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Expedition Types

Purpose

This file defines the base expedition taxonomy for the MMO.

The point is to keep the top-level mission system small and legible. The game should not need dozens of unrelated mission classes. It should use a small number of expedition types, then let region, world state, town need, monster pressure, and dynamic events create variation inside them.

Core Rule

An expedition type answers five questions:

  • what the player is trying to accomplish
  • what usually goes wrong first
  • what the run usually pays out
  • whether the run leans solo or group
  • which major systems matter most during the run

Shared Expedition Loop

All expedition types still follow the same outer loop:

  1. choose destination and expedition
  2. choose loadout, supplies, and safety rules
  3. travel and resolve route risk
  4. resolve objective work and hostile pressure if present
  5. return, extract, deliver, or withdraw
  6. settle rewards, losses, knowledge, and contract state

What changes by type is the objective, the dominant risk, and the reward mix.

1. Hunt

Primary Objective

Remove a hostile creature group, reduce local monster pressure, or fulfill a kill contract.

What Happens In The Run

  • travel to a hunting area
  • locate the target family or threat cluster
  • resolve hostile encounters
  • recover useful byproducts if successful
  • return with proof, loot, or gathered monster parts

Main Risks

  • ambush or bad contact
  • injuries and supply burn
  • target escape or incomplete pressure reduction

Typical Outputs

  • loot
  • hides, meat, bones, venom, or other monster-derived materials
  • codex knowledge
  • local security improvement or contract completion

Lean

Solo-friendly at low and medium danger. Group-leaning for elite families, dense dens, or event pressure.

Systems Emphasis

  • combat
  • monster knowledge
  • gathering byproducts

2. Gather

Primary Objective

Harvest materials from a valid source and bring them back safely.

What Happens In The Run

  • select a known or discovered source
  • bring tools, containers, and carry capacity
  • travel to the site
  • resolve extraction over time
  • haul the output to town or a processing point

Main Risks

  • hostile zones or weather pressure
  • poor yield or contamination
  • cargo loss on return
  • site depletion or inefficient extraction

Typical Outputs

  • raw materials
  • quality rolls on gathered output
  • source confirmation or updated site knowledge

Lean

Very solo-friendly for common sources. Group-leaning for rare, hostile, or high-volume extraction.

Systems Emphasis

  • gathering
  • logistics
  • exploration
  • survival

3. Survey

Primary Objective

Discover or confirm routes, tiles, sites, hazards, dens, ruins, or resource locations.

Why Survey Has Market Value

Survey outputs are tradeable knowledge items. Charted map coordinates — an ore vein, a confirmed safe shortcut — can be sold on the player market as Map Items. Route confirmation improves expedition resolver outcomes for everyone who uses that route. Survey skill also increases Recipe Parchment discovery probability in high-tier expeditions, making survey investment useful even for non-explorer archetypes. The first time a player selects a Survey expedition from the board, the setup screen surfaces this summary so the output value is clear before they commit.

What Happens In The Run

  • choose a route or target area to verify
  • travel through uncertain territory
  • reveal or confirm map information
  • record hazards, discoveries, and route quality
  • return with usable knowledge

Main Risks

  • getting forced off-route
  • bad weather or hazard exposure
  • stale or low-confidence results
  • hostile contact in unknown ground

Typical Outputs

  • map knowledge
  • tile charts and route strips
  • route confirmation
  • coordinates or site reports
  • survey contract completion

Lean

Solo-friendly in known regions. Group-leaning in dangerous frontiers, deep wilderness, or monster-heavy areas.

Systems Emphasis

  • exploration
  • cartography and knowledge economy
  • route safety

4. Escort

Primary Objective

Protect a person, caravan leg, or cargo package while it moves through danger.

What Happens In The Run

  • attach to a protected target
  • move through one or more risky route segments
  • defend against interruption or raid pressure
  • preserve the escorted target through withdrawal or arrival
  • settle delivery or survival outcome

Main Risks

  • cargo damage
  • escort death or abandonment
  • route disruption
  • successful ambush during transit

Typical Outputs

  • contract pay
  • reputation
  • route stabilization or local trust gain

Lean

Mostly group-leaning, though short or low-risk escorts can stay solo-accessible.

Systems Emphasis

  • logistics
  • protection
  • recovery
  • route pressure

5. Rescue

Primary Objective

Reach stranded or trapped people and get them out before the situation worsens.

What Happens In The Run

  • travel to an incident site
  • locate survivors or trapped targets
  • stabilize them if needed
  • defend the extraction path if pressure appears
  • return with the rescued group

Main Risks

  • time pressure
  • survivor deaths during extraction
  • route collapse or worsening area state
  • expedition overextension while carrying people out

Typical Outputs

  • contract pay
  • renown
  • improved town or faction standing
  • event stabilization if the rescue was part of a larger crisis

Lean

Mixed. Small rescues can work solo. Collapse sites, plague zones, and large incidents should lean group.

Systems Emphasis

  • survival
  • recovery
  • travel
  • hostile pressure when present

6. Bounty

Primary Objective

Eliminate, capture, or confirm the death of a specific named threat.

