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rules.md

Last edited by David Bloomin · 2d ago ·

Cogchemists rules

The eight ingredients

#	Ingredient	#	Ingredient
0	Nightcap	4	Copper Fern
1	Emberroot	5	Gravebloom
2	Fen Lily	6	Sunmoss
3	Widow's Salt	7	Rime Thistle

Ingredient identity is never hidden: a card in a hand, on the bench or in a demonstration is always named. What is hidden is what it is.

Signatures and the hidden chemistry

A signature is a triple of signs over RED, GREEN and BLUE, written R+G-B+ (ASCII hyphen-minus). There are exactly 8. The episode's chemistry is a bijection ingredient -> signature: a seeded permutation, so every signature is used exactly once and two ingredients never share one. 8! = 40,320 chemistries are possible and one is drawn fresh from the episode seed. No seat ever sees it; spectators see it only at the exhibition.

The mixing rule

Mixing two ingredient cards a and b with signatures sa and sb:

Look at the aspects where sa and sb disagree.
If they disagree on exactly one aspect, the potion takes that aspect's colour, and its sign is the product of the two aspects they agree on: + when those two point the same way, - when they point opposite ways. The rule is symmetric, so mix order never matters.
If they disagree on two or three aspects - or on none, i.e. the same ingredient twice, which is legal - the potion is MUD.

`sa`	`sb`	disagree on	agree on	potion
`R+G+B+`	`R+G+B-`	BLUE	`R+`,`G+` -> `+`	BLUE+
`R+G+B+`	`R+G-B+`	GREEN	`R+`,`B+` -> `+`	GREEN+
`R+G-B+`	`R-G-B+`	RED	`G-`,`B+` -> `-`	RED-
`R+G-B-`	`R-G-B-`	RED	`G-`,`B-` -> `+`	RED+
`R+G+B+`	`R-G-B-`	all three	-	MUD

The whole outcome vocabulary is seven values: RED+, RED-, GREEN+, GREEN-, BLUE+, BLUE-, MUD. Over the 28 unordered signature pairs each coloured potion is produced by exactly 2 pairs and MUD by the other 16, so a coloured result is a very strong constraint and MUD a weak one.

Rounds, phases and resolution order

The episode is rounds rounds (default 6, 3..10). Each round has two simultaneous-decision phases, LAB then MARKET. Both take exactly one action per seat and resolve in initiative order order[i] = (i + round) mod 4, so the lead rotates.

Round open. The adventurer's demand for this round is drawn from the seed and published (one of the six coloured potions, never MUD). Royalties are paid: every standing seal earns its author +1 coin (+2 with the Printing Press). The initiative order is published.
LAB opens. Every seat's deduction grid is recomputed; all four decisions are taken simultaneously.
LAB resolves in initiative order, one action at a time.
MARKET opens. Grids are recomputed - a seat sees this round's lab consequences before it commits its public move.
MARKET resolves in the same order. This is where contention lives: an action that was legal when the phase opened may be rejected by an earlier seat in the same phase, is recorded rejected:<reason>, and degrades to pass (the actor still takes the +1 coin stipend).
Next round, or the exhibition.
The exhibition. Every standing seal is opened against the truth: a true theory pays its author +5 reputation and each endorser +2; a false one costs the author -6 and each endorser -3. Seals already burned by a debunk are not re-scored - they settled at the burn.

action	cost	effect	who learns what
`forage`	0	Draw 2 cards (hand cap 6; a draw into a full hand is discarded and recorded).	The drawn cards are public.
`test_student a b`	-1 coin	Consume both cards (only `a` with the Magic Mortar). You learn the potion.	The two ingredients are public; the potion is private to you.
`test_self a b`	0	Consume both cards (Mortar: only `a`). You learn the potion and drink it: negative poisons you (-2 reputation), positive is a triumph (+1), MUD does nothing.	The ingredients and the potion's sign class are public; the colour stays private.
`transmute a`	0	Consume one card, receive +2 coin.	Public.
`pass`	0	The academy stipend, +1 coin.	Public.

action	cost	effect
`sell a b`	0	Consume both cards and sell the potion to this round's adventurer. Hit: +6 coin, +1 reputation. Miss (MUD included): +2 coin, -1 reputation. The potion is public either way.
`publish a SIG`	-1 coin	Pin a wax seal claiming ingredient `a` has signature `SIG`. Immediate +2 reputation (+3 with the Printing Press). Legal only where no seal stands. Earns royalties from the next round open.
`endorse a`	-1 coin, paid to the author	Co-sign a rival's standing seal (never your own, never twice). At the exhibition +2 if true, -3 if false; -1 if it burns first.
`debunk a b`	-1 coin, consumes card `b`	A public demonstration against the standing seal on `a`. The academy supplies `a`, you supply `b`, and the real potion `p` is revealed publicly. The claim predicts `q`. If `p != q` the seal BURNS: author -4, you +3, each endorser -1, and `a` becomes publishable again. If `p == q` the attack fails: you -2, the author +1, and the seal stands.
`buy mortar` / `buy press`	-4 / -5 coin	Once each. Magic Mortar: your tests consume only the first card. Printing Press: publish pays +3 and royalties 2.
`pass`	0	+1 coin.

Coin never goes negative: an action a seat cannot afford is simply not in its legal set, and pass is always legal.

What a seat sees

Visible: itself (alias, coin, reputation, score, artifacts, its exact hand, its own notes); the round, phase, this round's demand and the initiative order; every rival's alias, coin, reputation, score, artifacts and hand count; the whole board of seals with authors, endorsers and status; the public record of every action with its publicly revealed outcome; its own private mixFull results; its own deduction grid; and the exact list of LEGAL MOVES for this phase.

Hidden: the chemistry; any rival's private results (only the sign class leaks, and only from test_self); any rival's hand contents, notes, grid or chemistries-left; the draw stream ahead; future demands; and this phase's undelivered actions by other seats.

The two endings

complete - all rounds resolved and the exhibition held.
deadline - the episode clock (60% of episodeTimeoutSeconds, checked only between phases) stopped play. The exhibition still runs on the board as it stands, so a truncated episode never pays unearned publication credit. results.rounds reports the rounds actually played.