ashen-realms/docs/playable-slices/0.12-Ashen-Fields-Complete-and-Polish.md

# Ashen Realms – Playable Slice 0.12

## Ashen Fields Complete – Integration, Balancing & Polish

**Status:** Implementation Specification  
**Depends on:** Slice 0.11  
**Purpose:** Turn all systems built through 0.11 into one coherent, testable first-region experience before expanding to the next region.

---

## 1. Goal

Slice 0.12 is not primarily a new feature slice.

It is the point where the Ashen Fields must work as **one game**.

A fresh character should be able to play through the complete first-region loop without developer intervention:

**Graufurt → South Gate → Burned Road → hunt → bag limit → merchant → reputation → upgrades → Abandoned Watchpost → Ash Pit → Captain of the Ashen Band.**

If this loop is not fun and understandable, do not move on to the next region yet.

---

## 2. Full Region Scope

The complete first-region content should include at least:

### Safe / transition locations

- Graufurt
- Graufurt South Gate

### Progression locations

- Burned Road
- Abandoned Watchpost
- Ash Pit

### Core systems

- travel
- local location view
- hunt
- encounter choice
- turn-based combat
- Bleeding
- Telegraphing
- interrupt
- Defend
- potions/combat bag as already implemented
- trade goods
- monster categories
- loot categories
- loot bags
- merchant trade-in
- Silver
- regional reputation
- World Renown
- reputation-gated offers
- first quest chain
- Tier-1 equipment
- first area boss

---

## 3. Remove Legacy Progression Assumptions

Perform a complete audit for obsolete XP-era behavior.

For the implemented first region:

- normal monsters must not grant XP
- normal monsters must not grant Silver directly
- normal monsters must not grant reputation directly
- old Grenzmarken / border-token progression must not remain active unless explicitly reintroduced as a separate intentional system
- merchant offers must not use old character-level gates as the primary progression requirement

Search:

- seed data
- entities
- DTOs
- API responses
- combat victory code
- loot service
- UI reward summaries
- tests
- docs used by implementation agents

Do not leave old behavior silently active beside the new reputation model.

---

## 4. Tier-1 Item Completion

Ensure the first region has a coherent fixed-item progression.

Recommended Tier-1 set of named items:

- Worn Shortsword
- Bandit Blade
- Ashen Blade
- Bandit Hood
- Reinforced Leather Jacket
- Plunderer Gloves
- Watchman's Leggings
- Ashen Boots
- Mark of the Border Watch
- Charred Captain's Pendant

Not every item needs to be mandatory.

Each relevant item must have at least one clear acquisition path:

- monster drop
- boss guaranteed pool
- reputation-gated merchant offer
- quest reward, only where appropriate

Avoid items that exist in the database but cannot realistically be obtained.

---

## 5. Target Combat Durations

Use the existing balancing targets:

### Normal enemies

**4–8 rounds** in appropriate content.

### Elite enemies

**6–10 rounds.**

### Boss

**8–14 rounds.**

Run deterministic simulations/tests where possible and manually play representative loadouts.

Do not balance only around a fully optimized character.

---

## 6. Progression States to Test

At minimum test these player states:

### Fresh character

- starter weapon
- starter armor
- no loot bags
- no reputation

Expected:

- Ash Rat comfortable
- Road Bandit risky but understandable
- Watchpost clearly too early

### Early Burned Road progression

- Basic Hide Bag
- first equipment upgrade
- some merchant reputation

Expected:

- Burned Road reliable
- Watchpost possible but harder

### Mid Ashen Fields

- several Tier-1 upgrades
- Trophy Pouch or equivalent capacity improvement
- improved reputation

Expected:

- Watchpost reliable
- Ash Pit dangerous but approachable

### Region-ready

- strong but not necessarily Best-in-Slot Tier-1 loadout

Expected:

- Captain of the Ashen Band reasonably beatable with correct decisions

---

## 7. Bag / Return-Trip Balancing

The bag system must create decisions without becoming tedious.

Validate:

- default capacity 1 is useful for the tutorial moment
- Basic Hide Bag capacity 5 feels meaningful
- trade-in trips are frequent enough to create rhythm
- trips are not so frequent that the player spends more time returning than fighting
- higher-value raider trophies do not require excessive backtracking

Adjust bag capacity, travel duration or reward value rather than adding arbitrary shortcuts immediately.

