# AI Card Brainstorm

Based on the charge system, upgrade economy, and tactical positioning of the game, here are some card ideas that would create interesting decisions.

Charge numbers [x/y] mean "costs x per use" and "has y capacity"



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## 5 CORE WEAPONS (Primary or frequently-used tactical choices)

### 1. Sword (Primary)
**Theme**: Melee weapon with positioning constraint
- [1 damage] No charge cost! Can use repeatedly. But can ONLY attack the leftmost robot and has limited upgrade potential.
- **Upgrades**: 
  - U1: +1 damage

### 1b. Shock Baton (Primary)
**Theme**: Electric variant on the sword idea
- Charge capacity = 2
- On hit, discharges all charge
- deals 1 electric dmg per charge spent
- overkill splashes to neighbor
- **Upgrades**: 
  - U1: +1 capacity
  - U2: +1 capacity
  - U3: On kill, stun the next robot for 1 turn

### 2. Scatter Cannon  (Primary)
**Theme**: Unpredictable shotgun spread
- **[1/2]** Costs 1 charge. Deals 2 damage to target, 50% chance to deal 1 damage to each adjacent robot.
- The randomness makes it exciting but unreliable for precise planning
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: +1 capacity
  - U2: Splash becomes 80% likely
  - U3: +1 splash damage

### 3. Bolt-Action Railgun (Primary)
**Theme**: High-skill weapon with reload mechanic
- Deals 3 damage. But after each shot, requires a reload (clicking the gun spends the action to fire if it's loaded, or spends the action to reload if it's not; text on card shows state).
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: +1 damage
  - U1: +1 damage
  - U3: Reload also grants +1 charge to all equipment

### 4. Chain Gun (Primary)
**Theme**: Setup weapon with continuous fire, economical on actions but needs energy
- **[1/3]** First use: "Spin Up" (costs an action but 0 charges, does nothing). Once spun up, each subsequent turn it can be fired ONCE as a FREE ACTION (costs zero action but requires 1 energy) until it runs out of charge.
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: +1 capacity
  - U2: +1 damage
  - U3: +1 capacity

### 5. Pulse Rifle (Primary)
**Theme**: Burst-fire weapon with rhythm gameplay
- **[3/3]** Costs 1 charge. Deals 1 damage. Every 3rd shot deals 3 damage instead.
- Shot counter persists across recharges, creating a rhythm mini-game
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: +1 capacity
  - U2: Every 3rd shot also grants +1 charge other equipment
  - U3: Burst damage increases to 4

---

## 5 BOLD NON-CORE WEAPONS (Powerful but situational/expensive)

### 1. Overcharge Beam (Secondary)
**Theme**: Converts future potential into current power
- **[1/1]** Costs ALL your upgrade points (minimum 1) as fuel. Deals damage equal to (upgrade points spent × 2) to ALL ROBOTS.
- Creates agonizing choice: use my precious upgrades as a nuclear option?
- **Upgrades**:  cannot be upgraded (it's hungry enough!)

### 2. Siphon Projector (Secondary)
**Theme**: Steal life, risk/reward
- **[1/2]** Costs 1 charge AND 1 HP FROM PLAYER. Deals 2 damage to target. Regains a charge if it kills.
- High risk: you need to know if you'll kill them or not
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: +1 capacity
  - U2: +1 dmg
  - U3: +2 dmg but +1 hp cost

### 3. Recursive Decimator (Secondary)
**Theme**: Escalating power, escalating cost
- **[0/6]** First use costs 1 charge (deals 1 dmg), second use costs 2 charges (deals 2 dmg), third costs 3 charges (deals 3 dmg). Resets after combat or after reaching max.
- Great for long fights, terrible if you miscalculate charge
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: +2 capacity
  - U2: Damage starts at 2 instead of 1

### 4. Entropy Cannon (Secondary)
**Theme**: Chaos weapon
- **[2/2]** Costs 2 charges. Randomly targets a robot and deals 1-6 damage (equal distribution).
- Pure chaos, but can be clutch or disastrous
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: +1 capacity
  - U2: Damage range becomes 3-6
  - U3: +1 capacity

---

## 10 POWERFUL CONSUMABLES (Use vs. scrap tension)

FEATURE UPGRADE: ALL CONSUMABLES SHOULD BECOME FREE ACTIONS

### 1. Emergency Teleporter
**Effect**: Immediately end combat. All robots flee. You take no loot from this encounter.
- Nuclear escape button, but you lose rewards

### 2. Chrono Injector
**Effect**: +3 actions this turn
- Massive power spike, could turn a fight

### 4. Full Capacitor
**Effect**: Fully charges all equipment

### 5. Mag-Shield Generator
**Effect**: For this combat, reduce all physical damage to 1.
- Incredible defensive option for tough fights

### 7. EMP Grenade
**Effect**: Deal 3 damage to target robot. That robot is stunned (does not act) on their next turn.

### 8. Repair Nanites
**Effect**: Restore 5 HP. Then, fully charge all equipment.
- Heal + charge makes this super valuable
- Scrap value: 2 upgrade points

### 9. Combat Stim
**Effect**: For this combat, after you kill a robot, immediately take another action (once per turn).
- Snowballs if you can get kills

### 10. Flame Grenade
**Effect**: Deal 4 fire damage to target robot and 2 fire damage to all other robots.

---

## DESIGN NOTES

### Tactical Considerations Created:
- **Positioning matters**: Shock Baton and Chain Gun care about leftmost position
- **Action economy**: Chain Gun and Precision Laser create timing puzzles
- **Resource gambling**: Overcharge Beam and Siphon Projector add risk
- **Charge management**: Different costs create diverse loadout strategies
- **Randomness**: Scatter Cannon and Entropy Cannon add excitement

