This new program is exactly what i was looking for. advanced keyboard remappings like arrowkey layer on hjkl and capslock as escape/control works with the same configuration and program in any environment using the linux kernel (X11, wayland, virtual console)

https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd

before i found this I used my own solution that made used of XKB, but that only worked under X11:

https://github.com/budRich/loadkb

below is my keyd config (/etc/keyd/default.cfg)

Turns capslock into an escape key when pressed and a control key when held.

capslock = overload(C, esc) esc = grave

102nd = layer(bud) leftshift = layer(shift) rightshift = layer(shift)

[bud]

h = left j = down k = up l = right p = pageup o = pagedown

[shift:S]

backspace = delete ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iev-s_MegTA