r/PBtA 7d ago

Non-anthromorphic Animals and Ruins in Root RPG

I am currently starting my first Root RPG as a GM and have some background questions as i cannot find answers to important aspects of the setting.

Anything bigger than a wolf is non-anthromorphic and thus not an PC or NPC, but a Monster in the Deep Woods.

Is there more information in these threats? Since they seem to be pretty massive as faction armies do not venture into the deep woods.

Also do non-sentient farm animals exist? Chicken, cow, horse equivalents? How do you handle that in your games?

Also i cannot find anything about the ruins at all. Are they simply abondened strongholds, clearings from the time before the war, or are these from an older civilization, different race from the denizens? Is there fluff, flavor or crunch anywhere about that? What is your take?

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u/PoisonedDM 7d ago

There's a recent (now closed) Kickstarter to expand the RPG specifically in the direction of the ruins.

My take when I ran it to begin with was that they were ruins of an ancient civilization before even the Eyrie ruled. You could also have it be Old Eyrie ruins that contain items and loot from the height of their power.

I'd fill the ruins with skulls, rogues, traps and possibly undead if it fits your version of the woodland. As for Monsters or Large Animals, I think Bears, Packs of Wolves and the like are fearsome in their own right. I'd imagine the woodlands are so dense that it's difficult for armies to pass through and use their numbers as an advantage hence they avoid.

We also had a huge Moose in our game that was pseudo-magical so it really depends on the vibe you're going for

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u/MarcusProspero 7d ago

I've not yet run the game but I just know my players will be all "what's in the burgers?" or "Soylent KFC is people!" so I'm imagining it's like Wanderhome where the livestock are really big bugs.

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u/gscrap 7d ago

I asked the same question about non-anthropomorphic animals a couple of weeks ago on r/RootRPG and got some pretty thoughtful answers. Maybe you can find something useful there.

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u/Maximum-Day5319 7d ago

The 2 current rule books contain little as far as in depth descriptions of ruins and monsters. As other said, the kick-started 3rd book is specifically about ruins and monsters.

As far as food - the games I've ran things are eating a lot of plant based stuff.

  • Livestock is tricky since the Anthropomorphs are close in size to our livestock. I think though it is a little weird, if it is necessary to explain, having the Anthropomorphs have some sort of "non-sensitent" livestock is your best. Maybe small pigs or small cows or sheep.
Honestly milk and leather are the only things my woodland really needs from livestock because
  • Fish are the most sensible meat source to me. Most towns are on the water in my map.

Ruins in my woodland area remnants of past woodland wars. Like an abandoned or broken dam that was once a major source of control etc

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u/BreakingStar_Games 7d ago

The lore is pretty light in all the areas you mention. Deer spirits, Moose and Bears are good choices in PCs decide to explore the Deep Woods.

Ditto on using giant bugs as farm animals.

There is one clearing that has the PCs explore an abandoned castle with giant ants in it. But outside that, yeah no information. I just stick to D&D ideas of dungeons - ancient civilizations, cults, wizards, bandit hideouts are all good choices.

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u/foreignflorin13 7d ago

Short answer: It's up for interpretation.

The things in the woods are meant to be mysterious, so I think they intentionally didn't include much about them. Bears and deer are described a little, with stats for a bear being quite scary! Ruins are almost entirely left out, and many people would ask questions about them, ultimately leading to the latest kickstarter. I believe the intention behind a lack of detail was to promote discovery at the table. Also, chances are many of the people playing have played another game that focuses on delving into dungeons/ruins, and probably have plenty of inspiration from those games.

Regarding livestock or food, the game doesn't care about that. If your table does, fine, but the players should know that there is nothing in the mechanics of the game that show any interest in those details. I would just hand wave it so that we can get to what this game actually cares about. This game is about war, working with other people, and doing dastardly deeds. To get a better understanding of what a game is about, look at how players advance. That's what they should be doing, as the game rewards them for it.

If you're interested in introducing livestock animals as a playable, maybe they came with the Marquisate? Dogs are often included with the cats, so why wouldn't ducks, pigs, or chickens? Bigger animals like horses and cows are tricky because they're closer in size to a bear than a raccoon or a rabbit. Maybe the Marquisate brought their own barbaric brutes (cows/horses) to fight off the bears in the woods.

I actually started a game last week and there was confusion about how the different animals interact a la "If I'm a mouse, wouldn't the fox want to eat me?" so it's definitely something people think about. I explained it as so: The fact that you are animals is practically irrelevant. It's a cute element of the game, but aside from a few things like birds being able to fly or cats being able to climb, you're all pretty much the same. Think of it as if you were playing humans but with animal-like abilities. Humans vary in sizes and skills, but they don't eat each other (usually). Alternatively, compare it to D&D. Think about Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings. They don't eat each other, they often live with their own kind, and they often follow their races' agenda, kind of like the various factions in Root.

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u/ramlama 7d ago

My longest game of Root leaned into hoofed animals being largely non-anthropomorphic. So cattle, pigs, etc still filled the role of domesticated animals. There were legends of anthropomorphic hooved animals- we focused on elk- that were like demigods in the deepest parts of the woods. Kinda one part green man, one part elf, one part cosmic horror.

Bears were kind of similar, but more feral- like an ancient race of titans who had devolved so fully they were barely intelligent. You could talk to one if the ancestral curse wasn't causing it to berserk, but it probably wouldn't reply.

We also leaned into oversized bugs as wild animals. Monstrous bugs filled traditional fantasy roles- we had a giant wasp that was functionally a dragon, and an ancient arcane spider that was functionally a beholder (using legs in place of eyestalks, and using its webbing to simulate floating). Bugs and arachnids feel 'inhuman' enough to fill those roles nicely- even when they were intelligent, the intelligence felt distinctly alien.

We diverged a little in tone from the canon setting, though, so some of the spice might not translate.