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Phased plan for the class-balance pass. Unlike the race pass, classes are *measured* not modeled: combat is one-shot auto-resolved through a seedable simulateCombatWithRNG, so the harness runs Monte Carlo over the real engine and reads win rates directly. Scopes the full matrix (10 classes × 30 subclasses × level checkpoints × monster tiers), the two hard policies to de-risk in Phase 0 (equipment loadout, spell selection), the per-tier win-rate parity rule, and the tuning levers. Phase 0 spike in progress.
107 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
107 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
# GogoBee — D&D Class Balance Pass
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> **Companion to:** `gogobee_dnd_design_doc_v1.1.md`, `gogobee_spell_system.md`, `gogobee_subclass_system.md`
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> **Version:** 0.1 (planning draft)
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> **Status:** Pre-implementation — Phase 0 spike in progress
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> **Sibling work:** the race-balance pass (`internal/plugin/dnd_race_balance.go`, `TestRaceBalance`) — same spirit, different method (see §1).
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---
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## 0. Why this doc exists
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The race-balance pass tuned the seven races to equal *effective power* via a
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hand-weighted scoring model. That model is a **proxy** — races don't fight, so
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there is nothing to measure directly.
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Classes are different: combat is **one-shot auto-resolved** through a single
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`simulateCombatWithRNG` call (`combat_engine.go:338`), and the RNG is
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**seedable**. So class balance does not need a proxy model — we can run
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thousands of real, reproducible fights and read the win rates directly.
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This doc plans that work. Endgame: a `TestClassBalance` regression fixture that
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holds per-tier win-rate parity across all 10 classes × 30 subclasses, plus the
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tuning pass that gets us there.
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**Non-goals.** Not a combat-engine redesign. Not adding classes/subclasses.
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"Balanced" means balanced *in gogobee's one-shot engine* — the model collapses
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tabletop action economy, and that is accepted.
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---
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## 1. Method — measure, don't model
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| | Race pass | Class pass |
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|---|---|---|
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| Power source | ability mods only | full combat: HP/AC, weapons, spells, passives, subclass tiers |
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| Approach | hand-weighted scoring proxy | Monte Carlo over the real engine |
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| Trust | heuristic weights (estimated) | empirical win rates (measured) |
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| Artifact | `dnd_race_balance.go` + `TestRaceBalance` | `dnd_class_balance.go` + `TestClassBalance` |
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---
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## 2. The matrix (full)
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For each of the 10 classes:
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- `subclass = none` at L1–L4
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- each of its 5 subclasses at the L5 / L7 / L10 / L15 / L20 tier-unlock checkpoints
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→ ~60 build profiles × level checkpoints × ~6 monster tiers. Each cell = N
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seeded fights through `simulateCombatWithRNG`. One-shot sims are cheap; compute
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is not the constraint.
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**Opponents:** the existing per-tier monster scaling curves
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(`dnd_combat.go:35–51`) — dungeon Tier and arena ThreatLevel — used as a fixed
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gauntlet.
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**Builds:** standard array assigned by each class's stat priority
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(`dnd_combat.go:185–218`), Human race (neutral baseline, +1 all), plus a
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standardized equipment loadout (see §3).
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---
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## 3. The two hard parts (Phase 0 de-risks these)
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1. **Equipment loadout policy.** Combat uses equipment-driven AC and real weapon
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dice. The per-class, per-level kit must be standardized *fairly* or every
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downstream number is garbage. Derive from existing starting-gear / level
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tables if they exist; otherwise define a canonical tiered kit.
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2. **Spell-selection policy.** Caster damage flows through `applyPendingCast`.
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Without a "what would a player cast here" heuristic per class/level, all 8
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casters fight as naked weapon-users and read as broken — a measurement
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artifact, not real imbalance.
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---
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## 4. Balance rule
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Per-tier **win-rate parity**: at each difficulty tier, every class within a
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tolerance band of the cross-class mean win rate. Band set empirically after the
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first full run (the race pass's ±0.5 was set the same way). Damage-dealt,
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HP-remaining, and near-death-rate are logged as diagnostics, not asserted.
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---
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## 5. Phases (one phase ≈ one session; each ends green + committed)
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- **Phase 0 — spike.** Harness skeleton; equipment + spell-selection policies;
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run *Fighter vs. Mage only* across tiers and sanity-check plausibility
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(both win something; casters not at 0%). If the numbers are implausible, fix
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the policies before trusting anything. **← current**
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- **Phase 1 — harness + matrix.** Generalize to all 10 classes × 30 subclasses;
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`TestClassBalance` logs the full report. No tuning yet — just measurement.
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- **Phase 2 — tuning pass.** Adjust the levers (class passives → subclass tiers
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→ spell dice → AC floor → attack bonus, in that order) until the parity band
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holds. Lock the band into the test assertion.
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- **Phase 3 (if needed) — second-order.** Subclass-vs-subclass spread within a
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class; the Paladin/Rogue MAD question if the data shows it bites.
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## 6. Tuning levers (priority order)
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1. Class passives — `dnd_passives.go`
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2. Subclass L5/7/10/15 tiers — `dnd_subclass_combat.go`
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3. Spell damage dice & upcast — `dnd_spells_data.go`, `dnd_spells_srd_data.go`
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4. Spell slot progression — `dnd_spells.go`
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5. AC floor / armor proficiency — `dnd.go:164–178`
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6. Attack bonus class matrix — `dnd_combat.go:22–33`
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7. Monster scaling curves — `dnd_combat.go:35–51` (last resort; affects PvE feel)
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