gp-dimm-city 1.3.0 → 1.4.0

package/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,76 @@ cut a version that has no `## [X.Y.Z]` heading below.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [1.4.0] - 2026-10-11
+
+One way to set content in columns: Gutterpress core's `@columns N` …
+`@column-break` … `@end-columns`. Everything else this package did with
+columns is removed or now takes that marker. **This release needs
+Gutterpress 0.11.17-alpha.6 or later**: that core draws the column hairline
+(`--gp-column-rule`), reads a bare `@columns` as two, lets `@section`s sit
+inside an `@columns` run, and no longer splits a keep-together section that
+follows other content. Two rules here that only undid that last core
+behaviour (on a single-creature `@npc-stat` and on a section after a
+`.dc-intro` lede) are removed with it.
+
+### Changed
+
+- **`@columns` works inside a `@skill` card.** A `@columns 2` … `@end-columns`
+  run (and any `@column-break` in it) used to end the card at the marker, so
+  the columns and everything after them landed outside the card. They now stay
+  in the card's body, in place.
+- **`@card-grid`, `@npc-stat`, `@citizen-walkthrough` and the credits
+  colophon take `@columns 2` inside them.** `@card-grid` no longer sets its own
+  columns: write `@columns 2` around its cards (the grid keeps its chrome reset
+  and card density). An `@npc-stat` keeps creatures whole and breaks between
+  entries whether they sit directly in the block or in an `@columns` run in it
+  (a one-creature block follows a section at a page foot without splitting, and
+  the bar is never left alone above an empty first row);
+  a walkthrough keeps the two-line heading height in its column runs. The
+  credits snippet writes the colophon names in `@columns 2` instead of a
+  `dc-colophon-grid` div.
+- **The column gap and hairline are two tokens, set once.** `--gp-column-gap`
+  (the gutter) and `--gp-column-rule` (a 1pt hairline) are set at `:root`
+  instead of by rules on `.gp-columns-2` / `.gp-columns-3`. Three columns now
+  use the same gap as two (0.15in, was 0.18in). The hairline needs the next
+  Gutterpress; until then no column rule is drawn. `.dc-card-grid` and the
+  credits colophon set `--gp-column-rule: none`, as they never drew one.
+- The rules that let a section or a callout fragment inside a column run now
+  match any run (`@columns N`, or a count class on a panel), not only the
+  two- and three-column count classes; the guard on a page that was itself a
+  column run (`@page .gp-columns-2`) is gone with that form.
+
+### Removed
+
+- **`.dc-two-col` (`@skill {.dc-two-col}`) is gone.** A card that wants columns
+  wraps just that part of its body in `@columns 2`; the flavor line and sub-headers
+  stay full width. Books that wrote the class should replace it.
+- **`.dc-cards-two-col` is gone.** Written on a wrapper (typically
+  `@specialty .augmerc .dc-cards-two-col`), it set every skill card inside
+  two-column, which broke the layout of cards that should not be columned:
+  short blocks split into one-line fragments, a lone line in the right
+  column, list blocks divided unevenly. A wrapper no longer decides its
+  cards' columns. A card that needs two columns says so itself with
+  `@columns 2` inside it, and a section of running text uses core's
+  `@columns 2`. Books that wrote the class should delete it from their
+  `@specialty` lines; until they do it does nothing.
+- **`.column-break`** (`---{.column-break}`, an `<hr>`): write core's
+  `@column-break`.
+- **`.dc-colophon-grid`**, **`.dc-at-a-glance-cards`** (a three-across grid;
+  keep the `.dc-at-a-glance-card` cards and set them in `@columns 3`), and the
+  `column-fill: balance` rule on `.gp-columns-2` / `.gp-columns-3` (it restated
+  the CSS default).
+- The `.gp-grid-2` / `.gp-grid-3` support added in 1.3.0: the float-containment
+  default is a plain `:where(.section) { display: flow-root }` again, and the
+  grid-row spans for a panel's header bar are gone. A long run of gear entries
+  packs two-up in `@columns 2` inside a `@section .dc-allow-split`.
+- **`@column-panel` / `.dc-column-panel` are gone.** Columns have one spelling,
+  core's `@columns N`. Write a plain `@section` with the body in `@columns 2`;
+  the heading and intro paragraph stay above the run, full width. Before:
+  `@column-panel .gp-columns-2` … `@end-column-panel`; after: `@section` / `##
+  Heading` / `@columns 2` … `@end-columns` / `@end-section`. The migrated
+  panel looks like a normal `@section` card.
+
 ## [1.3.0] - 2026-10-11
 
 ### Changed

package/components.yaml

@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ components:
       - --dc-alert-label-spacing
       - --dc-alert-label-margin
       - --dc-alert-margin-top
-    breaks: "break-inside: avoid, relaxed to auto inside .gp-columns-2/-3 (dc-native.css)"
+    breaks: "break-inside: avoid, relaxed to auto inside a column run (@columns; dc-native.css)"
     notes: "`warning` is an unprefixed modifier on .dc-note. The blockquote form is single-block; use @callout for multi-paragraph bodies."
 
   - name: callout
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ components:
     css: styles/components/section.css
     unstyled: [dc-gear]
     breaks: "break-inside: avoid (via .dc-card)"
-    notes: "Renders as a plain .dc-card: nothing has ever styled .dc-gear (the only rules are inside the GEAR ENTRY tombstone comment in data.css). Reviving the treatment is a design decision — see that comment. Design guide only. A long run packs two-up in a core grid: `@column-panel .gp-grid-2 .dc-allow-split`."
+    notes: "Renders as a plain .dc-card: nothing has ever styled .dc-gear (the only rules are inside the GEAR ENTRY tombstone comment in data.css). Reviving the treatment is a design decision — see that comment. Design guide only. A long run packs two-up in `@columns 2` inside a `@section .dc-allow-split`."
 
   - name: lede
     status: live
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ components:
   - name: skill
     status: live
     origin: plugin
-    recipe: "@skill [id=…] [{.dc-allow-split}] [{.dc-two-col}] / #### Name | Tier / > flavor / 1. **N AP** *Ability:* text / ##### Sub-header … @end-skill"
+    recipe: "@skill [id=…] [{.dc-allow-split}] / #### Name | Tier / > flavor / 1. **N AP** *Ability:* text / ##### Sub-header … @end-skill"
     emits:
       - div.dc-skill-card[name][data-break-inside=avoid] > div.dc-card-tab > h4.dc-tab-title + span.dc-tab-tier
       - div.dc-card-body > div.dc-card-inner > p.dc-flavor + div.dc-sub-header
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ components:
       - --dc-card-gap
       - --dc-card-tab-shadow
     breaks: "data-break-inside=avoid by default; {.dc-allow-split} opts into splitting (see allow-split); tab break-after: avoid; last two abilities glued"
-    notes: "Declared marker. Every #### heading in one @skill is its own card, with the @skill line's classes and attributes. @end-skill closes only the skill, never the path around it. A ##### Outcomes sub-header is swallowed (the outcomes block carries its own label)."
+    notes: "Declared marker. Every #### heading in one @skill is its own card, with the @skill line's classes and attributes. @end-skill closes only the skill, never the path around it. A ##### Outcomes sub-header is swallowed (the outcomes block carries its own label). Part of a card's body can sit in columns: wrap it in `@columns 2` … `@end-columns`; the run (and any `@column-break` in it) stays inside the card's .dc-card-inner, in place."
 
