mischief: price a ward against the thing it wards off

The M1 close-out sweep (new, skip-gated: n=400/cell through the REAL delivery
path, not SimulateCombat) says three wards buy roughly +40pp of survival — a
level 12 fighter meeting a boss at 70% HP goes from 48% to 90%. At a flat €25
that let three friends halve a €1,200 boss contract for €75, which makes the
tier the entire economy rests on feel like money thrown away.

A ward now costs max(€25, 10% of the contract): €25 at grunt and mob, €35 at
elite, €120 at a boss — so covering someone against a boss costs the town €360.
Still a bargain against €1,200, but it has to be a real rally rather than
pocket change. It reads the contract's current basis, so an escalation raises
the price of saving its target too: the counterplay tracks the threat.

The sweep also shows the M0 fee table was priced on a fight we don't deliver.
Its control arm (full HP) diverges from M0 in both directions — up where an
engine timeout now counts as survival, down where the turn engine loops a boss's
full multiattack profile and SimulateCombat doesn't. And the arm M0 could not
see at all, a wounded mid-run target, is the one that matters: boss tier at 70%
HP collapses everywhere. Fees stand; the tiers still do what they were priced to
do. The real-path table is now the reference.

internal/plugin/adventure_mischief.go

@@ -75,10 +75,16 @@ const (
 	// Fizzle: the expedition ended before the monster could find them.
 	mischiefFizzleRefund = 0.90
 
-	// mischiefBlessingFee — what the room pays to put a ward on the target while
+	// A ward is priced against the contract it is defending: a floor, or a slice of
-	// the contract is open. Cheap on purpose: helping has to be an impulse, or
+	// the fee, whichever is more. Warding someone has to stay an impulse at the
-	// nobody bothers and the window is just a countdown.
+	// cheap tiers (or nobody bothers and the window is just a countdown), but the
-	mischiefBlessingFee = 25
+	// M1-close-out sweep measured three wards buying roughly +40pp of survival —
+	// fighter L12 vs a boss at 70% HP goes 48% → 90%. At a flat fee that let the
+	// room halve a €1,200 boss contract for €75, which makes the tier the whole
+	// economy rests on feel like money thrown away. Saving someone from a boss
+	// should cost the town real money: €120 a ward, €360 to cover them completely.
+	mischiefBlessingFeeMin = 25
+	mischiefBlessingFeePct = 0.10
 
 	// mischiefBlessingCap — how many blessings one contract can carry. Three at
 	// +10% MaxHP each is a third of a health bar: enough to swing an elite
@@ -149,6 +155,17 @@ func mischiefNextTier(key string) (mischiefTier, bool) {
 	return mischiefTier{}, false
 }
 
