5.3 KiB
Skills & combat gigs (hybrid progression)
Vision-level design for how characters grow. Combat leans gig-style (swap roles for grouping clarity). Non-combat stays classless skilling (gathering, crafting, and similar loops). Epic 2 — Classless progression (E2.M1–M4) still describes the skill/XP machinery; a combat job layer may sit beside or above it in data—decomposition should be revisited when this split hardens.
Why hybrid
- Gig-style combat gives parties a readable answer to “what are you on this run?” without forcing alts. It matches contracts, loadouts, and corporate muscle as fantasy.
- RuneScape-style non-combat keeps the economy and crafting surface wide: anyone can work the world’s jobs over time, and “street doc” can mean high medic craft + rep, not only a combat button pick.
Combat gigs (roles)
Gig (job / role—final name TBD) is the combat identity you bring to a fight: ability access, baseline tuning band, and party expectations (tank, support, control, damage, etc.). Gigs are swapped under rules TBD—not necessarily mid-fight.
- Swap constraints (out of combat only, hub-only, cooldown, consumable, story gate) are a major feel knob: permissive = FF flexibility; strict = sharper commitment per outing.
- Progression per gig: separate level/track vs. shared “combat rank” with gig-specific unlocks—open; separate tracks support “I main tank but leveled medic for backup” at the cost of more balancing.
- Mastery/perks can attach to gigs (combat expression) while non-combat skills use the same idea for craft depth (E2.M3-style), or stay separate—open.
Non-combat skills (classless)
Everything outside combat role resolution—gathering, refining, crafting lines, hacking that isn’t the combat gig, etc.—uses classless skills:
- Any character can train any non-combat skill over time (subject to world gates: discovery, rep, licenses—those expand content, they are not “you picked the wrong class”).
- Identity for “what you do in the economy” is the non-combat skill graph + reputation + gear, not the combat gig you wore last night.
- Long-term: avoid dead-end grinds; slow or expensive is fine, “wrong choice forever” is not.
What counts as a non-combat skill
A skill here is a persistent, leveled capability improved primarily by doing the activity (chop, refine, assemble, etc.). Supplementary sources (books, training) stay optional. Skills stay data-defined (stable IDs, categories, prerequisites).
Categories (families)
Categories group skills for UI and balance (e.g. Gathering, Craft, Tech, Social). They are not combat gigs and do not replace them.
XP, failure, caps, pacing (non-combat)
Same principles as before, scoped to non-combat awards:
- Server-authoritative grants with structured sources (node, recipe, mission payout, …).
- Failure XP per activity where it helps fun and not exploits.
- Runaway mitigation via diminishing returns, context, soft caps.
- Gates (recipes, rep, licenses) should add paths, not fake classes.
- Pacing/catch-up (E2.M4) applies across non-combat skills; combat gigs may use the same engine or a parallel one—open.
Seams (where the two halves meet)
These need crisp answers so players and designers do not argue from different assumptions:
| Topic | Question |
|---|---|
| Gear | Can any gig use any weapon, or do gigs restrict weapon classes? |
| Crafted combat gear | Gated by non-combat skill, by gig level, or both? |
| Consumables | Usually shared; gig might gate deployment (e.g. only medic gig applies this stim at full power). |
| Rep / story | Almost always character-wide; gigs change how you express it in combat. |
| Alts | Hybrid should reduce alt pressure; if gig swap is too free, maining “everything” becomes the new problem—tune swap cost or ramp. |
Player-facing readability
- Combat: UI shows active gig, gig level/track, and combat abilities for that gig.
- Non-combat: skill list, XP sources, categories—as today.
- Avoid two different words meaning the same thing (“job” for both gig and trade skill) unless intentional in fiction.
Decisions log
| Topic | Direction | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Combat vs. non-combat | Gigs for combat roles; classless skills for gather/craft/etc. | Proposed |
| Classless vs. professions (economy) | No separate profession system; economy identity from skills + rep | Agreed (overview) |
| Primary non-combat XP | Do the activity | Proposed |
| Failure XP | Per-activity; watch exploits | Open |
| Non-combat caps | Prefer soft; hard only if economy/PvP needs | Proposed |
| Gig swap rules | — | Open |
| Shared vs. per-gig combat progression | — | Open |
| Epic 2 doc split | Align modules when gig data model is chosen | TBD |
Next artifacts
- Combat gigs — deeper pass: roster size, swap UX, party finder tags, PvP implications (overview).
- Abilities — which abilities are gig-locked vs. item-locked vs. skill-gated (non-combat).
- Items — requirements that reference gig level vs. craft skill.