systems/COMBAT_PROGRAM_ADDENDUM.md
CANON SUBORDINATION — this document is PROPOSAL-TIER: it serves canon and never outranks it.
The canon: the CVD · the T1 foundation docs · the T0 registries (registries/) · the spine
(docs/spine/CH_*.md) · the region pages (_source/02_Tier_2_Region_Pages/). Authority order:docs/DOC_MAP.md§ 0.
Canon served (scanned from this document's own citations — widen it by hand where it is thin):
CVD §12·CVD §13·T1_Ability_Tree·T1_Combat_System_Spec·T1_Integrity_Paths_Worldstates_Master· (+2 more tier) ·T0_Ability_Tree·T0_Ally_Behavior_Policy·T0_Flora·T0_RNG_Drop_Table· (+1 more t0)
READ THAT CANON FIRST — open it and derive from it before you build anything from this document.
If this document disagrees with canon, CANON WINS and this document is the defect — fix the
document, never the canon. Nothing here is applied until it is ratified into canon.
Status: PROPOSAL-TIER plan doc. **THE EXAMPLES-NOT-LIMITS RULE (Josh, 2026-07-26, session
close): everything Josh stated this session — bonus kinds, role axes, merge ideas, rune
tiers, spec purposes, ALL of it — are EXAMPLES, not exhaustive lists. Every ruled system here
gets PROPER EXPANSION by the loop (the same execution-within-vision doctrine as canon: expand
and enhance from the seeds, cited and critic-gated, never limited to the enumerated
instances).** Josh's six-question combat probe found real roadmap holes: the
systems below are canon-designed (or newly identified) but had NO named wave. This addendum
names them, homes them, and wires them into the factory. It invents no canon — every system
cites its authored source; the two genuinely new systems (5, 6) are presentation/runtime
frameworks over existing canon, flagged where a Josh ruling is wanted.
Today 4 of 185 abilities are live GAS bindings (the Ch-2 starter kit). The foundry is the named
pipeline stage that batch-builds each chapter's unlock set as the factory reaches it: canon row →
GAS binding via the cast-primitive system (CF-5) → the counter-class/element hooks → a per-ability
Tier-1 test + a capture station → Phase-5M magnitudes later. Per-chapter scope rides the unlock
prerequisites already in the registry (the diegetic-cause rule proven at R4.3). OWNER: a standing
P5-factory stage + a pre-5090 W9 tail for the Ch 2-5 unlock sets (~15-25 abilities).
[SRC: T0_Ability_Tree 185 rows; T1_Ability_Tree §9/§12; the R4.3 rebind precedent]
The 21 Layer-B element combos (Mud/Clay, Metal/Magma, Steam/Plasma, Storm/Mist…) and the
familiar-bonded EAM pairing are authored data with no runtime. Build: dual-pool cast validation
(the "high-high" cost class), the combo resolution through the element matrix (a combo's
attacker_axis inherits both parents — the recovered matrix's own B/T inheritance rule), EAM
activation gated on the bond state. OWNER: W9 tail / the factory's foundry stage.
Josh's ruling, verbatim intent: the RUNE system IS the custom-ability creator — rune TYPES with
rarity tiers, where "epic or legendary runes are more difficult to craft or find and allow you
to create custom abilities based on your mastered proficiencies and specialties." The addendum's
earlier "not in recovered canon" flag was the director's absence-claim error (T0_Rune_Registry
exists and was never searched — the positive-control rule violated; corrected on the record).
