Sorcerer Duel (Arcane Circle Duels)

Overview

Sorcerer Duel is a persistent arcane-circle loop where duels resolve autonomously on a fixed schedule. Sorcerers lose mana every duel, creating a negative-EV game that nobody self-triggers.

Why AutoLoop Is Structurally Required

Two independent reasons:

1. Timing as attack surface: if a duelist could trigger the duel, they could pick the block in which the VRF reveal lands and only submit if their sorcerer benefits.
2. Negative-EV free-rider: every duelist loses 5-20 mana per duel, only one wins the pot. Rational sorcerers reason "let someone else pay gas." Everyone reasons identically, so nobody triggers.

Game Mechanics

• Sorcerers: summoned at a fixed fee with initial mana (e.g., 500). Mana decreases with each duel via VRF-derived drain.
• Duels: require 2+ duelists. Each duelist pays an entry fee. Winner is selected proportionally to mana (weighted VRF).
• Mana drain: 5-20 mana per duel for every duelist, derived from keccak256(randomness, sorcererId, "drain"). Sorcerers hitting minMana are banished.
• Prize pool: entry fees minus protocol rake. Winner receives via pull-payment.

Revenue Model

• Sorcerer summon fees (100% to protocol)
• 5% rake on every duel prize pool
• AutoLoop gas fees on each tick

Deploy

forge create src/games/SorcererDuel.sol:SorcererDuel \
  --constructor-args 10000000000000000 1000000000000000 60 500 500 50 8 \
  --rpc-url $RPC_URL --private-key $PRIVATE_KEY --broadcast

Args: summonFee, entryFee, duelInterval, protocolRakeBps, initialMana, minMana, maxDuelists.

Keeper Trust Model

Participants cannot predict or influence VRF outcomes — the keeper's private key is required to generate a valid proof. The keeper knows its own output before submission but has no stake in who wins (it earns a gas fee regardless of the result).

Multiple independent controllers are registered per contract, each producing a different VRF result for the same seed. If one withholds its submission, another submits with a completely independent outcome. Manipulating the final result requires ALL registered controllers to collude simultaneously.

VRF Key Registration

After deploying, register each controller worker's ECVRF public key:

sorcererDuel.registerControllerKey(controllerAddress, pkX, pkY);

Without registration, VRF proof verification reverts on every tick. Use register-vrf-keys.js in the AutoLoop worker:

NETWORK=sepolia VRF_CONTRACTS=<sorcererDuelAddress> node scripts/register-vrf-keys.js

Dashboard

Play Sorcerer Duel on the AutoLoop Dashboard.