clay-borg/specs/GroundRules.md
tegwick e3d0df6690 T08: give provisional defaults an owner, a date, and a visible age
Five scenarios encoded U-item defaults with no owner and no review date,
so they could shape the kernel indefinitely while looking handled.

Each now carries provisional_owner and provisional_raised, and the
runtime's ScenarioFile learned both fields (deny_unknown_fields meant
adding them to YAML alone would have failed every scenario -- the parser
had to agree).

make coverage reports every provisional item with its owner and age in
days, warns on any with no owner, and warns past 30 days. It WARNS
rather than breaking the build, on purpose: the ruling is ground-game's
to make and the kernel cannot make it for them. What the loop can
enforce is that evidence files list them, which is now stated in
GroundRules.

rule-coverage --self-test gained an assertion that every provisional
item has both fields, so the next one added without them fails a
command rather than passing quietly.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-31 09:29:40 +02:00

266 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
Raw Blame History

This file contains ambiguous Unicode characters

This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.

# GROUND Rules — simulation specification
Status: **v0.1 draft**, derived 2026-07-31 from the authoritative sister
repo `ground-game`, edition dataset **GROUND-DARVO-CORE-0.1**
(`editions/ground-darvo-r0/`: Rules_Text, Actions, DARVO, Relations,
Problems, Solutions, Scenarios, Modes, Tokens, Player_Mats, Glossary).
This is a derivation, not a design: where the dataset is silent, the gap
is listed in §Underdetermined with a PROVISIONAL simulation default and
must be flagged back to ground-game, never silently canonized.
Every rule is numbered and individually testable; scenario files cover
rules via their `covers:` list (M-D1-COV). Names in `CAPS` are dataset
terms.
---
## 1. Objects and state (GR-O)
- **GR-O01** A game has 26 players, exactly 5 rounds, one Scenario card,
and one Mode card.
- **GR-O02** Per-player state: Stress (integer 05), Freedom token
(READY/SPENT), DARVO marker (OFF/DENY/ATTACK/REVERSE), Focus/Blame token
(with owner and location), 2 relation slots, a hand of Solution cards,
a set of 5 Action cards, claimed Problems, and 0+ Protection tokens.
- **GR-O03** Table state: Surface Problem (face up), hidden Problems (face
down), Denied tokens on Problems, Solution deck and discard, Lead marker
(one player), Round marker (15), relation tiles (Bond/Rivalry side)
between player pairs.
- **GR-O04** A Problem has: required Solution suit (Clarify, Repair,
Boundary, or Change), point value, visibility (face up / face down),
Denied flag, and claimed-by (a player or nobody).
- **GR-O05** A relation between two players is exactly one of Bond or
Rivalry; at most one relation may exist between the same two players.
## 2. Setup (GR-S)
- **GR-S01** Setup uses the chosen Scenario's Surface Problem face up and
its hidden Problems face down, filtered by player count: priorities 12
for 2 players, 13 for 34 players, 14 for 56 players.
- **GR-S02** Each player starts with: Stress 2, Freedom READY, DARVO
marker OFF, Focus/Blame token (Focus side, unplaced), two free relation
slots, and two dealt Solution cards.
- **GR-S03** The Lead marker starts with a (seeded-)random player; the
Round marker starts at 1.
- **GR-S04** The Solution deck is the 24 core Solution cards (6 per suit)
minus those dealt, shuffled deterministically from the game seed.
## 3. Round structure (GR-R)
- **GR-R01** Each round has four steps in order: Select, Reveal, Resolve,
End.
- **GR-R02 (Select)** Every player simultaneously chooses exactly one of
their five Actions face down, with target designation where the Action
