Root: The Tabletop RPG

[LavenderT]

Several decades ago, the Woodland was ruled by The Eyrie Empire, a feudal system comprised entirely of birds. Rather suddenly, the Empire fractured when the different types of birds began arguing over what infrastructures needed to be prioritized. Each group had a different name, but most historians just call them collectively The Eyrie Dynasties. It wasn't long before the Dynasties began fighting each other viciously. The entire Woodland was gripped by a civil war.

In the midst of the war, Marquise de Cat I came to the Woodland. The Woodland was rich with resources, but also rich with strife. She certainly couldn't allow a civil war to destroy the Woodland, so she called in the soldiers under her command. Their orders were to return peace to the Woodland - at any cost. The Marquise's soldiers were successful in their mission, and in the process, they utterly stamped out The Eyrie Dynasties. Civilian birds were spared, but any bird that carried a banner was cut down or imprisoned. Sensing that the Woodland was in a precarious place, the Marquise elected to establish a Keep, but she also maintained distance from the Woodland.

The Woodland has been able to replenish itself. Only the truly ancient citizens remember the war, and few of them speak of it. There has been peace in the Woodland for so long that no one cares much to linger on the old days. This time of peace with almost no governing body has made the Woodland and its people vulnerable to ambition. From the mountains to the west, emissaries from The Grand Underground Duchy arrived and settled in Mosshorn. A clever and resourceful merchant's guild cobbled together and formed The Riverfolk Company. Marquise de Cat IV continues to hold territory in the Woodland and has slowly gathered more. The Woodland Alliance formed, swearing to banish outside pressures from the Woodland - though they hadn't done much more than talk.

The peace was rocked at the beginning of spring last year. Suddenly soldiers from the Grand Underground Duchy burst from the ground in Lakerest and took control. A mere week later, the Woodland Alliance erupted into action. With backup from a new renegade settlement they had slowly been forming, they violently threw out the Marquise's forces from Newlight. A month later, a bomb exploded and destroyed the Riverfolk Company's stronghold in Shadowspell. No one has come forward to claim responsibility, but there are whispers in the wind about the last shreds of the Dynasty.

The Woodland is changing. Suddenly, dastardly skills are a commodity where they once were pushed to the fringes of civilization. With the right choices, enterprising individuals may be able to sway the Woodland in favor of their ideals. There's money to be made, change to be enacted, settlements to protect - or extort if one were so inclined.

Spoiler: Map of the Woodland

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Spoiler: Characters

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What I need from you:

• The playbook(s) you are interested in
• The first three Background questions
• The two Drives you would like to start with
• Your Nature
• The animal you would like to be (nothing much larger than wolves please)
• Elevator pitch character concept

Multiple concepts are fine, just hit the bullet points for each playbook you are interested in. More character creation/setup will happen in an OOC thread later.

I don't have enough posts to put a link to the resources oops. I should be able to send messages to people who need it though! The playbooks are available on the publisher's website, Magpie Games, for free (Products > Root scroll until the purple banner)

[mucat]

Since LavenderT can't yet post links, here's a link to the publisher's game resources:

https://magpiegames.com/pages/root-rpg

Most of the links on that page are for physical downloads; scroll to the bottom for downloadable resources (including the playbooks you use to make characters.)

Edit to add character ideas:
Depending on which concept would fit the general nature of the party, I am thinking of putting together either a diplomatic peacemaker of a serpent (using the Adventurer playbook; she is genuinely wise and well-intentioned, but tends to overestimate herself on both fronts, and thinks everyone would be far better off if sensible people -- she and those she likes -- were in charge) or a not-entirely-sane magpie inventor (using the Tinker playbook; he may not have even noticed the chaos the woods have fallen into, but once it is pointed out to him, he'll be certain it's an easy problem to fix!)

[Triskavanski]

I'll look into some of this.

[Lee J. Cook]

I'm happy to take a shot at answering the last three questions based on the imaginative woodland setting you described:

The two Drives I would start with are:
1) To uncover hidden truths and restore justice to the woodland
2) To protect the innocent civilians caught in the middle of the growing conflicts

My Nature would be: Idealist - I have a strong moral compass and desire to fight for what's right.

The animal I would like to be is a red fox - known for being clever, quick, and having a strong sense of hearing to uncover secrets.

