple thing, and for all

that there are plenty who have been helped and uplifted by the Cult’s kindness, there are some who fear

or even hate the Cult as a result of crimes perpetrated by those claiming to act in the Cult’s name.

The Riverfolk Company

The Riverfolk Company is a mercantile federation consisting of trading captains—a name inherited

from the Company’s fleet of boats, but now used to refer to any Company trade leader, whether they

operate on a boat or not. The Company gives a fair amount of autonomy to each captain to pursuse

their own profit, but they all tithe some portion of their proceeds to the larger organization, and they

can all call upon the organization’s aid and resources when necessary. With this alliance of traders—

backed up by a strong mercenary arm—the Company positions itself as the predominant economic

power wherever it goes. As the Company pushes farther and farther into the Woodland, it strives to

become the sole source of crucial trade for countless clearings, even as it pushes itself into the conflicts

between factions, always trying to find a path to profit.

44 Free RPG Day BookletFree RPG Day Booklet

The full game of Root: The RPG will include all the rules

you need to create your characters from scratch. For this

you can jump into play faster! Here’s what you need to know:

Playbooks

Each pregenerated character is tied to a playbook, an

archetype that comes with a set of abilities, skills, questions,

and dramatic issues. For this booklet, there are six characters

and playbooks available:

• Fineas the Champion: Fineas is trying to be a noble,

grand, heroic figure. He served in the army of Theodora

Kingfisher, but seeks a different path than that of open war.

• Saga the Chronicler: Saga is a scholar and the secrets of

Augustine Castle call to them...especially as they believe

Gaius Kingfisher is abusing historical precedent for power.

• Shariyen the Envoy: Shariyen is an experienced and well

traveled diplomat, now in Talon Hill to try to resolve the

crisis there, both out of compassion and out of ambition.

• Jeurgin the Heretic: Jeurgin preaches the covenant of the

Great Tree, even as it earns him enmity and mistrust. He

hopes to gain allies and converts amid Talon Hill’s crisis.

• Dona the Seeker: Dona is an explorer, driven by curiosity.

She wants to explore the ruins of Augustine Castle, but she

also won’t stand for cruelty toward innocent denizens.

• Aurélien the Exile: Aurélien was a grand knight of the

Eyrie, before they were betrayed by both foes and friends.

Now, they seek justice and vengeance.

You’re going to be adding more details about the Woodland

and the different denizens as you flesh out your characters

during play. That’s well and good. Use everything in the

pregenerated characters as a starting point, but feel free to

Name, Species & Look

Every vagabond has a name—and often, an epithet, a working

name for them to conduct crimes under. If you want an

epithet for your vagabond, fill one in!

Then, every denizen has a species—what kind of denizen you

are. Are you a fox? A rabbit? A bird?

Species has no mechanical effect—anyone can be a vagabond.

But socially, your species will influence how some denizens

deal with you. If you’re a bird, you may be hated still further

by other birds who see you as an outcast...or you might be

embraced by the birds of the Eyrie, who try to woo you to

their side. If you’re a wolf, then you may be looked at with

suspicion—most denizens probably haven’t seen a wolf before.

Finally, the vagabond’s details. Each pregenerated character

has a short description at the top right of the playbook and in

the character background—feel free to elaborate!

Stats

Each vagabond has five stats: Charm, Cunning, Finesse,

Luck, and Might. Throughout the game, you’ll be rolling

two six-sided dice and adding these stats to determine the

results of moves. So, the higher the stat, the more likely

things will go in your favor for the associated moves.

Charm measures how socially adept you are, how capable you

are of bending other people to your will using words and ideas.

Cunning measures how sharp-minded you are, how capable

you are of noticing important details in people and places,

and how capable you are of tricking others.

Finesse measures how deft and dexterous you are, how

with your hands.

Luck measures how...well...lucky you are, how capable you

are of putting your fate into the hands of pure chance and

coming out on top.

Might measures how strong and tough you are, how capable

you are of overpowering opponents or succeeding in tasks

that require brute force.

Each playbook comes with a predetermined set of stats.

Normally, you get to add +1 to the stat of your choice, so long

as you don’t raise any stat beyond +2. This +1 has already

been added in for all the pregenerated characters.

Over the course of the game, you might unlock advancements

that will further improve your stats, but the absolute

maximum you may have in one stat is +2 without a special

move, and +3 with a special move.

Background, Drives & Nature

Next up, you have your background, drives, and nature.

The background for every pregenerated character has already

been filled in, but feel free to elaborate on what is provided or

make small alterations that fit your style of play.

The characters’ drives have also been chosen. These two

drives describe how you can advance—fulfill the condition of

the drive and you can advance immediately. But you can only

advance once per session per drive! If you want to see what

you can do when you advance, check out page 14 for some

basics and page 31 for specific options.

Finally, the characters’ natures have already been chosen.

Your nature refers to your deeper personality type. It’s a way

your nature, you can clear your entire exhaustion track (see

more about that on page 12). You can fulfill the condition

of your nature any number of times, as long as you take the

necessary action.