   - name: skill-highlight
     status: live
@@ -429,14 +429,6 @@ components:
     breaks: none
 
   # ── Author classes on core markers, attrs and raw HTML ────────────────
-  - name: column-panel
-    status: live
-    origin: plugin
-    recipe: "@column-panel [.gp-columns-2] … @end-column-panel  (or @section .gp-columns-2 .dc-column-panel)"
-    emits: div.section.dc-column-panel
-    css: styles/components/section.css
-    breaks: "first heading glued to its first paragraph"
-
   - name: tabbed
     status: live
     origin: plugin
@@ -449,15 +441,16 @@ components:
   - name: card-grid
     status: live
     origin: plugin
-    recipe: "@card-grid … @end-card-grid  (or @section .dc-card-grid)"
-    emits: div.section.dc-card-grid
+    recipe: "@card-grid / @columns 2 / @specialty … / @end-columns / @end-card-grid  (or @section .dc-card-grid)"
+    emits: div.section.dc-card-grid > div.gp-columns.gp-columns-2
     css: [styles/components/section.css, styles/page-templates.css]
     breaks: "break-inside: auto on the grid; each specialty card avoid"
+    notes: "Sets no columns of its own: the cards go in `@columns 2` inside it."
 
   - name: citizen-walkthrough
     status: live
     origin: plugin
-    recipe: "@citizen-walkthrough [.gp-columns-2] … @end-citizen-walkthrough  (or @section .dc-citizen-walkthrough)"
+    recipe: "@citizen-walkthrough [@columns 2 … @end-columns] … @end-citizen-walkthrough  (or @section .dc-citizen-walkthrough)"
     emits: div.section.dc-citizen-walkthrough
     css: [styles/components/section.css, styles/dc-native.css]
     notes: "Themed through the section chassis tokens --dc-section-accent / --dc-section-bg (see section), which the design guide documents."
@@ -488,7 +481,7 @@ components:
   - name: npc-stat
     status: live
     origin: plugin
-    recipe: "@npc-stat … @end-npc-stat  (or @section .dc-npc-stat)"
+    recipe: "@npc-stat [### bar] [@columns 2 … @end-columns] … @end-npc-stat  (or @section .dc-npc-stat)"
     emits: div.section.dc-npc-stat
     css: [styles/components/section.css]
     tokens:
@@ -497,7 +490,7 @@ components:
       - --dc-npc-stat-label-color
       - --dc-npc-stat-rule
       - --dc-npc-stat-rule-width
-    breaks: "a block with #### entries breaks between entries, never inside one (keep-with-next chain; .dc-allow-split lets a long entry split); a block with no #### stays whole"
+    breaks: "a block with #### entries breaks between entries, never inside one (keep-with-next chain; .dc-allow-split lets a long entry split), whether the entries are direct children or sit in an @columns run inside it; a block with no #### stays whole"
 
   - name: chapter-start
     status: live
@@ -513,14 +506,7 @@ components:
     recipe: "@page .page-credits .dc-credits"
     emits: div.page.dc-credits
     css: [styles/page-templates.css, styles/dc-native.css]
-    notes: "Styled in page-templates.css and dc-native.css — carried in from the books in 1.0.0."
-
-  - name: colophon-grid
-    status: live
-    origin: author
-    recipe: "raw <div class=\"dc-colophon-grid\"> on the credits page"
-    emits: div.dc-colophon-grid
-    css: styles/page-templates.css
+    notes: "Styled in page-templates.css and dc-native.css — carried in from the books in 1.0.0. The colophon names go in `@columns 2` inside `@section .credits-colophon`."
 
   - name: chevron
     status: live
@@ -569,11 +555,11 @@ components:
     css: styles/components/images.css
     breaks: "break-inside: avoid"
 
-  - name: at-a-glance-cards
+  - name: at-a-glance-card
     status: live
     origin: author
-    recipe: "raw <div class=\"dc-at-a-glance-cards\"> > <div class=\"dc-at-a-glance-card\">"
-    emits: div.dc-at-a-glance-cards > div.dc-at-a-glance-card
+    recipe: "@columns 3 / raw <div class=\"dc-at-a-glance-card\"> × 3 / @end-columns"
+    emits: div.dc-at-a-glance-card
     css: styles/components/data.css
 
   - name: stat-block
@@ -596,22 +582,6 @@ components:
     breaks: "break-inside: auto — opts a section or skill card out of the default avoid. A split specialty card also keeps its first two blocks, and any lead-in (ability row, bold-only line, paragraph before a list or table), with what follows (break-after: avoid)"
     notes: "The plugin reads this class (to drop data-break-inside=avoid) but never adds it."
 
-  - name: two-col
-    status: live
-    origin: author
-    recipe: "@skill {.dc-two-col}"
-    emits: div.dc-skill-card.dc-two-col
-    css: styles/components/cards.css
-    breaks: "list items and paragraphs break-inside: avoid within the columns"
-
-  - name: cards-two-col
-    status: live
-    origin: author
-    recipe: "@specialty .augmerc .dc-cards-two-col  (or on @chapter / @page / @section)"
-    emits: .dc-cards-two-col (on the ancestor it is written on; styles the .dc-skill-card inside it)
-    css: styles/components/cards.css
-    breaks: "list items break-inside: avoid; a paragraph may break between columns. Flavor line, ability rows, tables, sub-heads and rules span both columns. A card with .dc-allow-split stays single-column; a card with its own .dc-two-col keeps the per-card form"
-
   - name: snug
     status: live
     origin: author

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "gp-dimm-city",
-  "version": "1.3.0",
+  "version": "1.4.0",
   "description": "Dimm City design system for Gutterpress: the markdown-it macros (@skill, @specialty, @learning-path, @callout, …), print stylesheets, design tokens, fonts and page templates the Dimm City TTRPG books are set in.",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "plugin.js",
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
     "pack:check": "npm pack --dry-run"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
-    "gutterpress": "0.11.16",
+    "gutterpress": "0.11.17-alpha.6",
     "markdown-it": "^14.1.0"
   },
   "peerDependencies": {

package/plugin.js

@@ -886,6 +886,8 @@ function dcSkillCards(state) {
     const emit = (html) => out.push(makeToken('html_block', html));
     let inCard = false;
     const belongsToCard = new Set(); // open/close tokens of the components that stay in the card
+    let columnsDepth = 0; // how many `@columns` runs sit open inside the current card
+    const columnsCloses = new Set(); // their close tokens
     let title = { name: '', tier: '' }; // the current card's title, for @continue
 
     const cardOpen = (cont) => {
@@ -902,7 +904,9 @@ function dcSkillCards(state) {
     for (let i = 0; i < content.length; i++) {
       const tok = content[i];
 
