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Eight canon notes (Game Concept Overview, Mechanics Source Mapping, Combat System & Stat Scaling Design, Skill & Magic System, Medals & Honours System, Lore & World Building, Idle Fantasy Inspirations, Tech Stack & Architecture) as markdown, note title as H1, with source line citing the Joplin note ID. Joplin keeps status notes.
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Skara Brae — Idle Fantasy Inspirations
Source: Joplin note 48b3a3c76f734c8dafbbf9e8b3b5f80a, migrated 2026-10-03
Source: Idle Fantasy — 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) 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 | — ( |
| 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 — Full game design with all features
- Combat System & Stat Scaling Design — Crit tables, BIGINT stats
- Lore & World Building — Districts, NPCs, storyline
- Tech Stack & Architecture — Rust workspace, DB schema
- Project Plan — Roadmap, MVP, repo structure