Gameplay Reference¶

Game Identity¶

EchoSpire: Portals is a single-player, run-based roguelike deckbuilder with faction identity, class-based mechanics, deterministic generation, and a long-form campaign structure layered over repeatable runs.

The project should be treated as a professional game platform, not only a combat prototype.

Player Structure¶

The player selects a faction-aligned hero and completes runs that represent faction quests inside unstable realms connected through rifts.

Each run combines:

deterministic map and encounter generation from a seed
a faction worldview and campaign objective
a class-specific combat engine
persistent meta-progression outside the current run

The Run Loop¶

Each run is the execution of a faction quest.

The core structure is:

receive a quest from the faction
enter a realm or authored realm-chain built from rifts and sector objectives
explore under fog of war until the realm is anchored
fight, route, upgrade, shop, and resolve events
complete a major objective or boss encounter
return to safety with rewards, or fail and return as a collapsed echo

Macro Structure¶

The game has two major phases:

Faction Campaign: authored progression that secures a localized faction victory and establishes the faction's narrative ending.
Infinite Spire: procedural endgame runs for optimization, relic hunting, higher difficulty, and replayability.

Players are expected to create multiple heroes across different factions to see alternate campaign timelines.

Hero Progression¶

Persistent hero progression is part of the official design direction.

The current recommended model is:

hero level cap at 10
one binary class power choice at each level from 2 to 10
two specialization flavors per class
hybrid builds allowed

See Hero Progression And Difficulty for the full model.

Realm Structure¶

Realms are generated deterministically from seed data.

They are not just map biomes. They are unstable reality fragments that carry their own global rules, encounter pressures, and narrative role inside a quest.

The official campaign interpretation is that runs stay inside a single realm that acts as the quest's operational theater.

Important map rules:

initial visibility is limited by fog of war
the player must complete an Anchor Rift to fully reveal a realm
rift travel can be interrupted by anomaly events
once discovered, routes remain visible for the rest of the run

See Rift Types And Variables for the official node taxonomy and authoring model.

Realm Passives¶

Each realm should include a passive global effect that materially changes how that realm plays.

These passives may help, hurt, or do both at once.

They are part of the realm's identity and should influence combat, routing, reward valuation, or event pressure in a way that reflects the realm's fiction.

See Realm Framework for the official rules on realm identity, passive design, and single-realm quest structure.

Objective Protection And Escort Design¶

Protection and escort objectives are part of the official encounter model, not edge-case content.

That means the rules space must support keeping non-hero objectives alive through more than one play pattern.

The official requirement is:

every class must have a viable protection toolkit
at least one toolkit path must be available early, not only in late unlocks
different classes may solve protection through different fantasy-consistent methods
objective defense must support artifacts, machines, archives, civilians, and moving escorts

Not every class should rely on direct healing.

The intended solutions include Taunt, Intercept, block and mitigation, repair, suppression, decoys, Constructs, and other forms of battlefield control.

Classes¶

Anchor¶

Role: defensive mass tank.

Core identity: absorbs pressure, retains block through Density, and vents built mass into burst damage or control.

Drifter¶

Role: precision assassin.

Core identity: applies Echo-Lock, evades rather than tanks, and executes targets at exact timing windows.

Conduit¶

Role: high-risk area damage caster.

Core identity: borrows against future energy through Overload, clears boards, and survives the consequences.

Machinist¶

Role: combat engineer and board controller.

Core identity: deploys Constructs, gains value from automation, and turns setup into sustained advantage.

Catalyst¶

Role: unstable tempo manipulator.

Core identity: mutates cards into temporary anomalies, trades reliability for explosive turns, and plays around controlled chaos.

Factions¶

The factions are not cosmetic wrappers. They define the political viewpoint, campaign arc, passive identity, and part of the hero's available card space.

Legal Class Matrix¶

The current official class-faction eligibility is:

Class	Valerii	Syntacta	Aethari	Annalis	Salvari
Anchor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Drifter	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Conduit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Machinist	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Catalyst	No	No	Yes	No	Yes

Deck Structure Direction¶

The current official starter-deck rule is:

each hero starts with a 20-card deck
15 cards come from the class package
5 cards come from the faction package

The official upgrade direction is a single authored upgrade per card, not a branching upgrade tree.

That keeps balancing, simulation, and content production tractable while the game is still establishing its core card pool.

Official Content Direction¶

The GPT-5.4 content pass is the official direction for current card and tutorial design.

That means:

the terminology rulings in the glossary are canonical
the starter deck philosophy in the GPT-5.4 card set is the current reference direction
the GPT-5.4 tutorial stories are the preferred narrative tone for faction onboarding

Faction-Versus-Faction Encounters¶

The official direction includes faction-versus-faction combat through Rival Hero encounters.

This means the campaign should support battles against enemy class-faction combinations, not only monsters and anomalies.

See Campaign And Conflict Framework for the encounter model and narrative role.

Design Pillars¶

The current gameplay pillars are:

faction psychology matters as much as faction mechanics
deterministic systems should support testing and balancing, not limit creativity
classes should feel mechanically distinct from the first deck, not only after many unlocks
content should be authored in a way that can scale through data-driven systems
the shipping product must validate combat and progression in the real Unity client, not only in console or simulation layers