diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1c5f01b..a410f7c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -183,6 +183,6 @@ The build runs all three guards before it writes anything:
 check-rules: OK — 87 rules, 21 files scanned, 3 aliases + 41 constant sets checked, 275 formulas verified
 check-kits: OK — 25 roles, 10 trades, 218 catalogue items, every kit key resolves, every posting can use what it carries, every loadout distinct
 check-lang: OK — en.json, 945 keys, no leaf/branch collisions
-check-behaviour: OK — 45 behavioural tests
+check-behaviour: OK — 46 behavioural tests
 ```
 <!-- guards:end -->
diff --git a/packs/armour/LOG b/packs/armour/LOG
index 49cdcec..62e92c6 100644
--- a/packs/armour/LOG
+++ b/packs/armour/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.815175 17303f000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.133590 1737ab000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/expedition/LOG b/packs/expedition/LOG
index 25f92e0..916c687 100644
--- a/packs/expedition/LOG
+++ b/packs/expedition/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.889991 17384b000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.207708 171f87000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/gear/LOG b/packs/gear/LOG
index e397aed..a7e471f 100644
--- a/packs/gear/LOG
+++ b/packs/gear/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.817229 17303f000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.135472 171f87000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/lastadmission/LOG b/packs/lastadmission/LOG
index 15d4892..34c2e3c 100644
--- a/packs/lastadmission/LOG
+++ b/packs/lastadmission/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.871528 174057000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.192039 171f87000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/npcs/LOG b/packs/npcs/LOG
index f965d77..2ffe2d5 100644
--- a/packs/npcs/LOG
+++ b/packs/npcs/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.853027 17303f000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.173317 172f9f000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/powers/LOG b/packs/powers/LOG
index c333a23..b0caab7 100644
--- a/packs/powers/LOG
+++ b/packs/powers/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.884011 174057000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.202720 1737ab000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/pregens/LOG b/packs/pregens/LOG
index 469709f..4b050e3 100644
--- a/packs/pregens/LOG
+++ b/packs/pregens/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.837710 17303f000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.157576 172793000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/primer/LOG b/packs/primer/LOG
index e6e7721..1afa076 100644
--- a/packs/primer/LOG
+++ b/packs/primer/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.880282 174057000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.199567 172793000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/prologue/LOG b/packs/prologue/LOG
index ba708a6..1aebe39 100644
--- a/packs/prologue/LOG
+++ b/packs/prologue/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.876362 172833000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.195999 1737ab000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/rules/LOG b/packs/rules/LOG
index d956fbf..05c133f 100644
--- a/packs/rules/LOG
+++ b/packs/rules/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.888015 174057000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.206279 172f9f000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/skills/LOG b/packs/skills/LOG
index 6ce03b1..602b21d 100644
--- a/packs/skills/LOG
+++ b/packs/skills/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.808706 17303f000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.127123 171f87000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/slice/LOG b/packs/slice/LOG
index bb2c129..70ce6a3 100644
--- a/packs/slice/LOG
+++ b/packs/slice/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.882429 174057000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.201269 172793000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/starter/LOG b/packs/starter/LOG
index 319db93..c72f337 100644
--- a/packs/starter/LOG
+++ b/packs/starter/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.863812 17384b000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.184597 172793000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/tables/LOG b/packs/tables/LOG
index 869173d..ba42942 100644
--- a/packs/tables/LOG
+++ b/packs/tables/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.857469 17384b000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.178030 172f9f000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/talents/LOG b/packs/talents/LOG
index 665b9da..cd25dda 100644
--- a/packs/talents/LOG
+++ b/packs/talents/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.811553 17303f000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.129805 171f87000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/vehicles/LOG b/packs/vehicles/LOG
index 57c5462..a2a793e 100644
--- a/packs/vehicles/LOG
+++ b/packs/vehicles/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.819322 17303f000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.137478 1737ab000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/packs/weapons/LOG b/packs/weapons/LOG
index dea0860..25a1911 100644
--- a/packs/weapons/LOG
+++ b/packs/weapons/LOG
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026/08/12-19:24:52.813317 17384b000 Delete type=3 #1
+2026/08/12-19:31:16.131540 171f87000 Delete type=3 #1
diff --git a/styles/ringbrp.css b/styles/ringbrp.css
index 1210f8f..2b1e9a4 100644
--- a/styles/ringbrp.css
+++ b/styles/ringbrp.css
@@ -1688,100 +1688,103 @@
 /* ============================================================
    THE PAUSE — a uniselector, stepping
    ============================================================
-   Foundry's pause is a <figure id="pause"> holding an <img class="fa-spin"> and a
-   <figcaption>. Both are replaced here without touching the markup.
+   Foundry's pause is <figure id="pause"> holding an <img> and a <figcaption>, and core
+   hides it with `#pause { display: none }` / shows it with `#pause.paused { display:
+   flex }`. The first version of this styled the bare #pause with display:flex and so
+   overrode the hide — the panel never went away when the game unpaused. EVERY rule here
+   that could affect visibility or layout is therefore scoped to `.paused`, and `display`
+   is not set anywhere.
