Decision Log & Backlog

Decision Log & Backlog

This document tracks locked-in decisions and prioritized work items.

The Session History list above is generated from all decision-log/YYYY-MM-DD entries in the content collection, sorted by date. Add a new dated file in src/content/chef/decision-log/ (e.g. 2026-02-15.md) and it will appear automatically. Optionally set sessionLabel in frontmatter (e.g. “Session 16”) for the list caption.

WORLD COSMOLOGY & VOICE LOCK-IN — Session 33 (May 2, 2026)

Major Discovery: Locked in the cozy mystery foundation for the diner. Drew firm inspiration from Midnight Burger (Seasons 1–2), Futurama, and Gravity Falls. Established the seed-based approach: imply, never explain.

Note: Session 32 had previously removed Midnight Burger references as “too specific.” Session 33 reinstates Midnight Burger as a tonal inspiration (the diner-shows-up-where-needed energy), without copying its specific lore.

Changes locked:

The Diner:

• The diner is alive in some way. A character with its own will and quirks.
• The crew can steer it, but it has its own ideas.
• Visual appearance is player-defined (no canonical look, like a sci-fi spaceship).
• Travel mechanism is player-defined (multiple framings offered, no single answer).

The Cosmology:

• Something or someone sends the diner. Never explicitly named.
• There is a pattern to where it lands. The sender knows. Players can piece it together over multiple sessions.
• Built-in long-form mystery for campaign play. One-shots remain self-contained.

The Seeds (in every kitchen, regardless of theme):

• Recipe cards that appear overnight (nobody wrote them, the recipes work).
• Order tickets on the rail with no customer attached.
• A self-updating chalkboard with specials, hints, and names only the sender knows.

Voice:

• No em dashes. Use periods, commas, or ellipses.
• Punchy sentences. Fragments and short bursts create rhythm.
• Imply, never explain. The mystery is part of the cozy mystery.

Rationale: The world had to be specific enough to inspire players but loose enough to let them bring their own genre, tone, and style. Implying the sender (rather than naming them) gives single-session play a self-contained mystery and gives campaigns a long-form discovery hook. The three seeds give the group concrete things to interact with, anchoring the abstract cosmology in physical objects every kitchen has.

Files Updated:

• vault-knowledge.md — Added “The World” section. Job flow corrected (5→4 flips). Em dashes scrubbed.
• vault-voice.md — Added punctuation rule (no em dashes).
• session-0.md — Rewrote opening to ground players in traveling diner concept. Em dash removed.
• session-0-tagline.md — Em dash removed.
• presentation.md — Em dash removed.
• presentation-reactions.md — Em dash removed.
• exploration-red.md — Added narrative intro grounded in traveling diner. Em dashes removed.
• exploration-black.md — Added narrative intro grounded in traveling diner. Em dashes removed.
• where-we-left-off.md — Updated for end of Session 33.

Next: Update project name to reflect new world identity. Apply world-building tone to remaining tables (cooking-red, cooking-black, misc-tables) if they need polish. Final em dash audit.

WORLD-BUILD JOB CREATION & ESTABLISH TRAVELING DINER — Session 32 (May 2, 2026)

Major Discovery: Removed abstract “players choose tone” and established a concrete world: your diner travels between worlds, landing in new strange yet familiar places each session.

Changes locked:

• The restaurant IS a traveling diner (not stationary)
• Each session: diner lands in a new world
• Job creation flow: “You’ve landed. Meet who’s here, why they need you, where you are, how much time you have”
• Rebuilt all four job creation intros to establish this narrative (no more “Flip a card. The rank tells you…”)
• Added meatier flavor text to all Client, Event, Location entries (matching Colostle’s world-building approach)
• Removed references to “Midnight Burger” concept (too specific)
• Job creation now reads as narrative flow with table entries as sentence completions

Rationale: Gives players a grounded world to build from while keeping genre-agnostic flexibility. Colostle-style world-building in the prose. Clear narrative arc across all four flips.

Next: Apply same world-building tone to Exploration tables.

STREAMLINE JOB CREATION — Session 31 (May 2, 2026)

Playtest Insight: Players brought their own world style and tone to each session. The world type flip created an extra interpretive step that caused pauses in play. Solution: remove it entirely. Simplify job creation to 4 flips (Client, Event, Location, Urgency). Let players own the tone and world aesthetic.

