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docs/playable-slices/Ashen_Realms_Playable_Slice_0.12_Aschenfelder_Complete.md

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+# Ashen Realms – Playable Slice 0.12: Aschenfelder Complete
+
+**Status:** Final integration slice for the first region  
+**Prerequisite:** Playable Slices 0.1–0.11  
+**Scope:** Integration, balancing, content completion and polish for the Aschenfelder  
+**Primary Goal:** Complete the first genuinely playable regional progression loop.
+
+## 1. Goal
+
+Playable Slice 0.12 does not introduce a large new system.
+
+It integrates, verifies, balances, and polishes everything built so far into one coherent first region.
+
+The full intended flow is:
+
+```text
+Graufurt
+↓
+Südtor
+↓
+Verbrannte Straße
+↓
+first hunts
+↓
+first combat
+↓
+first loot
+↓
+first upgrades
+↓
+Verlassener Wachtposten
+↓
+NPC / Quest
+↓
+stronger enemies
+↓
+first Elite
+↓
+Grenzmarken
+↓
+targeted upgrades
+↓
+Aschengrube
+↓
+regional Boss
+↓
+guaranteed boss loot
+↓
+path toward Dämmerwald discovered
+```
+
+## 2. Complete locations
+
+The Aschenfelder progression contains:
+
+```text
+Südtor von Graufurt
+Verbrannte Straße
+Verlassener Wachtposten
+Aschengrube
+```
+
+Each location must have a clear purpose and correct travel connections.
+
+## 3. Complete Tier-1 enemy set
+
+The relevant first-region pool should now include the established enemies:
+
+```text
+Aschenratte
+Verwilderter Straßenhund
+Straßenräuber
+Plünderer-Späher
+Plünderer-Veteran
+Verkohlter Plünderer
+Aschenwühler
+Verbrannter Jagdhund
+Plündererhauptmann / Elite
+Hauptmann der Aschenbande / Boss
+```
+
+If final naming differs in existing project content, preserve the existing finalized names rather than creating duplicates.
+
+## 4. Complete Tier-1 item set
+
+The relevant Tier-1 pool should now include:
+
+```text
+Abgenutztes Kurzschwert
+Räuberklinge
+Aschenklinge
+Räuberhaube
+Verstärkte Lederjacke
+Plündererhandschuhe
+Wachmannsbeinkleid
+Aschenstiefel
+Zeichen der Grenzwacht
+Anhänger des verbrannten Hauptmanns
+```
+
+Not every item must be required for progression.
+
+Prestige/special drops remain optional.
+
+## 5. Combat duration targets
+
+During the balancing pass, verify:
+
+### Normal enemies
+
+```text
+4–8 rounds
+```
+
+### Elite
+
+```text
+6–10 rounds
+```
+
+### Boss
+
+```text
+8–14 rounds
+```
+
+These are balancing targets rather than hard rules.
+
+## 6. Power progression targets
+
+Use the established Combat Power progression as a reference:
+
+### Start
+
+```text
+approximately 47 CP
+```
+
+### After first upgrades
+
+```text
+approximately 60–70 CP
+```
+
+### Wachtposten progression
+
+```text
+approximately 80–90 CP
+```
+
+### Aschengrube / boss-ready range
+
+```text
+approximately 100–110 CP
+```
+
+Combat Power is an internal balancing tool, not a hard access gate.
+
+## 7. Progression pacing
+
+A typical player should need roughly:
+
+```text
+12–18 normal combats
++
+quests
++
+boss
+```
+
+to progress meaningfully through the first region.
+
+The intended experience must not require 50+ normal combats for basic progression.
+
+## 8. First upgrade pacing
+
+Verify that within approximately the first:
+
+```text
+3–5 combats
+```
+
+the player is very likely to see a meaningful equipment upgrade.
+
+If this does not happen reliably enough, tune only the smallest necessary variables:
+
+```text
+drop rate
+quest reward
+starter equipment
+```
+
+Do not add unnecessary new reward systems.
+
+## 9. Boss readiness
+
+The regional boss should become reasonably beatable at approximately:
+
+```text
+70–80% of maximum realistically obtainable regional power
+```
+
+Best-in-slot equipment should provide comfort and completionist value, not be mandatory.
+
+## 10. Soft-gate validation
+
+The player should not be blocked primarily by arbitrary level errors.
+
+Where possible:
+
+```text
+actual world danger
+```
+
+should communicate that the player is too weak.
+
+A player may attempt difficult content early, but the game should make the risk clear.