+
+   Core also already centres it: a full-width band, 180px tall, at top calc(50vh - 100px),
+   column flex, centred both ways, pointer-events none. That layout is correct and is
+   left alone — only its size and its looks change here. The first version repositioned
+   it with left/bottom and pushed it off centre for the trouble.
 
    A uniselector is the stepping switch inside a telephone exchange: an arm that clicks
-   round one contact at a time, hunting for a free line. It is the right object for this
-   game — the department's whole business is a machine that says where things belong,
-   and OPEN DAY is set inside one. Eleven contacts, because eleven minutes is the
-   interval this setting keeps coming back to.
+   round one contact at a time, hunting for a free line. The department's whole business
+   is a machine that says where things belong, and OPEN DAY is set inside one. Eleven
+   contacts, because eleven minutes is the interval this setting keeps returning to.
 
-   It STEPS rather than sweeps. A continuous spin reads as a loading throbber; a
-   discrete click every 700ms reads as a machine working through a list, which is what
-   the department is doing while the table is out of the room.
-
-   No new text: Foundry's own caption is localised and this only restyles it. A string
-   hardcoded here would be one the lang file could never reach.
+   It STEPS rather than sweeps — a contact every 700ms. A continuous spin reads as a
+   loading throbber; a discrete click reads as a machine working through a list.
    ============================================================ */
 
-#pause {
-  /* Core pins this with BOTH top and bottom, so an auto height stretches it down the
-     whole screen — 180px tall for a 16px caption. Pin it once, here, and size to
-     content. The arm is rotated, so its bounding box is the diagonal of its own square:
-     the panel is laid out from the flex basis, never from getBoundingClientRect. */
-  position: fixed;
-  left: 50%; bottom: 14vh; top: auto; right: auto;
-  transform: translateX(-50%);
-  height: auto; width: max-content;
-  display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 16px;
-  min-width: 320px; padding: 14px 22px 14px 16px;
-  background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--rb-void) 88%, transparent);
-  border: 1px solid var(--rb-line);
-  border-top: 2px solid var(--rb-yellow);
-  border-radius: 0;
-  box-shadow: 0 10px 40px rgba(0,0,0,.55);
+/* Taller than core's 180px, and moved up by exactly half the extra so it stays centred. */
+#pause.paused {
+  height: 300px;
+  top: calc(50vh - 150px);
+  gap: 28px;
+  background: linear-gradient(to right,
+    transparent 0%,
+    color-mix(in srgb, var(--rb-void) 82%, transparent) 38%,
+    color-mix(in srgb, var(--rb-void) 82%, transparent) 62%,
+    transparent 100%);
 }
 
-/* the dial: eleven contacts, standing still */
-#pause::before {
+/* the dial: eleven contacts, standing still, behind the arm */
+#pause.paused::before {
   content: "";
-  position: absolute; left: 16px; top: 50%;
-  width: 52px; height: 52px; margin-top: -26px;
+  position: absolute;
+  top: 24px; left: 50%; margin-left: -85px;
+  width: 170px; height: 170px;
   border-radius: 50%;
-  border: 1px solid var(--rb-hairline);
   background:
     repeating-conic-gradient(from -90deg,
-      var(--rb-line) 0deg 2.4deg, transparent 2.4deg 32.727deg);
-  -webkit-mask: radial-gradient(circle, transparent 0 15px, #000 16px);
-          mask: radial-gradient(circle, transparent 0 15px, #000 16px);
-  opacity: .95;
+      var(--rb-line) 0deg 1.6deg, transparent 1.6deg 32.727deg);
+  -webkit-mask: radial-gradient(circle, transparent 0 52px, #000 54px);
+          mask: radial-gradient(circle, transparent 0 52px, #000 54px);
+  opacity: .9;
 }
 
 /* the arm. The <img> keeps its box and loses its pixels: object-position walks the
-   raster out of the frame, which leaves a paintable element without a second wrapper. */
-#pause img {
-  position: relative; z-index: 1;
-  flex: 0 0 52px; width: 52px; height: 52px; margin: 0;
-  object-fit: none; object-position: -999px -999px;
-  border: none; filter: none;
+   raster out of frame, which leaves a paintable element without adding a wrapper. */
+#pause.paused img {
+  width: 170px; height: 170px;
+  object-fit: none; object-position: -9999px -9999px;
+  border: none; box-shadow: none; filter: none;
   /* the arm, and behind it the contact it has just left — without the trailing sector
-     a 700ms step is easy to miss entirely, and the whole point is that it is stepping */
-  background: conic-gradient(from -92deg,
-    var(--rb-yellow) 0deg 5deg,
-    var(--rb-yellow-dim) 5deg 30deg,
-    transparent 30deg 360deg);
-  -webkit-mask: radial-gradient(circle, #000 0 22px, transparent 23px);