-      if (tok.type === 'heading_open' && tok.tag === 'h4') {
+      // An h4 inside a `@columns` run in a card is a plain heading: a card
+      // cannot start in the middle of another card's columns.
+      if (tok.type === 'heading_open' && tok.tag === 'h4' && columnsDepth === 0) {
         endCard();
         const parsed = parseSkillTitle(content[i + 1].content || '');
         title = { name: parsed.name, tier: parsed.tier };
@@ -952,6 +956,20 @@ function dcSkillCards(state) {
         do depth += content[end++].nesting; while (depth > 0);
         belongsToCard.add(tok).add(content[end - 1]);
       }
+      // `@columns` … `@end-columns` and the `@column-break`s between are content of
+      // the card too when they sit inside one: the columns run stays in the
+      // card's body, in place. (A run that opens before the card, around
+      // several cards, is not the card's: it ends the card as any layout token does.)
+      if (inCard && tok.type === 'layout_component_open' && tok.meta.kind === 'columns') {
+        let end = i;
+        let depth = 0;
+        do depth += content[end++].nesting; while (depth > 0);
+        belongsToCard.add(tok).add(content[end - 1]);
+        columnsCloses.add(content[end - 1]);
+        columnsDepth++;
+      }
+      if (columnsCloses.has(tok)) columnsDepth--;
+      if (tok.type === 'layout_column_break' && columnsDepth > 0) belongsToCard.add(tok);
       if (tok.type.startsWith('layout_') && !belongsToCard.has(tok)) endCard();
 
       if (!inCard) {
@@ -1359,8 +1377,7 @@ export const markers = {
   // styles/components/section.css. No variants: none of these is styled per
   // specialty (that lives on `.dc-specialty.<name>`, from `@specialty`), and
   // modifiers such as `.dc-plain`, `.dc-snug`, `.dc-allow-split` and
-  // `.gp-columns-2` stay author classes (`@column-panel .gp-columns-2`).
-  'column-panel': { section: true, class: 'dc-column-panel' },
+  // `.gp-columns-2` stay author classes.
   tabbed: { section: true, class: 'dc-tabbed' },
   'card-grid': { section: true, class: 'dc-card-grid' },
   'citizen-walkthrough': { section: true, class: 'dc-citizen-walkthrough' },

package/snippets/card-grid.md

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 @card-grid
 
+@columns 2
+
 @specialty .{{specialty}}
 
 @specialty-card #card-{{specialty}}
@@ -16,4 +18,6 @@
 
 @end-specialty
 
+@end-columns
+
 @end-card-grid

package/snippets/credits-page.md

@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@
 
 @section .credits-colophon
 
-<div class="dc-colophon-grid">
+@columns 2
 
 **{{role}}:** {{names}}
 
-</div>
+@end-columns
 
 @end-section

package/styles/components/cards.css

@@ -288,80 +288,20 @@
    DELETED (2026-09-02): zero uses of either in any book's rendered HTML,
    zero emissions from the Dimm City plugin. */
 
-/* ── SKILL-CARD TWO-COLUMN BODY ────────────────────────────────────────────── */
-/* Two-column body variant for short skill cards. Applied via
-   `@skill {.dc-two-col}` in markdown. The .dc-card-inner content flows in
-   2 columns so a 4in single-column skill becomes ~2in tall, doubling
-   horizontal packing density. Column authority lives here; the card's
-   column-span and break rules stay in components/*.css. */
-.dc-skill-card.dc-two-col .dc-card-inner {
-  column-count: 2;
-  column-gap: 12px;
-  column-fill: balance;
-}
-
-/* Inside 2-col body, a table spans both columns so its chrome doesn't break
-   across the gap. */
-.dc-skill-card.dc-two-col .dc-card-inner table {
-  column-span: all;
-}
-
-/* AP/numbered list items must stay whole — splitting "Bullet to Blood"
-   across columns reads as sloppy. break-inside: avoid keeps each <li>
-   together in a single column even when the column boundary lands in
-   the middle of one. Paragraphs immediately following list items also
-   stay glued so their text doesn't strand from its anchor item. */
-.dc-skill-card.dc-two-col .dc-card-inner ul > li,
-.dc-skill-card.dc-two-col .dc-card-inner p {
+/* `.dc-two-col` (`@skill {.dc-two-col}`: a card's whole body in two columns)
+   and `.dc-cards-two-col` (every card under an ancestor) were here and are
+   DELETED. Columns are core's `@columns 2` … `@end-columns`, and a card that
+   wants them wraps just that part of its body: the skill rule keeps the run
+   inside `.dc-card-inner`, in place (plugin.js, `dcSkillCards`).
+
+   The one thing a card still says about its run: an ability row, a paragraph
+   or a list item stays whole. Split across the gap, an ability reads as
+   sloppy (a table, which `.dc-two-col` used to span across both columns,
+   goes outside the run instead). */
+.dc-card-inner .gp-columns :is(.dc-ability, p, li) {
   break-inside: avoid;
 }
 
-/* ── SKILL-CARD TWO-COLUMN FORM, BY ANCESTOR ───────────────────────────────── */
-/* `.dc-cards-two-col` on ANY ancestor of skill cards (a `@specialty` marker,
-   a `@chapter`/`@page`, a `@section`) makes every skill card inside it
-   two-column: `@specialty .augmerc .dc-cards-two-col`. It is the book-wide
-   counterpart of the per-card `.dc-two-col` above, and the two differ on
-   purpose. Here only running text (paragraphs and lists) flows in the two
-   columns, a paragraph MAY break between them so the columns balance, and a
-   list item stays whole. Everything else spans the card: the flavor line,
-   ability rows (AP pill + text: in a column they ran taller than the whole
-   card and could not balance), tables, outcome ladders, alerts, sub-heads
-   and rules. Per-card `.dc-two-col` instead keeps every paragraph whole and
-   spans only tables.
-   A card with its own `.dc-two-col` keeps the per-card form entirely: every
-   rule below excludes it, so its own, stricter form wins over the inherited
-   one. A card marked `.dc-allow-split` stays single-column: a balanced
-   multicol that fragments across pages leaves the first fragment's right
-   column empty.
-   Column authority for both forms is this file (COLUMNS_ALLOWLIST in
-   test/integrity.test.js): this is component-internal layout of the card
-   body, not a page or section template. */
-.dc-cards-two-col .dc-skill-card:not(.dc-two-col, .dc-allow-split) > .dc-card-body > .dc-card-inner {
-  column-count: 2;
-  column-gap: 16px;
-}
-
-/* The second selector: a text block left alone between two spanning pieces
-   (or at either end) cannot balance and would leave a column empty. */
-.dc-cards-two-col .dc-skill-card:not(.dc-two-col, .dc-allow-split) .dc-card-inner > :not(ul, ol, p:not(.dc-flavor)),
-.dc-cards-two-col .dc-skill-card:not(.dc-two-col, .dc-allow-split) .dc-card-inner > :is(:first-child, :not(ul, ol, p:not(.dc-flavor)) + *):is(:last-child, :has(+ :not(ul, ol, p))) {
-  column-span: all;
-}
-
-.dc-cards-two-col .dc-skill-card:not(.dc-two-col, .dc-allow-split) .dc-card-inner li {
-  break-inside: avoid;
-}
-
-/* An ability row under text that runs in the two columns sat flush on its
-   last line: the column row drops that text's bottom margin at the
-   spanning row. The row is moved down, not given a margin: a 0.08in margin
-   cost two pages in the Field Guide and split a card across a page turn, and
-   0.04in cost one page (measured). */
-.dc-cards-two-col .dc-skill-card:not(.dc-two-col, .dc-allow-split) .dc-card-inner > :is(p:not(.dc-flavor), ul, ol) + :is(p:not(.dc-flavor), ul, ol) + .dc-ability {
-  position: relative;
-  top: 0.06in;
-}
-
 /* A split card (`.dc-allow-split`) never opens with just its tab and a line
    or two at a page foot: its first two blocks (the flavor line and a
    possibly one-line ability) stay with the first two lines of what follows,
@@ -383,14 +323,14 @@
 