THE CANON SYSTEM (found + verified post-ruling — T0_Rune_Registry 19 rows + T1_Combat_System_Spec
L579 + docs/proposals/systems/combat-and-spellcraft.md §2.3): base casting of all 185 is RUNELESS
and mastery-channeled — never hotbar-slotted, never gear-inscribed; ONLY custom MERGED spells
involve the inscription step. The rune lane: OPERATOR runes across six families (shape:
wheel/wave/orb/field · delivery: charge-hold/sustained-channel · motion-lock: split/
direction-lock/orbit/hold-to-home · transform: extract/thermal/forge-shape · meta ·
element-combine), rarity-laddered COMMON(8)→RARE(3)→EPIC(5)→LEGENDARY(2) exactly per Josh's
ruling (the higher tiers harder to craft/find): the epic Spell-merge catalyst (RN_0017,
one-time, authors a custom spell from merge-arity 2 of the 185 at Adeptus mastery — the mastered-
proficiencies gate) and the legendary Fuse element-combine operator (RN_0016, dual-element
fusion, tied to the 72 Legendary weapons) + the legendary Magnetise-conduct lattice/EAM-class
operator; plus the enchantment slot/re-roll scheme (Engineering/Alchemy base + Inscription).
Mastery-tier gates on the rows; Trade-9 (Inscription) sourcing; magnitudes Phase-5M. The
"creation from what you have truly mastered" invariant is the registry's own design (tier gates +
the merge catalyst's Adeptus requirement). Canon-lane residue narrows to: verify the 19-row set's
coverage vs combat-and-spellcraft.md §2.3 + wire rng_drop_ref/acquisition rows as the drop table
populates. OWNER: the W9 tail (the operator runtime rides the ability foundry) + W10 (the forge/
inscription UI seam) + the factory (rune placement per chapter).
[RULED Josh 2026-07-26; the canon system FOUND + verified same session — the registry had it all]
[SRC: T1_Ability_Tree §12 the combo element matrix; eam_pair_eligibility column; ELEMENTS_MATRIX_RECOVERED §1 axis tags]
The per-element status table is authored twice over (canon + the recovered originals: Crush,
Burn, Saturate, Windburn, Impale, Slow, Abrasion, Scald, Asphyxia, Freeze, Shock/Paralyze,
Poison, Life-heal) and the Komodo septic-wound loop (FL-10) is designed — but there is no
generic status runtime. Build: a GAS effect family (DoT/HoT/impair/stagger classes), per-element
application rules off the ability rows, cure/counter hooks into the flora/trade lanes (the
herbalism cure loop), boss/creature immunities per roster row. Shapes now, magnitudes 5M.
OWNER: W9 tail (the framework) + W-LW3 (the cure loops).
[SRC: the recovered per-element Status tables; T0_Flora trade_uses; FL-10 in Vol2 §11.6]
Vril Healing / Revival / Mass Revival (Ether), the Life element's HoT chains, and the poison
trade chains (with the care-tagged real-agent names) are authored with no runtime lane. Build:
the healing verb family through GAS (cost per the five classes; the no-cheap-death rule —
revival costs scale per the spec), the poison application/cure loop through the status framework
[SRC: the recovered Ether roster; T1_Combat_System_Spec cost classes; the Poison/Life trade tables]
Josh's probe: moves should LOOK stronger, more potent, more fluid and natural as proficiency
climbs. No such system was specced. Design: each ability family carries per-mastery-TIER
presentation variants (animation refinement, VFX density/control, audio confidence, follow-through
polish) — the novice's rough cast vs the Magus's liquid one; weapon moveset fluidity scales the
same way via the per-weapon mastery track. Data seam NOW (pre-5090): a presentation_tier_ref
per ability family + weapon class on the extension rail, consumed as a variant-selection key;
the 5090 generation pass then produces TIERED variants per the DR-2 contract (the asset request
carries the tier), not single assets. Greybox interim: tier-scaled cast speed/recovery polish +
VFX scale as the readable stand-in. CARE: the ladder is presentation only — power scaling stays
in the existing mastery/damage model (no hidden stat double-dip). OWNER: a new named system in
W9/W10 (the seam + greybox) and P2 (the tiered generation); the factory inherits per chapter.
