Merge pull request 'docs: economy & quest system design (v0.1)' (#60 ) from docs/economy-system-design into main

docs: economy & quest system design (v0.1 draft)
Full design for the unified spawn economy: - Seven themed guild buildings (Adventurer's, Merchant's, Civic, Library, Tavern, Foundry, Mint) - Universal accept → complete → return quest pattern - Villagers moved fully to spurs with rebalance principles + initial price guidance - Money flow architecture (bounded inflows, scaling sinks) - Phasing plan (8 phases, each independently shippable) - Mod stack confirmed (we have everything we need for V1) - Risk register + open decisions to make before implementation Status: design, not yet implemented. Phase 0 (spawn skeleton) is the next concrete deliverable. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-06-06 20:48:13 +00:00 · 2026-06-06 20:48:12 +00:00
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+# Brass and Sigil — Economy & Quest System Design
+
+> Status: design draft (v0.1). Not yet implemented.
+> Owner: matt
+> Last updated: 2026-06-06
+
+---
+
+## 1. Goals
+
+- **One unified currency** — spurs (Numismatics).
+- **Multiple ways to earn, each one bounded.** No infinite money printer.
+- **Multiple sinks that scale with progression.** Money disappears as you advance, so wealth never dwarfs the cost of new ambitions.
+- **Spatial design that gives spawn personality.** Themed guild buildings, each with a clear purpose, each tied to the same wallet.
+- **Forward-compat with a proper quest line** via FTB Quests, while supporting daily/repeatable activities at spawn.
+- **Anti-automation by design**, not by patches.
+
+---
+
+## 2. Core architecture
+
+```
+            ┌────── MONEY IN (bounded) ──────┐
+            │                                 │
+   Adventurer's Guild   — Daily bounties (cooldowns, scaling)
+   Merchant's Bazaar    — Sell shop (fixed + DR), dynamic exchange
+   Mint                 — Capped emerald → spur conversion *
+   First-time milestones — One-shot per player
+   FTB Quests           — Progression milestone payouts
+                  │
+                  ▼
+          ┌───────────────────┐
+          │   Player wallet   │   ← Numismatics
+          │     (spurs)       │
+          └───────────────────┘
+                  │
+                  ▼
+            ┌────── MONEY OUT (scaling) ──────┐
+            │                                  │
+   Civic Office         — Plot claim costs (FTB Chunks override)
+   Civic Office         — Tier upgrades (FTB Ranks integration)
+   Merchant's Bazaar    — Player-to-player job board (no minting)
+   Villagers            — Re-priced trades, net sink
+   Custom services      — Warps, sethomes, premium cosmetics
+```
+
+\* Only if we keep emeralds; see §5 — we're moving villagers to spurs, which probably retires the Mint as a currency-conversion station and repurposes it as a wallet/info hub.
+
+---
+
+## 3. Spawn — themed guild buildings
+
+Each guild is a destination. The guild's NPC is both the **entry point** (accept work) and **exit point** (return to claim reward). This pattern applies universally — see §4.
+
+| Building | Purpose | Primary mechanics inside |
+|---|---|---|
+| **Adventurer's Guild** | Combat & exploration | Bounty board (daily mob hunts), boss-kill quests, dungeon-delve quests (future) |
+| **Merchant's Bazaar** | Trade & raw-mat economy | Numismatics sell shop, dynamic exchange counter, player-driven job board |
+| **Civic Office** | Land & status | Plot claim office, tier upgrades, sethome/warp services |
+| **Library / Academy** | Knowledge & magic | FTB Quests anchor NPC, Ars Nouveau themed quests, lore terminals |
+| **Tavern** | Social & onboarding | First-time newbie quests, casual NPCs, food/buff vendor |
+| **Foundry / Workshop** | Crafting & commissions | Create-themed contracts, crafting orders, raw-material market |
+| **Mint** | Currency information | Wallet info, currency tutorial, possibly emerald exchange |
+
+### Forward-compat with a full quest line
+
+The architecture is naturally dual-track:
+
+- **FTB Quests** = the *progression* backbone — chapter-by-chapter pack content, one-time rewards, story arcs. The campaign.