 /* Horizontal skill placement — not currently attempted. `.dc-specialty
    .skill-grid { columns: 2 }` and `display: grid` are both worth testing
-   before more work goes into the alternatives: the per-skill `.dc-two-col` body
-   variant (above), which shrinks each card vertically so 2 fit per page, or
+   before more work goes into the alternatives: an `@columns 2` run in the
+   card's body, which shrinks each card vertically so 2 fit per page, or
    cutting skill body text length at the markdown level. */
 
 /* Scoped to the skill card on purpose. This mark is an absolutely positioned
    box, and an absolutely positioned box inside a multicol run stops Chromium
    balancing the run's last fragment: it stretches to the full page height
-   instead of shrinking to its content, so a `@column-panel .gp-columns-2`
+   instead of shrinking to its content, so a column run (`@columns 2`)
    that ends in a `@card` took a page of its own and spilled its bottom edge
    onto one more. The `@card` primitive shares the `.dc-card-body` class and
    never meant to carry this tick (its tokens are the skill card's). */

package/styles/components/chrome.css

@@ -289,17 +289,6 @@ h1.dc-chevron {
   break-inside: avoid;
 }
 
-/* Core glues every section to whatever precedes it (`:where(.section) >
-   :where(:first-child) { break-before: avoid }`), which chains heading →
-   lede → section into one unbreakable run. When that section cannot fit,
-   Chromium has to break inside the chain: it split the lede, or with the
-   lede kept whole, stranded the heading at the page foot. A lede stands on
-   its own, so the section after it may start a new page; the section's own
-   break-inside: avoid still moves it whole. */
-.dc-intro + .section > :first-child {
-  break-before: auto;
-}
-
 /* ── Spec tweak section header ────────────────────────────────────────── */
 .dc-spec-tweak {
   font-size: 22px;

package/styles/components/data.css

@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@
      shadow, not an absolutely positioned `::after` box: an absolutely
      positioned box inside a multicol run stops Chromium balancing the run's
      last fragment (it stretches to the full page height), which a
-     `@column-panel .gp-columns-2` ending in an `@outcome` showed. */
+     column run (`@columns 2`) ending in an `@outcome` showed. */
   box-shadow:
     inset 0 0 0 4px var(--dc-outcomes-surface),
     inset 0 0 0 5px var(--dc-outcomes-inner-border);
@@ -762,13 +762,6 @@ p.dc-img-wrapper {
   width: 100%;
 }
 
-.dc-at-a-glance-cards {
-  display: grid;
-  grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr);
-  gap: 18px;
-  margin: 0 0 18px;
-}
-
 .dc-at-a-glance-card {
   background: var(--paper-light);
   border: 1px solid var(--paper-aged);

package/styles/components/images.css

@@ -146,15 +146,10 @@
    absolute-positioned copy that used to live here unioned with that rule
    and produced an incoherent box model — no rule belongs here. */
 
-/* Column ornament on core's two-column primitive. `columns`/`column-gap` are
-   core's (`GUTTERPRESS_CSS`, `.gp-columns-2`); this only paints the hairline
-   between the columns. It keys on the COUNT class, not the panel variant
-   below, because every two-column container in the book gets the rule —
-   `@block .gp-columns-2` and `@page … .gp-columns-2` included, neither of
-   which is a `.section`. */
-.gp-columns-2 {
-  column-rule: 1pt solid var(--border-hairline);
-}
+/* The hairline between columns is `--gp-column-rule`, set once at `:root` in
+   dc-component-defaults.css. There is no column selector here: a rule on
+   core's column classes would outrank core's own (this package's layer wins),
+   and the token is the hook core reads. */
 
 
 /* ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
@@ -182,16 +177,8 @@
    Safe w.r.t. margin collapsing: .section's non-zero vertical padding
    already blocks parent/child margin collapse, so flow-root changes no
    spacing for any variant that keeps that padding.
-   It is a default, not a mandate, and `:where()` alone does not make it one:
-   core's `.gp-grid-*` lives in the earlier `gp.vocab` layer, and a rule in
-   any later layer beats it at ANY specificity, zero included. Measured:
-   `:where(.section) { display: flow-root }` still computed flow-root on
-   `@section .gp-grid-2` (a silent no-op, one card per row) while the same
-   class on a `@page` laid out as a grid. So the default steps aside for the
-   one core class that owns `display` (`.gp-columns-*` set `columns`, not
-   `display`, and coexist with flow-root). `:where()` keeps the specificity
-   at zero for the rest. */
-:where(.section:not(.gp-grid-2, .gp-grid-3)) {
+   It is a default, not a mandate; `:where()` keeps the specificity at zero. */
+:where(.section) {
   display: flow-root;
 }
 

