7 hours ago, BFT2020 said:There is a good guide on xpath and xml to start with
I would recommend doing something small at first to learn the basics before trying something more complicated
Turns out, there is a mod that exists that does what I want (and maybe it works fine for 1.0 . . . in which case I get an excuse to prolong procrastination on learning to mod Unity games 
https://www.nexusmods.com/7daystodie/mods/3145
But if not, between the resource you have provided and that mod I should be able to get my start. Thanks again!