+
+## 11. Full UI consistency pass
+
+Review all implemented screens together:
+
+```text
+World
+Hunt
+Combat
+Loot
+Inventory
+Quests
+Merchant
+```
+
+Verify consistency of:
+
+```text
+Topbar
+SideNavigation
+Footer
+Context Panel
+Panel frames
+Buttons
+DangerBadges
+Item icons
+Combat actions
+Typography
+Spacing
+Design tokens
+```
+
+No screen should feel like a separate web application.
+
+## 12. Loading and error-state pass
+
+All core player actions need intentional UI states:
+
+```text
+loading
+success
+domain error
+network error
+retry
+```
+
+Review at minimum:
+
+```text
+Travel
+Hunt
+Combat Action
+Reward
+Equip
+Quest
+Purchase
+```
+
+Do not use browser alerts.
+
+## 13. Refresh and recovery pass
+
+The following states must survive browser refresh through authoritative backend state:
+
+```text
+active travel
+current hunt
+active combat
+finished combat/reward
+inventory
+equipment
+active quest
+Grenzmarken
+boss completion
+```
+
+No critical gameplay state may exist only in Angular memory.
+
+## 14. Full integration test
+
+Where practical, automate the first complete progression flow:
+
+```text
+character starts at Südtor
+↓
+travel to Verbrannte Straße
+↓
+hunt
+↓
+combat
+↓
+win
+↓
+receive loot
+↓
+equip upgrade
+↓
+travel to Wachtposten
+↓
+accept quest
+↓
+defeat relevant enemies
+↓
+progress quest
+↓
+earn Grenzmarken
+↓
+buy targeted item
+↓
+equip item
+↓
+travel to Aschengrube
+↓
+defeat boss
+↓
+receive guaranteed boss reward
+↓
+region completion persists
+```
+
+## 15. Manual playtest – average RNG
+
+Perform at least one normal playthrough and measure:
+
+```text
+combat duration
+loot frequency
+upgrade frequency
+number of hunts
+travel flow
+quest pacing
+Grenzmarken income
+boss readiness
+total region time
+```
+
+## 16. Manual playtest – bad RNG
+
+Test a deliberately unlucky run.
+
+Verify:
+
+```text
+Grenzmarken still provide progress
+progression does not hard-block
+boss readiness remains achievable
+player does not require extreme grind
+```
+
+## 17. Manual playtest – good RNG
+
+Test a deliberately lucky run.
+
+Verify:
+
+```text
+region does not become instantly trivial
+progression cannot be skipped too aggressively
+boss remains meaningful
+```
+
+## 18. Data/content validation
+
+Verify:
+
+- all locations use persisted content
+- all encounter pools use persisted relationships
+- all loot is data-driven
+- all shop offers are data-driven
+- quest definitions are persisted/data-driven
+- no core gameplay path depends on hardcoded Angular content
+- no server domain service contains unnecessary location-specific special cases
+
+## 19. Server-authority validation
+
+Confirm that the backend remains authoritative for:
+
+```text
+travel
+hunt availability
+encounter generation
+danger rating
+combat
+loot
+XP
+Silver
+Grenzmarken
+inventory ownership
+equipment
+effective stats
+quest progress
+shop purchases
+boss completion
+```
+
+## 20. Performance / technical cleanup
+
+Review the accumulated implementation for:
+
+- duplicate API calls
+- duplicated frontend state
+- duplicated domain validation
+- unused temporary placeholder logic
+- obsolete Slice 0.1–0.5 shortcuts
+- hardcoded demo combat stats that should now use CharacterStatsService
+- temporary combat placeholder routes
+- duplicated item definitions
+- migration quality
+- seed idempotency
+
+Do not perform unrelated architectural rewrites.
+
+## 21. Definition of Done
+
+Playable Slice 0.12 / Aschenfelder Complete is complete when a fresh character can, without developer intervention:
+
+```text
+start
+↓
+travel
+↓
+hunt
+↓
+fight
+↓
+receive loot
+↓
+improve equipment
+↓
+meet NPC
+↓
+complete quest
+↓
+fight Elite
+↓
+earn Grenzmarken
+↓
+buy targeted item
+↓
+reach Aschengrube
+↓
+defeat regional Boss
+↓
+receive guaranteed progression reward
+↓
+discover path toward Dämmerwald
+```
+
+## 22. Final product test
+
+The most important qualitative result is:
+
+> After completing the Aschenfelder, the player should want to see what waits in the Dämmerwald.
+
+If the loop is technically correct but does not create that motivation, the region still needs iteration.
+
+## 23. After Slice 0.12
+
+Do not immediately expand into the full Dämmerwald.
+
+First:
+
+```text
+playtest
+measure
+balance
+fix friction
+validate reward pacing
+validate combat decisions
+validate boss readiness
+```
+
+Only after the first region loop works well should the same systems be expanded into the Dämmerwald and later the Vergessene Ruinen.