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KN-86 Deckline

KN-86 Gameplay Framework — the connective map

What this is / isn’t: This is the gameplay-system view — how a run actually plays, and how the gameplay docs fit together. The engine view (layers, the run loop, FFI surfaces, state tiers) is owned by runtime/deckrunner-engine-architecture.md; this doc references it rather than restating it. Related:

1. Why this doc exists

Section titled “1. Why this doc exists”

The gameplay system is real and largely specified — but across a dozen docs. Mission Control generates contracts; the objective model says what a goal is; the economy says what the rewards mean; DeckRunner says how the engine runs it; ADR-0042 names the programs; verb-taxonomy-map catalogs the verbs. Nothing states the whole connected system in one place, or lists what’s still missing. This doc is that map and that ledger. Read it to see how the parts cohere and where to go next; read the linked docs for the authoritative detail.

The one-sentence shape: the deck is a fantasy console (DeckRunner §2) — KEC VM + NoshAPI + the deck run loop — wearing a diegetic terminal skin. Everything below is gameplay on that console.

2. The gameplay stack at a glance

Section titled “2. The gameplay stack at a glance”

DeckRunner §1 owns the engine layers (Hardware → Platform → DeckRunner → Content). This is the gameplay stack that rides on top of them, top (what you’re trying to do) to bottom (what you press):

Gameplay layerWhat it isSpecified in
The joba contract = a mission type (the arc) + an objective graph (goals ± rewards) + required capabilities + TTLmission-control.md, mission-objectives.md
The economywhat flows through the job: ¤ / reputation / mastery / knowledgecurrency-and-economy.md
The space you work inthe Mission Runner — REPL/nEmacs with mission bindings; you orchestrate the run heremission-control.md §5, ADR-0029
The beads of the runcapabilities — each phase drops into a cart capability, which is either a Tier-2 grammar interaction or a mini-game (§4)DeckRunner §11–§13
What you doTier-2 verb-tools (cart-contributed: SCAN, CRACK, RECONCILE…) selected + CONS + EVALverb-taxonomy-map.md, DeckRunner §10
What you pressTier-1 primitives — the Lisp keys (CAR/CDR/CONS/EVAL/QUOTE/…)lisp-paradigm.md, DeckRunner §10
Tools, always onthe thirteen programs (bzbx, CONDUIT, Kommander, DOSSIER, AmberCalc, RIPSAW, Keyring, kn9, knSALK + Board/Hub/REPL/nEmacs) — carts enrich, never gateADR-0042, programs/

Cross-cutting all of it: CIPHER (the OLED voice, cipher-voice.md) and Universal Deck State (the durable profile, deck-state.md).

3. A run, end to end

Section titled “3. A run, end to end”

The player-seat narrative. Each beat names the system that owns it. (For fully worked concrete runs with every piece tagged, see gameplay-framework-walkthrough.md — GLASS PAYROLL on ICE BREAKER — gameplay-framework-walkthrough-depthcharge.md — DEAD RECKONING on DEPTHCHARGE — gameplay-framework-walkthrough-black-ledger.md — COLD LEDGER on BLACK LEDGER — and gameplay-framework-walkthrough-neongrid.md — DEAD ANGLE on NEONGRID.)

