ADR-0012 — Event response taxonomy: un-snoozable, deferrable, expiring

Status: ACCEPTED · Decided: 2026-07-12
These are the actual decision records the game is built from, published unedited except for internal process notes. They describe why the game works the way it does. They are not a strategy guide, and some of them argue with each other.

Context

ADR-0009 gave every response window a DEFER option routing through the Ledger. Left uniform, DEFER becomes a universal snooze button and the reserve-vs-greed gamble loses its sting (why hold reserve when everything waits?). Pip's ruling drew the taxonomy from real-world texture: some things wait expensively, some don't wait at all, and some correctly get no response.

Decision

Four event classes:

  1. Un-snoozable — the window closes this turn: HANDLE (reserve or cannibalize) or IGNORE at list price; DEFER is not for sale. Pip's classes: movement of people across state borders; emergency services; threat of legal action; scenario/story events. This class is what keeps reserve worth holding.
  2. Deferrable — DEFER mints a Ledger entry with a carrying cost priced per-event by the ADR-0013 engine.
  3. Standing offers — open for N turns, then expire to a natural no-engage (possible reputation loss where a response was expected). Expiry mints no ledger entry — the offer simply evaporates.
  4. No-action-correct — some events legitimately deserve nothing. Taking no action is not always a mistake, and the game must not punish it uniformly.

The infinite to-do list is diegetic. Standing offers and deferrals may accumulate past what the UI foregrounds; items falling out of visibility is a real phenomenon being modeled, not a UI bug. Pip, verbatim: "Doom Arrives With Your To-Do List Being Infinitely Long Still is a real possibility that I'm not shy of playing into."

The ledger's kill path is a cascade, not a death screen. Entries are called due; if you can't pay, consequences execute: unpaid staff work on for a period suffering damage → leave → work lost/abandoned → severe reputation penalties → credit lockout → funding starvation → rival pulls ahead → doom spikes. The ledger doesn't kill you — it feeds you to the thing that does, legibly. Register: tragedy ("I saw it coming"), which requires the player to have had a real chance to raise money in the interim — hence:

Fundraising has lead time. Money lands turns after the raise begins (ADR-0009's duration rule applied to cash). Core tension named: spiky-in, smooth-out cash flow, with cash as the game's most fungible resource.

Beacons served / violated

Interaction contract

Reads/writes: response windows (ADR-0009), Ledger (defer intake + called-due cascade), reputation (expiry losses, default penalties), staff (unpaid-work damage, departures, abandoned work), rival pipeline (funding starvation → rival lead), ADR-0013 pricing engine (carrying costs).

Rejected alternatives

Consequences / open questions