BoardGameArchiveRoot Scoring & Victory
How to win at 30 VP, score cardboard and crafted items, understand four faction scoring engines and play Dominance cards.
How to win at 30 VP, score cardboard and crafted items, understand four faction scoring engines and play Dominance cards.
Root scoring has one shared point system but several asymmetric faction engines. Most players race to 30 victory points; some can instead pursue a Dominance objective. This guide distinguishes what always gives VP from what is unique to the Cats, Eyrie, Woodland Alliance and Vagabond.
How does scoring work in Root?
The first player to reach 30 victory points wins immediately unless that player previously activated a Dominance card. Root does not play an equal number of final turns or score a separate endgame tally. Victory points are earned throughout play.
All factions can earn victory points from removing enemy buildings and tokens (normally 1 VP per piece) and crafting items (the VP printed on the item card). The four base factions also have different primary scoring mechanisms. A Dominance card offers a different win condition starting at 10 VP.
One important exception: a player who activates a Dominance card cannot score further VP. They must instead satisfy the rule condition at the start of their Birdsong. See the official Law of Root, chapter 3.
Root scoring: what gives victory points?
| Event | VP result | Important exception |
|---|---|---|
| Remove an enemy building | 1 VP per building | Even if removed by an effect other than battle |
| Remove an enemy token | 1 VP per token | Wood, sympathy and other tokens count when removed as enemy pieces |
| Remove an enemy warrior | 0 universal VP | Some faction-specific abilities, such as Vagabond Infamy, can score |
| Craft an item card | Card’s printed VP | Must craft legally; item must be available in supply |
| Marquise de Cat builds | Building-track VP | Must meet the building and wood requirements |
| Eyrie Dynasties Evening | VP revealed on Roost track | Turmoil can deduct VP |
| Woodland Alliance sympathy | VP revealed on Sympathy track | Spend supporters and follow placement restrictions |
| Vagabond actions | Quest, Explore, Aid, Infamy and other relevant effects | Check the Vagabond’s item and relationship rules |
Do not count removing warriors as ordinary cardboard VP. Also, removing an enemy building or token is different from taking control of a clearing: control alone does not score a point.
Worked example: scoring enemy buildings and tokens
Imagine a player battles another faction in a clearing and, after applying the allowed hits and relevant defenses, removes two defending warriors, one building and one token. The universal rule awards 2 VP in total: one for the building and one for the token. The two warriors give no additional universal points.
If that token is a Woodland Alliance sympathy token, its removal also triggers Outrage, so the removing player must provide a matching-suit card or use the no-card fallback. The victory point does not cancel the Outrage obligation.
This is a simple illustration of the general rule; faction abilities and controlled hirelings can change the outcome. For example, hirelings do not give their controlling player the normal VP for pieces they remove.
How each base faction scores in Root
Marquise de Cat — build and expand an economy
The Marquise scores the VP shown on the building track whenever it successfully constructs a sawmill, workshop or recruiter. It must also manage wood production, card use and the ability to rule appropriate building sites. Cat scoring is therefore strongly linked to placing buildings and keeping the production network functioning.
Eyrie Dynasties — retain roosts and complete the Decree
During Evening, the Eyrie scores the points shown on the rightmost empty space of the Roosts track. More roosts on the map generally means more points each Evening. But an impossible Decree causes Turmoil, which deducts one VP per bird card in the Decree, including Loyal Viziers. Avoid treating roost income as guaranteed.
Woodland Alliance — spread sympathy
Spreading a sympathy token earns the VP printed on the newly uncovered Sympathy-track space. The Alliance uses Supporters to spread sympathy in Birdsong and may use Organize during Evening to convert a warrior into a sympathy token in an unsympathetic clearing. Sympathy is a token, so it does not count toward ruling a clearing; removing it triggers Outrage for the opponent.
Vagabond — quests, aid, exploring and hostility
The Vagabond can gain points by exploring ruins (when taking an item), scoring quests, improving relationships through Aid, and removing warriors from Hostile factions under the Infamy rule, as well as universal item crafting and eligible cardboard removal. The Vagabond is a pawn, not a warrior, and follows its own relationship mechanics.
These are the four base-game factions. Expansion factions, such as the Riverfolk Company or Lizard Cult, use their own scoring engines. Always consult that faction’s chapter of the official Law of Root.
How to win with a Dominance card in Root
During your Daylight, once you have at least 10 VP, you may activate a Dominance card from your hand. Place it in your play area and remove your VP marker from the score track. From then on, you cannot score VP or win by reaching 30.
| Dominance suit | Condition checked at start of your Birdsong |
|---|---|
| Mouse | Rule three mouse clearings |
| Rabbit | Rule three rabbit clearings |
| Fox | Rule three fox clearings |
| Bird | Rule two clearings in opposite corners of the map |
To rule a clearing, you must have strictly more total warriors and buildings there than any other single player, unless a faction-specific rule changes rule. Tokens and pawns do not count. An equal count means nobody rules it. Merely occupying the required clearings during someone else’s turn is not enough: the Dominance condition is checked at the start of your own Birdsong.
After activation, a Dominance card cannot be replaced or removed. A discarded Dominance card is instead placed near the map as an available card; players can take available Dominance cards during Daylight by spending a matching card. This does not activate it automatically.
Vagabond Dominance and coalition rules
The Vagabond cannot win by ruling the required Dominance clearings. Instead, in a game of four or more players, the Vagabond can activate a Dominance card to form a coalition with the eligible non-Vagabond player who has the fewest VP (choosing among players tied for fewest). The Vagabond moves their score marker onto that player’s faction board and no longer scores VP.
If the coalition partner later wins, the Vagabond wins with them. Under the current Law, the Vagabond cannot initially form a coalition with a player who has already activated Dominance, but the partner may activate Dominance after the coalition has formed. The coalition partner’s consent is not required.