requires one. Choices are hidden from other players until Reveal
(commit/reveal).
- **GR-R03 (Select, stress gate)** A player at Stress 4 or 5 may select
only ATTACK or GROUND, unless they spend their READY Freedom token
during Select (before Reveal), which permits any one Action and turns
the token to SPENT.
- **GR-R04 (Reveal)** All selected Actions are revealed simultaneously.
- **GR-R05 (Reveal, GROUND mode)** A player who revealed GROUND chooses
its mode (GR / OU / ND) and its target *after* seeing all revealed
Actions, before resolution begins.
- **GR-R06 (Resolve)** Resolution proceeds in fixed step order:
1 GROUND, 2 Support, 3 active DARVO stages, 4 Investigate, 5 Attack,
6 Solve.
- **GR-R07 (Resolve, ties)** Within the same step, resolve starting with
the Lead player, continuing clockwise.
- **GR-R08 (End)** At End: clamp all Stress to 05; any player at Stress 5
whose DARVO marker is OFF sets it to DENY (their sequence begins next
round); rotate Lead clockwise; advance the Round marker.
- **GR-R09** After Round 5's End step, the game ends and scoring applies
(GR-E).
## 4. Stress and Freedom (GR-F)
- **GR-F01** Stress is always an integer clamped to 05.
- **GR-F02** At Stress 03 all five Actions are selectable.
- **GR-F03** A Freedom token is READY or SPENT; spending is only possible
when READY, and only during Select (GR-R03).
- **GR-F04** GROUND—GR readies its player's Freedom token. Support
received through an existing Bond readies the target's Freedom token.
## 5. Actions (GR-A)
- **GR-A01 (INVESTIGATE)** Reveal one chosen hidden, non-Denied Problem,
then draw one Solution. If no hidden non-Denied Problems remain, draw
one Solution only.
- **GR-A02 (SOLVE)** Targeting one face-up, non-Denied Problem: when Solve
resolves, discard one Solution matching the Problem's required suit and
claim the Problem. If the Problem was already claimed by an earlier
resolver this round (Lead order), the Solution is not discarded and
nothing happens.
- **GR-A03 (SUPPORT, no relation)** Target gets 1 Stress; a Bond may then
form per GR-L02.
- **GR-A04 (SUPPORT, existing Bond)** Target gets 2 Stress, target's
Freedom becomes READY, and if the target is in an active DARVO sequence
its current stage is cancelled and the whole sequence ends (marker to
OFF).
- **GR-A05 (SUPPORT, existing Rivalry)** Target gets 1 Stress; the target
chooses: flip the relation to Bond, or break it.
- **GR-A06 (ATTACK, no relation)** Target gets +1 Stress; a Rivalry forms
automatically if both players have a free slot (GR-L03).
- **GR-A07 (ATTACK, existing Bond)** Target gets +2 Stress and the Bond
flips to Rivalry.
- **GR-A08 (ATTACK, existing Rivalry)** Target gets +2 Stress and the
relation breaks (both link tokens return).
- **GR-A09 (ATTACK, cancellation)** Protection or GROUND—OU may cancel an
Attack. A cancelled Attack changes neither Stress nor relations.
- **GR-A10 (GROUND—GR, Ground & Restate)** Self: 2 Stress and Freedom
becomes READY. If the player is in an active DARVO sequence, the current
stage still resolves this round, then the remaining sequence ends.
- **GR-A11 (GROUND—OU, Observe & Uphold)** Choose one: restore one Denied
Problem (face up, remove Denied token); cancel one Attack targeting the
player this round; or protect one face-up Problem from Deny this round.
- **GR-A12 (GROUND—ND, Name & Decide)** Choose one: remove one Blame token
from the player; break one relation involving the player; or reject one
Reverse targeting the player this round.
- **GR-A13** SUPPORT and ATTACK target one *other* player; INVESTIGATE
targets a hidden Problem; SOLVE targets a face-up non-Denied Problem.
## 6. Relations (GR-L)
- **GR-L01** Each player has exactly 2 relation slots; each relation
consumes one slot from each endpoint. If either endpoint lacks a free