  1. Bare deck / boot. No cart needed — the thirteen programs and the four mission baselines are always present (DeckRunner §11; ADR-0042, ADR-0030). The deck is playable bare.
  2. The board. Mission Control synthesizes 3–5 contracts from defcontract-schema forms, seeded by Universal Deck State — reputation sets the baseline threat tier, cartridge_history is the Capability Registry, credit_balance gates premium work, cipher_seed is entropy (mission-control.md §3). (This is the Board↔UDS connection: it is wired.)
  3. Inspect & accept. CAR to read the briefing (objective, threat, required capabilities, payout); EVAL to accept. The contract’s objective graph (mission-objectives.md) and phase_chain load into the Mission Runner.
  4. The Mission Runner. A REPL/nEmacs with current-mission / phase-chain / (load-capability …) bound (ADR-0029). The operator drives from here — interactively or via an authored script. Programming is the amplifier, never the gate (DeckRunner §14).
  5. Recon (optional, player-paced). Before or between phases, the operator may run recon — through bzbx / CONDUIT / RIPSAW / DOSSIER — to deposit typed knowledge keys into DOSSIER, which can hard-gate or de-risk later goals. Rush in (rip-and-run) or case it first (measured): the operator’s call. (This mode is only partly specified — gap C, §6.)
  6. Execute the arc. Each phase is a (load-capability …) into a cart capability — the “multi-modal challenge” of DeckRunner §13 step 4 (typing/scripting + framebuffer + PSG + CIPHER). A capability presents either a Tier-2 grammar interaction or a mini-game (§4). Goals flip via the goal verbs (goal-complete / goal-reveal / goal-choose / goal-fail, ADR-0043); :hold constraints are watched by the engine.
  7. Resolution. All :primary goals :done → (complete-mission …). The economy/phase cores perform the only sanctioned UDS write (DeckRunner §6): credit_balance, reputation, per-cart mastery, phase_chain, cipher_seed. :on-resolve escrow settles; abandonment/failure forfeits it (mission-objectives.md §5).
  8. Progression. New mastery / reputation / unlocks reshape the next board (DeckRunner §13 step 7). Loadout (Lambda Slots, DeckRunner §12) is re-committed for what’s next.

4. The three verb tiers, and the grammar ↔ mini-game dialectic

Section titled “4. The three verb tiers, and the grammar ↔ mini-game dialectic”

Two things the input to this design kept blending — separating them is the coherence keystone.

The three verb tiers (canonical, DeckRunner §10):

TierWhatOpen/closedOwner
Tier 1 — primitivesthe Lisp keys (CAR/CDR/CONS/EVAL/…) — the grammarfixed firmwareruntime
Tier 2 — verb-toolsthe vocabulary — cart-contributed actions (SCAN, CRACK, RECONCILE) selected on nouns and CONS/EVAL-edopen, cart-contributedthe cartridge, via the DeckRunner interface
Tier 3 — mission verbsthe arc — PENETRATE / OBTAIN / OBSERVE / DESTROY / ANALYZE / … + affinities; the shape of the job, not keysclosed, DeckRunner-ownedMission Control (ADR-0028)

A player’s “mission types” (breach, exfil, infiltration, DoS, recon, AAA) live at Tier 3 — they are named arcs over the closed verb set. The hundred-plus domain verbs (SCAN…FLATLINE, drone ops, forensics, comms) live at Tier 2. (How Tier-2 verbs are partitioned into primitives vs. combinations vs. flavor is gap B, §6 / GWP-404.)

The dialectic: a capability call resolves to one of two interaction modes, and the cart chooses per phase —

  • Grammar mode — the operator selects a noun + a Tier-2 verb-tool, composes with CONS, fires with EVAL. This is the REPL/nEmacs-native surface; it’s what makes scripting and automation possible.
  • Mini-game mode — a self-contained, often real-time gameplay loop drawn to the framebuffer: ICE BREAKER’s OODA netrun, a maze-under-timer, a snake-eats-data extraction. Not bound to verb-noun; it’s a cart-authored mechanic.

Both are capabilities; both return the same result struct to the Mission Runner. A single mission can mix them across phases. This is the mission/cartridge dialectic: the framework gives a universal grammar, and each cart spends its capability budget on grammar depth, bespoke mini-games, or both. (A crisp statement of this belongs in the capability model — gap E, §6.)