[NEW — Josh-probe-derived; power model untouched per T1_Combat_System_Spec]
Bosses changing the environment — throwing boulders, igniting ground, flooding pockets, raising
hazards, altering the arena per phase — exists only as per-boss prose (Naga Padoha's convulsing
caldera). Build it as a first-class data-driven ability class: arena_mutation attack rows in
the attack library (spawn-hazard / launch-debris / surface-change / persistent-zone), hazard
actors that BOTH sides interact with (the player can stand behind the boulder the boss threw —
or Tremor-Stomp it back), per-phase arena state carried in the encounter, and the W-SPACE
affordance list per arena doubling as the boss's mutation vocabulary (the environment the arena
offers is the environment the boss can weaponize — one authored list, two consumers). Presence
rules apply both ways (a boss creates the water its element needs — the original docs' presence
doctrine inverted as boss design). OWNER: W9 tail (the framework + one proof boss: Naga Padoha's
caldera convulsion as the flagship) + the factory per boss.
[SRC: BE phase_breakdown prose; the W-SPACE affordance ruling; the recovered presence-dependency doctrine]
healing/poison lanes · the presentation-ladder seam · arena-mutation + flagship proof.
presentation ladder's tiered variants per the DR-2 contract; per-boss arena-mutation rows."
RUNE system (§2b; the canon-lane registry reconciliation is now a named task); (2) the
Presentation Ladder is NODDED: "every spell and ability and movement needs to be beautiful
and fluid art" — the ladder is standing doctrine, and the 5090 asset passes generate TIERED
variants as a hard requirement, not an option.
Proficiency tiers are not presentation-only: each tier grants MECHANICAL bonuses, in two lanes,
with a standing balance principle — **lower-level abilities keep their place among higher-game
progression abilities** (a mastered early ability competes via its bonus ceiling; horizontal
relevance, never dead kit).
seed examples for Fireball — reduce cast time · decrease the target's elemental resistance ·
increase elemental superiority (the matrix edge amplified) · raw damage · crit chance.
the 120-gate canon — grant the TRANSFORMATIVE upgrades): Fireball → three fireballs instead
of one · AOE explosion on hit · cast while moving. Earth Tremor → brief stun · randomized
earthen-wall segments circling the player · brief mobility surge. Gate bonuses change what
the ability IS; proficiency bonuses sharpen what it does.
bonus_kind → shape; magnitudes Phase-5M); the foundry (§1) applies them at cast; the
presentation ladder (§5) renders the same tiers visually — one tier key, two consumers.
factory per chapter. [RULED: Josh 2026-07-26, examples verbatim-seeded]
Runes on gear pieces / weapons / equipment, in the Borderlands-4 / Diablo register: runes
IMPRINT special bonuses onto gear with RNG rolls — higher rarity drops roll better;
crafting is rarity- AND proficiency-gated; sources include **easter-egg drops and rarity-tiered
boss drops, with the strongest difficulty-gated**. Canon seeds already present: RN_0018
"Enchantment slot and re-roll scheme, source=BOTH (Engineering/Alchemy-crafted base item +
Inscription)" is this lane's registry anchor; rolls stay σ-bounded per the HL_0061 drop canon;
the empty T0_RNG_Drop_Table gains this as a primary consumer (imprint-roll tables per rarity).
Two rune lanes, distinct and both canon: §2b's OPERATOR runes author custom ABILITIES; §8's
IMPRINT runes enchant GEAR. The boss-drop tie-in rides the part-break/carve loop (a broken
part can carry an imprint rune at its rarity). OWNER: canon-lane (the imprint-roll schema +
drop-table population) + a post-slice runtime wave + the factory (per-boss drop rows).
[RULED: Josh 2026-07-26]
(RULED, Josh 2026-07-26 — the customization layer over §7's bonus system)
proficiency tiers, MAJOR picks on the quest-gate tiers — from each tier's bonus pool, "so
they can further optimize and customize their build setup." Selection is the agency layer
over §7's two lanes; the respec model is a schema-pass design detail (not invented here).
THIRD equipment-and-ability set with quick-change — performed diegetically "at a waterfall
or vril recharge zone" (the vril-site becomes the build sanctum — dovetailing the
recharge-well session-anchor entry in the gap register: the well is save, recharge, AND
loadout home).
vril-DAMAGE focus; resource specs (vril regeneration per second, healing over time);
PERSONAL vs AREA-OF-EFFECT scopes — so distinct specs emerge from the same ability set.
and per the integrity-driven loyalty canon (companions can leave over your integrity and
actions), a departing companion GIVES BACK the gear and investment — "so you don't lose
all that investment." Leaving costs you the companion, never the kit; the moral weight stays
on the relationship, not on a loot punishment.
