Skara Brae — Idle Fantasy Inspirations # Skara Brae — Idle Fantasy Inspirations Source: [Idle Fantasy](https://github.com/tristinbaker/IdleFantasy) — an open-source offline idle RPG for Android (Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, GPL-3.0). > **Status update (2026-07):** Repo re-reviewed at **v1.12.11, 366 stars, 810 commits** (was ~206 stars when this note was first written). Several new systems shipped after the original capture — they are documented in **[New Mechanics (post-2025 evolution)](#new-mechanics-post-2025-evolution)** below. The original sections (offline sessions, workers, pets, guild ranks, blessings, slayer, daily/long-term quests, mercantile) remain valid and are not repeated in the new section. *"Set your hero to work. Close the app. Come back to loot."* Key mechanics from Idle Fantasy to adapt for Skara Brae: --- ## Offline / Idle Sessions **Idle Fantasy**: Pick a skill or dungeon, start a session, close the app. Hero trains for up to 1 hour while closed. Come back to collect XP and loot. No stamina bar, no energy system. **Skara Brae adaptation**: Skara Brae keeps Torn-style energy (differentiates our game), but adds offline adventure progression: - Adventures continue for up to **1 hour** while logged out (or up to your energy cap) - On return, collect accumulated gold, XP, and loot - **Server-side tick** calculates elapsed time rewards on login - Training skills offline at **50% rate** (active play is always better) - This keeps casual players engaged without requiring constant attention --- ## 23 Skills Across 4 Categories **Idle Fantasy** has 23 skills organized into: | Category | Skills | |---|---| | **Gathering (7)** | Mining, Fishing, Woodcutting, Farming, Firemaking, Agility, Thieving | | **Crafting (7)** | Smithing, Cooking, Fletching, Crafting, Runecrafting, Herblore, Construction | | **Combat (7)** | Attack, Strength, Defense, Ranged, Magic, Hitpoints, Prayer | | **Support (2)** | Mercantile, Slayer | **Skara Brae mapping** (merging with existing design): | Idle Fantasy | Skara Brae Equivalent | |---|---| | Mining, Woodcutting | Mining, Woodcutting (gathering) | | Fishing, Farming | Fishing, Herbalism (gathering) | | Firemaking | — (drop, not fantasy-appropriate) | | Agility | Agility (thievery skill tree) | | Thieving | Thievery (existing) | | Smithing | Blacksmithing | | Cooking | Cooking (alchemy sub-skill) | | Fletching | Fletching (ranged weapon crafting) | | Crafting | Tailoring, Jewelcrafting | | Runecrafting | Enchanting | | Herblore | Alchemy | | Construction | — (~~defer to property system~~ → **RE-EVALUATED, see below**: make it a real skill) | | Attack, Strength, Defense | Melee combat skills | | Ranged | Ranged combat skill | | Magic | Magic skills (fire, ice, illusion, necromancy) | | Hitpoints | Constitution | | Prayer | Wisdom / Cleric skills | | Mercantile | Bartering / Trading skill | | Slayer | Slayer / Bounty Hunting | --- ## Pets — Permanent Passive Buffs **Idle Fantasy**: Rare enemies drop **collectible pets** that grant permanent passive XP bonuses. **Skara Brae adaptation**: - Pets drop from rare enemies in dungeons and adventures - Each pet provides a **permanent passive bonus** (e.g., +2% mining XP, +5% gold from adventures) - Pets have **rarity tiers**: Common → Uncommon → Rare → Epic → Legendary → Mythic - **Pet stable**: Multiple pets owned, one active at a time (or multiple for patrons) - **Pet aging**: Pets grow over time, increasing their bonus at milestones (1 week, 1 month, 6 months) - **Pet death**: Can be killed in PvP ambush — resurrected at Temple Row for gold (creates stakes) - **Pet breeding**: Combine two pets for a chance at rare offspring with combined bonuses - Pet types: wolf (tracking bonus), raven (scouting), cat (stealth), owl (magic XP), hound (combat XP), etc. --- ## Inn Workers — Hire NPCs to Automate Tasks **Idle Fantasy**: The Inn lets you **hire workers** who queue up sessions on your behalf, and buy food in bulk. **Skara Brae adaptation**: - **The Singing Tavern** offers hireable NPCs: - **Mercenary**: Runs adventures while you're offline (reduced rewards: 60% of normal) - **Apprentice**: Trains a skill while you're offline (50% rate) - **Gatherer**: Collects basic materials while you're offline (low-tier only) - Workers cost **gold per hour** — creates a gold sink for veteran players - Worker quality tiers: Novice → Journeyman → Expert (better rates, higher cost) - Buy **provisions** in bulk (food for dungeon expeditions, potions, torches) - This is Idle Fantasy's most distinctive mechanic — automating the grind for gold --- ## Guild Rank Progression **Idle Fantasy**: 17 guilds with **10 rank levels** each. Advance by completing progression quests and earning reputation through daily requests. Higher ranks unlock harder dailies and better cross-skill rewards. **Skara Brae adaptation** (merging