What Happens In The Run

  • gather or trust target intel
  • track the target to a valid site or route
  • resolve the key target encounter
  • secure proof, trophy, or target state confirmation
  • return to claim settlement

Main Risks

  • bad or stale intel
  • elite target mechanics
  • target escape
  • proof loss or invalid completion state

Typical Outputs

  • bounty coin (above-standard rate; paid on confirmed proof only)
  • named or unique loot (from elite or boss targets)
  • knowledge codex entries (boss behavior and weakness data)
  • local security improvement if the target was driving an event chain
  • rare crafting materials from elite creature drops

Lean

Mostly group-leaning for elite and boss targets. Specific single-target bounties at C-rank may be solo-accessible with the right loadout.

Systems Emphasis

  • combat
  • monster knowledge
  • codex and intel
  • proof-of-completion

7. Caravan

Primary Objective

Transport a bulk cargo shipment from one location to another and deliver it intact.

What Happens In The Run

  • accept a caravan shipment record at the departure warehouse
  • load cargo onto pack animals or wagons (capacity gated by Caravan Handling skill and available draft animals)
  • travel the route, managing terrain constraints and cargo weight
  • defend against raid attempts and route hazards
  • deliver cargo at the destination's receiving point or NPC

Main Risks

  • cargo damage or partial loss during combat
  • wagon breakdown on impassable terrain
  • ambush during a long vulnerable transit leg
  • cargo spoilage (food shipments deteriorate under heat and delay)
  • draft animal injury from exhaustion or hostile action

Typical Outputs

  • caravan fee (per cargo unit delivered; bonus for high condition delivery)
  • standing improvement with the destination settlement's merchant or district NPC
  • route confirmation (traveling the route generates Traversed fog state; full survey tools generate more)
  • town reserve contribution at destination (cargo actually enters the reserve system on delivery)

Lean

Usually group-leaning for high-value or long-distance runs. Short inter-village routes with a single pack animal can be solo with Animal Handling at Practiced.

Systems Emphasis

  • logistics
  • transport capacity and planning
  • route safety
  • settlement supply chain

8. Boss Hunt

Primary Objective

Track and eliminate a Boss-grade creature whose presence is driving a regional escalation event or a major board order.

What Happens In The Run

  • review intel from the board or codex (creature family, last known location, escalation state)
  • select a party composition and loadout suited to the Boss mechanic
  • travel to the boss zone (boss zones are marked on the board; see creature-grade-escalation.md)
  • resolve a multi-phase combat encounter that is significantly harder than a standard elite fight
  • confirm the kill with the required proof item (boss trophy, ichor vial, branded fang, etc.)
  • return to settle the order

Main Risks

  • party composition mismatch (wrong damage type and matchup modifier applies strongly at Boss grade)
  • multi-phase encounter attrition without recovery between phases
  • other parties contesting the boss zone (first confirmed kill wins; competing parties may be present)
  • boss-specific mechanics (environmental effects, minion summons, area damage) overwhelming support capacity
  • expedition running out of supplies during the extended encounter

Typical Outputs

  • boss bounty coin (highest single-contract pay in the game)
  • unique or exceptional loot from the boss kill
  • rare crafting material unique to the boss family (boss-exclusive drop tier)
  • region-wide security improvement (boss kill reduces local escalation pressure; see creature-grade-escalation.md)
  • event resolution if the boss was the apex of a monster surge event
  • full codex entry for the boss type including weakness, mechanic, and first-kill notation

Lean

Always group-required. Boss encounters are designed assuming 3–5 participants with full role coverage (tank, support, damage) and appropriate matchup. Solo or partial-party attempts are technically possible but expected to fail without exceptional preparation.

Systems Emphasis

  • combat
  • party composition and role coverage
  • monster knowledge and intel
  • world state and escalation
  • event resolution

9. Boss Omen Or Event Hunt

Primary Objective

Respond to a timed major threat that can change the state of an area, town, or route.

What Happens In The Run

  • detect or accept a timed event response window
  • prepare specifically for the threat and environment
  • travel to the event site under active pressure
  • resolve the major hostile objective or event condition
  • survive the aftermath and secure the result

Main Risks

  • event escalation during delay
  • high casualty risk
  • area-state penalties if the run fails
  • rare resource burn for preparation

Typical Outputs

  • rare materials or loot
  • strong renown gains
  • event resolution rewards
  • major area-state change on success or failure

Lean

Strongly group-leaning, especially when the event is public or region-wide.

Systems Emphasis

  • dynamic events
  • combat
  • preparation
  • regional state change

Event Variant Rule

Dynamic events should not create a separate mission framework. They should bend these base types into temporary variants.

Examples:

  • Gather -> blight relief herb collection
  • Escort -> storm salvage escort
  • Caravan -> emergency ration delivery
  • Hunt -> den-clearing after rising predator pressure
  • Rescue -> mine collapse extraction
  • Boss Omen Or Event Hunt -> drake nesting window or undead stirring response

Board Presentation Rule

The mission board should present missions as:

  • base expedition type
  • destination or route
  • urgency or reason tag
  • main reward class
  • primary reason tag when the mission exists because of a live town, event, or control-window input

Example mission labels:

  • Survey / Ashwood North Route / urgent
  • Gather / Marsh Herb Site / blight response
  • Escort / Grain Convoy / cargo priority
  • Boss Hunt / Reef Drake / storm window
  • Escort / South March Grain Convoy / urgent / control window
  • Gather / Eastfield Herb Lots / urgent / medicine shortage

This keeps the UI readable while still allowing a lot of content variety.

  • missions and expeditions
  • expedition generation model
  • combat resolution
  • gathering and resource ecology
  • exploration, cartography, and resource discovery
  • market contracts and logistics
  • dynamic events and world state