Changes locked:

• Remove world types (Block, Plush, Pocket, Wild)
• Remove tone as a flipped element
• Job creation: 4 flips instead of 5
• Tables simplified to single-column (was 4 columns, one per world)
• “Countdown” renamed to “Urgency” for clarity

Rationale: Faster decision-making, cleaner tables, more player agency. Players want to bring their own style, not interpret a random one.

NEW DIRECTION — Session 18 (March 1, 2026)

Everything in this section is historical context. Current locked decisions are above.

Sessions 1-17 built and rebuilt traditional RPG mechanics (dice, stats, card battles, phase-based win/lose) on top of a game that doesn’t want them. Session 17 identified the root cause: the mechanics were fighting the game. Session 18 locked in a new direction.

→ See New Direction for the full reasoning. → See Vault Knowledge for the rebuilt core truths.

✅ Locked-In Decisions (New Direction)

These replace all previous locked decisions. The old decisions above remain as historical record.

Identity

• Creative prompt engine dressed in the Today’s Specials world — not a traditional RPG
• Cards generate prompts and constraints, not outcomes
• The creative act IS the mechanic — drawing, acting, describing, building together

Core Loop

• Three beats: Get a Job → Go Somewhere Weird → Cook What You Found
• Session ends with a presentation to the client — reaction is the punchline, not a score
• No win/lose condition — the story is the point, every ending is a punchline

Creative Mechanics

• Collaborative drawing is the core mechanic — same pattern for encounters AND dishes
• Flip a card → draw a piece → pass to next player → repeat until something is done
• Time limits on creative acts keep it fast and funny — imperfection IS the comedy
• Works for building creatures, assembling dishes, drawing scenes

Characters

• Narrative lenses, not stat blocks — no stats, no bonuses, no point-buy
• Four character classes: Baker, Butcher, Barbaquere, Brewer
• Each class sees the same situation differently (Baker sees order and timing, Butcher sees cuts and use, Barbaquere sees heat and char, Brewer sees steep and blend)
• Character distinction is in perspective, not power

Preserved From Previous Design

• Today’s Specials theme and restaurant world
• Fantasy ingredient gathering in strange locations
• Cozy, funny tone — no death, comedic disasters only
• 45-60 minute sessions
• GM-less play
• Genre-agnostic framework
• Target audience: ages 11-13
• Job as a loose session container
• 5-star prestige system as progression ladder (details TBD)
• Group of 3+ as primary design target (solo as secondary bonus)

Materials

• Standard deck of playing cards
• Paper and pencils at every seat
• Timer (phone works)
• No dice

📦 Archive Manifest

These documents reflect the old mechanical system (Sessions 1-17). They should be archived, not deleted — they represent the design journey and are valuable for understanding how the game evolved.

Mechanics Documents (Superseded by New Direction)

Job Documents (Partially Relevant — Concepts Survive, Mechanics Don’t)

Documents That Remain Active

🔥 Priority 1: Define the New Game

Decisions to Make

These are the high-level design questions that need answers before any documents are written:

• Job Card Design — What information does a job card carry? (Client, occasion, location, constraints?)
• Exploration Prompt Structure — What do card flips map to? What’s on the prompt? How open-ended vs. structured?
• Exploration Pacing — How many flips per exploration? What determines “done exploring”?
• Cooking Component Structure — What do cooking card flips generate? (Ingredient type? Cooking method? Complication?)
• Cooking Pacing — How many flips to build a dish? How many dishes per session?
• Timer Design — How long per drawing round? Per flip? Is it global or per-turn?
• Character Lens Cards — What does a character “sheet” look like now? What’s on it?
• Presentation Mechanic — How does showing the dish to the client work? How is the reaction determined?
• Difficulty Scaling — What makes a 1-star job different from a 5-star job at this level?
• Progression (If Any) — Does progression exist? If so, what changes between sessions?

Documents to Create

Once decisions are made, these documents capture the new system:

• Session Structure — The three-beat flow (Job → Explore → Cook → Present)
• Exploration Prompts — What cards generate and how the group responds
• Cooking Prompts — The flip-draw-pass mechanic in detail
• Character Lens Cards — New character documents as narrative lenses
• Job Card Template — What a job card looks like and contains
• Presentation & Endings — How sessions close
• Quick-Start Guide — One page, everything you need to play

📚 Priority 2: Playtest and Iterate

• Paper prototype with cards, paper, pencils, timer
• First playtest with target audience
• Adjust pacing (timer durations, flip counts)
• Validate that the creative loop stays fun past the first session

Historical Locked Decisions (Sessions 1-17)

⚠️ SUPERSEDED — These decisions are preserved as historical record only. They do not reflect the current design direction. See “Locked-In Decisions (New Direction)” above for current truths.

