Chaos aims at no one

The client always offered CHAOS from the hint bar without a target,
and the engine refused it: "attack spells target a player". Not this
one — cast bare, it sweeps every other living wizard into the pile,
each offered their FULL SHIELD sit-out in turn order from the caster.
No stack forms; full shields only ever excluded a player from the
storm, so the queue is the whole defense. The older player-targeted
form stays accepted, so stored games replay unchanged. The scramble
joins the chronicle's notable events — a turn that redeals every hand
earns its eye.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_015RCWSTnb1KYTPyL4GmhGnF

packages/engine/src/automaton.ts

@@ -1374,19 +1374,25 @@ export function automatonCommand(
     const ownGoldCells = new Set(view.treasures
       .filter((t) => t.owner === view.you && t.position && !t.carriedBy)
       .map((t) => cellKey(t.position!)));
-    // A thief already underfoot is not a destination — with the chase
-    // moot, march on the real goals (deliver, grab) instead of standing
-    // on them forever.
-    const thiefAfar = thief && cellKey(thief.position) !== here ? thief : null;
+    // The chase exists to deliver a blow, so it claims the march only
+    // while that blow is still live: an attack in hand, this turn's
+    // attack unspent, casting not yet closed. Those gates hold still as
+    // the clockwork walks — a goal keyed to the thief's nearness flips
+    // underfoot and shuttles the walker on and off their square. Caught
+    // with the strike still live, it stands its ground (a goal underfoot
+    // ends the march); otherwise the gold has its legs for the turn.
+    const strikeLive = !view.turn.attackUsed && !view.turn.attackForbidden &&
+      !view.turn.actionsEnded && view.yourHand.some((c) => ATTACKS[c.cardId] != null);
+    const chasing = thief !== null && strikeLive;
     const objectives = cursedIdiot && ownGoldCells.size > 0
       ? ownGoldCells
-      : thiefAfar
-        ? new Set([cellKey(thiefAfar.position)])
+      : chasing
+        ? new Set([cellKey(thief.position)])
         : style === "berserker" && !self.carriedTreasureId
           ? (enemyCells.size > 0 ? enemyCells : gold)
           : gold;
     const path =
-      pathToward(view, self.position, objectives, { avoidNearEnemies: style === "worrier" && !thiefAfar, canUnlock }) ??
+      pathToward(view, self.position, objectives, { avoidNearEnemies: style === "worrier" && !chasing, canUnlock }) ??
       pathToward(view, self.position, objectives, { canUnlock }) ??
       pathToward(view, self.position, enemyCells, { canUnlock }) ??
       // No clean road to anything: grit the teeth and wade the hazards,

packages/engine/src/game.ts

@@ -4933,6 +4933,28 @@ function doCast(prev: GameState, cmd: Extract<Command, { type: "cast" }>): Comma
       }
       return { ok: true, state, events: events2 };
     }
+    // CHAOS aims at no one: cast bare, it sweeps every other living
+    // wizard into the pile, each offered their FULL SHIELD sit-out in
+    // turn order. (Full shields only exclude; nothing in the set cancels
+    // a zero-point storm, so the queue is the whole defense.) The older
+    // player-targeted form is still accepted below, so stored games
+    // replay unchanged.
+    if (inHand.cardId === "chaos" && (!cmd.target || cmd.target.kind !== "player")) {
+      consumeCast(state, caster, inHand, mods, false);
+      if (state.turn.attackUsed) state.turn.secondAttackUsed = true;
+      state.turn.attackUsed = true;
+      state.lastSpellUsed[caster.id] = inHand.cardId;
+      const events: GameEvent[] = [{
+        type: "spellCast", caster: caster.id, card: inHand, cardId: inHand.cardId,
+        numberCards: mods.numbers, numberValue: mods.magnitude.numberValue,
+        from: caster.position, target: null, targetCell: null,
+      }];
+      const queue = turnOrderFrom(state, caster.id).filter((id) =>
+        id !== caster.id && state.players.find((p) => p.id === id)!.alive);
+      state.chaosPending = { casterId: caster.id, excluded: [], queue };
+      finishChaosIfReady(state, events);
+      return { ok: true, state, events };
+    }
     if (!cmd.target || cmd.target.kind !== "player") return err("attack spells target a player");
     if (cmd.target.playerId === caster.id) return err("you cannot attack yourself");
     const target = state.players.find((p) => p.id === (cmd.target as { playerId: PlayerId }).playerId);

