buff

"All effects are buffs. Some are just shitty."

Hosts: whatever the effect belongs to

A Sim gets caffeinated. A tavern gets haunted. A lantern burns down. Silver, as a material, harms anyone who wields it. Bob is smitten with Alice, whatever Alice thinks. In Fluxx, the rules get a new one.

Same fields, same clock, any host — character, room, object, prototype, relationship, ruleset.

• radiates: { to: occupants } reaches past the host, so a poisoned room hurts whoever is in it
• Places and materials outlive everything, so they need a real expires: — a timer keyed to the host's death never fires
• A prototype-hosted buff is inherited by everything delegating to it: Dwarf Fortress syndromes for free
• hosts: on a buff restricts it where it only makes sense somewhere; buff_policy.allowed_hosts on a world narrows a whole game. Default is any.

Rooms and objects can also just be characters. Anything can delegate to character — a forge that wants tending, remembers who banked the fire, takes turns and narrates is a character who is a place. Rooms already ADVERTISE into the same auction.

Host rules in full: SKILL.md § Hosts

MOOLLM K-Lines

| K-Line | Why Related | |--------|-------------| | simulation/ | Buffs live in simulation state | | time/ | Duration measured in simulation turns | | needs/ | Buffs affect need decay | | character/ | Buffs stored in character state | | cat/ | Cats can grant charm buffs | | dog/ | Dogs grant loyalty buffs | | persona/ | Personas grant buffs | | yaml-jazz/ | Semantic buffs (LLM interprets) | | adventure/ | The compiler that turns English guards into _js/_py snippets, and the engine that runs them | | room/ | Rooms host buffs, and can delegate to character to be animate | | examples/adventure-4/ | Grue-repellent in action |

Full Spec: SKILL.md

Overview

Temporary effects system. Buffs modify stats, abilities, or behavior. Curses are just negative buffs — no separate system needed.

Quick Example

buff:
  name: "Caffeinated"
  source: "Espresso"
  effect: { energy: +2, focus: +1 }
  duration: 5  # simulation turns

Key Concepts

| Concept | Description | |---------|-------------| | Numeric | { energy: +2 } | | Semantic | "feeling lucky" (LLM interprets) | | Mixed | Both stat mods and vibes | | Duration | Turns, natural language, or conditional | | Stacking | Same source refreshes, different sources add | | Compiled | English guard/tick/expires compile to _js and _py snippets the engine runs directly — a JIT for buffs, with deopt back to the prose (BUFF-IN-TIME-COMPILER.md) | | Synergies | Some buffs combine into stronger effects |

Lifecycle Hooks

Buffs have three lifecycle hooks, written as natural language prompts and compiled to JS:

| Hook | Compiles To | When It Runs | |------|-------------|--------------| | start | start_js | Buff activates on character | | simulate | simulate_js | Each simulation tick | | is_finished | is_finished_js | Returns true → buff ends |

buff:
  name: "Poison"
  start: "Character turns green, loses 1 HP immediately"
  simulate: "Lose 1 HP per tick, emit groaning sound"
  is_finished: "Character HP below 10 OR 5 ticks have passed"
  tags: [curse, damage-over-time]

Closure signature: (world, subject, verb, object) => { ... }

• subject = the character with the buff
• Body-only in YAML, engine wraps with signature

Standard Character Properties

Buffs modify these standard character stats:

Sims-Style Needs

| Property | Range | Decay | Description | |----------|-------|-------|-------------| | hunger | 0-100 | -1/hr | Need to eat | | energy | 0-100 | -2/hr | Tiredness, need for sleep | | social | 0-100 | -1/hr | Need for interaction | | hygiene | 0-100 | -0.5/hr | Cleanliness | | bladder | 0-100 | varies | Bathroom urgency | | fun | 0-100 | -1/hr | Entertainment need | | comfort | 0-100 | context | Physical comfort |

Mind-Mirror Stats (Cognitive/Emotional)

| Property | Range | Description | |----------|-------|-------------| | focus | 0-100 | Concentration, attention span | | mood | -100 to +100 | Emotional state (negative=sad, positive=happy) | | stress | 0-100 | Anxiety level | | creativity | 0-100 | Creative thinking capacity | | confidence | 0-100 | Self-assurance | | patience | 0-100 | Tolerance for delays/frustration | | curiosity | 0-100 | Drive to explore/learn |

Combat/Adventure Stats

| Property | Range | Description | |----------|-------|-------------| | hp | 0-max | Health points | | damage | numeric | Attack power | | armor | numeric | Damage reduction | | speed | numeric | Movement/action rate | | luck | -100 to +100 | Chance modifier |

Room Properties

A room holds these itself, and buffs modify them like any other stats:

| Property | Affects | Example | |-----------------|---------|---------| | production_speed | Work rate in room | Well-lit forge +20% = faster crafting | | error_rate | Mistake probability | Haunted +30% = more accidents | | comfort_bonus | Comfort granted to visitors | Cozy +15 comfort | | mood_influence | Mood effect on occupants | Creepy -10 mood | | discovery_chance | Finding hidden things | Mysterious +25% secrets | | danger_level | Hazard intensity | Cursed = traps more deadly |

# A library that is also someone — it delegates to `character`, so it wants
# things, takes turns, and narrates its own buff ticks.
room:
  id: old-library
  name: "The Old Library"
  delegates_to: [room, character]

  production_speed: 100    # Books found per search
  error_rate: 5            # % chance of disturbing something
  mood_influence: -5       # Slightly creepy
  discovery_chance: 20     # Good for finding secrets

  wants: { be_read_in: 7, be_dusted: 4 }

  buffs:
    - id: poltergeist-activity
      effect: { error_rate: +15, mood_influence: -20 }
      simulate: "Occasionally knock books off shelves"
      radiates: { to: occupants, effect: { unease: +2 }, while: present }
      expires: { when: "the salt line is renewed" }

A room does not have to be animate — an ordinary room holds buffs and ticks silently. Delegating to character is what buys wanting, acting, and narrating.

Sources

| Source | Example | |--------|---------| | Interactions | Petting cat → joy | | Consumables | Coffee → energy | | Locations | Pub → comfort | | Items | Lamp → grue immunity | | Personas | Theme-specific buffs |

Buff Library

Pre-made buffs ready to use! See buffs/INDEX.yml:

# Reference from any character
character:
  buffs:
    - ref: skills/buff/buffs/INDEX.yml#fire-resistance
    - ref: skills/buff/buffs/INDEX.yml#haste
    - ref: skills/buff/buffs/INDEX.yml#grue-repellent

Categories in library:

• Elemental resistances (fire, cold, lightning)
• Movement (haste, water-walking, slow-fall)
• Perception (darkvision, true-sight, detect-magic)
• Stealth (invisibility, silence)
• Combat (berserker-rage, stoneskin)
• Adventure-4 specific (grue-repellent!)

Tools Required

• file_read — Read buff definitions
• file_write — Update buff state

Relationship to Mount

| Layer | Purpose | |-------|---------| | Buff | Game mechanics — stats, durations, stacking, chains | | Mount | Skill overlays — personality modification, room zones |

Buffs are for numeric/semantic effects (energy +2, "feeling lucky"). Mounts are for skill attachment (NO-AI-JOKING™ on Pee-wee).

They can work together: a mounted skill might grant buffs, or a buff might reference a skill.

See: mount/ for skill mounting, NO-AI Brand for mounting philosophy.

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See SKILL.md for complete specification. See buffs/INDEX.yml for the buff library.