Core Design

• GM-less, solo-first design that scales to groups (1-6 players)
• Target audience: Ages 11-13 (middle school)
• Quick sessions - one complete job per session (typically 30-60 minutes)
• Cards-only oracle system - single deck per session, no dice ever (Red/Black + Rank for outcomes)
• Character-driven adventure - exploration/gathering/cooking as narrative beats
• Genre-agnostic framework (fantasy, sci-fi, cartoon, etc.)
• Cozy/funny tone - no death, comedic failures only

Character System Concept

• Six character roles - Chef (required) + 5 specialists (Forager, Butcher, Pastry Chef, Host, Food Scientist)
• Character creation TBD - Point-buy system being redesigned for cooking-focused abilities
• Cooking-focused abilities - Specialist bonuses apply to cooking phase only (Pastry Chef/fruit bonuses, Butcher/protein bonuses, etc.)
• No exploration stats - Exploration uses oracle card system (Red/Black + Rank), not character stat bonuses
• Chef is the baseline - Required in all games, narrative value (it’s their restaurant)
• Same mechanics work in solo and group - Character abilities function identically in solo (Chef + NPC crew) or group play

Session Structure (Percentage-Based)

• Exploration Phase: 40% of session
• Cooking Phase: 30% of session
• Review/Event Phase: 15% of session
• Progression Phase: 15% of session
• Session length varies based on grid size and player count (typically 30-60 minutes)
• Focus on percentage allocation, not specific time limits

Exploration Phase - Redesigned (Undergoing Major Rebuild)

• Oracle card system - Card flips determine outcomes (Red = intended, Black = complication)
• Job-based scaling - Job tier determines exploration opportunities (1★ = 1-2, 5★ = 4-5 exploration scenes)
• Multiple exploration scenes - Not one big grid, but series of locations to gather ingredients
• High-beats-low card play - Simple card comparison mechanic (inspired by Colostle)
• Oracle tables - Lookups for what’s available at each location (TBD - pending design)
• Distance/resource system TBD - How each exploration opportunity is limited by cards/draws
• Generic ingredients - No typing/categories, just “ingredients” with a count
• Inventory constraint - Limited ingredient collection based on exploration opportunities
• Player narration - Players describe what’s happening during exploration card play

Cooking Phase - Redesigned (Undergoing Major Rebuild)

• High-beats-low card battles - Simple card comparison (inspired by Colostle combat)
• Job specifies dish count - Typical job = 3 dishes, scales by tier
• Ingredient hand - Players have cards from exploration phase
• Minimum ingredient requirement - Must have ≥ Y ingredients to attempt cooking (no ingredients = auto-fail)
• Dish battles - Flip one dish card at a time, choose which ingredient card to play against it
• High card wins - Highest card beats the dish, player narrates success
• Win majority - Win 2 out of 3 (or majority for larger dish counts) = job succeeds
• Player narration - Characters describe what they’re cooking and how while playing
• Character cooking specialties - Bonuses TBD (Pastry Chef fruit bonuses, Butcher protein bonuses, etc.)
• Generic ingredients - No category matching needed, just high vs low comparison
• Simple and fast - Completes cooking phase quickly without mechanical complexity

Job System - Tier Structure

• 5-star prestige system - Maps to restaurant reputation (1★ to 5★)
• Tier progression: Food truck (1★) → Casual dining (2★) → Fine dining (3★) → High-end (4★) → World-class (5★)
• Progressive XP curve - Higher tiers take more sessions to unlock
• Scaling by tier (TBD with new system):
  • Job tier determines exploration opportunities (TBD: exact counts per tier)
  • Job tier determines dish count (TBD: exact counts per tier)
• Ingredient requirements scale - Higher tiers require more total ingredients
• Complication system - Red/Black oracle outcomes create varied challenges by tier

Historical Priorities (Sessions 1-17)

These task lists tracked work under the old system. Preserved for reference.

Priority 1: Rebuild Foundations with New Oracle System

• Exploration Phase oracle tables & resource system (0% - never started)
• Cooking Phase specialist bonuses & game balance (mechanic locked, bonuses TBD)
• Review Phase redesign (not started)

Priority 2: Complete Game Loop

• Exploration encounter tables & movement (90% complete when superseded)
• Progression Phase (not started)

Priority 3: Polish & Expansion

• Quick-start guide, rulebook, character sheets, job card templates, facilitation guide
• Playtesting, balance, rules clarification

Last updated: March 1, 2026 — Session 18 (New Direction)