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Gigs & skills (hybrid progression)
Vision-level design for how characters grow. Combat uses gigs (swap roles for grouping clarity). Non-combat uses skills (gathering, crafting, and similar loops). Epic 2 — Classless progression (E2.M1–M4) still describes skill XP machinery; a gig progression layer may sit beside or above it in data—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. |
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)
A gig 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 = high 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 skills use the same idea for craft depth (E2.M3-style), or stay separate—open.
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 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 gigs.
- Pacing/catch-up (E2.M4) applies across skills; gigs may use the same engine or a parallel one—open.
Seams (gigs ↔ skills)
| Topic | Question |
|---|---|
| Gear | Can any gig use any weapon, or do gigs restrict weapon classes? |
| Crafted combat gear | Gated by skill, by gig level, or both? |
| Consumables | Usually shared; a 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 every gig 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.
- 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 vs. non-combat | Gigs for combat; skills for gather/craft/etc. | Proposed |
| Professions (economy) | No separate profession system; economy identity from skills + rep | Agreed (overview) |
| Primary skill XP | Do the activity | Proposed |
| Failure XP | Per-activity; watch exploits | Open |
| Skill 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
- Gigs — roster size, swap UX, party finder tags, PvP (overview).
- Abilities — gig-locked vs. item-locked vs. skill-gated.
- Items — requirements: gig level vs. skill level.