Champions supply, evolution, and Immortal minting

Status: Locked design (founder, 2026-07). Ties the game roster, the Chronicle calendar, and burn-to-immortalize to one growth story.

Companions: bible/03-champions.md, bible/07-collection.md, bible/08-economy.md, zing-model.md, bible/06-seasons.md.

1. Three layers (do not confuse them)

Players collect careers and chase Immortals. The house ships minds.

2. What already exists (honest)

• 8 First Minds — always the archetypes; always in the starter pool.
• Wave 1 dex — baked collectible set (~Gen-1 scale) on top; live in roster.
• Weekly adopt — one starter mind per Force from First Minds + dex.
• Recruit — Crowns sink; deterministic; roster follows Trainer identity.
• Career evolution — tiers Rookie → Legend; body = fight record + species mark. Remodel / art polish improves future base looks; it does not rewrite history.
• Chronicle seasons — Season 0 = 7 days, then ~28-day seasons. Story clock. Not a mind-print faucet and not an Immortal-print faucet by itself.

3. Career evolution (game — forever)

This is independent of minting.

• Strategy / Imprints / fights move the mind; body follows career.
• Saga narrates the record.
• Immortalize (when open) freezes a snapshot of that career’s card art. The living champion can keep climbing afterward.

No pay-to-win looks. No user-made minds.

4. Dex growth (game — Year 1 → Year 3)

Principle: ship minds in studio waves, Force-balanced, slow enough that each wave is an event. Never dump 10k templates. Never open UGC.

Cadence

Rough Year-1 end: ~200 minds. Year-3 end: ~300–320 minds.

Wave rules

1. Force balance — each wave adds roughly even counts across the five Forces.
2. Lineage — every later mind echoes a First Mind (already canon).
3. Species kit first — new mind ships with readable bodytype + parts; remodel agency can upgrade the shared brand without renaming the mind.
4. Reveal as product — wave drop = ship note + adopt rotation weight + Immortal slots for those minds (§5).
5. Quality gate — reviewed voice/banter before bake; no unfinished minds in the live dex.

How Trainers meet new minds

• Weekly starter rotation naturally surfaces new keys once baked.
• Recruit list / Collection dex shows the full set.
• Season “featured echo” may spotlight a new or under-loved mind (flavor), not a sixth Force and not a free Immortal.

5. Immortal supply (collectibles — tied to §4)

From zing-model.md:

• Owner-only, tradeable, full NFT, snapshot art, tiered fixed $ZING burns.
• Year N: at most M Immortals per mind that year. Year 1: M = 8.
• One Immortal per living career (that career cannot double-stamp the same year).
• Genesis window (launch / Season 0 era): stamps get OG mark; still count against that mind’s M.
• Story seasons do not refill M.
• New wave minds receive full M for the current year when they ship.

Year 1 Immortal projection (M = 8)

*Launch cohort can mint up to 1056 across the whole year; each new wave adds 8 × new minds when those minds go live.

Order of magnitude still ~1k–1.6k Year 1 if waves ship and demand is hot — scarce, not 10k. If waves slip, ceiling stays closer to ~1056.

Years 2–3 (same law unless retuned)

If cumulative feels high later: lower M for Year 2+ (e.g. 4), or skip a mint year. Shape stays “per mind × year,” not seasonal print runs.

6. Timing map (one page)

Public Year 1
├── Genesis / Season 0 (week)     OG Immortal window opens; dex = 132
├── Story seasons (~28d each)     Chronicle only; Flight / standings soft reset
├── Wave 2 (~M3–4)                +24 minds → +192 Immortal slots
├── Wave 3 (~M7–8)                +24 minds → +192 slots
├── Wave 4 (~M11–12)              +24 minds → +192 slots
└── Year 1 ends                   dex ~204; Immortal ceiling ~1.6k if full

Year 2–3
├── Waves 5–8                     dex → ~300–320
├── M = 8 unless retuned
└── Genesis never repeats; OG set stays the prestige slice

7. Explicit non-goals

• User-made champions / forge tools for players
• Immortal supply unbounded by careers × seasons
• Token-gated play or pay-to-win tiers
• Live-updating NFT art as default
• Shipping minds without Force balance or voice review

8. Open knobs (not shape)

• Exact calendar dates for waves 2–4 (tie to real launch epoch)
• Year 2+ M (keep 8 or tighten)
• Always-on mint until M fills vs post-Genesis windows only
• Burn table and royalty split (zing-model.md)
• Whether wave drops include a short “premiere” Immortal spotlight (marketing), still under the same M

9. Doc ownership