My elevator pitch character concept is:
A former Dynasties scout turned vigilante who uses wit and speed to obtain information on the various factions manipulating the woodland, in order to expose corruption and help restore balance.

Let me know if you need any clarification or additional detail on my imagined character!

[Red_Stain23]

Fairly interested, I need to read the books but is kinda like powered by apocalypse so I get the base idea

[JNAProductions]

Thinking of being a Badger Arbiter. A strongly moral lady, the kind who will heedlessly throw herself into danger if it means helping others.

[igordragonian]

For this I would try to get to this site.

I'll look into the playbooks

thinking of harriee or a raconteur

[truemane]

I love Root! I've run it a couple of times but never had a chance to play it.

Pitches!

Spoiler: Waitapu ("Wai") the Ronin

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Playbook: Ronin
Species: Frilled Lizard

Nature: Survivor

Drives: Principles, Wanderlust

Where do you now call home?
-Somewhere far from here (possibly even my next life).

Why are you a vagabond?
-I am hunted by old foes. I will never be free until I am freed from the chains of my past.

What happened to your last master?
-Assassination. And, seeing as how he was my father as well as my master, there are those who would like to do the same to me.

Elevator Pitch
Waitapu is from a land very, very far away. If you were to follow a delegation of the Maquis of Cat all the way back to their homeland, cross that vast territory and enter the wilderness on the far side, you would still be a long, long way from the humid jungles of Waitapu's birth. When asked why he left, sometimes he says he had to, sometimes that he wanted to, and sometimes that he was driven out. If called on these contradictions, he says that the past is more about where the storyteller is now than where they were then (his neck frills perhaps rippling in disquiet).

Waitapu is a wanderer, a philosopher, an experientialist and an ascetic. Driven by the powerful and mysterious pulse of his Code of Honour, he will happily throw himself into the most dangerous and chaotic situation, confident he can talk or fight his way out.

Spoiler: Rax the Scoundrel

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Playbook: Scoundrel
Species: Ferret (maybe, I'm still considering options)

Nature: Arsonist

Drives: Thrills, Infamy

Where do you call home?
-[Clearing controlled by the Eyrie Dynasties]

Why are you a vagabond?
-I am mistrusted by other denizens. And the feeling is mostly mutual, believe me.

Whom have you left behind?
-My family. I don't hate them or anything, but they're content to serve the Big Bad Birds, and that life is not for me.

Elevator Pitch
Rax had it all: loving family, stable home life, good prospects (his family hold hereditary positions in an ancient, powerful roost). But he just couldn't get along. Couldn't keep his yap shut. Couldn't keep still. Couldn't kowtow or bend knee or smile and nod or Yessir-Nossir. He spent all his time with the down and outs, learning things that horrified his genteel family.

It only took a few "mishaps" before he was driven out and disowned and he's been on his own ever since. He took up with the Vagabonds because they can offer him the chance to do what he loves to do the most: whatever the heck he wants.

Hope this suits! Happy to answer any questions.

[igordragonian]

Spoiler: Deepwood The Harrier

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Playbook; Harrier

Species: Bat.

Nature Dutiful.

Drives Infamy, Wanderlust

Where do you call home?
Shadowspell.

Why are you a vagabond:
I feel a deep wanderlust. I am tired of seeing the same denizens and the same political shengians.
I feel big unrest inside- Maybe somewhere else, maybe in the forest, I can break and find color in the monotony of life.

Whom have you left behind
My family.
Big and loud bunch. They arent bad, I just... need to breath and my own space.
Maybe they are a bit overbaring if anything.


Elevator Pitch
Deepwood was a loner bat, who didnt did great at social situations inculding with his own vast family.
Holidays were a torture for him.
They own an orchard and even baked goods with their fruifs and crafted jam and what not...
Deepwood was sensitive to noise and tried to be alone- he was accused of selfishness and laziness- it pushed him to become more openly rude and grumpy.

He has rolled his eyes so often, that his eyes did almost got stuck.
But he was quick to dodge social obligations, that it became a talent. The Riverfolks even sent him to do errands here and there.
The explosion in Shadowspell has almost killed him, and that has pushed him to decide- he cant die without seeing anything beside his own clearing and overbaring family- so he has escaped to see the world, and to gain respects by doing jobs.