encounter-design · diff
git:20260912.9399f33 to git:20260913.d5b76f6
28 added, 5 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: encounter-design
- description: Generic fight-as-a-room. One idea per encounter.
+ description: Use when a room, arena, hunt, ambush or non-boss challenge needs an explicit state/beat graph, entry/exit rules, composition goals and evidence without forcing one universal encounter shape.
---
# Encounter design
- Ask: trash | elite | ambush | arena | hunt.
- Beats: vision → tell → exchange → end → drop covers spend.
- One idea. Adds that only raise HP are a sponge. Elective walls may be harder than the story path.
+ Ask the intended role: traversal pressure, teaching, resource test, elite challenge, ambush, arena, hunt, hybrid, or existing.
- Accept: after one death the player can name the idea they failed.
+ ## Contract
+
+ Publish:
+ - stable `encounter_id` and revision
+ - goal and completion condition
+ - state/beat graph with stable beat IDs
+ - participant/spawn references
+ - entry, fail, retry, reset and exit policy
+ - resource assumptions and rewards only if the project uses them
+ - evidence needed to prove the authored goal
+
+ ## Ownership
+
+ Encounter design composes existing systems. `spawn-wave` owns dynamic spawn scheduling, `enemy-kit-balance` owns kits, `difficulty-design` owns scaling policy, and loot/economy systems own grants.
+
+ ## Rules
+
+ 1. An encounter may test one concept or several interacting concepts; composition is authored, not universally capped at one idea.
+ 2. HP, count, geometry, information and resource pressure are valid only when tied to the stated goal and owner contracts.
+ 3. Rewards are optional project data; do not require a drop to compensate a spend.
+ 4. Reset/retry transitions are idempotent and do not duplicate participants or grants.
+ 5. Record what was actually tested; a scripted setup does not prove a natural route into the encounter.
+
+ ## Acceptance
+
+ Given the same `encounter_id`, revision and starting state, a reviewer can reproduce the legal beat transitions, identify completion/failure, and distinguish encounter composition from spawn, difficulty, combat and reward ownership.