packages/engine/test/automaton.test.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import { pushSustained } from "./helpers";
 /** Whose input does the maze want right now? */
 function actingSeat(state: GameState): PlayerId {
   return (
+    state.wardPending?.ownerId ??
     state.stack?.waitingOn ??
     state.pendingDiscard ??
     state.chaosPending?.queue[0] ??
@@ -735,3 +736,42 @@ describe("the clockwork flees the dread", () => {
     }
   });
 });
+
+describe("the thief-chase holds one goal per turn", () => {
+  it("a clockwork beside its thief never shuttles on and off their square", () => {
+    let { state } = createGame({ playerIds: ["thief", "bot"], seed: 42, sets: ["basic", "expansion1"] });
+    // Round 2, thief's turn burned; the bot acts with a full allowance.
+    while (state.turn.round < 2 || state.players[state.turn.activeIndex]!.id !== "bot") {
+      const r = applyCommand(state, actingSeat(state), { type: "endTurn", draw: 0 });
+      if (!r.ok) throw new Error(r.error);
+      state = r.state;
+    }
+    const thief = state.players.find((p) => p.id === "thief")!;
+    const bot = state.players.find((p) => p.id === "bot")!;
+    // The thief carries the bot's gold and stands one step away.
+    const mine = state.treasures.find((t) => t.owner === "bot")!;
+    mine.carriedBy = "thief";
+    mine.position = null;
+    thief.position = { x: 2, y: 4 };
+    bot.position = { x: 2, y: 5 };
+    state.edgeOverrides[edgeKey({ x: 2, y: 4 }, "S")] = "open";
+    // A number card and no attacks: the blow the chase serves cannot land.
+    bot.hand = [];
+    bot.hand.push({ cardId: "number-2", instanceId: "N2" } as never);
+    const visited = [cellKey(bot.position)];
+    for (let guard = 0; guard < 40; guard++) {
+      const view = viewFor(state, "bot");
+      const cmd = automatonCommand(view, "hunter", "archmage") ?? automatonFallback(view, "archmage");
+      if (cmd.type === "endTurn") break;
+      const r = applyCommand(state, "bot", cmd);
+      if (!r.ok) break;
+      state = r.state;
+      const at = cellKey(state.players.find((p) => p.id === "bot")!.position);
+      if (cmd.type === "move" && at !== visited[visited.length - 1]) visited.push(at);
+    }
+    // No step may return to the square just departed: A-B-A is the shuttle.
+    for (let i = 2; i < visited.length; i++) {
+      expect(visited[i]).not.toBe(visited[i - 2]);
+    }
+  });
+});

packages/engine/test/casting.test.ts

@@ -402,6 +402,35 @@ describe("the ward window and chaos shields", () => {
     expect(state.players.find((p) => p.id === owner.id)!.hand.some((c) => c.cardId === "ward")).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  it("chaos casts bare — no target, every other wizard queued for a shield", () => {
+    let { state } = threeGame();
+    state = toRound2(state);
+    state = must(state, activePlayer(state).id, { type: "endTurn", draw: 0 });
+    const caster = activePlayer(state);
+    const others = state.players.filter((p) => p.id !== caster.id).map((p) => p.id);
+    const chaos = giveCard(state, caster.id, "chaos", "C", 0);
+    const shielder = others[0]!;
+    giveCard(state, shielder, "full-shield", "S", 0);
+    const shielderHand = () => state.players.find((p) => p.id === shielder)!.hand.map((c) => c.instanceId).sort();
+    const kept = shielderHand().filter((id) => id !== "full-shield#S").sort();
+
+    state = must(state, caster.id, { type: "cast", instanceId: chaos.instanceId });
+    // No stack: the queue opens at once, in turn order from the caster.
+    expect(state.stack).toBeNull();
+    expect(state.chaosPending?.queue.length).toBe(2);
+    const first = state.chaosPending!.queue[0]!;
+    state = first === shielder
+      ? must(state, first, { type: "counteract", instanceId: "full-shield#S" })
+      : must(state, first, { type: "pass" });
+    const second = state.chaosPending!.queue[0]!;
+    state = second === shielder
+      ? must(state, second, { type: "counteract", instanceId: "full-shield#S" })
+      : must(state, second, { type: "pass" });
+    expect(state.chaosPending).toBeNull();
+    // The shielded hand rode out the storm untouched.
+    expect(shielderHand()).toEqual(kept);
+  });
+
   it("chaos: bystanders may shield out, reflections are refused", () => {
     let { state } = threeGame();
     state = toRound2(state);

packages/web/src/net.svelte.ts

@@ -226,6 +226,7 @@ const NOTABLE_EVENTS = new Set([
   "firewallBurned", "objectThrown", "gameWon", "positionsSwapped",
   "teleported", "stonesDestroyed", "thumbOfGod", "stoneTurnedToWater",
   "waterwallCrashes", "sectorRotated", "sectorRelocated", "homeBasesSwapped",
+  "handsScrambled",
 ]);
 
 const SEAT_KEY = "wizwar-seat";