5. Cross-cutting systems map

Section titled “5. Cross-cutting systems map”
SystemOne lineOwns it
Objective grapha mission is named goals (cells) with facets + multi-currency rewards + branchesmission-objectives.md / ADR-0043
Currencies¤ (wallet) · reputation (résumé) · mastery (per-cart muscle memory) · knowledge (library); credits buy shortcuts/gear, never capability/standingcurrency-and-economy.md
Programsthirteen always-on tools; carts enrich them with mission data, never gate themADR-0042
Recon / DOSSIERrecon deposits typed knowledge keys into DOSSIER; keys hard-gate or de-risk missionsthe-vault.md, currency-and-economy.md §8
CIPHERthe OLED voice — narrates the run, marks urgency/rarity; OLED-exclusivecipher-voice.md / ADR-0015
LoadoutLambda Slots — equip enhanced verb-tools/scripts; full-swap, the strategic layerDeckRunner §12
Universal Deck Statethe durable profile; written only by sanctioned outcomedeck-state.md

6. Open-gap ledger

Section titled “6. Open-gap ledger”

All six framework gaps (A–F) are now resolved (2026-06-21) — what remains below the table is tuning (balance numbers) and the carried items, not framework. The ledger is kept here as the record of how each was closed.

#GapStatusWhere it lands
AMission-type catalog — map player-legible types (breach / exfil / infiltration / DoS / AAA / recon / key-theft) onto the closed Tier-3 verbs + objective-graph templates. Two real holes: INFILTRATION (writing/planting data — no Tier-3 verb; closest is the 0-satisfier MANUFACTURE) and DoS (transient disruption vs. DESTROY’s permanence).✅ Resolved — mission-type-catalog.md (GWP-550): INFILTRATION = DELIVER, DoS = SABOTAGE flavor; Tier-3 stays closeddone
BAction-verb partition — CORE primitives / COMPOSITE (CONS) / VOCAB-only, generalizing the ICE BREAKER CONS matrix; the rule for how carts add Tier-2 verbs.✅ Resolved — verb-partition.md (GWP-404): state-footprint cleavage, binary CONS + nestingdone
CRecon as a player-elected phase — recon verbs (SCAN/PROBE/MAP/SNIFF) through bzbx/CONDUIT/RIPSAW deposit DOSSIER keys at an attention cost; repeatable or upfront.✅ Resolved — runtime/recon-mode.md (GWP-552): player-elected mode, shared heat pre-loads the op, rip-and-run vs measureddone
DProgram-enrichment contract — how a cart feeds data into a program ((launch-app :prog :payload …)) and how recon programs emit keys; per-program.✅ Resolved — programs/enrichment-contract.md (GWP-551): lens-over-simulated-world, hybrid launch-app payload+world-handle, sanctioned dossier-commitdone (ADR-0005 amended 2026-06-21: launch-app / dossier-commit / dossier-has?)
EGrammar ↔ mini-game dialectic — a crisp statement that a capability is grammar or mini-game, in the capability model.✅ Resolved — cartridges/authoring/capability-shapes.md (GWP-555): both are (load-capability …) targets behind one result-struct contract; cart chooses, missions mixdone
FDefensive side / knSALK — counter-intrusion, being traced, the defender dialectic (relevant to DoS-against-you).✅ Resolved — programs/knsalk.md (GWP-557): hybrid passive shield + active stand, heat-triggered (the offensive meter, double-edged), DEFENDER-verb defense, recoverable stakesdone

Carried from other docs (already tracked there): DeckRunner-interface naming + loadout/load-capability reconciliation (DeckRunner §16); DOSSIER record schema now specified — programs/dossier-data-model.md (GWP-553: profiles + fact-nodes + links + capture→refile); its persistence home + per-cart mastery UDS fields remain open (currency-and-economy.md §9); full mission-struct shape (mission-control.md OQ-1, objective portion closed by ADR-0043).

7. Where each thing is specified (reading map)

Section titled “7. Where each thing is specified (reading map)”
To understand…Read
the engine, loop, FFI, state tiersruntime/deckrunner-engine-architecture.md
how contracts are generated + the boardruntime/mission-control.md
what a goal/objective/reward isruntime/mission-objectives.md
what the currencies mean + the sinksruntime/currency-and-economy.md
the verb spines per cartcartridges/design-bibles/verb-taxonomy-map.md
the Lisp keys as gameplaycartridges/authoring/lisp-paradigm.md
the first-party programsprograms/README.md
research / knowledge / DOSSIERcartridges/modules/the-vault.md
a worked launch titlecartridges/modules/ice-breaker.md