The clockwork stops absorbing nothing

An automaton answered DROP OBJECT with an Absorb, then a Blunt —
two counters drained against a spell that carries no points. The
brain's price table listed only the classic damage spells; anything
unknown was guessed at 2 points, which tripped every damage-counter
rung. Utility attacks (dropping, dragging, swapping, peeking) now
route past those rungs entirely: the bot passes, or spends a full
stop when the effect actually threatens something — a shield for the
treasure it carries, a worrier's refusal to be dragged. Stone Dead,
Butt Head, Heave-Ho, and Illusionary Attack join the price table
while the hood is up.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

packages/engine/src/automaton.ts

@@ -53,8 +53,18 @@ const ATTACKS: Record<string, { base: number; perNumber: boolean; needsNumber?:
   "large-rock": { base: 2, perNumber: false },
   "blaster-wand": { base: 3, perNumber: false },
   disease: { base: 3, perNumber: false, sameSquare: true },
+  "butt-head": { base: 2, perNumber: false },
+  "heave-ho": { base: 2, perNumber: false },
+  "illusionary-attack": { base: 3, perNumber: false },
 };
 
+/** Attacks that carry no points: dropping, dragging, swapping, peeking.
+ * A damage counter drains against nothing — only a full stop denies them. */
+const UTILITY_ATTACKS = new Set([
+  "drop-object", "teleport-opponent", "mental-force", "mental-swap", "swap",
+  "swap-meet", "card-erasure", "telepath", "sticky-wand", "shift-wand",
+]);
+
 /**
  * Afflictions cast at an enemy: no damage, but a turn of misery. Cast with a
  * number for the duration where one helps.
@@ -269,8 +279,22 @@ function respond(view: GameView, style: AutomatonStyle, tier: TierTraits): Comma
   const attackId = stack.attackCard?.cardId ?? null;
   const atk = attackId ? ATTACKS[attackId] : null;
   const affliction = attackId ? AFFLICTIONS[attackId] != null : false;
+
+  if (attackId && UTILITY_ATTACKS.has(attackId)) {
+    const stopper = find("full-shield") ?? find("force-field");
+    const stakes =
+      (attackId === "drop-object" && me(view).carriedTreasureId != null) ||
+      ((attackId === "teleport-opponent" || attackId === "mental-force" || attackId === "swap") &&
+        style === "worrier");
+    if (stopper && stakes) return { type: "counteract", instanceId: stopper.instanceId };
+    return { type: "pass" };
+  }
+
   const incoming = stack.attackCard
-    ? (atk ? atk.base + (atk.perNumber ? stack.numberValue ?? 1 : 0) : 2)
+    ? attackId === "stone-dead"
+      // NUMBER times the stones in the victim's hand — our hand.
+      ? (stack.numberValue ?? 1) * view.yourHand.filter((c) => STONES.has(c.cardId)).length
+      : (atk ? atk.base + (atk.perNumber ? stack.numberValue ?? 1 : 0) : 2)
     : 1;
   if (stack.kind === "spell") {
     // REVERSE turns the biggest blasts into a meal.