slot, the immediate Support/Attack effect still applies but no relation
forms.
- **GR-L02 (Bond formation)** A no-relation Support creates a Bond only if
both players have a free slot **and the target accepts**.
- **GR-L03 (Rivalry formation)** A no-relation Attack creates a Rivalry
automatically (no consent) if both players have a free slot.
- **GR-L04 (Flip/break)** Bond→Rivalry on Attack-through-Bond (GR-A07);
Rivalry→Bond or break by target's choice on Support-through-Rivalry
(GR-A05); break on Attack-through-Rivalry (GR-A08); GROUND—ND may break
any relation involving its player (GR-A12).
- **GR-L05** A Bond formed this round by a Support does not itself cancel
DARVO; only Support through a Bond that existed before this round's
Support step regulates DARVO (GR-A04).
## 7. DARVO sequence (GR-D)
- **GR-D01 (Trigger)** At End, a player at Stress 5 with marker OFF sets
the marker to DENY; their DENY stage resolves in the next round's DARVO
step (GR-R08).
- **GR-D02 (Binding)** Once triggered, the sequence advances one stage per
consecutive round — DENY, then ATTACK, then REVERSE — regardless of the
player's later Stress, unless ended early (GR-D06/GR-A04/GR-A10).
- **GR-D03 (DENY)** Mandatory effect in the DARVO step: choose one
face-up, unsolved Problem not protected by GROUND—OU this round; turn it
face down and place a Denied token. A Denied Problem cannot be solved or
revealed by ordinary Investigate; only GROUND—OU restores it.
- **GR-D04 (ATTACK stage)** Mandatory effect: make one extra Attack
against any other player, resolved with the normal relation rules
(GR-A06..A09), in addition to the player's chosen Action. Then place the
player's Focus token beside the target — even if the extra Attack was
cancelled. The Focus target is remembered as the REVERSE target.
- **GR-D05 (REVERSE)** Mandatory effect targeting the Focus holder: unless
rejected by that player's GROUND—ND this round, flip Focus to Blame in
front of them, give them +1 Stress, and gain one Protection token. Then
(rejected or not — see §Underdetermined U5) the sequence owner reduces
own Stress by 2 and the sequence ends (marker OFF).
- **GR-D06 (Early end)** The sequence ends immediately when: an existing
Bond's Support cancels the current stage (GR-A04), or GROUND—GR ends it
after the current stage resolves (GR-A10). If it ends before REVERSE,
the placed Focus token is removed.
- **GR-D07** A player whose marker is not OFF cannot trigger a new
sequence (GR-R08); after the sequence ends, the marker is OFF and
re-triggering is possible at a later End.
## 8. Problems and solving (GR-P)
- **GR-P01** Only face-up, non-Denied Problems can be targeted by SOLVE or
claimed.
- **GR-P02** Hidden (face-down, non-Denied) Problems can only be revealed
by INVESTIGATE (GR-A01); Denied Problems only by GROUND—OU (GR-A11).
- **GR-P03** A claimed Problem belongs to its claimant and counts its
printed value for scoring; a Problem can be claimed at most once.
- **GR-P04** Competing SOLVEs on the same Problem in the same round
resolve in Lead order (GR-R07); losers keep their Solution (GR-A02).
## 9. Protection, Focus and Blame (GR-T)
- **GR-T01** A Protection token cancels the next Attack against its
holder (including a DARVO extra Attack), then returns to the supply.
- **GR-T02** A Blame token in front of a player is worth 1 to that
player's personal score and stays until removed by GROUND—ND.
- **GR-T03** Each player has exactly one Focus/Blame token; it is either
unplaced (Focus, with owner), placed Focus-side (during own DARVO), or
flipped to Blame in front of the REVERSE target.
## 10. Game end and scoring (GR-E)
- **GR-E01** After Round 5, sum the printed values of all claimed
Problems; the Scenario's threshold (by player count: 2p → 5, 34p → 7,
56p → 9 in dataset 0.1) decides group success where the Mode uses it.
