Playbooks - The Root RPG Guide

🎪 What Is a Playbook?

A playbook is your vagabond's starting package: a role, a personality, and a set of moves in one sheet. In Root, your playbook isn't just your "class" - it also hands you the nature that refreshes you, the drives that push your story forward, the connections that tie you to the other vagabonds, and the background questions that place you in the Woodland's politics.

🛡️ PROTECTOR 🗡️ WARRIOR 🎭 TRICKSTER 🧭 WANDERER

Think of it like this: picking a playbook is like picking your role in a heist film or your position on a team. It opens some doors, closes others, and gives you tools nobody else at the table has. The core rulebook has nine playbooks, and each player normally takes a different one.

Here is the order you build a vagabond in:

flowchart TD A["Pick a playbook"] --> B["Choose your species"] B --> C["Set your stats"] C --> D["Nature: pick 1 of 2"] D --> E["Drives: pick 2 of 4"] E --> F["Background questions<br/>(mark prestige / notoriety)"] F --> G["Connections to other vagabonds"] G --> H["Moves, roguish feats<br/>and weapon skills"] H --> I["Spend starting Value on gear"]

⚔️ The Nine Core Playbooks

Each playbook is a different way to be a vagabond, with its own strengths and story focus. The sketches below cover each one's role and flavour; the exact moves, stat spreads and natures are on the playbook sheets themselves. The sample characters are invented for this guide.

🎒

The Adventurer

"Got a problem? I'll take the job."

Core Identity: A vagabond who takes on tasks for the folk of the clearings - rescues, deliveries, monsters in the cellar. The Adventurer is the classic hero-for-hire and a good, flexible first pick for anyone new to Root.

At the table: You go looking for work, and the work drags you into the factions' business. Great for players who like a clear goal each session.

🐭 Example: Bramble the Mouse
A farmhand who left home after one too many "small favours" turned into real adventures. Keeps a list of every job she's finished, and a longer one of jobs still owed to her.

🛡️

The Arbiter

"Stand behind me."

Core Identity: A strong fighter who puts that strength in the service of others - a protector, champion or sword for hire with a sense of what is right. Where others sneak or talk, the Arbiter steps in front of the danger.

At the table: You are the party's muscle and, often, its conscience. Great for players who want to stand up for the little folk caught between the factions.

🦡 Example: Hesk the Badger
A retired militia captain who still can't walk past a bully. Hires out as a guard to any clearing that can pay - and to several that can't.

🪶

The Harrier

"I'll be there before the news is."

Core Identity: A swift traveller and go-between who knows the routes of the Woodland - a courier, scout or runner who gets messages, goods and people where they need to go.

At the table: Travel, speed and contacts along the road are your strengths. Great for players who like being first on the scene and knowing everyone's business.

🐦 Example: Skip the Bluejay
Carries letters between clearings for whoever pays the fee, and reads every one of them. Knows which faction is about to move long before the rest of the Woodland does.

🌲

The Ranger

"The forest is my home."

Core Identity: A wilderness expert at home in the deep forest - tracker, hunter and guide. Think Aragorn in his Strider days: someone who knows the dangers off the path and how to live through them.

At the table: You shine when the party leaves the path, hunts someone down, or needs to survive out in the wilds. Great for players who want to be the expert on dangerous places.

🐺 Example: Ashby the Wolf
Grew up in the forest between clearings and trusts neither cats nor birds. Guides refugees along hidden trails while tracking the officer who burned her family's den.

⚔️

The Ronin

"I served once. Never again."

Core Identity: A wandering warrior cut loose from a former lord or cause, with real martial skill and a past that keeps catching up. Think Samurai Jack or a masterless swordsman from an old film.

At the table: You fight well and carry a story the GM can pull on. Great for players who want combat skill plus a personal reckoning.

🐈 Example: Marlo the Cat
Once a sword-captain in a Marquisate garrison far from this Woodland; walked away the night the garrison was ordered to burn a village. The Marquisate wants the deserter back, and Marlo wants to know who gave that order.

🎭

The Scoundrel

"Trouble? I am the trouble."

