Team Feature: Rachel Everett

 Head of Graphics, Comic Book Author, Illustration Ninja

Rachel Everett is an illustrator and storyteller from Mapleton, Utah. She's the creator, writer, and illustrator is the independent comic book series "13 Lightyears Away". She is also involved in several side projects, including "A Donut's Tale".
Her art style is very creative and colorful, with a brilliant flair of texture and layering. Even the simplest designs look astounding when crafted by Rachel, and her art(and hair) is always a reflection of who she is: colorful, intelligent, unique, dedicated, and passionate.
Rachel is the kind of person who will talk to anyone, anywhere, about anything(especially that one time she sang a duet onstage with her favorite band, Metric. Seriously, ask her about it. It was rad). Her talents and charisma shine brightly through her art, and her art is always very personalized. You know it's hers.

"Shrift", the protagonist of "13 Lightyears Away"

Rachel's designing and ideas have helped shape Legion's art style, and every time you see that striking logo or other such illustrations, you know you have Miss Rachel Everett to thank.
Go check out her art projects and keep up with her on Instagram(@missracheleverett), Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Behind the Curtain: Just My Type

Whether digital, physical, or both, every TCG shares a few core concepts. One of these is that every TCG will have a variety of cards, both in terms of categories and types of cards. Legion is no different, and today I'd like to go over the multiple card types we have available to add to your arsenal. Without further delay let's dive right into it:

-HUBS-

Decks in Legion are made up of 60 cards, and one of them always has to be your Hub. A Hub is a card that sits outside your deck and will always have an effect that happens whenever its stated to happen. For some this means that at the beginning of your turn something will happen, while others might take effect during an opponent's turn. One of the things that makes Hubs so unique is that they act as a sort of identifier for your deck without explicitly defining its contents. Hubs are flavored, designed, and developed towards a specific domain's play style;  but they never dictate that you MUST play cards of that domain. This means that for some players, their Hub will be what they build their deck around; others will simply find the hub that fits their deck's strategy better than the others.

-SUMMONS-

Summons are the bones of any Legion deck. Without them a player can't play their card. Each domain has its own summon and a player must activate these summons in order to cast spells of that domain. Being defined by their domain isn't the only thing summons can do, and in fact, as the weeks roll by and we reveal more about the game you will see that there are summons with their own special abilities. 

-ESSENCE-

In a majority of TCGs there is some kind of card that acts as a resource, and in most games that resource is limited to one type. In Legion there are two types of resources. The first are Summons, which you've already been acquainted with. The second are Essence. Essence make up a special 10 card side deck that a player may play one card from on each of their turns. Essence are used to activate abilities, and once an Essence is gone its gone for good--unless a player sacrifices a Summon to bring one Essence back to the game; because of their inherently finite nature, Essence lead to a lot of interesting gameplay.

-GRUNTS-

Grunts are the creatures, minions, and beast you will call to your aide during the course of a battle. They all have a number identifying how much damage they can take before begin destroyed (HP), and a number identifying how much damage they deal (ATK). Playable only during your first and second Primary Phases, Grunts cannot attack the turn they're played (unless otherwise stated). Part of what makes Grunts so wonderful in Legion is that each one is its own unique entity with its own abilities, flavor, and type. From the lowliest goat to the mightiest dragon, a player can command a large variety of Grunts in their decks.

-BUFFS-

Buffs are cards that, well, buff your Grunts. Whether played on the battlefield, or onto Grunts directly each one is meant to bestow some kind of extra oomph to your grunts. Allowing you to get the edge over your opponent. Uniquely in Legion, buffs may be played at any time during your turn, including combat. Due to their instantaneous nature, buffs can and often do lead to interesting combat scenarios as well as ensure no two games are identical. All Buffs can be played on any Grunt, and some can be used by the savvy player to derail their opponent's plans.

-PIECES-

Pieces are like Buffs, but specifically for Hubs. Like Grunts, your Pieces may only be played during your first and second Primary Phases. Pieces can be played on any Hub, but a Hub may only have one piece on it at a time. Cunning players can use this to their advantage by playing an inferior piece on their foe's Hub.