(2/3, purchase-gated) keyed to vril-site interaction; companion loadout mirrors; the
return-on-departure rule in the companion contract. Magnitudes Phase-5M. OWNER: the
canon-lane schema pass (the residue batch) + the post-slice runtime + W10's book screens
(the build/loadout UI) + the factory. [RULED: Josh 2026-07-26, verbatim-seeded]
proficiency carries its own appropriate MINOR and MAJOR bonus pools (selectable per §9);
imprint runes carry pools too. **The FINAL mastery-gate questline completion grants up to
LEGENDARY and MYTHIC** — MYTHIC extends the rarity ladder above legendary as the apex RARITY
GRADE, reached only through the completed mastery questline (the earned summit, never a drop
table). [CORRECTED 2026-07-27 — Josh's tenth-sitting F-1 ruling, verbatim intent: "legendary
and mythic aren't tiers but are instead the rarity levels of equipment and consumables nd
drops and crafting items and runes." LEGENDARY and MYTHIC are RARITY GRADES on equipment,
consumables, drops, crafting items, and runes — NEVER mastery-tier names. The twelve-tier
mastery framework is LEVELS 1-12, with the major gating questlines at 5→6 and at 11→12 (full
mastery at 12); the final mastery questline grants ACCESS to these rarity grades rather than
promoting the practitioner. The prior "apex tier" wording read as a mastery rung and is
withdrawn. The CVD §12 ten names' mapping onto the twelve levels, and any 11/12 naming, route
to the naming/mastery pass — the CVD text is NOT auto-edited.]
overpowered — but not in the way that all the AAA games fail, where that means you only have
1 or 2 viable options and nothing is actually customizable." The target: MANY roles and
strategies, hundreds to thousands of EQUALLY important and useful builds, where being
skillful and strong relies on BOTH talent (player execution) AND build (theorycraft). OP
peaks are allowed; META-COLLAPSE is the banned failure mode.
breadth is MEASURED, never asserted — the QA machine gains BUILD-SPACE SWEEPS (automated
simulation across the bonus/imprint/spec combinatorics, per encounter class) whose output is
a viability-breadth scorecard: how many distinct builds clear the bar per role, where the
collapse points are, which pools are dead picks. A pool whose options are never picked in
the sweep is a balance DEFECT, same as a slope over threshold was a space defect. The same
teeth philosophy, applied to build diversity.
sweeps + tuning), the factory (per-chapter pool authoring). [RULED: Josh 2026-07-26]
The balance doctrine (§10) demands many roles — this names them (Josh's seed list, the
authoring baseline for the build-space sweeps):
single-target damage · single-target support — crossed with: MASTERY builds and their
HYBRIDS (multi-mastery combinations) · per-WEAPON-TYPE builds (each of the 72's class) ·
ELEMENTAL builds, element COMBINATIONS, and hybrid-element builds (the 21-combo catalog +
the matrix) · CUSTOM-FORGE builds — the merged spells unlocked once MULTIPLE masteries
are obtained (§2b's Adeptus merge catalyst), where "different runes and different abilities
get created into different merges that'll be fun to explore and try out" — the merge
combinatorics are DISCOVERY CONTENT: exploring what fuses is itself the endgame play.
MMO layer (guild play per T1_Tier_C_MMO_Spec) — one role taxonomy, two arenas.
fills party roles (a healer companion enables glass-damage specs; a tank frees a support
build), joins/leaves on the integrity canon, and RETURNS the invested gear on departure.
table is this system's data home) + EAM pairing (ability enhancement gated on the bonded
familiar) mean the familiar CHOICE shapes the ability build — a familiar is a spec decision,
not a pet cosmetic. The path-variable 22nd legendary slot is an endgame build axis of its own.
per role axis; a role with too few viable builds is a balance defect.