package/styles/components/section.css

@@ -128,46 +128,6 @@
   --dc-section-shadow:  none;
 }
 
-/* ── COLUMN PANEL — the section variant for a column run ──────────────────
-   `.dc-column-panel` is the CHROME half of what `.two-column` /
-   `.three-column` used to mean. Those names were the book's own generic
-   spelling of core's `.gp-columns-2` / `.gp-columns-3` (gutterpress
-   CLAUDE.md §6: a theme must not ship competing generic column names), but
-   they were doing two unrelated jobs at once — the column COUNT and this
-   card treatment. Core owns the count now; the count class says how many
-   columns, this class says what the box around them looks like.
-
-   Authors write both: `@section .gp-columns-2 .dc-column-panel`. A column
-   run that wants no card is `@section .gp-columns-2` alone — which is the
-   point of splitting them.
-
-   Top/bottom borders only: the base `.section` card's clip-path corner
-   breaks multicol, so this variant trades it for flat rules.
-
-   The bottom edge (padding, then the 2px rule) is painted as two shadows
-   below a box that ends where its content ends, not laid out as padding and
-   border. A fragmented box that ends flush with the page foot has nowhere to
-   put trailing padding or border, and Chromium sends them to an extra page:
-   a panel whose last fragment filled the page spilled a 10px strip of its
-   bottom edge onto the next sheet. Shadows take no layout space, so there is
-   nothing to push. The picture is unchanged: the cream continues
-   --dc-section-pad-bottom below the content, then the rule, and the margin
-   below the panel grows by the same amount so nothing after it moves. */
-.section.dc-column-panel {
-  --dc-section-surface: none;
-  --dc-section-shadow:  none;
-  --dc-section-pad-top:    var(--space-sm);
-  --dc-section-pad-right:  var(--space-md);
-  --dc-section-pad-bottom: var(--space-sm);
-  --dc-section-pad-left:   var(--space-md);
-  background: var(--dc-section-bg);
-  padding-bottom: 0;
-  box-shadow:
-    0 var(--dc-section-pad-bottom) 0 0 var(--dc-section-bg),
-    0 calc(var(--dc-section-pad-bottom) + 2px) 0 0 var(--border-hairline);
-  margin: 12pt 0 calc(12pt + var(--dc-section-pad-bottom) + 2px);
-}
-
 /* ── Tabbed variant — first-child heading sits ABOVE the section ─────────
    `@section .dc-tabbed` opts the section into a `.dc-card-tab → .dc-card-body`
    silhouette. Flex container is required so the first-child heading's
@@ -305,14 +265,6 @@
   clip-path: polygon(0 0, calc(100% - 12px) 0, 100% 12px, 100% 100%, 0 100%);
 }
 
-/* Column-panel header bar: column-span keeps it from being trapped in column 1.
-   Its margins follow the variant's pad tokens. The bar is the panel's top, so
-   the variant has no border-top. */
-.section.dc-column-panel > h2:first-child,
-.section.dc-column-panel > h3:first-child {
-  column-span: all;
-}
-
 /* Heading bar followed immediately by a table — give the table head room
    so the bar and `<th>` background don't bleed into a single coloured block.
    The two selectors are spelled out; :is(h2, h3) would be equivalent and
@@ -323,43 +275,6 @@
   margin-top: var(--space-sm);
 }
 
-/* Column-break orphan protection: keep first paragraph with the spanning bar.
-   MEASURED LIMIT (Chromium, no plugin CSS needed to show it): `break-after:
-   avoid` on a `column-span: all` box is honoured when the next box is also a
-   spanner (the intro paragraph below), but NOT between the spanner and the
-   column row after it. When the first block of that row does not fit, the
-   row moves to the next page and the bar stays behind. `break-before:
-   avoid` on the first block, `avoid-page` and `break-inside: avoid` do not
-   change it (the last one leaves the bar stranded more often). So the guards
-   here only help the spanning-paragraph case; they are kept because they cost
-   nothing and take effect when Chromium honours the avoid. */
-.section.dc-column-panel > h2:first-child + *,
-.section.dc-column-panel > h3:first-child + * {
-  break-before: avoid;
-}
-
-/* Span the intro paragraph across both columns so it reads as a shared
-   preamble rather than being trapped in column 1. */
-.section.dc-column-panel > h2:first-child + p,
-.section.dc-column-panel > h3:first-child + p {
-  column-span: all;
-  break-inside: avoid;
-}
-
-/* In a core GRID run (`@section .gp-grid-2`, `@column-panel .gp-grid-2`) the
-   header bar and a panel's preamble paragraph are grid items like any other
-   child, so each would take a cell. `grid-column: 1 / -1` gives them the whole
-   first row, as `column-span: all` does in a column run. */
-.section:is(.gp-grid-2, .gp-grid-3) > :is(h2, h3):first-child,
-.section.dc-column-panel:is(.gp-grid-2, .gp-grid-3) > :is(h2, h3):first-child + p {
-  grid-column: 1 / -1;
-}
-
-/* Multi-column body copy: kill rivers from narrow-column justification. */
-.section.dc-column-panel p {
-  text-align: left;
-}
-
 /* Section sub-heading H3 — H3s inside a section that are NOT the first child
    (i.e. NOT the section's header bar) get a left-accent border matching the
    section accent. This visually distinguishes subsection headings from the
@@ -657,17 +572,17 @@ h3 + .section {
    id scope in the book's own sheet (unlayered) — do NOT add bespoke rules here unless an
    observed problem requires it.
 
-   OBSERVED PROBLEM (2026-05-25): When the walkthrough's first card uses
-   `.gp-columns-2` for an internal Handle/Designation split, the longer h4
+   OBSERVED PROBLEM (2026-05-25): When the walkthrough's first card sits in
+   an `@columns 2` run for an internal Handle/Designation split, the longer h4
    text ("What's Yr Handle?") wraps to 2 lines while shorter text
    ("Designation") fits on 1 line at the narrow column width. The body
    text below each h4 then starts at different baselines across columns
    — visible asymmetry the user-eye reads as a production error. Fix:
-   reserve uniform heading height inside two-column walkthrough cards so
-   both columns' body content starts at the same y. Keyed on the COUNT
-   class, not `.dc-column-panel`: the asymmetry is caused by the narrow
-   column measure, not by the card chrome. */
-.dc-citizen-walkthrough.gp-columns-2 h4 {
+   reserve uniform heading height inside the walkthrough's column runs so
+   both columns' body content starts at the same y. Keyed on the run
+   (`.gp-columns`, what `@columns` emits), not on the card chrome: the
+   asymmetry is caused by the narrow column measure. */
+.dc-citizen-walkthrough .gp-columns h4 {
   min-height: calc(2 * 1.35em);
 }
 
