Turn Loop

Each HOTK turn is a read-decide-review rhythm: inspect the realm, resolve pressure, spend actions, review results, then advance time.

What A Tick Means

A tick is one simulation step. When a tick advances, the engine resolves seasonal movement, income, upkeep, event generation, political drift, foreign pressure, military and religious effects, succession effects, and neglect escalation.

The player should not advance a tick just because the button is available. Ticking is the commitment point for unresolved pressure.

Reading The Turn

Start with the visible pressure:

• current year, season, and tick
• treasury and legitimacy
• tax level and economy warnings
• urgent docket items
• royal action budget
• active crises and recent log entries
• foreign, church, and succession warnings

The best first read is not "what button is strongest?" It is "what failure mode is closest?"

Resolve Docket Items

Docket items are matters that demand a decision. They may come from houses, foreign nations, resources, the church, succession, intrigue, war, or accumulated neglect.

A docket item normally has:

• title and context
• severity
• deadline or urgency
• options
• costs
• risks
• success chance or roll information
• advisor opinions when available

After a task is completed, the card should explain what happened so the player does not have to hunt through the page for the result.

Spend Royal Actions

Royal actions are proactive. They are separate from docket resolution and use the royal action budget.

Examples include court actions, training, prayer, judging disputes, and path-specific actions. The action budget exists to stop the player from solving everything at once.

Use royal actions to patch risks that the docket did not cover:

• legitimacy too low
• council confidence slipping
• military preparation weak
• piety pressure rising
• treasury or tax posture drifting

Review Results

After an action or docket resolution, review:

• direct outcome message
• treasury delta
• legitimacy delta
• relationship changes
• advisor impacts
• roll result and margin
• new events or crisis chain progress

The log is the most reliable historical view. It should preserve what happened after each meaningful action and tick.

Advance Time

Advance a tick only when the turn is coherent. A good tick-advance checklist:

• urgent docket items are handled or intentionally deferred
• royal action budget has been spent or intentionally saved
• treasury has enough cushion for upkeep
• legitimacy is not near collapse
• active crisis chains are understood
• the player knows what risk they are accepting

After The Tick

The new tick can create fresh pressure. Do not assume the previous plan still holds. Read the log first, then the docket, then the current resource and diplomacy state.