+// mischiefBlessingFee is what one ward costs against a contract of this fee. It
+// reads the contract's CURRENT basis, so an escalation raises the price of
+// protecting its target too — the room's counterplay tracks the threat.
+func mischiefBlessingFee(contractFee int) int {
+	fee := int(math.Round(float64(contractFee) * mischiefBlessingFeePct))
+	if fee < mischiefBlessingFeeMin {
+		return mischiefBlessingFeeMin
+	}
+	return fee
+}
+
 // mischiefBlessingTempHP is the cushion a contract's blessings are worth to a
 // target of this MaxHP. At least 1 per blessing, so a low-HP character still
 // feels the ward they were bought.
@@ -580,17 +597,18 @@ func (p *AdventurePlugin) mischiefBoard() string {
 	b.WriteString("The monster comes from their own bracket, so it's always a fight worth watching. ")
 	b.WriteString("If they survive it, they keep a cut of your money — and the town finds out it was you.\n\n")
 	for _, t := range mischiefTiers {
-		b.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("· **%s** — %s (signed: %s) — survivor keeps %s\n   _%s_\n",
+		b.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("· **%s** — %s (signed: %s) — survivor keeps %s · ward %s\n   _%s_\n",
 			t.Display, fmtEuro(t.Fee), fmtEuro(mischiefSignedFee(t.Fee)),
-			fmtEuro(mischiefPurse(t.Fee, t.PayoutPct)), t.Blurb))
+			fmtEuro(mischiefPurse(t.Fee, t.PayoutPct)), fmtEuro(mischiefBlessingFee(t.Fee)), t.Blurb))
 	}
 	b.WriteString("\n`!mischief send <tier> @user` — anonymous · add `signed` to put your name on it up front.\n")
 	b.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf(
 		"While a contract is open, the rest of us get a say:\n"+
-			"· `!mischief bless @user` — %s, up to %d — a ward for the fight. Help them.\n"+
+			"· `!mischief bless @user` — a ward for the fight, up to %d of them. Help them. "+
+			"The worse the thing coming, the more a ward costs.\n"+
 			"· `!mischief escalate @user` — pay the difference, send something worse. \"Help\" them. "+
 			"It raises their purse too, if they live.\n",
-		fmtEuro(mischiefBlessingFee), mischiefBlessingCap))
+		mischiefBlessingCap))
 	b.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("_They have to be out on an expedition, level %d+. It lands about %s later._",
 		mischiefMinLevel, formatDuration(mischiefWindow)))
 	return b.String()
@@ -764,22 +782,26 @@ func (p *AdventurePlugin) mischiefBlessCmd(ctx MessageContext, fields []string)
 			"**%s** is already carrying every ward the town has to give (%d). The rest is up to them.",
 			p.DisplayName(targetID), mischiefBlessingCap))
 	}
-	if bal := p.euro.GetBalance(ctx.Sender); int(bal) < mischiefBlessingFee {
+	// Priced off the contract's current basis: warding someone against a boss costs
+	// what a boss is worth, and an escalation raises the price of saving them.
+	fee := mischiefBlessingFee(c.Fee)
+	if bal := p.euro.GetBalance(ctx.Sender); int(bal) < fee {
 		return p.SendReply(ctx.RoomID, ctx.EventID, fmt.Sprintf(
-			"A ward costs %s — you have %s.", fmtEuro(mischiefBlessingFee), fmtEuro(int(bal))))
+			"A ward against a %s costs %s — you have %s.",
+			strings.ToLower(c.Tier), fmtEuro(fee), fmtEuro(int(bal))))
 	}
-	if !p.euro.Debit(ctx.Sender, float64(mischiefBlessingFee), "mischief_blessing") {
+	if !p.euro.Debit(ctx.Sender, float64(fee), "mischief_blessing") {
 		return p.SendReply(ctx.RoomID, ctx.EventID, "Couldn't take your money. Try again.")
 	}
 	// The cap is enforced by the UPDATE, not by the read above — two people can
 	// buy the third ward in the same second, and only one of them may have it.
 	if !blessMischiefContract(c.ID) {
-		p.euro.Credit(ctx.Sender, float64(mischiefBlessingFee), "mischief_blessing_refund")
+		p.euro.Credit(ctx.Sender, float64(fee), "mischief_blessing_refund")
 		return p.SendReply(ctx.RoomID, ctx.EventID,
 			"Somebody got there first — the ward wasn't needed. You've been refunded.")
 	}
-	communityPotAdd(mischiefBlessingFee)
+	communityPotAdd(fee)
-	trackTaxPaid(ctx.Sender, mischiefBlessingFee)
+	trackTaxPaid(ctx.Sender, fee)
 
 	p.announceMischiefBlessing(c, ctx.Sender, c.BlessingCount+1)
 	p.SendDM(targetID, fmt.Sprintf(
@@ -902,7 +924,7 @@ func (p *AdventurePlugin) dmMischiefVictim(c *mischiefContract, tier mischiefTie
 			"anyone who likes you can `!mischief bless @%s` (%s each, up to %d).\n"+
 			"Walk away from it and their money is yours: **%s**. And we all find out who paid.",
 		who, strings.ToLower(tier.Display), formatDuration(time.Until(c.WindowEndsAt)),
-		p.DisplayName(c.TargetID), fmtEuro(mischiefBlessingFee), mischiefBlessingCap,
+		p.DisplayName(c.TargetID), fmtEuro(mischiefBlessingFee(c.Fee)), mischiefBlessingCap,
 		fmtEuro(mischiefPurse(c.Fee, tier.PayoutPct))))
 }
 

internal/plugin/adventure_mischief_test.go

@@ -586,6 +586,36 @@ func mischiefCtx(sender id.UserID) MessageContext {
 	return MessageContext{Sender: sender, RoomID: id.RoomID("!room:x"), EventID: id.EventID("$e")}
 }
 