Core Identity: A troublemaker who thrives on chaos - sabotage, dirty tricks and plans that end with something on fire or falling down. Where the Thief wants things to go quietly, the Scoundrel is happy to make a scene.

At the table: You turn tense situations into messy, memorable ones. Great for players who enjoy mayhem and dealing with the fallout.

🦝 Example: Tansy the Raccoon
Has a grudge against every faction's supply lines and a talent for making carts tip over. Wanted posters in three clearings, each with a worse drawing than the last.

🗡️

The Thief

"What's yours is mine, eventually."

Core Identity: A professional who moves objects from their current owners to new ones. Think Danny Ocean or Garrett from Thief - someone who sees locks and guards as puzzles to solve.

At the table: Stealth, locks, pockets and getting away clean. Great for players who love planning a heist and pulling it off.

🐾 Example: Nettle the Opossum
Steals from corrupt officials of every faction and plays dead when caught - which works more often than it should. Sells what she takes and quietly funds a refugee kitchen.

🔧

The Tinker

"Hand me that. No, the other thing."

Core Identity: A crafter and fixer who builds, repairs and improves gear - and fixes situations along the way. Think MacGyver with a workshop on their back.

At the table: You keep the party's equipment in working order and solve problems with tools. Great for players who like making things and finding clever solutions.

🦫 Example: Cobb the Beaver
Built bridges for whoever was in charge until she saw what they were used for. Now travels the Woodland mending mills and wells, and keeps a notebook of designs no faction will ever see.

🦊

The Vagrant

"Trust me. Everyone else does."

Core Identity: A drifter who lives by wits and words - conning, stirring up crowds, and talking their way into places and out of trouble. Think Han Solo with the smuggling ship swapped for a walking stick.

At the table: You lead with your mouth. Great for players who enjoy talking their way through scenes and playing factions against each other.

🦊 Example: Juniper the Fox
Sold "lucky charms" in a dozen clearings until one of them seemed to actually work. Now everyone wants a piece of her - and she is happy to sell each of them a different story.

📚 From the expansions (not core)
The supplements add more playbooks. They are optional and not part of the core rulebook:
• Travelers & Outsiders (10): Champion, Chronicler, Envoy, Exile, Heretic, Pirate, Prince, Raconteur, Raider, Seeker.
• Ruins & Expeditions (6): Dealer, Gourmand, Hunter, Nomad, Orphan, Scourge.
If your group uses a supplement, ask the GM before picking one of these.

🎯 Choosing Your Playbook

Playbook	Role	Story Focus	Best For Players Who...
🎒 Adventurer	Hero for hire	Jobs & quests	Want a clear goal and a flexible start
🛡️ Arbiter	Protector / fighter	Defending the weak	Want to stand between the folk and danger
🪶 Harrier	Courier / scout	Travel & news	Like speed, routes and contacts
🌲 Ranger	Tracker / guide	Wilderness & survival	Want to be the expert on dangerous places
⚔️ Ronin	Wandering warrior	A past that won't stay buried	Want fighting skill and a personal story
🎭 Scoundrel	Troublemaker	Chaos & sabotage	Enjoy mayhem and its fallout
🗡️ Thief	Infiltrator / burglar	Heists & stealth	Like solving security puzzles
🔧 Tinker	Crafter / fixer	Building & repair	Want to make creative solutions
🦊 Vagrant	Talker / con artist	Crowds & schemes	Enjoy talking their way out of trouble

🎪 The "Movie Role" Test

Still unsure? Think about an ensemble film and which character you'd want to play:

Ocean's Eleven: Danny Ocean (Thief), Rusty (Vagrant), Livingston Dell (Tinker), Basher (Scoundrel)
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn (Ranger), Boromir (Arbiter), Sam (Adventurer)
Firefly: Malcolm (Ronin), Kaylee (Tinker), Jayne (Arbiter), Wash (Harrier)

