250 Root: The Roleplaying Game Silverpelt A recently converted otter, Silverpelt joined the Lizard Cult in Sundew Bend after years of adventuring as a vagabond. Moved by Opal’s words to join the Cult, she quickly rose from seeker to acolyte, becoming the leader of the Claws of the Dragon within the year. She is eager to show that her faith is deeper than it might appear and is willing to take risks to prove to Opal and the others that they have not misplaced their faith in her. exhaustion injury wear morale Drive: To prove her commitment to the Great Wyrm Moves: • Outsmart an ambush or trap • End a conversation with a cold stare • Smash through a physical barrier Equipment: • High quality armor and sword • Oaken shield • Battle horn exhaustion injury wear morale Drive: To turn Sundew into the greatest of all gardens Moves: • Summon the guards for protection • Enrapture an audience with the spoken word • End a conversation with the declaration of a vision Equipment: • Thick woolen robes and a golden helmet • Pouch of Woodland’s Heart flower seeds • An exquisitely carved bone staff Opal Moonrider A particularly driven rabbit acolyte, Opal has spent their whole life following a vision they had as a child—terraced gardens amidst ashes that missionaries of the Cult explained as a gift from the Great Wyrm. They are a devout believer in the Cult and the importance of the garden. Convincing them to stray from that path would be a monumental task. As the Voice of Sundew Bend, Opal genuinely wants to help those that come willingly into the Cult’s embrace. They stay purposely ignorant of the means Hibiscus and Silverpelt use to solve problems, and they’ve decided to allow seekers to “sacrifice” seed and other grains (instead of the usual sacrifices) in the hopes that a swell of new cultists can help seize control of the clearing. After all, the Cult can always return to the more traditional ways later... Opal always speaks as if in a dreamlike state— their words spilling out with an unusually poetic meter. Most find their speeches a bit perplexing, wholly inspirational, and with a hint of an otherworldly presence.
Chapter 8: Clearings of the Woodland 251 Lizard Cult Guards While the Lizard Cult is not a heavily militarized religion, they are not without armed guards. Patrols of seekers—with the occasional acolyte—watch over the compound and the gardens, look out for trouble, and try to keep the cultists safe. They mostly follow orders from Silverpelt, but they are quick to come to the aid of any senior cultist in need of their assistance. Note: The average guard unit is five to ten seekers and uses the attached stats. Create individual guards as needed using the NPC creation rules on page 212 of the Root: The RPG core book; some of the individual guards might be acolytes—the Claws of the Dragon— with 3 harm boxes of each type, capable of inflicting 2-injury per attack. exhaustion injury wear morale Harm Inflicted: 2-injury Drive: To protect the Lizard Cult’s interests in Sundew Bend Equipment: • Common weapons and light armor
252 Root: The Roleplaying Game Important Locations Sundew Bend Trading Post The Sundew Bend Trading Post is made up of a tight group of buildings, a sturdy awning, and a large storefront. Tall wooden walls with a thick wooden gate at their center surround the entire area. The rear of the trading post backs to the river where a busy dock covered in wooden crates accepts cargo from across the Woodland. Workers stay in a large bunkhouse, and the upper level of the storefront has private living spaces for Edric Hoegl, Solfrid Pawsmore, and their families. There are always at least two guards patrolling inside the walls who swap out every ten hours. Sundew Lizard Cult Compound The main road from the trading post leads to an ornately carved wooden arch that welcomes the Woodland faithful into the compound. Protective walls spread out from the arch and surround the area. Lush green foliage lines the paths inside the walls as one of the many tangible tributes to the Great Wyrm. A score of barracks, many still empty, stand along the southern area of the compound. A large meeting and dining hall is located to the north with a bustling kitchen at the building’s rear. Three warehouses are clustered to the eastern edge of the compound and always under heavy guard. · Warehouse #1 contains dry goods to feed the compound. Spices, preserved meats, flour, and oil fill the building. Peeta Clawrunner, the Cult’s cook, and his kitchen staff have unrestricted access to this building. · Warehouse #2 contains specialty gardening supplies: bone meal, sealed containers of seeds, garden tools, coils of rope, and ladders of varying sizes. Cult members and denizens working in the gardens have access to the building during normal work hours. · Warehouse #3 contains the Claws’ armory, moderately valuable Cult documents and books, and a variety of overflow storage crates. Only Hibiscus Gray and the guards have unrestricted access to this warehouse. Warehouse #1 is the most vulnerable to attack. Peeta runs an informal school for children of both the Cult members and the local denizens nearby, teaching the ways of the Cult, basic reading, and basic counting skills. It is normal to see children running around throughout the compound during their breaks, and many workers come and go each day.
