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Design: Loot Categories

November 9, 2025​

  • jyu
  • mal
  • moomar
  • rev
  • rora
  • special
  • warren
  • whale
  • wout
  • dany
  • rachael
  • galactic

Focus​

Define loot/reward system for 0.3.0 (Rift Expansion)

  • categories
  • sources/earning methods
  • integration with core loop (Prepare, Rift, Advance)

Loot Purpose & Pillars Alignment​

Core Questions​

  • What rewards motivate re-entering Rifts?
  • What do players prioritize when opening chests?
  • Does loot align with pillars?

Pillar Framework​

  • Meaningful Progression: Does loot make players stronger or open new build options?
  • Shape Your Own Path: Does loot allow customization or different playstyles?
  • Curiosity and Awe: Is loot exciting and cool to find?

Player Responses​

  • Satisfying and useful loot (crafting resources, weapon fragments)
  • Currently: Geodes for gear upgrades
  • Gear-related rewards priority
  • Gear improvements expected every 3-4 runs
  • Abilities and environmental looting for streamlined crafting
  • Short-term goals keep engagement

Integration Approaches​

Hybrid Approach​

  • Mix Vanilla and Rift aspects
  • Keep Vanilla for sandbox farming and familiarity
  • Build into Rift system without removing Vanilla unless necessary
  • Maintain Minecraft vernacular for newer players (eg. "Rift biomes" vs "Rift themes")

Rift-Focused Approach​

  • Design systems within Wanderers of the Rift framework
  • Overworld still exists but not required for progression
  • Players can complete mod entirely without Overworld interaction
  • Use Minecraft as game engine rather than framework (total conversion approach)

Loot Categories​

Category List​

Gear & Weapons​

  • Gear bases and/or components for crafting
  • Keep as single category until further clarification
  • Runegems+
  • Skill thread
  • Abilities
  • Essence
  • Modifiers

Transmog & Vanity​

  • Skins, paints
  • Not one-time collectibles (find multiple times for new gear pieces)

Collectibles​

  • Lore bits, hints
  • Maps or clues for exploration

Consumables​

  • Looted items used from inventory (food, potions)
  • Provide bonus stats
  • Option if player didn't prepare well

Instant Loot​

  • Immediate effect upon pickup (doesn't enter inventory)
  • Examples: Dropped hearts for instant healing, directional maps
  • Combat-related drops from spawners or mobs
  • Buffs: Increased loot chance on next chest after clearing mobs

Quest/Objective Loot​

  • Items requested by guilds
  • Rift-specific objectives
  • Example: Scavenger items (Vault Hunters reference)

Resources/Materials​

  • Building blocks
  • Crafting recipe components
  • Mod components linking Rifts to Overworld
  • Support builders and extra mod users

Sellables/Junk/Filler​

  • No real purpose but take inventory space
  • Minor resource gain when sold to traders
  • Example: Soul Harvester extractor (Vault Hunters)

Categories Removed/Reconsidered​

  • Currency: Technically loot but not physical item (less focus)
  • Thematic loot: Problematic as category (some vanity items already thematic)
  • Guild-specific loot: Difficult to conceptualize beyond existing mechanics

Loot Sources by Category​

Gear & Weapons​

Sources:

  • Mob drops (zombies/skeletons for components)
  • Chests (components or upgrades)
  • Weapon and armor stands
  • Bosses or elite mobs
  • Quest completions
  • Rift completion rewards
  • Theme-specific mobs

Design Note: Jyu prefers gear as basic loot, not locked behind defeating enemies

Rune Gems​

Primary Sources:

  • Geode POIs (break open for colorful crystals)
  • Mining tasks: Ores or clusters
  • Ore: Singular item, one drop when mined
  • Amethyst-style: Six sides, six different drops

Secondary Sources:

  • Quests and Rift completions
  • Trade (stop-gap when can't find in Rifts)
  • Dust from recycling
  • Geode pieces milled down to make runes/gems
  • Special rune gem from completing mob spawner
  • Anomalies
  • Pre-rolled jewels in jewelry chests/bags

Current State:

  • Health, offense, ability-related rune gems exist
  • Offense has ability-related modifiers
  • Two implemented monster rune gems copy Pentagon versions
  • MVP 2.0 source: Monster spawner and loot chests

Implementation Ideas:

