“You want to know what killed you? Sit. Drink. I’ll tell you everything — I always do, after.” — Ysolde Vane
The Contract With the Player
Secrets are real: Pressures escalate unseen, Twists reverse premises, and the party finds out the hard way. In exchange, after every run, the full ledger is revealed — every card drawn, every hidden rule that was active, every clock and when it started.
Why It Matters
- Fairness is provable. Death and disaster must always be reconstructable: the clue was there; the ledger shows it. Foreshadowing is placed at generation time so the reveal lands as recognition, not accusation.
- Stories need endings. The ledger converts a chaotic run into a tellable story — the roguelite water-cooler moment, made systemic.
- Ysolde is the ledger’s voice. The reveal is diegetic: she already knew, and she tells you over a drink. A UI pattern turned into characterization.
The Standing Rules
- Secrets are generation-time decisions, never mid-run improvisation — determinism is the fairness guarantee.
- NPCs and the dungeon obey the same rules as players.
- Foreshadowing for a Twist must exist somewhere findable in the run.