+- **Spawn-building NPCs** (Easy NPC + KubeJS) = the *daily/repeatable* layer — bounties, sell shops, services. The live activities.
+
+Both pay into the same wallet. Players run the campaign at their pace and the daily content for income/replay value. They reinforce each other rather than compete.
+
+---
+
+## 4. Quest & bounty flow (universal pattern)
+
+**Core principle:** for any guild, the player **accepts** work from an NPC, **completes** it in the world, then **returns** to that NPC to **turn it in** and claim the reward. No instant payouts. This:
+
+- Anchors guilds as destinations
+- Creates risk/reward tension (die on the return, lose the reward)
+- Encourages waypoint use and travel
+- Lets the server centrally control payouts and detect cheating
+
+### State machine
+
+Each quest, per player, lives in one of these states:
+
+```
+   AVAILABLE  ─[player accepts]─►  ACTIVE  ─[objective met]─►  READY  ─[turned in]─►  COMPLETED
+       ▲                                                                                    │
+       └──────────────────────[cooldown elapses]───────────────────────────────────────────┘
+```
+
+- **AVAILABLE** — NPC offers the quest in dialog. Player has no current copy of it.
+- **ACTIVE** — Player accepted. KubeJS tracks objective progress via relevant events (`EntityEvents.death` for kills, `ItemEvents.firstRightClicked` for explorations, etc.).
+- **READY** — Objective met. Reward is *promised but not yet paid.* NPC dialog now offers a turn-in option.
+- **COMPLETED** — Reward paid out. Quest goes on cooldown for this player.
+- **AVAILABLE** (again) — after the cooldown, the NPC will offer it again.
+
+### Worked example — daily bounty
+
+1. **Adventurer's Guild NPC** has 5 randomized daily quests (e.g. "Slay 10 Plunderers — 50 spurs").
+2. Player right-clicks NPC → Easy NPC dialog → "Accept: Slay 10 Plunderers."
+3. KubeJS writes `quest:plunderer_10` to the player's quest state with `count: 0`.
+4. Player kills Plunderers in the world. `EntityEvents.death` for `supplementaries:plunderer` increments the count.
+5. At count=10, KubeJS flips state to **READY** and notifies the player ("Return to the Adventurer's Guild to claim your reward.").
+6. Player returns. Right-click NPC. Easy NPC dialog detects READY state and offers "Turn in: Slay 10 Plunderers."
+7. KubeJS pays 50 spurs into the player's Numismatics wallet, flips state to **COMPLETED**, sets cooldown to 24h.
+
+### Universal applicability
+
+The same accept → complete → return pattern works for every guild:
+
+| Guild | Accept | Complete | Return |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| **Adventurer's** | "Hunt 10 plunderers" | kill them | NPC pays bounty |
+| **Merchant's** | "Procure 32 diamonds for our buyer" | gather them | NPC pays inflated price + completes |
+| **Civic** | "Survey 5 unclaimed chunks" | walk through them | NPC pays survey fee |
+| **Library** | "Recover this lost tome" | find the book in a structure | NPC pays + grants reputation |
+| **Foundry** | "Craft 10 Andesite Casings" | craft them | NPC pays commission |
+
+### KubeJS implementation sketch
+
+- **State storage:** per-player JSON in `world/data/bns_quests/<uuid>.json`, written via KubeJS persistent-data hooks.
+- **Event tracking:** standard KubeJS event handlers (`EntityEvents.death`, `ItemEvents.pickedUp`, `BlockEvents.broken`) read the player's active quests and increment.
+- **Dialog branching:** Easy NPC dialog with conditions that call KubeJS to check quest state and route the dialog appropriately.
+- **Reward delivery:** call Numismatics' wallet API to deposit spurs.
