Hoop Dynasty - The Card Systems

Three distinct card types share a unified visual language. All cards look like cards; their type and tier determine their function.

1. Player Cards (Dossiers)

Player cards are not played from a hand. They are persistent objects representing a player:

• Narrative tags (from the tag vocabulary in 3-storyline.md)
• Attributes and archetype
• Career history and relationship tags
• Compatibility flags (which development cards are valid for this player)

Player cards appear on the court display, in the roster screen, and in the historical record. Discovering a player through scouting reveals their card — a moment of genuine exploration and collection. The card’s art and presentation reflect the player’s archetype, making the roster visually readable at a glance.

2. Situation Cards (Coaching Crisis Hand)

The coaching toolkit for in-game crisis management:

• Rebuilt each season through between-game decisions (training sessions, film room work, scouting reports, narrative events)
• ~15–20 owned per season; 5 selected pre-game as the active hand
• Reset at season end — with one exception (see below)
• Examples: “Ice the Shooter,” “Second Wind,” “Film Room Read,” “Locker Room Speech,” “Ankle Treatment,” “Switch the Scheme”

Situation cards are what the coaching philosophy looks like in practice. A defensive coach who built their season toolkit differently has different crisis options than a pace-and-space coach.

Relationship-tagged carry-over: When a player earns a Coach–Player relationship tag (e.g. trusted-veteran, locker-room-anchor), it may unlock a relationship-tagged situation card specific to that player. If that player is still on the roster at the start of the following season, the card carries over into the new season’s owned pool. If the player leaves, the card expires. Up to 3 relationship-tagged cards may carry over at season start. See 10-relationships.md.

3. Development Cards (Player Power-Ups)

Applied between games to individual players:

• Compatible with specific player types and archetypes only (a positionless-forward can use development cards a 3d-specialist cannot, and vice versa)
• Create the core tension: invest in developing an existing player, or trade them for a new one who fits the roster better
• Examples: “Elite Shooting Camp,” “Defensive Footwork Drills,” “Mentorship” (requires a veteran player on the roster), “New Shoes” (reduces injury risk for one season), “Film Study” (reveals a hidden player tag)
• Some development cards are compatible with multiple archetypes; the most powerful are narrowly specific

4. Identity Cards (Coaching Legacy)

The persistent meta-progression layer:

• Collected across seasons and runs through legacy achievements
• Up to ~20 owned across a coaching career
• Only 3 can be slotted per season — selected at the start of each season, locked for its duration
• Persist across seasons and are available in new runs from the same coaching career
• Cross-run unlocks (from prior save files) are available as starting options in new runs
• Examples: “Player Whisperer” (once per season, retain a player who would otherwise leave), “System Prophet” (unlocks a unique scheme), “Clutch Caller” (crisis window visible one possession earlier), “The Eye” (one free hidden player tag revealed per draft pick)

Identity Cards replace each other as the coach evolves — the library of 20 allows meaningful selection of 3, not unlimited accumulation of power.