-          mask: radial-gradient(circle, #000 0 22px, transparent 23px);
+     a 700ms step is easy to miss, and the stepping is the whole idea */
+  background: conic-gradient(from -91deg,
+    var(--rb-yellow) 0deg 3.5deg,
+    var(--rb-yellow-dim) 3.5deg 28deg,
+    transparent 28deg 360deg);
+  -webkit-mask: radial-gradient(circle, #000 0 78px, transparent 80px);
+          mask: radial-gradient(circle, #000 0 78px, transparent 80px);
   animation: rb-uniselector 7.7s steps(11, end) infinite;
 }
-/* Foundry adds fa-spin to that img; ours is the only rotation that should run. */
-#pause img.fa-spin { animation: rb-uniselector 7.7s steps(11, end) infinite; }
+/* core adds fa-spin to that img; ours must be the only rotation running */
+#pause.paused img.fa-spin { animation: rb-uniselector 7.7s steps(11, end) infinite; }
 
 /* the hub, and the amber that says the record is being written */
-#pause::after {
+#pause.paused::after {
   content: "";
-  position: absolute; left: 38px; top: 50%;
-  width: 8px; height: 8px; margin-top: -4px;
+  position: absolute;
+  top: 101px; left: 50%; margin-left: -8px;
+  width: 16px; height: 16px;
   border-radius: 50%;
   background: var(--rb-yellow);
   animation: rb-pause-pip 2.6s ease-in-out infinite;
 }
 
-#pause figcaption {
+#pause.paused figcaption {
   font-family: var(--rb-display);
-  font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: .22em; text-transform: uppercase;
+  font-size: 24px;
+  letter-spacing: .3em;
+  text-transform: uppercase;
   color: var(--rb-yellow);
-  text-shadow: none; padding: 0; margin: 0;
-  border-left: 1px solid var(--rb-hairline); padding-left: 16px;
+  line-height: 1.2;
+  text-shadow: 0 2px 18px var(--rb-void);
 }
 
 @keyframes rb-uniselector { from { transform: rotate(0deg); } to { transform: rotate(360deg); } }
 @keyframes rb-pause-pip   { 0%, 100% { opacity: .25; } 50% { opacity: 1; } }
 
-/* A stepping dial in the corner of the eye is exactly the sort of thing a reduced-motion
-   preference is asking us not to do. Keep the object, stop the movement. */
+/* A stepping dial in the corner of the eye is exactly what this preference is about.
+   Keep the object, stop the movement — including core's own pulse on the whole figure. */
 @media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
-  #pause img, #pause img.fa-spin, #pause::after { animation: none; }
-  #pause img { transform: rotate(-32deg); }
+  #pause.paused,
+  #pause.paused img,
+  #pause.paused img.fa-spin,
+  #pause.paused::after { animation: none; }
+  #pause.paused img { transform: rotate(-32.7deg); }
 }
diff --git a/system.json b/system.json
index 44e2169..04aaa95 100644
--- a/system.json
+++ b/system.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "id": "ringbrp",
   "title": "The Custodians",
   "description": "A Basic Roleplaying game of agents who cross the crossing to contain what should not be there — and who come back a little less from here each time.",
-  "version": "1.0.4",
+  "version": "1.0.5",
   "compatibility": {
     "minimum": 13,
     "verified": "14.364"
diff --git a/tools/check-behaviour.mjs b/tools/check-behaviour.mjs
index 2595d33..fa97fad 100644
--- a/tools/check-behaviour.mjs
+++ b/tools/check-behaviour.mjs
@@ -426,6 +426,28 @@ test("every declared document type has a label and a sheet section", async () =>
   }
 });
 
+// Core hides the pause overlay with `#pause { display: none }` and shows it with
+// `#pause.paused { display: flex }`. A system rule on the BARE #pause that sets display
+// wins on specificity and the overlay never goes away — the game unpauses, play carries
+// on, and GAME PAUSED sits over the table for the rest of the session. Shipped exactly
+// that in 1.0.4. Anything targeting #pause must be scoped to .paused.
+test("no stylesheet rule sets display on a bare #pause", async () => {
+  const { readFile } = await import("node:fs/promises");
+  const raw = await readFile(new URL("../styles/ringbrp.css", import.meta.url), "utf8");
+  // Comments first, or this guard reports the comment that explains the guard — which
+  // is precisely what the template guard did the last time round.
+  const css = raw.replace(/\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\//g, "");
+  // every rule whose selector mentions #pause, with its declaration block
+  for (const m of css.matchAll(/([^{}]*#pause[^{}]*)\{([^{}]*)\}/g)) {
+    const selector = m[1].trim().replace(/\s+/g, " ");
+    const body = m[2];
+    const scoped = selector.split(",").every(sel => !sel.includes("#pause") || /#pause[^,]*\.paused/.test(sel));
+    if (scoped) continue;
+    assert.ok(!/(^|;)\s*display\s*:/.test(body),
+      `"${selector}" sets display on an unscoped #pause — the overlay will not hide on unpause`);
+  }
+});
+
 /* ---------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
 await runAll();