with existing guild design): - Guilds have **rank tiers** within the guild (Initiate → Apprentice → Journeyman → Expert → Master → Grandmaster) - **Daily guild tasks**: Complete for reputation points - **Rank-up quests**: Progression quests to advance in guild rank - **Cross-skill rewards**: Higher ranks unlock access to resources from skills you don't personally train - Existing guild hall upgrades (training grounds, library, vault, war room, brewery) remain --- ## Church / Blessings **Idle Fantasy**: The Church offers **timed blessings** powered by Prayer levels and bones. Three types: XP boosts (up to 1.5×), Defense bonuses, Coin multipliers. One active at a time. **Skara Brae adaptation**: - **Temple Row** offers blessings from the Old Gods - Blessing types: XP boost (up to 1.5×), Damage reduction, Gold multiplier, Crit chance increase - Duration based on Wisdom stat and offering quality - One blessing active at a time - Offerings: Gold, rare items, bones from undead enemies - Higher Wisdom = longer duration, stronger effect - This adds a "buff management" layer without being tedious --- ## Slayer Tasks **Idle Fantasy**: Visit the Slayer Master for kill-specific-enemy assignments. Each kill earns bonus XP. Complete tasks to level Slayer skill and unlock tougher assignments. **Skara Brae adaptation**: - **Captain Rennick** at City Watch HQ (or **The Beggar King** for underground targets) gives slayer tasks - "Kill 15 skeletal warriors in the Undercity" → bonus Slayer XP + gold reward - Slayer level unlocks tougher targets with better rewards - Ties into the bounty system naturally --- ## Quest Diversity **Idle Fantasy**: 170+ quests — **daily quests** (reset every morning) + **long-term cumulative quests** (track progress over many sessions). **Skara Brae adaptation**: - **Daily quests**: 3-5 per day from NPCs (Madame Sylara, Captain Rennick, Guildmasters) - "Complete 3 adventures" / "Craft 2 potions" / "Win 1 arena duel" - Rewards: gold, XP, skill XP, occasional items - **Weekly quests**: Larger goals, better rewards - **Storyline quests**: Multi-step, unlock new areas/NPCs/mechanics - **Cumulative achievements**: "Mine 10,000 ore total" → permanent bonus - Quest board in the Inn + NPC-specific quest givers --- ## New Mechanics (post-2025 evolution) These systems appeared in Idle Fantasy **after** this note was first captured (now v1.12.11) and are strong candidates to integrate into Skara Brae. ### Infinite Tower ⭐ Endless floor-by-floor combat gauntlet; enemies scale forever; **every 10 floors = a milestone** rewarding unique gear + permanent XP/coin bonuses. **Why it fits:** Gives the BIGINT exponential stat system a natural home — infinite content matches infinite stats. We currently have dungeons + arena but **no repeatable-scaling endgame PvE**. **Adaptation:** Reskin as **Mangar's Tower** / the Infinite Labyrinth beneath the city. Floor milestones grant small, bounded permanent bonuses (consistent with "stats only go up"). Per-floor leaderboard. → **Phase 3**. ### Expeditions ⭐⭐ (highest-value pickup) Non-combat *skilling* dungeons tied to a gathering skill (Agility, Fishing, Mining, Thieving, Woodcutting). Completing sessions gradually uncovers **5 hidden lore notes**; collecting all 5 **unlocks a secret combat dungeon**. Advanced expeditions are gated by having unlocked an earlier dungeon — a discovery tree. **Why it fits:** Bridges gathering skills to content gating *and* delivers lore organically — exactly the "mystery beneath Skara Brae" theme. Our notes currently silo gathering from dungeons; Expeditions unify them into one progression tree. **Adaptation:** Each gathering skill gets 2 expedition tiers (lvl 1, lvl 40) → reveals a themed dungeon (e.g., Mining "Copper Caverns" → "Collapsed Mine"; Fishing "Sunken Grotto" → "Drowned Temple"; Thieving "Thieves' Den" → "Rogue Sanctum"). Lore notes double as world-building collectibles. → **Phase 2–3**. ### Buildings / Builder's Workshop ⭐ Upgrade town buildings (Inn, Guild Hall, Church, Fairgrounds, Garden, Queue Master, Cape Rack) with coins + **Construction** materials. Each building has tiers (0 → 3), gating a passive bonus; higher tiers require a higher Construction level. **Why it fits:** Reframes our scattered "guild hall upgrades" into a unified **town-meta progression** the player personally drives, and gives the crafting economy a permanent gold/material sink. **Adaptation:** Make **Construction a real skill** (see re-evaluation below). Upgradable buildings: The Singing Tavern (+worker XP), Temple Row (+blessing duration), Adventurers' Guild (−quest requirements), Market Square / Fairgrounds (carnival), Harbor, plus queue-slot and cape-rack buildings. → **Phase 2**. ### Carnival Traveling minigame hub. **Idle minigames** convert a skill level → tickets over time (15% → 35% chance per minute, scaling to lvl 99; Archery