@@ -704,35 +619,57 @@ h3 + .section {
      --dc-npc-stat-secondary    → secondary stat-line color (default --ink-smoke)
    Override per chapter / per faction in the book's own sheet selector chains. */
 /* Page breaks. A block with `####` entries is a RUN of creatures: it may break
-   between entries (token `auto`; this also stops `.gp-columns-2` on the section
-   from jumping the whole block to the next page) and never inside one. An entry
-   has no wrapper — it is an `h4` and the siblings that follow it up to the next
-   `h4` — so "never inside" is a keep-with-next chain: every child but the last
-   of its entry takes `break-after: avoid`, and each block of an entry is itself
-   unbreakable so a paragraph cannot split between columns. Chromium keeps a
-   chain together when it fits a page and lets it break only when it cannot. The
-   title bar (h3) and its intro chain on to the first entry, so the bar is never
-   alone at a page foot. A block with no `h4` is ONE creature (the bar names it)
-   and stays whole like any section. `.dc-allow-split` is the opt-in for an
-   unusually long entry: it keeps only each entry's name with its first two
-   blocks (the stat lines) and headings with what follows, and lets the rest
-   break (blocks too). */
-.section.dc-npc-stat:has(> h4) {
+   between entries (token `auto`; this also stops a column run in the section
+   from jumping the whole block to the next page) and never inside one. An
+   entry has no wrapper — it is an `h4` and the siblings that follow it up to
+   the next `h4` — so "never inside" is a keep-with-next chain: every child but
+   the last of its entry takes `break-after: avoid`, and each block of an entry
+   is itself unbreakable so a paragraph cannot split between columns. Chromium
+   keeps a chain together when it fits a page and lets it break only when it
+   cannot. The title bar (h3) and its intro chain on to the first entry, so
+   the bar is never alone at a page foot. A block with no `h4` is ONE creature
+   (the bar names it) and stays whole like any section. `.dc-allow-split` is
+   the opt-in for an unusually long entry: it keeps only each entry's name with
+   its first two blocks (the stat lines) and headings with what follows, and
+   lets the rest break (blocks too).
+
+   The entries are either direct children of the section (one column) or the
+   children of the `@columns` run inside it (`.gp-columns`); the rules below take
+   both. */
+.section.dc-npc-stat:is(:has(> h4), :has(> .gp-columns > h4)) {
   --dc-section-break-inside: auto;
 }
 .section.dc-npc-stat:has(> h4) > :not(:last-child, :has(+ h4:not(:first-of-type))) {
   break-after: avoid;
 }
-.section.dc-npc-stat:has(> h4) > :is(h4 ~ p, h4 ~ blockquote) {
+/* In an `@columns` run only the entries are chained. Text before the first `####`
+   (a lead) is not chained to that entry: a lead of several paragraphs chained to a
+   whole entry is one unbreakable run, and when it cannot fit at a page foot Chromium
+   ends the page with the run's first row EMPTY (the bar and a blank box), the
+   content starting overleaf. A lead above the run is chained as before. */
+.section.dc-npc-stat > .gp-columns:has(> h4) > :is(h4, h4 ~ *):not(:last-child, :has(+ h4:not(:first-of-type))) {
+  break-after: avoid;
+}
+:is(.section.dc-npc-stat, .section.dc-npc-stat > .gp-columns):has(> h4) > :is(h4 ~ p, h4 ~ blockquote) {
   break-inside: avoid;
 }
-.section.dc-npc-stat.dc-allow-split:has(> h4) > :is(h4 ~ p, h4 ~ blockquote) {
+:is(.section.dc-npc-stat.dc-allow-split, .section.dc-npc-stat.dc-allow-split > .gp-columns):has(> h4) > :is(h4 ~ p, h4 ~ blockquote) {
   break-inside: auto;
 }
-.section.dc-npc-stat.dc-allow-split:has(> h4) > :not(:last-child, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, h4 + *, h4 + * + *, blockquote + p) {
+:is(.section.dc-npc-stat.dc-allow-split, .section.dc-npc-stat.dc-allow-split > .gp-columns):has(> h4) > :not(:last-child, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, h4 + *, h4 + * + *, blockquote + p) {
   break-after: auto;
 }
 
+/* The `@columns` run of an entries block is glued to the bar and intro above it,
+   as a direct entry list is (the h3's own `break-after: avoid` plus the chain
+   above). Without this, Chromium can end a page with the bar and an EMPTY first
+   row of the run, and the first entry starts the next page (measured with
+   printToPDF: bar stranded at the foot, `@npc-stat` with `@columns 2` inside;
+   the old `@npc-stat .gp-columns-2` never did it). */
+.section.dc-npc-stat > .gp-columns {
+  break-before: avoid;
+}
+
 .dc-npc-stat h4 {
   border-top: var(--dc-npc-stat-rule-width) solid var(--dc-npc-stat-rule);
   padding-top: 0.05in;
@@ -802,11 +739,11 @@ h3 + .section {
      [repeat for 6+ specialties]
      @end-section
 
-   The page/section column rules live in page-templates.css; the grid's own
-   columns:2 is a component-internal layout and lives below. Here we also own the chrome-reset (the
-   .dc-card-grid section has no card background/shadow — it's a pure layout
-   wrapper) plus the per-card density tweaks so all 8 specialty cards fit
-   comfortably on one page. */
+   The grid sets no columns of its own: the author puts the cards in
+   `@columns 2` … `@end-columns` inside it, like any other columned run. Here
+   we own the chrome-reset (the .dc-card-grid section has no card
+   background/shadow — it's a pure layout wrapper) plus the per-card density
+   tweaks so all 8 specialty cards fit comfortably on one page. */
 
 /* Card grid: no panel, no padding; the cards carry the visuals. */
 .section.dc-card-grid {
@@ -820,22 +757,13 @@ h3 + .section {
   /* A layout wrapper, not a cohesive block: it may span pages when the cards
      exceed one page. */
   break-inside: auto;
+  /* The cards carry the visuals; no hairline between their columns. */
+  --gp-column-rule: none;
 }
 
-/* `.page.dc-chapter-start.two-column`'s ornamental `column-rule` was DELETED
-   before this migration: it needed a page carrying BOTH classes and no book's
-   markdown has ever written one. The `column-rule` that IS live sits on
-   `.gp-columns-2` in components/*.css — an ornament, not a layout rule. */
-
-/* ── LAYOUT: CARD GRID (.dc-card-grid section) ─────────────────────────────── */
-/* Specialty card grid — two columns, auto-fill. Layout owns columns + column-
-   span here; component styling (chrome reset, card density, break control)
-   lives in components/*.css under the same .dc-card-grid selector. */
-.dc-card-grid {
-  columns: 2;
-  column-gap: var(--gutter);
-  column-fill: balance;
-}
+/* ── DENSITY: CARD GRID (.dc-card-grid section) ────────────────────────────── */
+/* The first specialty of the grid never forces a break: it is the first child
+   of the section, or of the `@columns` run inside it. */
 .dc-card-grid .dc-specialty:first-child { break-before: avoid; }
 
 /* Compact specialty card density: 10 cards on one page in 2 columns */

package/styles/dc-component-defaults.css

@@ -10,6 +10,13 @@
   --dc-section-accent: var(--brand-magenta);  /* brand signal at every section header (was --blood) */
   --dc-section-break-inside: avoid;           /* `auto` lets a section split across pages/columns (.dc-allow-split, multicol runs) */
 
+  /* Column runs (`@columns N`). Core owns every column property; these are its
+     two author hooks, set once, with no column selector. Gap: the book's
+     structural gutter. Rule: the hairline between columns (needs a Gutterpress
+     that reads `--gp-column-rule`; older ones ignore it). */
+  --gp-column-gap:  var(--gutter);
+  --gp-column-rule: 1pt solid var(--border-hairline);
+
   /* Section chrome. A variant sets these on its own rule instead of cancelling
      .section's panel. Surface/shadow are the `content` of the ::before/::after
      layers ("" paints, `none` removes the layer); the pads drive .section's

package/styles/dc-native.css

@@ -245,60 +245,38 @@ figure {
   overflow: clip;
 }
 
-/* ── 5. MULTI-COLUMN SECTIONS must fragment naturally ──────────────────────
+/* ── 5. COLUMN RUNS: components must fragment naturally inside them ────────
+   These rules are components REACTING to sitting inside a column run
+   (`@columns N`, which emits `div.gp-columns` + `.gp-columns-N`). They set no
+   column property: how many columns, the gap, the rule and the fill are
+   core's (`--gp-column-gap` / `--gp-column-rule` are set once, at `:root`, in
+   dc-component-defaults.css).
+
    `.section` reads `break-inside: var(--dc-section-break-inside)`, default
    `avoid` (components/section.css; token in dc-component-defaults.css). This
    rule sets the TOKEN, not the property, so the component keeps the only
-   `break-inside` declaration. Measured DOM shape: `.gp-columns-2` is a WRAPPER div (the multicol
-   container, columns:2) and the `.section` blocks sit INSIDE it. A section
-   taller than one column can then never split, so Chromium drops it whole
-   into one column fragment and the facing column dies — the dead-column
+   `break-inside` declaration. Measured DOM shape: `.gp-columns` is a WRAPPER
+   div (the multicol container) and the `.section` blocks sit INSIDE it. A
+   section taller than one column can then never split, so Chromium drops it
+   whole into one column fragment and the facing column dies — the dead-column
    collapse. Removing this override cost 3 pages of pagination churn when
    measured (302pp vs 299pp), so it is load-bearing, not legacy.
 
