Root: The RPG: Dice & Strategy Guide

Root: The RPG, published by Magpie Games, takes the world of the hit board game — a woodland where great factions battle for control — and hands it to the underdogs: the vagabonds who slip between the cracks. It is Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA), so if you have played Apocalypse World or Dungeon World the maths will feel instantly familiar.

The dice and the core mechanic

Root uses just two six-sided dice. Whenever you do something that triggers a move — a defined action like fighting, sneaking or persuading — you roll 2d6 and add the relevant stat. The stats describe a vagabond’s knack: how forceful, sly, graceful, charming or lucky they are. There is no target number to memorise; instead the total lands in one of three bands that shape the story.

Because you only ever roll two dice, results cluster around the middle — sweeping triumphs and disasters are rarer than the messy, complicated middle ground. That maths is deliberate: Root is a game of scrappy characters getting things done at a cost, not flawless heroes.

The three outcomes

Each move spells out exactly what a strong hit, mixed hit and miss look like, so the dice tell you not just whether you succeed but how. A high stat shifts your odds toward the 10+ band, but the middle result is always in play — and that is where most of the drama lives.

Playbooks and the woodland

Characters are built from playbooks — vagabond archetypes such as the thief, the ranger or the scoundrel — that bundle a distinctive set of moves, drives and gear. Your playbook shapes which moves you are especially good at and what your character wants out of the woodland. Over play you develop your vagabond, unlock new abilities, and shift your reputation with the great factions.

Those factions — the industrious cats, the noble birds, the scattered woodland alliance and others — are the backdrop and the pressure. Helping or hindering them changes how they treat you, and the wider war gives every scene stakes beyond your own survival. You are small players in a big conflict, and that framing colours every roll.

Effective strategy

• Trigger the move you want. In PbtA, what you say and do in the fiction decides which move fires. Describe your action so it lines up with the move that uses your strongest stat.
• Embrace the mixed hit. Sevens to nines are the game’s home ground. Treat the attached cost as story fuel rather than a punishment, and you will always be moving forward.
• Play to your playbook. Your archetype’s moves are where you shine. Lean into what your vagabond is built to do instead of forcing rolls you are weak at.
• Mind your reputation. Standing with the factions opens and closes doors. Weigh whose favour is worth courting before you act against them.
• Let misses drive the tale. A 6 or less isn’t a dead end — it hands the GM a chance to complicate things. Roll with the consequences; they make the woodland feel alive.

Beginner tips and common mistakes

• Don’t roll for everything. You only pick up the dice when a move is triggered. If the fiction doesn’t call for a move, things just happen — no roll needed.
• Add the stat, not a target. There’s no difficulty number to beat. Roll 2d6, add the stat, read the band.
• 7–9 is a success. New players read the mixed hit as a near-failure. It isn’t — you got what you wanted, just with a wrinkle.
• Fiction first. Say what your vagabond does before reaching for dice. The action determines the move, not the other way round.
• The factions matter. Ignoring the woodland politics leaves half the game on the table. Your reputation is a resource, so spend and guard it.

Want the wider family this game belongs to? Read our Powered by the Apocalypse dice & strategy guide, or roll 2d6 in Dice Drop.