Range=Ranged, Strongman=Strength, Wizard's Duel=Magic, Fishing Derby=Fishing). **Active minigames** (Ring Toss, Hammer Strike, Potion Sequence, Item Appraisal, Pick-a-Cup, Higher/Lower) reward more tickets on Hard, each on a 10-minute cooldown. Ticket shop sells XP lamps, gear, pets, capes. **Why it fits:** Richer than our "inn gambling (dice/cards)"; the skill → ticket idle conversion is a clever loop. Drops onto our existing **seasonal/festival calendar** as a traveling faire. **Adaptation:** A traveling Carnival/Faire that appears during festivals; tickets redeemed at its shop. Active minigames map onto our inn minigame table. → **Phase 3–4**. ### Pity System ("Fortune's Favor") Escalating bad-luck protection on the rarest gear drops (IF's v1.12.10 "Divine gear pity system"). **Adaptation:** Given our 0.5% Legendary crafting + rare drops, add an escalating counter that guarantees a high-rarity result after N dry attempts. Reskin as **Fortune's Favor**. → **Phase 2**. ### Gear Scoring Pre-dungeon, IF tells you how your current gear stacks up against the dungeon's rating (v1.12.10 gear scoring). **Adaptation:** A recommended-power / gear-score indicator on our risk/reward adventure tiers so players self-select difficulty. → **Phase 1–2**. ### Titles (UX reinforcement) Permanent cosmetic titles displayed as "*Name* the *Title*"; crucially, **locked titles are visible with their unlock condition** (skill-mastery = complete all quests in a skill chain; guild-max = reach lvl 10 in a guild; boss clears; seasonal events). **Adaptation:** Our Medals & Honours note already mentions titles — **adopt IF's locked-title-with-requirement UX** as a motivator (e.g., "Master Smith," "Archmage," "Godslayer," seasonal titles kept permanently). → **Phase 2**. ### XP Lamps Consumable that grants XP to a chosen skill (10k / 50k variants); obtained from quests, events, the Carnival shop. **Adaptation:** Flexible catch-up / reward currency we currently lack. → **Phase 2**. ### Queue Slots (parallel sessions) The "Queue Master" building grants additional concurrent session/queue slots. **Adaptation:** An idle-progression lever — patrons / upgrades can run multiple offline workers/sessions in parallel. → **Phase 3**. ### Raid Bosses (confirmed) IF's "Godslayer" title = defeat every raid boss at least once, confirming a raid-boss roster exists. **Adaptation:** Validates designing a raid-boss roster for our guild raids (6–12 players). → **Phase 5**. --- ## Re-evaluation: Construction Skill Original mapping (above) said Construction → "defer to property system." **Reversed.** IF now uses Construction as the backbone of the Buildings / Builder's Workshop meta. Add **Construction** as a real crafting skill in Skara Brae, feeding town-building upgrades. --- ## Process Ideas Worth Copying - **Auto-generated wiki from game data.** IF's entire community wiki is generated from the game's data files. This validates keeping all content (items, adventures, crit tables, spells, recipes, medals, dungeons, tower floors, expeditions) as structured JSON/TOML in `skara-brae-common` — we can auto-generate both client tooltips *and* a community game wiki from a single source. - **Layered PvE ladder.** IF matured into: expeditions → dungeons → raids → infinite tower, with buildings + carnival as parallel progression. Adopt this as our PvE spine. --- ## What NOT to Take from Idle Fantasy - **No energy/stamina removal**: Skara Brae keeps Torn-style energy — it's a core differentiator - **No fully offline game**: Skara Brae is multiplayer — offline is supplementary, not primary - **No single-player focus**: Guild interaction, PvP, and economy are central to our game --- ## Related Notes - [Game Concept Overview](joplin://fcd381c235694f29abf73665317a40f5) — Full game design with all features - [Combat System & Stat Scaling Design](joplin://5ff1fed180fa4b39b4cdb925f34c1008) — Crit tables, BIGINT stats - [Lore & World Building](joplin://2c8e2a844da0497e8a93c820ec8901a1) — Districts, NPCs, storyline - [Tech Stack & Architecture](joplin://980c3eb587294e4383474b94988f2f88) — Rust workspace, DB schema - [Project Plan](joplin://088737f31c514f1da21cc42c0ab6acc1) — Roadmap, MVP, repo structure id: fea2d81f0414484fa4edf126f8ca17ed parent_id: d1892c7c531848f5a5a3ac5e1749f7cf created_time: 2026-06-11T16:07:44.614Z updated_time: 2026-07-31T18:46:51.503Z is_conflict: 0 latitude: 0.00000000 longitude: 0.00000000 altitude: 0.0000 author: source_url: is_todo: 0 todo_due: 0 todo_completed: 0 source: joplin-desktop source_application: net.cozic.joplin-desktop application_data: order: 1781194064614 user_created_time: 2026-06-11T16:07:44.614Z user_updated_time: 2026-07-31T18:46:51.503Z encryption_cipher_text: encryption_applied: 0 markup_language: 1 is_shared: 0 share_id: conflict_original_id: master_key_id: user_data: deleted_time: 0 is_locked: 0 extracted_resource_ids: type_: 1