-   Keys on the COUNT class, not `.dc-column-panel`: this is about multicol
-   fragmentation, and the wrapper shape is often a `@block` or `@page` that
-   never carries the panel chrome at all. */
+   Keys on the run, not on any card around it: this is about multicol
+   fragmentation, and the wrapper is a `@columns` run. A run is `.gp-columns`
+   (what `@columns` emits) or a count class on its own, so the selector takes
+   either: `[class*="gp-columns-"]` is the count classes, and the rule reads
+   the same for -1 to -5. */
 /* Selector is the descendant form on purpose: a `.section` that is itself the
    multicol container keeps the default. */
-.gp-columns-2 .section,
-.gp-columns-3 .section {
+:is(.gp-columns, [class*="gp-columns-"]) .section {
   --dc-section-break-inside: auto;
 }
 
-/* ── 6. COLUMN-FILL is a per-shape decision, and it lives HERE ────────────
-   Core deliberately ships no `column-fill` on `.gp-columns-*` (the right
-   value depends on whether the run fragments, and only the author knows).
-   page-templates.css used to answer `balance` for the whole book; under
-   native print the wrapper fragments across pages, and Chromium's
-   balance-in-fragmentation left every non-final fragment with a dead right
-   column (measured: proof17 p12/p13), so this rule said `auto`.
-
-   It says `balance` again (2026-10). `auto` with no fixed height fills the
-   first column to the BOTTOM OF THE PAGE, so every short run — a column
-   panel, a pair of gear entries — printed as a full-height box with an
-   empty right column, and a heading above one was stranded alone on its
-   page when the full-height box could not fit under it (design guide
-   p.83, p.111). Measured against the change, under gutterpress 0.11.13:
-   the Field Guide's 221 pages render pixel-identical with `balance`, and
-   the design guide loses 6 pages of holes. A run that genuinely needs
-   sequential fill opts in with core's `.gp-columns-flow`.
-
-   `:not(.gp-columns-flow)` is what makes that opt-in work: core declares
-   `.gp-columns-flow { column-fill: auto }` in its own layer, which every
-   extension layer outranks, so this rule used to win and the class did
-   nothing. `:where()` keeps the specificity at one class. */
-:where(.gp-columns-2, .gp-columns-3):not(.gp-columns-flow) {
-  column-fill: balance;
-}
-/* A PAGE that is itself the multicol container (`@page .gp-columns-2`) and
-   ends in a full-width spanner: the spanner's bottom margin pushed the page
-   box past its one-sheet minimum height, and the overflow printed as a blank
-   page (Field Guide: Quickstart vs. Deep Dive, after the DriveThruRPG
-   margins). A page's last child needs no bottom margin. */
-.page:is(.gp-columns-2, .gp-columns-3) > :last-child {
-  margin-bottom: 0;
-}
+/* `column-fill` is not set anywhere in this package. `balance` is the CSS
+   initial value and what a column run gets; core has no sequential-fill
+   opt-in. (A rule here used to restate `balance` for `.gp-columns-2/-3`; it
+   was a no-op.) */
 
 /* ── 7. WALL ART placement is the markdown's, via core's gp-* classes ──────
    Do not add a position/float/margin declaration to a `.fg-art-*` class that
@@ -320,16 +298,15 @@ figure {
 }
 
 /* Measured (p243, DOM-inspected): the CORE ELEMENTS heading is a full-width
-   spanner inside a .gp-columns-2 section, followed by a dc-alert callout
+   spanner above an `@columns` run, followed by a dc-alert callout
    whose default break-inside: avoid is UNENFORCEABLE (the card is taller than a
    column). Chromium then emits an empty card fragment under the spanner —
    header stranded, content headerless on the next page. A card that may
    fragment starts filling right under its header instead. Scoped to
-   multicol sections only; standalone cards keep their avoid. */
+   column runs only; standalone cards keep their avoid. */
 /* Sets --dc-alert-break-inside (callouts.css reads it); a book restores `avoid`
    for one instance by setting the token in context. */
-.gp-columns-2 .dc-alert,
-.gp-columns-3 .dc-alert {
+:is(.gp-columns, [class*="gp-columns-"]) .dc-alert {
   --dc-alert-break-inside: auto;
 }
 

package/styles/page-templates.css

@@ -4,12 +4,8 @@
 
    ── ARCHITECTURAL CONTRACT ────────────────────────────────────────────────
    OWNS:
-   - ALL page and section columns:N layouts — this is the ONLY file that may
-     set columns on a page template or section run. A component may column its
-     OWN internals in its own sheet (cards.css, section.css .dc-card-grid). It
-     may NOT set columns on core's `.gp-columns-*` (only their `--gp-column-gap`).
-   - .page.* content layout rules (columns, flex, grid on page content divs)
-   - .page base geometry, .column-break
+   - .page.* content layout rules (flex, grid on page content divs)
+   - .page base geometry
    - .dc-full-page full-bleed geometry (its named-page assignment,
      `page: full`, lives in page-rules.css alongside `@page full` — see
      that file's "ONE BLOCK PER NAMED PAGE" contract)
@@ -23,19 +19,21 @@
    - @page declarations or named-page geometry (→ page-rules.css)
    - .dc-* component styles (→ components/*.css)
    - :root token definitions (→ dc-palette.css, dc-component-defaults.css)
-   - div.chapter scaffolding unrelated to columns/layout (→ guide.css)
+   - div.chapter scaffolding unrelated to layout (→ guide.css)
    - @media screen rules (print-only project)
 
-   COLUMN OWNERSHIP RULE (narrowed, dc#41): if a THEME rule sets columns:N on a PAGE TEMPLATE (.page.*) in this
-   project, it belongs here and ONLY here. A columns:N on a page/section
-   selector found in another file is a bug (a component's own-internals layout
-   in its sheet is not). Core's `.gp-columns-2` / `.gp-columns-3` are the generic column
-   vocabulary and are NOT this file's to redefine — this file may only set
-   their `--gp-column-gap`. See the column-runs block below.
+   COLUMN OWNERSHIP RULE: this package owns NO column layout. There is one way
+   to put content in columns, and it is Gutterpress core's: `@columns N` …
+   `@column-break` … `@end-columns` (N from 1 to 5). Core owns the count, the
+   gap (`--gp-column-gap`, set once at `:root` in dc-component-defaults.css),
+   the rule (`--gp-column-rule`, same place) and `column-fill`. No sheet here
+   sets `columns`, `column-count`, `column-gap`, `column-fill` or `column-rule`
+   (test/integrity.test.js enforces it). What this package may still own is
+   component rules that react to sitting inside a run (dc-native.css §5). The grids inside a single component (`.dc-stat-grid`,
+   `.dc-steps`, `.dc-outcome-row`) are not column layout.
 
