Character Progression

Character Progression

In Stars Reach, character progression is entirely skill-based. There are no character levels or “level ups,” and there are no classes to choose from at character creation (although you will still pick from various Playable Species for your avatar).

This blurry economy graph is the first image ever released by Playable Worlds

Skill System Overview

• Over 40 Skill Trees: Players select from a large variety of possible skill sets—combat, crafting, exploring, social/entertaining, cartography, writing/journalism, and more.
• Open-Ended Combination: You are free to mix and match skills. Some skills may unlock only after gaining the prerequisite ones (e.g., advanced surveying might require a base cartography skill).
• Experience Through Usage: Most skills progress by actively using them in the game world—fighting increases combat skills, crafting increases trade skills, etc. Certain skills have special training methods (for instance, you may earn extra crafting XP if your items are used by other players).
• Economic Participation: Nearly every skill tree (including combat and service-based roles like entertainment or map-making) can create something valuable for the player-driven economy.

Creative Skills & Social Progression

From recent developer talks, we know “social” or “creative” skills—such as journalism/writing or cartography—will have unique progress paths:

• Cartography: Mapping unexplored planets or territories increases your skill. The maps you create can be sold, shared, or traded.
• Journalism / Writing: Players who publish guides, news updates, or streams may earn progression if others like or follow their work. This approach treats “content-creator” roles as meaningful parts of the in-game world.

Skill Slots & Switching

• Skill Slot Limit: You can only train a certain number of skills at once; the exact limit is still under development.
• Disabling (“Out of Practice”): If you want to learn a new skill but are at your slot cap, you can disable one of your active skills. You do not lose any progress in that skill—it simply goes into “inactive” status.
• Re-Enabling Skills: To bring a disabled skill back, you must spend time reacclimating. Early estimates suggest around one real-world week before it returns to its previous level of expertise (values may change).

Economy Tie-In

The image on the right shows an early macro-level diagram of the game’s economy. Every skill tree, from combat to crafting to entertainment, ties into a shared ecosystem, ensuring that no matter your specialization, you can engage with other players and create goods or services they find valuable.

References

• Developer interviews and statements by Raph Koster regarding skill-based sandbox progression, including discussions of mapping, social roles, and economy design.
• Playable Worlds official previews (Kickstarter posts, public blog updates).