[RULED: Josh 2026-07-26, list verbatim-seeded]
builds — stat choices on level-up plus equipment influence. The spread influences their
SPECIALTIES and PREFERRED COMBAT STYLES: how an ally fights emerges from how you built them,
not from a fixed archetype.
more intelligent their AI will start to detect more patterns and be more proactive and
aware." INT literally buys better combat AI — pattern detection (reading boss cast_patterns,
telegraphs, the counter-classes), proactivity (pre-positioning, interrupting, peeling), and
awareness (adds, hazards, ally states). The ally's BRAIN is a stat the player invests in.
strong" — INT competes with the combat stats, so the player has to balance and customize per
role. "A tank or pure DPS may not need to be as smart for that build" — a low-INT wall or
glass cannon is a legitimate spec whose simpler AI is the accepted cost, while a high-INT
support reads the fight for you. Per §10's doctrine this axis enters the build-space sweeps:
ally stat spreads are part of the build combinatorics, and "a properly built team should be
fun to customize and build" — TEAM COMPOSITION IS CONTENT.
companions/familiars-as-build-components (this section supplies the STAT layer under those
roles); the integrity-driven loyalty canon; the 22-slot familiar bond ladders (bond ladders
and stat spreads compose — the bond gates WHAT a familiar can do, the spread tunes HOW).
after the full game is released" — the same role/stat/build architecture scales into Tier-C
group and RAID play (WoW-register raid/group roles) and the CANONICAL 100-PLAYER WORLD BOSS
(T1_Tier_C_MMO_Spec §8; CVD §13.1 — Josh's pre-Claude GDD example, verified in canon), whose
recovered 4-team operational architecture (Environmental Manipulation / Combat Core /
Spawnling Management / Enhancement-Protection + adaptive boss AI; INGEST_GDD.md §recovered)
is exactly a role-taxonomy raid. Single-player party building is the training ground for
Tier-C raid building — one architecture, designed once, deliberately.
are seeds for proper expansion (cited, critic-gated), never the exhaustive lists.
the post-slice companion AI runtime (INT-tiered behavior trees) + Phase-5M/5H sweeps (team
combinatorics) + the Tier-C spec (raid-role integration). [RULED: Josh 2026-07-26,
verbatim-seeded]
manually by switching to them, in the register of a Final Fantasy VII Remake party switch. When
an ally is not under the player's control it acts as that character — per how it has been
specialized and how its stats have been awarded, which is exactly §12's player-shaped spread
read forward into behaviour.
leans into being more proactive and predicting the battle, so the ally makes more correct and
more accurate decisions. Prediction is anticipation of the attack that is coming, not faster
reaction inside it — the observable the player bought with the stat. §12's mandatory tradeoff is
unchanged: prediction quality competes with the combat stats on the same spread.
focus_target / hold / regroup channel, docs/pipeline_review/MINT_DESIGN_B_ITEM_ALLY_2026-07-27.md
§3.5) is RULED in the negative, and the ruled line it collided with — you do not configure your
teammate in a menu, you earn how they show up for you — stands untouched. The switch is a CONTROL
MODE, not a command surface: it moves the player's input onto the character and issues no order.
ruling, the behaviour of an ally the player is NOT driving. It therefore needs no order-verb
column, no player-authored policy_source member, and no per-row ordering surface — the
gambits-busywork guard is now backed by a ruling rather than by a deferral, and gate 29 asserts
the absence of an order-verb column as a tooth.
carries is existing familiar canon and is not an order channel: an L3 familiar may be directed to
attack once its trust threshold is met, an L4/L5 familiar from the start of battle, and the L1/L2
bands still forbid direction. §9's loadout parity and gear-return, §11's build-role factoring and
§12's stat/INT layer all stand as ruled.
ruling) + T1_Combat_System_Spec's companions-as-build-components section (the combat-side clause)
suspension of the ally's own behaviour tree while the player drives it) + rank 22's party-frame UI
(the switch affordance is a party-frame surface). [RULED: Josh 2026-07-30, verbatim-seeded]