  • Cave themes with cave-generating rooms spawn geodes in walls
  • Geode item becomes rune gem, rolls shape and modifiers
  • Players seeking POI mining action

Essences​

Purpose: Rift crafting related

Distribution Philosophy:

  • Available everywhere in Rift
  • Sprinkled in any loot container, mining POI, or activity
  • Completing Rift objective = net positive essence gain

Sources:

  • Fountain anomaly that spews essence
  • Mobs that turn into dust when defeated
  • Dead players become pile of essence (their Rift loot converts to equivalent essence)

Acquisition:

  • Keep in quests, completion chests, and trading
  • NOT in random loot containers (avoid RNG acquisition)

Upgrade Path:

  • Abilities upgradeable within Rifts
  • Craftable abilities: Basic start, upgrade to certain point
  • Lootable abilities: Consumable scrolls (stack to 64)
  • Experience abilities via scrolls before investing in crafting

Progression Gates:

  • Not all abilities craftable immediately
  • Lock behind rare crafting resources or guild progression
  • Guild levels gate top-tier permanent ability purchases

Mod Components/Resources​

Purpose: Link Rifts to Overworld/mods

Use Cases:

  • Support builders
  • Players using extra mods/tools
  • Harder-to-find or non-renewable Overworld resources

Sources:

  • Resource chests (general resources)
  • Specialized shipping crate anomaly
  • Guild shipment-related anomalies

Transmog & Vanity​

Case-by-case basis for sources

Collectibles​

Sources:

  • Special rooms
  • Personalized POIs
  • Each collectible with own POI (player knows what they're hunting)

Benefit: Know what to search for or when set is complete

Consumables​

Considerations:

  • Mixed in generic loot pool or own container?
  • From mobs or Rift spawners?

Theme-Dependent Loot​

Benefits​

  • Adds value to themes
  • Allows targeted looting
  • Remixes loot ratios (increase chances of specific items in certain locations)

Examples

  • Chase resources specific to themes (snow biome, forest)
  • Nether-themed focus on gear
  • Cave-theme focus on helmets

Additional Topics​

Emerged organically through discussion

Inventory Management​

  • Current Vanilla Constraints - 36 total slots
  • 27 slots remaining for loot
  • Non-stackable gear problematic
  • High loot volume requires larger capacity
  • Item design impacts space (geodes dropping many gems/dust types)
  • Loot every piece for resources (dislike leaving items)
  • Quick runs, fill backpacks, sort later
  • Pre-programmed slots for stackable Rift items
  • Example: Silk thread always goes to specific slot
  • Mod-specific solution to avoid taking numerous slots
  • Built-in slots instead of 26 inventory slots
  • Reduce needed quantity to match inventory constraints

ARPG Comparison:

  • Limited inventory space standard
  • Players leave items behind

Lean Loot vs Volume:

  • Determine expected loot amount and needed space
  • Goal: Understand loot design, not eliminate backpacks
  • Purposeful loot preferred over massive inventory bloat
  • Weight systems often ignored; slot-based easier to manage

Tension & Gameplay:

  • Lean loot minimizes Rift downtime
  • Removed timer reduced tension
  • Limited inventory creates hard choices (reintroduce tension)
  • Disagreement: Some find leaving loot disheartening

Chest Design

  • One chest per POI
  • Better chests in bigger POIs
  • Open chests to see contents (not mine them)
  • Sell unwanted gear to traders

New Rift Objective: Swarm Hot & Cold​

  • Enter Rift with safe room
  • Get swarmed by mobs continuously
  • After killing certain number: Audio/visual "hot and cold" indications
  • Directions lead to treasure room
  • All loot in end room

Environment:

  • No chests or spawners
  • Possibly derelict POIs with cosmetics
  • Mobs provide direction hints to reward room
  • Stressful continuous spawning
  • Similar to mob nest protecting treasure hoard

Completion:

  • Reward room has loot and portal for objective completion
  • Could spawn as random POI becoming the objective

Next Actions

Forum Discussion​

  • Continue Loot discussion, branch out into inventory management and expected loot quantities

Pitch Prep​

  • Start drafting pitches based on discussion of loot.

Next major topic​

  • Mobs

Timeline

  • Pitch Votes on Loot after next meeting
  • Start drafting mob pitches around same time