- **GR-E02 (SHARED GROUND, co-op)** One shared score; group succeeds iff
total ≥ threshold. Mastery rating = successes minus 1 per Blame token in
play and 1 per Denied Problem.
- **GR-E03 (COMMON PROBLEM, PERSONAL EDGE, semi-co-op)** Group must meet
the threshold; if it does, each player scores claimed value 1 per Blame
they hold; highest wins. Tiebreak: lower Stress, then more Bonds, then
shared victory.
- **GR-E04 (BONDED COALITIONS)** Group must meet the threshold; each
connected Bond network is a coalition (unbonded players are solo);
coalition score = sum of members' personal scores; highest coalition
wins. Rivalries do not connect. Tiebreak: lower combined Stress, then
fewer Blame tokens, then shared victory.
---
## Underdetermined in dataset 0.1 — PROVISIONAL defaults (flag to ground-game)
**Owner: ground-game. Raised: 2026-07-31.** Every U-item carries an owner
and a raise date so its age is visible; `make coverage` reports both and
warns past 30 days. CI **warns rather than breaks** — the ruling belongs
to ground-game and the kernel cannot make it for them — but every evidence
file that depends on one must list it (CB-WP-0003 T08).
A ruling flips the *scenario*, not the kernel: the default is encoded in a
scenario tagged `provisional: true`, so a correction is a data change.
Formalization exposed points the dataset does not decide. Simulation uses
the stated default; each is tagged in scenarios that depend on it and must
be confirmed or corrected by ground-game.
- **U1 Bond acceptance timing (GR-L02):** when does the target "accept"?
Default: a decision point during the Support resolution, target decides
with full knowledge of revealed Actions.
- **U2 Stress clamping during resolution (GR-F01):** dataset caps Stress
at End; mats physically cap at 05. Default: clamp on every
application (no intermediate values above 5/below 0). Note this
interacts with DARVO triggering (a mid-round spike to 5 that is reduced
again before End does not trigger).
- **U3 DENY with no legal target (GR-D03):** if no face-up unsolved
unprotected Problem exists, default: the stage resolves as a no-op and
the sequence still advances.
- **U4 Solution deck exhaustion (GR-A01):** default: reshuffle the discard
into a new deck deterministically; if both are empty, the draw is
skipped.
- **U5 Rejected REVERSE — self-effects (GR-D05):** the Actions sheet says
GROUND—ND "rejects one Reverse"; the DARVO sheet orders the 2
self-Stress after the flip/+1/Protection block. Default: rejection
cancels the effects on the target (no Blame, no +1) **and** the
Protection gain, but the sequence owner still takes 2 Stress and the
sequence still ends; the Focus token returns unflipped.
- **U6 Simultaneous Bond-Support and stage cancellation (GR-A04, GR-R06):**
Support (step 2) resolves before DARVO stages (step 3), so a Bond
Support in the same round cancels that round's stage before it fires.
Stated as the intended reading; confirm.
- **U7 Focus target elimination:** dataset has no player elimination, so
no rule needed; confirm none exists.
- **U8 Multiple Attack cancellation sources (GR-A09):** if both Protection
and GROUND—OU could cancel the same Attack, default: GROUND—OU (chosen
at step 1) applies first; Protection is consumed only if it actually
cancels.
- **U9 Two players at Stress 5 at the same End (GR-R08):** both trigger;
their stages resolve in Lead order in later rounds. No interaction rule
needed; confirm.
- **U10 Hand limits:** none stated. Default: no hand limit.
## Scenario coverage obligation
Every GR-rule above must be covered by ≥1 scenario under
`scenarios/ground/` (M-D1-COV); every U-item's default must be covered by
a scenario tagged `provisional: true` so a ground-game correction flips
the scenario, not the kernel.