+
+---
+
+## 5. Villager rebalance
+
+**Decision:** move all villagers to **spurs** (not emeralds). Thematic consistency over preserving vanilla mental model.
+
+**Decision principles:**
+
+- Villagers are **net money sinks** — players spend more on villagers than they earn from them.
+- **Useful trades stay** — enchanted books, tools, food, decorative blocks. Reasonable spur prices.
+- **Trash trades get deleted** — no one ever wanted to sell rotten flesh or buy paper.
+- **Sell-to-villager trades exist but are bad** — `64 wheat → 1 spur`, `16 leather → 1 spur`. Farms still possible, but ~10× slower than any other income source.
+
+### Price guidance (initial calibration — tune via playtesting)
+
+#### Buy-from-villager (player pays spurs)
+
+| Item | Tier-1 | Tier-3 | Tier-5 |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| Standard enchanted book (random) | 50 spurs | 120 spurs | 250 spurs |
+| Mending book | — | — | 800 spurs |
+| Diamond tool (unenchanted) | — | 80 spurs | — |
+| Diamond tool (enchanted) | — | — | 350 spurs |
+| Bookshelf | 15 spurs | — | — |
+
+#### Sell-to-villager (player gets spurs)
+
+| Item | Spurs per unit |
+|---|---|
+| Wheat | 1 per 64 |
+| Paper | 1 per 32 |
+| Leather | 1 per 16 |
+| Iron ingot | 2 per 1 |
+| Diamond | 8 per 1 *(matches sell-shop fixed price — players use whichever is closer)* |
+
+### Scope
+
+~60 trades × 5 profession tiers = ~300 trade entries to redesign. One-time data-design pass, implemented via `ServerEvents.villagerTrades` in KubeJS.
+
+---
+
+## 6. Money inflow sources (detailed)
+
+| Source | Cap / DR mechanism | Rough rate |
+|---|---|---|
+| **Daily bounties** | Per-player per-quest cooldown (24h) | ~200-500 spurs/day for an active player |
+| **Sell shop (fixed price + DR)** | Lifetime sales tracker per player, 10% price drop per 64 sold | ~50-200 spurs/hr while diamond stockpile lasts |
+| **Dynamic exchange** | Global supply pool — price drops with sales | Self-balancing |
+| **First-time milestones** | One-shot per player (`hasFlag`) | 5-50 spurs per milestone, ~10 milestones total |
+| **FTB Quest progression** | One-time per quest | Varies; cluster rewards at chapter completion |
+| **Villager sell trades** | Inherently slow + bad prices | ~50 spurs/hr from a serious villager farm |
+
+---
+
+## 7. Money outflow sinks (detailed)
+
+| Sink | Cost curve | Why this scales right |
+|---|---|---|
+| **Plot claims** | Free up to 9 chunks. 50 spurs/chunk to 25. 200 spurs/chunk beyond. | New players claim free starter areas; ambitious players pay real money |
+| **Tier upgrades** | Cumulative cost: 500 → 2k → 8k → 30k spurs | Endgame sink, status display |
+| **Buy-from-villager** | See §5 | Constant outflow as you build up |
+| **Premium cosmetics** | 100-2k spurs each | Optional sink for cash-flush players |
+| **Services** | Sethome: 50 spurs, warp: 25 spurs, /back: 10 spurs | Convenience taxes |
+
+---
+
+## 8. Mod stack (we have what we need)
+
+| Need | Mod | Status |
+|---|---|---|
+| Currency + wallets + shop blocks | Numismatics | ✅ In pack |
+| NPC quest-givers + dialog | Easy NPC | ✅ In pack |
+| Quest engine (progression) | FTB Quests | ⏳ Planned, not added |
+| Plot claims | FTB Chunks | ✅ In pack |
+| Tier system | FTB Ranks | ❓ Not in pack — add when we get to tiers |
+| Glue & quest state | KubeJS | ✅ In pack |
+
+**Not adding:** CustomNPCs (Easy NPC covers it), Citizens (Bukkit-only), PMMO (out of scope), generic "quest giver" mods (FTB Quests + KubeJS do it).