Chapter 8: Clearings of the Woodland 253 The Gardens The Cult’s compound opens to an already impressive set of gardens. Each massive garden terrace consists of three tiers—the lowest is filled with food crops, the middle with standard Lizard Cult flora, and the uppermost is reserved exclusively for the flower of Sundew Bend, Woodland’s Heart. Each level of the garden is connected by several wooden ladders. Narrow rope bridges at the uppermost section connect each terrace to the adjoining terrace. During the day, both cultists and local denizens work the existing terraces and construct new ones. The Denizen Camp A small group of ramshackle buildings stands at the western edge of the forest. Only the desperate would be willing to live so close to the boundary of safety that the clearing brings. The smell of wood smoke and damp straw hangs heavy in the air. The expected aroma of cooking food is noticeably absent and many of the denizens appear bedraggled and hungry. The structures here aren’t solid enough to keep out the driving rain let alone the danger that the forest presents. The rabbits are welcoming, if hesitant, around strangers, eager to hear news of other clearings. Many speak openly about seizing Sundew Bend, but the talk of violence makes the other refugees obviously nervous. It’s easy to find Tasha Eelpen wandering through the camp, attempting to sway people to her cause. Seed Vault The entrance to the tunnel is mostly buried under dirt and the base of a burned tree stump. A short climb down into the opening leads to a sharply angled downward sloping passage adorned with murals from skilled rabbit artisans. There are no lights or torches inside the structure. The vault itself contains barrels of flower seeds, notebooks of local plant lore, and a letter from the previous denizen council of Sundew Bend. Silverpelt and her acolytes, on high alert for trouble, guard the area. The vault’s entrance is surrounded by charred husks of trees, mounds of muddy earth, and a complete lack of living vegetation.
254 Root: The Roleplaying Game Special Rules Woodland’s Heart is a startlingly red flower whose pollen is a powerful and dangerous intoxicant; too much is lethal. Denizens under its effect lose their ability for subtlety, answer questions honestly, and are known to suffer from memory loss. When you ingest the pollen of Woodland’s Heart, roll with Might. On a hit, you must answer the next two significant questions asked of you truthfully. On a 7 - 9, you also pick 2: · you lose an important memory forever · you cannot lie at all for the rest of the scene · you won’t remember that you ingested the drug On a miss, answer one question honestly before the poison knocks you out. You’ll need to find an antidote before the pollen slowly kills you. When you give the pollen of Woodland’s Heart to an NPC, roll with Luck. On a hit, they answer two questions honestly before they pass out. On a 10+, they also won’t remember you gave them the pollen or you can keep them awake (and honest) for a scene, your choice. On a miss, the dose is sure to be fatal; find an antidote quickly or else! River’s Breath is a mirror version of the Heart—nightblooming pale lavender petals whose pollen is an antidote to the effects of the Woodland’s Heart. It can even save those dying from an overdose of the Heart’s pollen, if administered in time. When you ingest the pollen of River’s Breath, take a 12+ instead of rolling when you next ingest the pollen of Woodland’s Heart. When you give River’s Breath pollen to someone dying from Woodland’s Heart, roll with Cunning. On a hit, the antidote works and they’ll make a full recovery. On a 10+, they also recover all harm caused by the poison. For NPCs: On a miss, you’re too late—the poison has claimed them. It haunts you; you are unable to clear exhaustion until you honor their death. For PCs: On a miss, you save them, but they’ve lost a piece of who they were and must change one of their drives.
