Hoop Dynasty - Role Assignment

Roles define a player’s declared function within the team’s offensive system. They are implemented as role tags — a sub-category of the tag system that sits alongside Specialisation, IQ, Behavioral, and Durability tags on the player dossier.

Role tags serve two functions:

1. Simulation input — they bias the possession generator’s scoring function toward the play types associated with the role.
2. Morale input — when a player’s actual touch volume falls below their role expectation for long enough, a morale pressure signal fires.

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1. Role Tags as a Tag Sub-Category

Role tags follow the same model as other tag categories (see 6-player-attributes-and-tags.md):

• Discrete labels attached to a player card
• No cap — a player can hold any number of role tags their attributes and archetype justify
• Assigned automatically in V1; manually overridable in a later phase
• Mutable: a role tag can be added or removed (e.g. via a Development Card, or when a player’s attributes shift significantly)

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2. Offensive Role Tag Vocabulary

The vocabulary is derived from the offensive play types the simulation supports. Each role tag is the declaration that this player is a primary candidate for the associated play type family.

Role Tag	Primary play type(s)	Key attribute cluster
ball-handler	Isolation, drive-and-kick, transition initiation — general primary handler	Ball Handling, Passing, Speed
pick-and-roll-handler	Pick-and-roll (ball side)	Ball Handling, Passing, Three-Point / Finishing
pick-and-roll-screener	Pick-and-roll → roll to rim	Strength, Finishing, Offensive Rebounding
pick-and-pop-screener	Pick-and-roll → pop to perimeter	Strength, Three-Point, catch-and-shoot tag
handoff-screener	Handoff actions	Speed, Strength, Ball Handling
isolation-scorer	Isolation	Mid-Range, Ball Handling, Finishing
post-anchor	Post-up	Strength, Close Range, Finishing
floor-spacer	Catch-and-shoot, spot-up	Three-Point; catch-and-shoot or spot-up-shooter specialisation tag
cutter	Off-ball cut, drive-and-kick recipient	Speed, Finishing
transition-initiator	Fast break, push-pace	Speed, Ball Handling, Passing

Note: Defensive roles are not defined here. Defensive role assignment belongs to a dedicated defensive scheme design session.

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3. Simulation Effect

Role tags add a weight bonus to the possession generator’s scoring function for their associated play types:

option_score(play_type) =
  scheme_weight(play_type)
  + play_type_recency_score(...)
  + player_fit(primary_candidate, play_type)   // includes role tag boost
  + heat_modifier(primary_candidate)
  - fatigue_penalty(primary_candidate)
  + matchup_exploit(primary_candidate, defender)

The role tag boost is applied inside player_fit. It is a positive scalar added when the evaluated play type matches one of the player’s role tags. The boost does not lock the play type to that player — other players can still score higher on the same play type if their attributes, Heat, and matchup advantages outweigh the role boost.

This is a soft bias, not a hard assignment. The role declares intent; the scoring function resolves it each possession.

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4. Auto-Assignment (V1)

In V1, role tags are assigned automatically at Roster Construction (Chapter 5 of the off-season — see 9-off-season.md).

Assignment function:

assign_role_tags(
  player,              // attributes, archetype, specialisation tags
  roster,              // all players currently on the roster
  scheme               // active offensive scheme (biases role priority)
) → role_tag_set       // set of role tags assigned to this player

• The function evaluates each role tag against the player’s attribute cluster and existing specialisation tags.
• A role tag is assigned if the player scores above a threshold on the relevant attribute cluster for that role.
• Multiple role tags can be assigned — there is no cap.
• Conflicts (two players assigned the same primary role, e.g. two ball-handler tags on a 5-player roster) are flagged as a scheme fit warning visible during Roster Construction, but not prevented. The coach is informed; the decision is theirs.

Manual override (later phase): The coach will be able to manually assign or remove role tags during Roster Construction and at the between-game decision slot. The assignment function result is the starting point; the coach can edit from it. This requires no structural change to the tag model.

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5. Morale Mismatch

A player whose actual touch volume falls significantly below their role expectation for long enough accumulates morale pressure. This is detected by the role mismatch function, evaluated after each game.

Mismatch function

role_mismatch(
  player,                    // role tags, behavioral tags (high-maintenance, team-first, etc.)
  touches_this_game,         // possessions where this player was the primary candidate
  role_touch_expectation,    // expected touch floor derived from role tags (see below)
  games_left_until_crisis,   // from previous evaluation (starts at null)
  streak_length,             // consecutive games below expectation
  morale_current             // current morale value
) → updated_games_left_until_crisis

The function returns an updated games_left_until_crisis value. When games_left_until_crisis reaches 0, a morale pressure narrative event fires (see 3-game-loop.md morale system).

Role touch expectation

Each role tag carries a priority tier that sets the expected touch floor:

Priority tier	Role tags	Expected touches/game (floor)
Primary	ball-handler, isolation-scorer, post-anchor, pick-and-roll-handler	6+
Supporting	pick-and-roll-screener, pick-and-pop-screener, handoff-screener, cutter, transition-initiator	3+
Spacing	floor-spacer	2+ (touch floor is lower; spacing value is presence, not initiation)

A player with multiple role tags uses the expectation of their highest-priority role.

Behavioral tag modulation

Behavioral tags modify the function’s sensitivity:

Tag	Effect on mismatch function
high-maintenance	games_left_until_crisis decrements faster — less patient
team-first	games_left_until_crisis decrements slower — more patient
veteran-leader	Mismatch function suspended while morale ≥ 10 (Stable or above)
confidence-dependent	games_left_until_crisis decrements faster; morale cost on trigger is amplified

V1 implementation note

V1 uses a simple linear decrement: games_left_until_crisis starts at a fixed value (e.g. 5) when the first below-expectation game occurs, decrements by 1 per consecutive game below expectation (modified by behavioral tags), and resets to null when a game meets expectation. The “patience” value becoming compounded (incorporating morale history, season context, relationship tags) is an explicit later-phase improvement — the function signature supports it from day one.

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6. Open Questions

Question	Notes
Defensive role tags	Resolved. See 13-defensive-schemes.md.
Role tag manual override UX	How the coach interacts with role tags mid-season (between-game decision slot). Not yet designed.
Role conflict resolution	When two players share a primary role (e.g. two ball-handler tags), the scheme fit warning is shown. Should the simulation penalise the scheme fit score? Deferred.
Touch counting method	What counts as a touch? Primary candidate in a possession? Ball handler in the action chain? Definition needs to be consistent with the attribution engine.