+// A ward is priced against the thing it defends against. The M1-close-out sweep
+// measured three wards buying ~+40pp of survival, which at a flat fee let the room
+// halve a €1,200 boss contract for €75 — the tier the whole economy rests on,
+// bought off for pocket change. Cheap at the impulse tiers, real money at the top.
+func TestMischiefBlessingFee_ScalesWithTheContract(t *testing.T) {
+	want := map[string]int{"grunt": 25, "mob": 25, "elite": 35, "boss": 120}
+	for _, tier := range mischiefTiers {
+		if got := mischiefBlessingFee(tier.Fee); got != want[tier.Key] {
+			t.Errorf("%s ward = %d, want %d", tier.Key, got, want[tier.Key])
+		}
+		// Where a ward is a rational purchase — the tiers the sweep says can
+		// actually put someone on the floor — covering a target must cost less than
+		// the contract does. Otherwise the room's counterplay is priced out and the
+		// window is dead.
+		//
+		// Grunt and mob are deliberately exempt: the €25 floor is above-market
+		// there (3 wards cost more than a €40 grunt), and that is fine, because
+		// nothing in the sweep needs warding against theatre — those tiers sit at
+		// 100% survival unwounded. The floor is there to keep a ward an impulse
+		// buy, not to make it a sensible one against a goblin.
+		if tier.Key != "elite" && tier.Key != "boss" {
+			continue
+		}
+		if full := mischiefBlessingFee(tier.Fee) * mischiefBlessingCap; full >= tier.Fee {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %d wards cost %d, which is more than the %d contract — "+
+				"the room can't afford to save anyone", tier.Key, mischiefBlessingCap, full, tier.Fee)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // The cap lives in the UPDATE, not in the read that precedes it. A room that
 // piles four wards on in the same second must still land exactly three — and the
 // player who lost that race must get their money back rather than pay for
@@ -629,6 +659,7 @@ func TestMischiefBlessing_FeeIsASinkNotAPurseTopUp(t *testing.T) {
 
 	c := seedContract(t, "@buyer:x", target, "elite", false)
 	feeBefore := c.Fee
+	ward := mischiefBlessingFee(c.Fee) // 10% of the €350 elite fee
 
 	if err := p.mischiefBlessCmd(mischiefCtx(friend), []string{string(target)}); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("bless: %v", err)
@@ -642,11 +673,11 @@ func TestMischiefBlessing_FeeIsASinkNotAPurseTopUp(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("a blessing moved the payout basis to %d (was %d) — wards must not pay the target",
 			got.Fee, feeBefore)
 	}
-	if bal := p.euro.GetBalance(friend); bal != 500-mischiefBlessingFee {
+	if bal := p.euro.GetBalance(friend); bal != float64(500-ward) {
-		t.Errorf("blesser balance %.0f, want %d", bal, 500-mischiefBlessingFee)
+		t.Errorf("blesser balance %.0f, want %d", bal, 500-ward)
 	}
-	if pot := communityPotBalance(); pot != mischiefBlessingFee {
+	if pot := communityPotBalance(); pot != ward {
-		t.Errorf("pot holds %d, want the %d blessing fee", pot, mischiefBlessingFee)
+		t.Errorf("pot holds %d, want the %d ward fee", pot, ward)
 	}
 	// Broke, so the second ward can't be bought — and must cost nothing.
 	pauper := id.UserID("@pauper:x")