🧬 Building a Vagabond, Step by Step

Playbook: pick one of the nine; each player usually takes a different playbook.
Species: choose your animal - fox, mouse, rabbit, badger, otter, owl, raccoon and more. Species shapes how the world sees you; it doesn't change your numbers.
Stats: your playbook gives you a starting spread across Charm, Cunning, Finesse, Luck and Might. Add +1 to one stat; no stat can start above +2, so starting stats run from −1 to +2.
Nature: pick one of your playbook's two natures. Acting on your nature clears your exhaustion, so choose the one you'll enjoy playing up.
Drives: pick two of your playbook's four drives. Drives are what your vagabond is chasing, and they are how you advance (see below).
Background: answer your playbook's background questions about your past. The last questions ask which factions you have helped or hurt, and you mark prestige or notoriety with those factions.
Connections: fill in your playbook's connections with the other players' vagabonds, so your stories start tied together.
Moves: choose your playbook moves from the six on your sheet - usually three.
Roguish feats and weapon skills: record the feats and weapon skills your playbook starts you with.
Gear: spend your starting Value on equipment; whatever is left over becomes coin.

🔗 Connections: Your Web of Relationships

One of Root's best features is the connection. You don't build your vagabond alone - each connection on your sheet links you to another player's vagabond and gives the two of you a shared history.

A connection in this style (written for this guide):
"_______ and I once tried to defend a clearing together... and we failed."

This isn't just backstory. It tells the table why these two vagabonds travel together and gives the GM a ready-made hook.

Good connections answer questions like:

How did your characters meet?
What shared history do you have?
What do you owe each other?
Which faction do you both have a problem with?

📈 Advancement: Drives, Not XP

Root has no experience points. You advance by pursuing your drives. Each time you fulfil one of your two drives during play, you take an advance - but each drive can earn an advance only once per session, so you get at most two advances a session.

flowchart TD A["Play toward a drive"] --> B{"Drive fulfilled?"} B -- "No" --> A B -- "Yes" --> C{"Already advanced from<br/>this drive this session?"} C -- "Yes" --> A C -- "No" --> D["Take one advance"] D --> A

An advance lets you pick one improvement, such as:

+1 to a stat
A new move from your own playbook (up to five in total)
A move from another playbook (up to two)
A new roguish feat (up to six known)
A new weapon skill (up to seven known)
An extra box on a harm track (each track can grow to six boxes)

At the end of a session you may also change your nature, one of your drives, or one of your connections, to show how your vagabond has grown.

🧩 Try It at the Table: Build Your Vagabond

Character creation checklist

Pick your playbook: which of the nine calls to you, and why?
Choose your animal: what woodland creature fits your personality?
Select your nature: which of your two natures will you enjoy acting on?
Choose your drives: which two goals will you chase?
Answer your background: which factions have you helped or crossed?
Plan your connections: how do you know the other vagabonds?

🦊 Example Build: Juniper the Fox Vagrant
Playbook: Vagrant, whose Charm already starts at the +2 maximum, so her creation bump goes to Luck to keep her charms selling
Nature and drives: picked from the Vagrant sheet to push her into crowds and keep her from settling down with any one faction
Background: sold fake charms across the Woodland; her answers give her notoriety with the Marquisate and a little prestige with the Woodland Alliance
Connection idea: "The Tinker made my 'lucky charms' look real - and now we both owe a lot of angry customers."
Gear: a walking stick, a bag of cheap trinkets, and whatever coin is left

🌟 What Makes Root Playbooks Special

Mechanics and Story Together

In many RPGs your class just hands you abilities. In Root, your nature, drives and connections are part of the sheet, so your personality is also how you recover and how you grow.

Flexible but Focused

Each playbook gives you a clear role, but plenty of room inside it. Two Arbiters can be completely different - one a guard who sells her sword, another a wandering defender who never takes payment.

Advancement Comes From Your Story

Because advances come from fulfilling drives, the way to grow is to chase what your vagabond wants. The more you lean into your character, the faster you improve.

🗺️ Next Up: Equipment & Survival

Now that you know the nine playbooks and how to build a vagabond, the next part of this guide, Equipment & Survival, covers gear, Value, wear, load and the harm tracks that keep your vagabond alive on the road.