# Management FAQ

Short answers to the questions that come up when you're balancing Underroot. Each one links to the page with the full detail.

## How do I make the game easier or harder overall?

The Maw is your fastest overall dial. For an easier run, raise `grace_period` and lower `pressure_growth_per_day`; to tighten the screws, do the opposite. Both live in `balance.json` → `maw`. If you only want to touch a handful of things, start with [The Levers That Matter Most](/docs/underroot/the-levers-that-matter-most).

## Which single number moves difficulty the most?

`base_chew_rate` (`balance.json` → `maw`, default `1.0`). Everything about how fast the Maw eats scales off it, so a small change ripples through the whole run. Nudge it by 0.05, not by whole numbers. Context in [Maw Threat and Escalation](/docs/underroot/maw-threat-and-escalation).

## I changed a value in the JSON and nothing happened. Why?

Usual suspects: the file didn't save, the game is still running with the old value (restart it), the key is misspelled so the game fell back to its built-in default, or the file picked up a UTF-8 BOM that broke parsing. The data validator catches the last two. See [The Safe Change Workflow](/docs/underroot/the-safe-change-workflow).

## How do I test a balance change without shipping a bug?

Edit the JSON, run the data validator (you want `DATA OK`), run the smoke test (you want `SMOKE PASS`), then play the affected slice in the editor. Commands are in [The Safe Change Workflow](/docs/underroot/the-safe-change-workflow). Don't edit the matching constant in a `.gd` file — the JSON wins, so you'd only confuse yourself.

## Can I retune the economy without touching code?

Yes. Villager trades and the Scout's Wager live in `trades.json`, tasks and their rewards in `projects.json`, and every material's value anchor (`trade_value`) in `materials.json`. It all prices off Value Points — [The Economy Model](/docs/underroot/the-economy-model) explains the anchor, and [The Villager Economy](/docs/underroot/the-villager-economy) has the trade tables.

## How do I change how fast a day passes?

`time.day_duration` in `balance.json` (default `360.0` seconds). It's the master clock: the Maw's grace and pressure and the survival drain are all measured in days, so this one number re-paces the entire run at once. [Layers and Progression Pacing](/docs/underroot/layers-and-progression-pacing) covers the knock-ons.

## Where do I tune storms?

Mostly in code, which is the catch. Storm death counts, stock-loss percentages, and cadence are constants in `WeatherManager`, so changing them is a dev task, not a data edit. Only the rain and storm interval multipliers are data/challenge-driven. [Weather and Storms](/docs/underroot/weather-and-storms) lays out what's tunable and what isn't.

## How hard is each Challenge, and can I retune them?

The effect sizes for all six built-in Challenges and the twelve Artificer's Harrow dials are in [Challenge and Harrow Modifiers](/docs/underroot/challenge-and-harrow-modifiers). One caveat: these live in script constants (`ChallengeManager`, `HarrowManager`), not JSON, so retuning them is a code change.

## What's the safest place to start tinkering?

Material values and villager trades. They're forgiving and self-contained, and they won't soft-lock a run the way the Maw's opening (`grace_period`, `ramp_duration`) can if you cut it too short. [Materials and Mining Yield](/docs/underroot/materials-and-mining-yield) is a good first stop.

## Related

- [The Levers That Matter Most](/docs/underroot/the-levers-that-matter-most)
- [Maw Threat and Escalation](/docs/underroot/maw-threat-and-escalation)
- [The Safe Change Workflow](/docs/underroot/the-safe-change-workflow)
- [The Economy Model](/docs/underroot/the-economy-model)
- [Where Balance Lives](/docs/underroot/where-balance-lives)