Chapter 8: Clearings of the Woodland 255 Introducing the Clearing Sundew Bend is a welcome stop in a relatively isolated part of the Woodlands to restock supplies for the vagabonds. With the tensions that have built in the clearing, newcomers are of great interest to all of the leaders in the area. Some natural options for introductions include: · Edric Hoegl. He invites them into the trading post and questions them to make sure that they’re not agents of the Cult. He tries to hire them to destroy the warehouses and offers free weapons and supplies as payment. If any of them are friendly with the Woodland Alliance, he might also be interested in hiring them as emissaries to his new allies. · Opal Moonrider. With a flourish of robes and grand pronouncements, Opal invites the vagabonds to dinner at the Cult’s dining hall. They also introduce the group to Hibiscus Gray at dinner. Hibiscus wants to make the best use of their talents and pays well for success. He is extremely interested in whatever skills the band has that can be put to use, especially with regard to freeing the captive group of drakes held by the Riverfolk Company. · Clem Glenn. Clem is desperately looking for help for his struggling community and invites them to share in what little food they have. He lets them know he has a meeting with both Opal and Edric to negotiate land for the denizens, but has little to offer the vagabonds in terms of payment for their help. If the PCs stop to talk with the inhabitants of the clearing, they receive a spectrum of opinions about what is happening. Cult members are mostly happy with their lives but may feel the Cult is overly demanding on their time. Others believe the conflict with the trading post distracts from the holy work of tending the gardens and may even consider Hibiscus’s economic maneuverings as blasphemous. Denizens from the camp have a clear understanding that their situation is unsustainable and something needs to change soon. If asked why they don’t just leave the clearing for somewhere easier, they speak about their history, ties to the land, the struggle of sacrificing their home only to have lost it anyway. The clearing is tied to their grief at what they lost and their sense of self. The Riverfolk at the trading post see the financial opportunities that the clearing brings. Some worry that Edric is pushing things too far and that the entire situation will explode, driving out the cult and making the trading post no longer viable. Many want to see Edric make some minor concessions to return things to profitability; others, like Solfrid, have grown suspicious of Edric’s other dealings…
256 Root: The Roleplaying Game With three distinct groups in the clearing, there is a lot of space for the PCs to support the NPC that interests them and their playstyle. 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: · Tasha Eelpen attempts to hire the vagabonds to strike at key locations in both the Cult’s compound and the Company trading post. She’s taken up a collection from the other denizens and can pay well to have the vagabonds smooth the path toward a clearing-wide massacre. · Solfrid Pawsmore announces the public execution of the group of Cultists who were caught sneaking in supplies to the clearing. Peeta Clawrunner comes to the PCs to beg for them to intervene. · Hibiscus Gray demands that the children attending Peeta Clawrunner’s school start working a shift in the gardens to help pay for their parents’ tithe and compensate the Cult for their education. Two guards are dragging Baby off towards the gardens while he yells for help. · An intense rainstorm moves in, flooding parts of the clearing at an alarming rate. The denizen’s camp is rapidly being washed away due to its poor construction and the heavy rains. Clem comes looking for help, but time is short! · Denizens start shouting that there is a fire at the trading post. The PCs catch sight of Silverpelt sneaking away as the screams of frightened children come from the main building’s living quarters. If players engage with the conflict Seeds of History (page 244), Emmy provides information about the seeds and their uses if rescued. While others in the camp have much of the same knowledge, Emmy is the camp’s leading expert. Of course, the Cult is in charge of the seed vault now, and trying to take the seeds leads to a whole new conflict... Use these escalations, singularly or in combination, to push Sundew Bend to the point where all sides are desperate enough that the situation exploding feels inevitable. At the heart of the central conflict is the question: should one group have power over the rest or can compromise between all three factions be found? Bring the problem to their doorstep, create dangerous and fraught situations, and keep applying pressure until the PCs have to make a choice and deal with the fallout from those decisions. Have fun!
Root® and Leder Games® logo and key art TM & © 2017 Leder Games. All Rights Reserved. Players 3-6 Time 2-4 hrs Rating Everyone New faces haunt the Woodland’s paths! As the War rages on, new factions take interest in the Woodland’s resources. The Riverfolk Company sends trade boats up and down the rivers; the Lizard Cult makes a new push for converts; the Grand Duchy digs tunnels to seize new territory; and the Corvid Conspiracy toils to claim ill-beggoten gains from the foolish. Who are these new factions? And what do they have in store for the Woodland? Travelers & Outsiders is a supplement for Root: The Roleplaying Game—the officially-licensed tabletop RPG based on the award-winning Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right board game by Leder Games—that expands the game to include the first four expansion factions! Here’s what you’ll find inside this book: · Ten new playbooks, expanding the types of vagabonds you can play to include pirates, raiders, scholars, heretics, raconteurs, and more. · Four new expansion factions—The Riverfolk Company, Lizard Cult, Grand Duchy, and Corvid Conspiracy—for you to add to any campaign. · Dozens of expanded moves and tags, including weapons skills, roguish feats, natures, drives, connections, equipment tags, and pre-made gear. · Robust faction turn mechanics that bring the setting to life as factions seize holdings, build structures, and plot mischief across the Woodland. · Two new clearings—Heartwood and Sundew Bend—that focus on adventures involving the new expansion factions and their conflicts. Root: The RPG is a fantasy adventure tabletop roleplaying game for three to six players of woodland creatures fighting for money, justice, and freedom from powers far greater than them. The Woodland calls!