Tron-inspired RPG Code Warriors converts players into computer programs
Digital daydreams.
A new tabletop roleplaying game inspired by Tron and Mad Max will see players becoming computer programs.
Code Warriors is an upcoming tabletop RPG that takes place in an entirely digital world based within a computer system. Once a place of order, where every program had a set purpose, The System has since broken down into chaos. With everything falling apart and The System at the risk of being deleted for good, the players step into the role of rebel programs determined to save their existence.
A tabletop roleplaying game inspired by the likes of the 1982 movie Tron – which stars Jeff Bridges as a programmer who is transported into a software world which is populated by personified programs – and the Mad Max series of films, that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world that’s collapsed into lawlessness, Code Warriors tasks players with telling stories of teamwork, survival, power and rejuvenation.
Players will be able to create their characters using a variety of different program types, with each one being tied to a purpose that is now obsolete. From the internet-searching Brows to the productive Procs and defensive Savs, each of the available programs found in Code Warriors was once tied to their own unique role but have now found themselves adrift in the sci-fi tabletop RPG. As these brave programs, the players will travel across the world of The System, using its digital terrain to evade the gradual collapse spreading across its network.
Code Warriors is built on the Roll Track System, which was nominated for several Ennie Awards – considered the most prestigious award a TRPG can receive. In Code Warriors, characters have four main traits – body, mind, charm and heart – that are used to determine their success in overcoming various challenges. Depending on what a player wants their character to do, they’ll have to roll a number of d8 dice equal to the appropriate trait rating. Players will need to roll a number between five and eight in order to succeed.
Whenever a player rolls for their character, they also gain a point in either skill, juice or overload. Skill points can be spent to advance a character, whilst juice can be used to gain advantages or as currency, with overload determining whether a character will be overpowered by bad energy and lost to the Collapse. Player characters can also gain access to new features, upgrades and gear – some of which is specific to their program type – as well as glitches they can use to subvert rules of The System.
Code Warriors was created by Craig Campbell, the designer behind horror roleplaying game Low Stakes – which was inspired by the movie and TV series, What We do in the Shadows – and Capers, an RPG set during the Roaring Twenties.
The Kickstarter campaign for Code Warriors is live until October 28th, with a pledge of $40 (£36) getting backers a physical copy of the book in April 2023. Alternatively, a digital copy is available for a pledge of $20 (£18).