### Upgrade Point Tension:
- Several consumables have high scrap values (2-3 points)
- Overcharge Beam literally consumes upgrade points
- This forces "do I need this NOW or upgrade for the FUTURE?" decisions

### Complexity Levels:
- Simple: Shock Baton, Target Analyzer, Mag-Shield
- Medium: Scatter Cannon, Pulse Rifle, Phase Grenade
- Complex: Chain Gun, Recursive Decimator, Combat Stim
- Can mix/match based on what's appropriate for different points in the game

### Implementation Difficulty:
**Easy** (reuse existing patterns):
- Shock Baton (just check position)
- Target Analyzer, Mag-Shield (buff tracking)
- Scatter Cannon (RNG + adjacent targeting)

**Medium** (new state tracking):
- Chain Gun (needs "spinning" flag)
- Pulse Rifle (shot counter)
- Recursive Decimator (usage counter)
- Combat Stim (extra action this turn)

**Hard** (new systems):
- Overcharge Beam (consume upgrade points as resource)
- Emergency Teleporter (end combat early)
- Overclock Chip (override charge system)

Would recommend implementing the Easy ones first to add variety quickly, then cherry-pick Medium ones that fit your timeline!

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## 8 PASSIVE GEAR ITEMS

### 1. Shield Pack (Core defensive gear)
**Theme**: HP protection through charge
- **[1/1]** Whenever you would lose HP to physical damage, instead lose shield charge if available.
- Essential defensive gear, straightforward
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: +1 capacity
  - U2: +1 capacity
  - U3: Also shields fire and electric damage

### 2. Battery Pack (Core charge gear)
**Theme**: Alternative charge source
- **[2/2]** Whenever another piece of equipment would spend charge, Battery will spend its own charge instead, if available.
- Creates charge pooling strategy
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: +1 capacity
  - U2: +2 capacity
  - U3: When recharged, 1 extra charge

### 3. Environment Suit (Scaling defense)
**Theme**: Does nothing at first, powerful when upgraded
- **[0/0]** No effect initially. Each upgrade unlocks resistance.
- Upgrade bait: looks weak but becomes amazing
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: -1 fire damage taken
  - U2: -1 electric damage taken
  - U3: -1 physical damage taken (all damage types now!)

### 4. Momentum Core (Offensive synergy)
**Theme**: Rewards aggressive play
- **Passive**: After you kill a robot, your next attack this turn deals +1 damage.
- Encourages multi-kill turns, synergizes with low-damage weapons
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: Bonus becomes +2 damage
  - U2: Also gain +1 charge to a random weapon on kill
  - U3: Bonus persists for 2 attacks instead of 1

### 5. Recycler Unit (Charge recovery)
**Theme**: Converts damage into charge
- **Triggered**: Whenever a robot dies, gain +1 charge to a random weapon.
- Passive charge generation, rewards kills
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: Charge gain becomes +2
  - U2: You choose which weapon gets the charge
  - U3: Also triggers when YOU damage (not kill) a robot with 3+ HP

### 6. Fortified Plating (Flat damage reduction)
**Theme**: Simple but effective tanking
- **Passive**: Take -1 damage from all sources (minimum 1).
- Always useful, scales well into late game
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: Reduction becomes -2
  - U2: Minimum damage becomes 0 (can fully negate 1-2 dmg attacks!)
  - U3: At start of each combat, gain 2 HP

### 7. Overcharger Circuit (High-risk charge boost)
**Theme**: Gambling your HP for power
- **Triggered**: At the start of combat, lose 2 HP and gain +2 charges to all weapons.
- Powerful opener but costs HP
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: HP cost becomes 1
  - U2: Charge bonus becomes +3

### 8. Salvage Kit (Economy gear)
**Theme**: Converts kills into upgrades
- **Triggered**: Every 6th robot you kill (tracked across all combats), gain +1 upgrade point.
- Long-term economy boost
- **Upgrades**:
  - U1: Every 5th kill instead
  - U2: Every 4th kill instead
  - U3: Also: when this triggers, heal 3 HP

---

## GEAR DESIGN NOTES

### Mix of Effects:
- **Core utility**: Shield Pack, Battery Pack (fill the missing slots)
- **Scaling with upgrades**: Environment Suit, Salvage Kit (late-game power)
- **Combat synergy**: Momentum Core, Recycler Unit (tactical rewards)
- **Flat defense**: Fortified Plating (simple, reliable)
- **Risk/reward**: Overcharger Circuit (powerful but costly)

### Implementation Difficulty:
**Easy** (passive stat mods):
- Shield Pack (copy existing pattern from GAME.md)
- Battery Pack (copy existing pattern from GAME.md)
- Environment Suit (damage reduction by type)
- Fortified Plating (global damage reduction)

**Medium** (event triggers):
- Momentum Core (track "just killed" state this turn)
- Recycler Unit (on-death trigger)
- Overcharger Circuit (start-of-combat trigger)

**Medium+** (cross-combat tracking):
- Salvage Kit (persistent counter across fights)

### Upgrade Philosophy:
Most gear follows the pattern:
- U1/U2: Incremental improvements
- U3: Transformative or game-changing effect
This makes upgrading feel impactful while keeping gear useful at base level