internal/plugin/mischief_delivery_sweep_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+package plugin
+
+// M1 close-out sweep for gogobee_mischief_plan.md — survival per tier through the
+// REAL delivery path (runMischiefInterrupt → runZoneCombatRoster), not through
+// SimulateCombat.
+//
+// The M0 sweep that priced the fee table measured a full-HP build in a single
+// chain. Two things it could not see, and both of them are why this exists:
+//
+//   - A real target is WOUNDED. The monster arrives mid-run, after the dungeon has
+//     already taken a bite out of them. The entryHP arm is the control-vs-treatment
+//     axis: 100% reproduces M0 through the new path (so a divergence there is a
+//     path bug, not a difficulty finding), 70% and 40% are what a live delivery
+//     actually lands on.
+//   - The M2 ward. `blessings` drives the same temp-HP cushion the room buys, so
+//     we can price what €75 of charity is actually worth against an elite.
+//
+// Run (heavy — see the plan's sim rules, n≥750 per cell for a real signal):
+//
+//	MISCHIEF_SWEEP=1 go test ./internal/plugin -run TestMischiefDeliverySweep -v -timeout 4h
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"math/rand/v2"
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"gogobee/internal/db"
+
+	"maunium.net/go/mautrix/id"
+)
+
+// mischiefDeliveryTrial seeds a real adventurer on a real expedition at the given
+// fraction of their max HP, sends them the tier's monster through the production
+// delivery path, and reports whether they were still standing.
+//
+// Survival is read the way the delivery reads it (HP > 0), not as "won every
+// fight" — an engine timeout with HP left is a target who held the thing off.
+func mischiefDeliveryTrial(
+	t *testing.T, p *AdventurePlugin, prof classBalanceProfile,
+	tierKey string, entryHPPct float64, blessings int, seq int, rng *rand.Rand,
+) (survived bool, endHPPct float64) {
+	t.Helper()
+	uid := id.UserID(fmt.Sprintf("@sweep%d:sim", seq))
+
+	c := buildHarnessCharacter(prof)
+	c.UserID = uid
+	c.HPCurrent = int(float64(c.HPMax) * entryHPPct)
+	if c.HPCurrent < 1 {
+		c.HPCurrent = 1
+	}
+	if err := createAdvCharacter(uid, "sweep"+strconv.Itoa(seq)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("createAdvCharacter: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := SaveDnDCharacter(c); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("SaveDnDCharacter: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	run, err := startZoneRun(uid, ZoneGoblinWarrens, prof.Level, rng)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("startZoneRun: %v", err)
+	}
+	expID := "exp-sweep-" + strconv.Itoa(seq)
+	if _, err := db.Get().Exec(`
+		INSERT INTO dnd_expedition (expedition_id, user_id, zone_id, run_id, status, start_date, coins_earned)
+		VALUES (?, ?, 'goblin_warrens', ?, 'active', ?, 0)`,
+		expID, string(uid), run.RunID, time.Now().UTC()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("seed expedition: %v", err)
+	}
+	exp, err := getActiveExpedition(uid)
+	if err != nil || exp == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("getActiveExpedition: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	bracket := mischiefBracketZone(prof.Level)
+	chain, ambush := mischiefMonsters(tierKey, bracket, rng)
+
+	_, _, survived = p.runMischiefInterrupt(uid, exp, bracket, chain, ambush, blessings)
+	hp, max := dndHPSnapshot(uid)
+	if max <= 0 {
+		max = 1
+	}
+	return survived, float64(hp) / float64(max)
+}
+
+func TestMischiefDeliverySweep(t *testing.T) {
+	if os.Getenv("MISCHIEF_SWEEP") == "" {
+		t.Skip("set MISCHIEF_SWEEP=1 to run")
+	}
+	trials := 250
+	if n := os.Getenv("MISCHIEF_TRIALS"); n != "" {
+		if v, err := strconv.Atoi(n); err == nil && v > 0 {
+			trials = v
+		}
+	}
+	newMischiefTestDB(t)
+	p := &AdventurePlugin{euro: NewEuroPlugin(nil)}
+	p.Sink = &captureSink{}
+
+	rng := rand.New(rand.NewPCG(20260713, 0x64656C6976657279))
+	profiles := []classBalanceProfile{
+		{Class: ClassPaladin, Level: 3},
+		{Class: ClassMage, Level: 4},
+		{Class: ClassMage, Level: 8, Subclass: SubclassEvocation},
+		{Class: ClassFighter, Level: 12, Subclass: SubclassChampion},
+		{Class: ClassRogue, Level: 20, Subclass: SubclassArcaneTrickster},
+		{Class: ClassCleric, Level: 20, Subclass: SubclassLifeDomain},
+	}
+	// entryHP 1.0 is the control arm: it should reproduce the M0 table through the
+	// real path. The wounded arms are the finding.
+	entryHPs := []float64{1.0, 0.7, 0.4}
+
+	seq := 0
+	fmt.Printf("\n%-26s %-6s %-7s %-6s %8s %10s\n",
+		"profile", "tier", "entryHP", "wards", "survive%", "avgEndHP%")
+	for _, prof := range profiles {
+		for _, tier := range mischiefTiers {
+			for _, entry := range entryHPs {
+				// The ward arm only where a ward could decide anything: the tiers the
+				// M0 sweep did not already call theatre.
+				wardArms := []int{0}
+				if tier.Key == "elite" || tier.Key == "boss" {
+					wardArms = []int{0, mischiefBlessingCap}
+				}
+				for _, wards := range wardArms {
+					wins, hpSum := 0, 0.0
+					for i := 0; i < trials; i++ {
+						seq++
+						ok, hpPct := mischiefDeliveryTrial(t, p, prof, tier.Key, entry, wards, seq, rng)
+						if ok {
+							wins++
+							hpSum += hpPct
+						}
+					}
+					avgHP := 0.0
+					if wins > 0 {
+						avgHP = hpSum / float64(wins) * 100
+					}
+					fmt.Printf("%-26s %-6s %6.0f%% %6d %7.1f%% %9.1f%%\n",
+						fmt.Sprintf("%s L%d %s", prof.Class, prof.Level, prof.Subclass),
+						tier.Key, entry*100, wards, float64(wins)/float64(trials)*100, avgHP)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}