    AGENT RULE: "Does this selector start with .page.*, a general print
-   utility, or a div.chapter layout rule that sets columns?" — if NO, use
-   another file.
+   utility, or a div.chapter layout rule?" — if NO, use another file.
    ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
 
 @layer dc.templates {
@@ -129,7 +127,7 @@
    is not a sheet — it is a content run that fragments across as many sheets
    as it needs. The component gallery's wrapper measured 27,272px tall (~27
    sheets, 149 children), so an automatic `:has()` reservation squeezed the
-   right column out of all 27 — measured: it pushed `.dc-at-a-glance-cards`
+   right column out of all 27 — measured: it pushed an at-a-glance card row
    156px past its own grid box 22 sheets away. The rail only makes sense on a
    wrapper that IS one sheet, and `@page` is how an author declares one. So
    opting in is the feature, not a papercut.
@@ -172,20 +170,10 @@
    rendered HTML (`--format html`, grepped for exact class="..." tokens)
    before deleting.
 
-   `.column-break` (unprefixed) is NOT dead and stays: the design guide's
-   302-example-chapter-opener.md and 305-example-rules.md author it
-   directly as `---{.column-break}` (a markdown-it-attrs class on a `---`
-   thematic break), which is a different code path from the `@column-break`
-   marker line core recognizes (markers.js's parseMarkerLine only matches
-   lines starting with `@`) and renders `<hr class="column-break">` with no
-   `gp-` class at all. The rendered-HTML check that cleared every other
-   rule in this pass initially cleared this one too on a broken grep
-   pipeline; re-run correctly, it is present in the design guide's DOM. */
-.column-break {
-  color: var(--hud-magenta);
-  visibility: hidden;
-  break-after: column;
-}
+   `.column-break` (unprefixed, `---{.column-break}` on a thematic break) was
+   here and is DELETED: it was a third spelling of core's `@column-break`.
+   The marker line works wherever the `---` did (between blocks, on its own
+   line). */
 
 /* Specialty card image sizing lives in components/*.css (.dc-specialty-card img)
    via --dc-specialty-card-media-width/height tokens; no page-template override
@@ -220,37 +208,13 @@
    to the page box instead of letting it reach the sheet edge. */
 
 
-/* ── COLUMN RUNS: the theme sets THE GAP, core sets the columns ────────────── */
-/* `.two-column` / `.three-column` are GONE (2026-08-21). They were the book's
-   own generic spelling of core's `.gp-columns-2` / `.gp-columns-3`, and
-   gutterpress's CLAUDE.md §6 forbids exactly that — a theme redefining
-   `columns:` under a rival generic name leaves an author unable to tell which
-   vocabulary they are getting.
-
-   The name was doing two unrelated jobs, which is why the fix was not a
-   rename. Job one, the column COUNT, is core's and is deleted from this file:
-   nothing here sets `columns` for a column run any more. Job two, a SECTION
-   VARIANT (card substrate, the `column-span: all` heading bar, its shared
-   preamble paragraph, break-orphan guards, gear-entry min-heights) had no
-   business riding on a count class at all; it now has its own name,
-   `.dc-column-panel`, in components/*.css. Authors write both:
-   `@section .gp-columns-2 .dc-column-panel`.
-
-   What survives here is the one genuine theme addition — the gap. Core reads
-   `--gp-column-gap` (its own default is 1.5em) so the book's structural
-   `--gutter` is expressed through core's hook rather than by re-declaring
-   `column-gap`. Nothing in this theme may set `columns` on these names again.
-
-   `column-fill` is NOT set here: it is a per-shape decision that depends on
-   whether the run fragments, and dc-native.css §6 owns it with the
-   measurements behind each value. */
-.gp-columns-2 {
-  --gp-column-gap: var(--gutter);
-}
-
-.gp-columns-3 {
-  --gp-column-gap: 0.18in;  /* narrower than --gutter: three measures, less air */
-}
+/* ── COLUMN RUNS: nothing here ────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+/* `.two-column` / `.three-column` are GONE (2026-08-21), and since then so is
+   every other column rule of this package: `@columns N` is the one way to
+   column content, and it is core's. The gap and the hairline are two tokens
+   set at `:root` in dc-component-defaults.css (`--gp-column-gap`,
+   `--gp-column-rule`), with no column selector. A card that wants columns is
+   a plain `@section` with its body in `@columns N`. */
 
 .dc-card-grid .dc-specialty,
 .dc-card-grid .dc-specialty-card {
@@ -271,10 +235,10 @@
      # Credits {.dc-chevron}
      @lede ... @end-lede
      @section .credits-colophon
-     <div class="dc-colophon-grid">
-       **Role:** Names
-       ...
-     </div>
+     @columns 2
+     **Role:** Names
+     ...
+     @end-columns
 
    ── Template public API ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
    --frontmatter-accent    Single recolor knob. Drives the lede left-strip,
@@ -397,7 +361,7 @@
 /* Credits colophon section: the bottom block of the frontmatter stack, a flat
    paper-cream host (both section chrome layers off) with the lede's 4px
    rail running down through it. The flex column keeps a trailing
-   publisher-mark image bottom-aligned while the inner grid fills the height.
+   publisher-mark image bottom-aligned while the `@columns 2` run fills the height.
    Its shadow is a 2pt right-edge strip, not --shadow-poster: the colophon
    runs to the sheet's bottom edge (this template has no bottom margin), so
    the poster shadow's 3pt drop would land past the sheet and print as a
@@ -410,7 +374,7 @@
   --dc-section-pad-right:  0.22in;
   --dc-section-pad-bottom: 0.18in;
   --dc-section-pad-left:   0.22in;
-  columns: unset;
+  --gp-column-rule: none;  /* the names run in two plain columns, as they always have */
   display: flex;
   flex-direction: column;
   font-size: 9.5pt;
@@ -419,10 +383,7 @@
   box-shadow: inset 4px 0 0 var(--frontmatter-accent), 2pt 0 0 var(--shadow-ink); /* rail: see .dc-intro */
 }
 
-.page.page-credits .section.credits-colophon .dc-colophon-grid {
-  columns: 2;
-  column-gap: var(--gutter);
-  column-fill: balance;
+.page.page-credits .section.credits-colophon > .gp-columns {
   flex-grow: 1;
 }
 

package/snippets/column-panel.md

@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-@column-panel .gp-columns-2
-
-## {{heading}}
-
-{{body}}
-
-@column-break
-
-{{more}}
-
-@end-column-panel