neon-sprawl/docs/game-design/skills.md

Gigs & skills (hybrid progression)

Vision-level design for how characters grow. Combat uses gigs (swap roles for grouping clarity); each gig levels on its own track (per-gig progression). Non-combat uses skills (gathering, crafting, and similar loops). Epic 2 — Classless progression (E2.M1–M4) still describes skill XP machinery; gig XP/levels are per gig—decomposition should be revisited when this split hardens.

Vocabulary

From here on in game-design docs:

Term	Means
Gig	The combat role (combat “class”): what you bring to a fight—kit, tuning band, party expectations. Not used for crafting or gathering.
Skill	A non-combat trained capability only (gather, craft, etc.). Never used to mean the combat gig.
Sub-gig	A secondary gig paired with your main gig on one loadout. Used for limited cross-gig ability access—see gigs.md (Main gig + sub-gig)—not for crafting or replacing the main gig’s identity in combat.

Fiction and UI may still say job, contract, or loadout in dialogue; design vocabulary stays gig / skill to avoid ambiguity.

Why hybrid

• Gigs give parties a readable answer to “what are you on this run?” without forcing alts. They match contracts, loadouts, and corporate muscle as fantasy.
• Skills keep the economy and crafting surface wide: anyone can work those capabilities over time, and “street doc” can mean high medic craft skill + rep, not only an active gig.

Gigs (combat)

The gig artifact—roles, hub swap, per-gig progression, main + sub-gig, party/recruitment (no LFG UI assumption), PvP notes, and gig-only open questions—is gigs.md. This file keeps vocabulary, why hybrid, and seams with skills.

Skills (non-combat, classless)

Everything outside combat role resolution—gathering, refining, crafting lines, non-combat tech, etc.—uses skills:

• Any character can train any skill over time (subject to world gates: discovery, rep, licenses—those expand content, they are not “you picked the wrong gig”).
• Identity for “what you do in the economy” is the skill graph + reputation + gear, not the gig you ran last night.
• Long-term: avoid dead-end grinds; slow or expensive is fine, “wrong choice forever” is not.

What counts as a skill

A skill 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 gigs and do not replace them.

XP, failure, caps, pacing (skills)

• Server-authoritative grants with structured sources (node, recipe, mission payout, …).
• Failure XP (XP on a failed attempt at a skill action—e.g. burnt recipe—not death penalty): per skill / per mechanic; open globally, will depend on how each activity is built and what exploit surface it has.
• Caps: Soft only—no hard “max level” by default. Each level needs more XP than the last (threshold tables or formula; data-driven per skill or policy).
• Runaway mitigation beyond the curve: diminishing returns, context modifiers, or other knobs if telemetry demands.
• Gates (recipes, rep, licenses) should add paths, not fake gigs.
• Pacing/catch-up (E2.M4) applies across skills; gig pacing is per-gig (same or parallel engine—open).

Seams (gigs ↔ skills)

Topic	Direction
Combat gear	Gig-restricted. Weapons, armor, and other combat-loadout pieces declare which gig(s) may equip or fully activate them. After a hub-only gig swap, the player re-banks or re-equips combat gear for the new gig (automation vs. manual loadout UX open). Non-combat tools (pickaxe, scanner, craft bench) stay skill-gated, not gig-gated, unless a piece is explicitly hybrid.
Crafting combat gear	No gig or gig level requirement. Who can build it depends on skills (e.g. gunsmith), recipes, rep, facilities—never on owning a gig or its level. A character can craft combat gear they cannot equip (wrong gig, low gig level, etc.): valid for trade, stock, or group play. Equip/activation stays gig-restricted as above.
Consumables	Carry and use are not gig-gated by default—anyone can pop a stim or patch. Passive potency can scale with gig match: e.g. a medic-tagged bonus applies if main or sub-gig matches (see gigs.md). Others use a baseline. Active abilities from consumables (if any) follow their own rules—open. Other items may have no gig hook—data-driven per item.
Rep / story	Hybrid. Faction / world reputation stays character-wide where it fits (one person, one web of grudges). Narrative also includes gig storylines and main-quest-style arcs tied to a gig—mentor paths, employer chains, identity stories that assume you are that role for a chapter. State for those arcs is per gig (or per gig branch) on the same character; switching gigs does not erase character rep, but gig plot progress is its own track.
Alts / multi-gig mastery	One avatar still reduces alt pressure for economy and story. Maining every gig is not a design problem for now: gig leveling is intentionally slow, so fully progressing (or “maxing”) every gig is a long-term time investment, not something handed out quickly. Players who put in that time may legitimately be strong in every gig on one character. Revisit only if pacing, live balance, or PvP show harm.

Player-facing readability

• Combat: UI shows main gig, sub-gig, levels/tracks, combat abilities, and combat gear the main gig can use (mismatched gear disabled or greyed). Consumable tooltips for passive amps can show baseline vs. boosted when main or sub matches the item’s gig hook.
• Non-combat / crafting: skill list, XP sources, categories; crafting combat gear does not hide recipes behind gigs—only skill/recipe gates (optional UI hint if the product is unequippable for your current gig).
• Story: journal or quest UI can separate character / faction threads from gig threads so players see which arc belongs to which gig.
• Use gig / skill consistently in specs and tools; flavor text can vary.

Decisions log

Topic	Direction	Status
Vocabulary	Gig = combat role; skill = non-combat only	Agreed
Combat gear	Gig-restricted equip/activation; non-combat tools skill-gated	Agreed
Crafting combat gear	Skill/recipe/rep (etc.) only—not gig or gig level; craft-for-others OK	Agreed
Consumables	Baseline for all; passive gig amp from main or sub (gigs.md)	Agreed
Rep / story	Character-wide rep; gig-scoped storylines and main quests (per-gig progress on one avatar)	Agreed
Multi-gig mastery	OK for now; slow gig leveling makes “all gigs” a time goal, not a loophole	Agreed (revisit if balance/PvP needs)
Combat vs. non-combat	Gigs for combat; skills for gather/craft/etc.	Agreed
Professions (economy)	No separate profession system; economy identity from skills + rep	Agreed (overview)
Primary skill XP	Do the activity	Agreed
Failure XP	Open; decided per skill / activity once mechanics exist (not the same as death penalty)	Open
Skill caps	Soft; progressively more XP per level (data-driven curves)	Agreed
Gig swap rules	Hub-only (city / home base / designated site)—not in the field or mid-fight	Agreed
Sub-gig	FFXI-style slot agreed; sub abilities up to ~½ main gig level (formula TBD); wide build space	Agreed
Combat progression	Per gig—separate level/XP (and mastery) per gig; no shared combat rank	Agreed
Gig XP award	Main gig only; sub-gig earns no XP—see gigs.md	Agreed
Epic 2 doc split	Align modules when gig data model is chosen	TBD

Next artifacts

• gigs.md — gig roster, hub UX, recruitment channel deferred, PvP (started; extend there).
• Abilities — gig-locked vs. item-locked vs. skill-gated.
• Items — equip: gig rules; craft: skills (and recipe/rep), never gig level.