Archived Documents

Archived Documents

This file tracks documents that have been superseded or archived, preserving the design progression and decisions that led to changes.

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Session 18 — New Direction Archive (March 1, 2026)

Session 17 identified the root problem: 16 sessions of traditional RPG mechanics (dice, stats, card battles, phase-based win/lose) were fighting the game the players actually wanted. Session 18 locked in a new direction — Chef RPG is a collaborative creative prompt engine, not a traditional RPG.

This is the largest single archive event in the project’s history. Nearly every mechanics document from Sessions 1-17 is superseded. These documents are preserved for two reasons:

1. Design history — They show how the game evolved and why decisions were made and unmade
2. AI creativity research — This project explores whether genuine creative work can happen with AI assistance. The full trail of iteration, dead ends, and breakthroughs is part of that argument

→ See New Direction for why this happened → See Decision Log for the full archive manifest and new priorities

Exploration System (All Superseded)

Replaced by: Prompt-based exploration where card flips generate creative situations the group draws/acts/describes. No resolution system — the group narrates outcomes.

Cooking System (All Superseded)

Replaced by: Collaborative flip-draw-pass mechanic where players take turns drawing pieces of a dish.

Card Tables (All Superseded)

Replaced by: Cards now generate creative prompts, not lookup results. New prompt tables TBD.

Character System (Superseded)

Replaced by: Characters as narrative lenses — no stats, no bonuses. Each character sees situations differently. New character lens cards TBD.

Session Structure (Superseded)

Replaced by: Three-beat structure (Job → Explore → Cook → Present). Presentation ends with punchline, not score. Progression TBD.

Partially Relevant (Concept Survives, Mechanics Superseded)

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Session 10 Archive (February 8, 2026)

Exploration Card Tables - Hearts & Diamonds

Archived: 2026-02-08 (Session 10)

Files:

• Hearts Table - Proteins and Main Ingredients
• Diamonds Table - Vegetables and Side Ingredients

Why Archived:

These tables represented the original ingredient system where specific ingredient types were tied to card suits:

• Hearts = Proteins/Main ingredients (dragon steak, phoenix eggs, etc.)
• Diamonds = Vegetables/Side ingredients (enchanted lettuce, moonlit mushrooms, etc.)

Decision That Made Them Unnecessary:

During Session 10, we identified a practical design problem:

Problem: Tracking specific ingredients (“2 dragon steaks, 1 phoenix egg, 3 moonlit mushrooms”) was too granular for the target audience (11-13 year olds) and didn’t fit the GM-less, solo-first design philosophy.

Solution: Redesigned the ingredient system to be situation-based instead of type-based:

• Hearts/Diamonds now share the same 10 situation prompts (e.g., “Small Game”, “Fruit Trees”, “Abandoned Camp”)
• Suit determines difficulty/context (Hearts = easier, Diamonds = harder)
• Ingredients tracked as generic categories (“3 proteins, 2 vegetables, 1 spice”)
• Player imagination fills in genre-specific details

Replaced By:

• Red Cards - Ingredients - Consolidated situation-based ingredient table (now also archived as of Session 18)

Reference Value:

These archived tables still contain:

• Good fantasy ingredient examples (useful for genre-specific expansions)
• Original design thinking about ingredient categorization
• Inspiration for future ingredient tables if needed

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Archive Guidelines

When to archive a document:

• Design approach has been superseded by better solution
• Information is outdated but contains useful reference material
• Historical context is valuable for understanding progression

How to archive:

1. Add archived tag to frontmatter
2. Add status: archived to frontmatter
3. Add warning banner at top pointing to replacement document
4. Add entry to this file explaining why it was archived
5. Keep original content intact for reference

When to delete instead:

• Document contains no unique value (purely duplicative)
• Information is fully captured in git history
• No foreseeable reference use

For this project: default to archiving, not deleting. The design trail is part of the research value.