Do not apply these coalition exceptions to standard Dominance activation by another faction. Consult Law of Root 9.2.8 for the precise eligibility and faction relationship details.
When does Root end, and how are ties broken?
Under the standard 30-point win condition, the game ends as soon as a player reaches 30 VP, even if they gain those points in the middle of a battle or from a card effect. Players do not finish the round or complete all remaining faction actions.
Rare effects can cause more than one player to reach 30 VP at the same time. Under the current Law of Root, the winner is the tied player closest in clockwise order to the player currently taking their turn, with that current player included. A higher number above 30 does not override that special simultaneous-victory rule.
A Dominance win is different: if you satisfy the activated card’s requirement at the beginning of Birdsong, you win immediately, without comparing VP totals.
Common scoring mistakes in Root
- Counting defeated warriors: no general VP for removing warriors; check specific faction abilities.
- Counting unremoved cardboard: merely damaging a structure or ruling a clearing is not the same as removing a building or token.
- Waiting until the end of the round: ordinary victory is immediate at 30 VP.
- Confusing crafting with card effects: item VP are awarded for legally crafting items, not just for playing an unrelated persistent effect.
- Paying for a Dominance card then assuming it is active: taking it into hand and activating it are separate things.
- Checking Dominance after Daylight: the rule checks at the start of your next Birdsong, not at the end of your activation turn.
- Counting sympathy toward rule: sympathy is a token and does not add warriors or buildings.
- Using 30-point scoring after activating Dominance: the activated player cannot earn further VP.
- Forgetting Eyrie Turmoil deductions: an unfulfilled Decree can reduce the Eyrie’s score.
Root scoring and victory FAQ
Do you win Root instantly at 30 VP?
Yes. Unless you have activated Dominance, the first player to reach 30 victory points wins immediately. Do not complete the rest of the current round.
Do you score points for killing warriors?
Not under the universal scoring rule. Removing a building or token gives one VP each. Certain factions have additional scoring abilities, including the Vagabond’s Infamy.
Does removing a sympathy token score a VP?
Generally yes: it is an enemy token, so its removal awards one universal VP. It also triggers the Alliance’s Outrage rule for the removing player. Read our sympathy and Outrage guide.
Can I earn victory points by crafting?
Yes, when you legally craft an item card and take the item from the supply. Score the points printed on that card. Crafting-piece costs and timing depend on faction.
How does the Woodland Alliance score?
By spreading sympathy tokens and collecting the VP shown on the uncovered Sympathy-track spaces, plus general scoring and applicable effects.
How does the Eyrie Dynasties score points?
They score the visible Roost-track amount each Evening. Turmoil can remove VP when the Decree cannot be completed.
What does a Dominance card do?
It permanently replaces the usual 30-point victory with a map-rule objective, after activation at 10 or more VP during Daylight.
Do sympathy tokens count toward Dominance rule?
No. Clearing rule is based on warriors and buildings, not tokens or pawns, except where faction-specific rule text overrides it.
Does Bird Dominance require any two corner clearings?
No. They must be two opposite corner clearings.
Can the Vagabond activate Dominance?
In games with four or more players, the Vagabond can use it to form a coalition instead of a normal control-based Dominance victory.
Can a player keep earning VP after activating Dominance?
No. Their VP marker is removed from the track, and they can no longer score victory points.
What if two players reach 30 at the same time?
The current Law gives victory to whichever tied player is closest clockwise to the player whose turn it is, including that player.
Root normally ends immediately when a player reaches 30 Victory Points. Every faction has its own scoring engine, while all factions can also score by removing enemy cardboard and crafting items.
Current-law guide. Originally reviewed September 2026. Expanded November 1, 2026 against Leder Games’ current digital Law of Root.
First to 30 VP wins immediately
There is no equal-turn final round. As soon as a player reaches 30 VP, they win unless they have activated a Dominance card instead.
If multiple players reach 30 simultaneously, the current Law gives the win to the tied player closest in clockwise order to the current player, including the current player.
Universal scoring: remove cardboard
Whenever you remove an enemy building or token, score 1 VP. Removing warriors does not award this universal cardboard point.
Universal scoring: craft items
When you craft an item, score the VP printed on the card and take the item if available. Persistent cards without item VP follow their own effect text.
Base factions have unique scoring engines
- Marquise de Cat: primarily scores by constructing buildings, plus universal VP sources.
- Eyrie Dynasties: scores from the roost track during Evening, plus universal sources.
- Woodland Alliance: scores as Sympathy spreads, plus universal sources and faction effects.
- Vagabond: scores through Aid, quests, hostile combat and other Vagabond rules, plus crafting.
Dominance replaces the VP race
During Daylight, a player with at least 10 VP can activate a Dominance card. Remove the score marker from the VP track; that player can no longer win by reaching 30.
- Fox/Rabbit/Mouse Dominance: win if you rule three clearings of the matching suit at the start of your Birdsong.
- Bird Dominance: win if you rule two clearings in opposite corners at the start of your Birdsong.
Vagabond coalition rules create an additional special use of Dominance cards; follow the current Law for that faction-specific case.
Official sources and editorial scope
Reviewed November 1, 2026 against the official Leder Games Law of Root, especially chapter 3 (Victory), 2.5 (Rule), 6 (Marquise de Cat), 7 (Eyrie Dynasties), 8 (Woodland Alliance), and 9 (Vagabond). The article covers the four base-game factions and the current digital Law of Root; expansion factions and printing-dependent exceptions should be checked in the official reference.
The original September 2026 article is preserved below with additional original examples and comparison tables added for clarity. This is editorial teaching material, not copied card text, probability estimates or a claim of firsthand playtesting. Editorial policy and corrections.