+
+---
+
+## 9. Phasing
+
+Each phase is independently shippable. Earlier phases unlock value without depending on later ones.
+
+| Phase | Deliverable | Why this order |
+|---|---|---|
+| **0** | Spawn skeleton built — 7 guild buildings placed (rough). | Locations have to exist before NPCs can stand in them. |
+| **1** | **Merchant's Bazaar V1:** Numismatics sell shop (fixed prices, no DR yet) for diamonds & netherite. | Cheapest to ship, immediate economy unlock. |
+| **2** | **Civic Office V1:** Plot claim cost via KubeJS `/ftbchunks claim` override. | Real money sink. Tests FTB Chunks integration depth. |
+| **3** | **Adventurer's Guild V1:** Bounty board engine. 5 daily quests, accept→complete→return flow. | The biggest gameplay feature. Validates the universal quest pattern. |
+| **4** | **Villager rebalance:** strip vanilla, ship the spur-priced trade table. | Closes the exploit. Big JSON pass. |
+| **5** | **Library / Academy:** FTB Quests anchor + first chapter of progression quests. | Long-form content begins. |
+| **6** | **Civic Office V2:** FTB Ranks integration + tier upgrades. | Endgame money sink. |
+| **7** | **Dynamic exchange rates** (Bazaar V2). | Most engineering, biggest anti-farm payoff, ship last. |
+| **8+** | Foundry, Tavern, deeper Library quests, dungeons-with-Lootr. | Beyond V1. |
+
+---
+
+## 10. Risk register
+
+| Risk | Likelihood | Mitigation |
+|---|---|---|
+| Bounty engine bugs out, players lose progress | Medium | Atomic state writes; logs of every state transition |
+| Villager farms still profitable after rebalance | Medium | Track player sell volumes; tune prices in patches |
+| KubeJS-EasyNPC dialog branching has limits | Low-Med | Verify hooks in a test world before Phase 3; fall back to command-driven NPCs if needed |
+| FTB Chunks `/claim` command override gotchas | Low | Test in dev world; FTB Chunks API is stable |
+| Plot cost feels punishing | Med | First 9 chunks free is the safety valve; tune from playtest |
+| Players bypass the system via creative / `/give` | Op-only | Document op responsibility; consider audit logs for op spur grants |
+
+---
+
+## 11. Open decisions
+
+These need an actual call before implementation:
+
+1. **Keep emeralds as a secondary collectible?** Or fully retire them now that villagers don't use them?
+2. **Sethomes / warps as paid services?** Or free baseline?
+3. **PvP bounties** (players posting bounties on other players)? Probably no for V1, revisit later.
+4. **Lootr** — add for shared dungeon loot, or skip until structured dungeons exist?
+5. **Daily quest count** — start with 5? 8? Refresh window — true daily (00:00 UTC) or per-player 24h?
+
+---
+
+## 12. Implementation notes
+
+- Document each phase's KubeJS scripts under `pack/overrides/kubejs/server_scripts/economy/<phase>.js`
+- State data under `world/data/bns_economy/` — readable JSON, easy to debug
+- All NPC dialog trees authored in Easy NPC's editor, exported as preset JSONs into `pack/overrides/world/datapacks/bns-fuel/data/easy_npc/`
+- Trade table for villager rebalance lives in a single `villager_trades.js` so one file is the source of truth
+
+---
+
+## See also
+
+- `MEMORY.md` entries:
+  - `project-mc-player-economy.md` — earlier higher-level notes on Numismatics + plot system
+  - `feedback-kubejs-rhino-gotchas.md` — KubeJS scripting constraints
+  - `feedback-bns-pack-version-sync.md` — pack version + sync workflow
+- Existing tasks #20-#26 — to be reshuffled to mirror the phase plan above