---

## 8. Merchant Economy Balancing

Validate:

- a first meaningful purchase is reachable in a reasonable number of hunt cycles
- reputation unlocks occur often enough to be noticed
- locked items create goals rather than frustration
- Silver does not accumulate with no useful sinks
- trade goods have visibly different value
- rare encounters feel economically exciting

Do not target a perfect final economy. Target a coherent first-region economy.

---

## 9. World Renown Balancing

World Renown is the long-term level-like progression.

For this slice:

- it must visibly increase during normal region play
- it must not race upward from every individual kill
- merchant exchange and major milestones are the key sources
- first area-boss victory may grant a one-time meaningful increase

Do not finalize the complete 10–15-rank game-wide curve unless that has already been specified elsewhere.

Only ensure the first region produces a sensible opening segment of that curve.

---

## 10. Hunt Balancing

Check encounter weights and player choice.

The player should regularly see:

- easy/reliable targets
- one more rewarding/riskier option
- occasional rare encounter

Avoid hunts where all three cards are effectively identical.

Rare Charred Raider should feel exciting but not so rare that normal play never demonstrates it.

---

## 11. UI Polish

Review all first-region screens against the established UI design.

Important:

- artwork remains dominant
- local view feels like a browser RPG, not a mobile card game
- current location is obvious
- NPCs/interactions are obvious
- bag capacity is visible when relevant
- reputation requirements are readable
- loot summary clearly distinguishes granted vs left-behind goods
- combat telegraphs are impossible to miss
- locked merchant items are understandable
- no German player-facing strings remain

---

## 12. Content Consistency

Verify names, keys and terminology across:

- database seeds
- backend DTOs
- Angular components
- combat log
- item tooltips
- quest text
- merchant text
- location descriptions

One entity must not appear as `Road Bandit` in one screen and `Street Raider` in another unless intentionally different.

---

## 13. End-to-End Test Scenario

Create at least one automated or documented repeatable E2E path:

```text
1. Start with fresh character.
2. Visit South Gate Warden.
3. Accept Trouble Beyond the Gate.
4. Travel to Burned Road.
5. Hunt Ash Rat.
6. Receive first Ashen Pelt.
7. Hit HIDE capacity 1/1.
8. Return to warden.
9. Receive referral.
10. Visit Borin.
11. Receive Basic Hide Bag.
12. Collect five Ashen Pelts.
13. Complete quest.
14. Hunt/trade goods with Borin.
15. Gain Silver + regional reputation + World Renown.
16. Unlock/buy at least one progression offer.
17. Travel to Abandoned Watchpost.
18. Obtain stronger Tier-1 loot.
19. Discover Ash Pit.
20. Challenge Captain of the Ashen Band.
21. Win with a plausible non-BiS loadout.
22. Receive guaranteed relevant Tier-1 item.
23. Persist first-clear milestone.
```

The flow must survive page reloads and reconnects at sensible points.

---

## 14. Technical Verification

Before declaring Slice 0.12 complete:

- all backend unit tests pass
- integration tests pass
- frontend tests pass
- production build passes
- migration path works from a clean database
- seed is idempotent where designed to be
- Docker production image still starts
- API and Angular static hosting still work together
- no client-authoritative combat/loot/reputation calculation has been introduced

---

## 15. Definition of Done

Slice 0.12 is complete when:

- [ ] A fresh player can finish the complete Ashen Fields progression without manual DB edits.
- [ ] The first quest teaches the bag/merchant loop naturally.
- [ ] Burned Road, Abandoned Watchpost and Ash Pit each have a distinct purpose.
- [ ] Normal enemies reward goods/equipment, not direct XP/Silver/reputation.
- [ ] Merchant trade-in converts goods into Silver + reputation progression.
- [ ] Reputation visibly unlocks useful offers.
- [ ] Bags create a meaningful but not annoying return-trip rhythm.
- [ ] Tier-1 equipment progression is noticeable.
- [ ] Captain of the Ashen Band is a fair first-region climax.
- [ ] Boss guarantees meaningful progression loot.
- [ ] Combat duration targets are broadly met.
- [ ] Player-facing content is consistently English.
- [ ] The entire flow is server-authoritative for critical game state.
- [ ] Production build/tests are green.

---

## 16. What Comes After 0.12

Only after this slice is stable should development expand into the next region.

Recommended next phase:

```text
Ashen Fields retrospective / balancing adjustments
→ next region foundation
→ new region enemies/mechanics
→ new reputation/economy content
```

Do not immediately add many MMO systems.

The first question after 0.12 is:

> **Is the repeatable loop of hunting, carrying, trading, upgrading and overcoming stronger content actually fun?**