-EVENTS-

One of the unique focuses of Legion is effects that are symmetrical and the story around the game, because of this a card type was needed that would tick-off both of these boxes. Enter Events. Cards that  can only be played anytime you could play a Piece, or Grunt; but that effect the entire board and everyone playing. Events are broken up into two categories: ones that happen and then go to their owner's graveyard, and those that stick around. For Events that stick around after being played, their effect will happen to everyone playing whenever it states to happen; for some events this means that everyone will get to draw an extra card, while for some it means that players will have to make a choice between what Grunts they can attack with. In addition to being symmetrical designs, each event depicts an important part of the story surrounding Legion. Be on the lookout for them during games as they are quite powerful and memorable.

-SPECIALS-

Our last, but by no means lesser, card type is Specials. Specials are your miscellaneous spells that do everything from countering a spell to drawing a card. Specials can be played at anytime on any turn, and as such are the quickest cards in the entire game. Every deck builder is going to want to include specials in their lists as they often provide answers to tough gameplay and construction puzzles. 

So there you have it, the eight ways we break up cards in Legion. Each serves an important purpose, and while some of required to have a legal deck (Hubs), not every deck will run every type. As with all things in life discovery is the most enjoyable part, and we hope that with such a wide variety of card types players will spend a lot of time 'under the hood,' fine tuning their decks and experimenting with wild-new combinations.

Infernal Spawn: Mirror Devil

The Infernal domain is split into two main groups: Lo'Nial's devils and the independent demons. Lo'Nial, the haunting Infernal Witch, moves about with hands soaked in blood, and from the blood that saturates the ground spawn menacing devil grunts. The spawning of grunts from Lo'Nials blood bears striking resemblance to the popular Greek idea that where a dragon's teeth are planted, warriors grow. These wicked blood-born creatures aren't a purposeful servant, they are merely a byproduct of the insidious existence of Lo'Nial. 

This dark brand of unintentional spawning is a shadowy mirror of Kolos' nature. She, the Divine Witch, summons her angelic thrall with purpose, a pantheon of perfectly loyal grunts to obey her every whim. The devils of Lo'Nial are entirely independent of her will, creating a sense of chaos and disorder within the Infernal domain, 

Meet the Mirror Devil, a pinnacle of Infernal spawning. He is depicted rising from the scattered blood of Lo'Nial, bearing his wicked grin and an ominously unique mirror.

The crimson hues and dark pose of this menacing devil reflect his dangerously devious personality, and through the bloodied film of his mirror, we get a glimpse into what he will be capable of when put in the hands of his next master.

Don't take your eyes off that mirror, either. As with all Infernal denizens, there's more to it than may meet the eye. . .

Team Feature: Matt Barker

Creator of Legion, Head of Design and Development, Glorious Facial Hair Adorner

Three years ago, Matt had an idea to create a trading card game which blended all the features and design cues he loved, and began to tinker with various ideas. Since then his personal idea has become a significant group effort, with teammates from a variety of backgrounds, but his creative ingenuity didn't come into play just a couple years ago. Since his childhood, Matt has been a lover of game design, always keen to quickly understand the nature and mechanics of games, from a designer and player standpoint, giving a unique flair to everything he created. He's been doing creative work and writing for a very long time.

One standout aspect of the conception of Legion comes from Matt's desire to have a game which can be enjoyed by lots of people on both a casual and competitive level. Playing card games with friends creates a unique social engagement. A mutual love for a game has brought many friends together, and Matt wanted to create a game which would be fun, interactive, challenging, and capable of bringing people together. 

Since Legion's initial conception, it has become a living, breathing thing, full of unique and adventurous avenues to explore. Every day Matt is brainstorming and collaborating with the rest of the team to further perfect the world which he has been creating, and every day Legion gets closer and closer to its awaited release. 

Behind the Curtain: Which Witch? This Witch.

One of the unique aspects of a trading card game (to be abbreviated TCG from here on out), is that they attempt to tell a story through a marriage of gameplay, design, and art. While other mediums share this concept of marriage (most notably video games), what sets a TCG apart is that the space in which to convey this story is limited. While lore articles will exist, for the most part a player's perception of the story will be filtered through the lens of an object that is 2.5x3.5 inches. That small space is immensely restrictive; but restrictions need not be feared. Restricting the space we have to tell a story means we need to make the most out of every, pardon the pun, inch.

Knowing and understanding this, I set out to create six characters that I hope will leave an impression on everyone: the six witches (immensely powerful entities that are the embodiment of their respective domains. As important to the plot as they are to explaining the ways a paper TCG expresses its, often larger-than-life, creativity on such a small platform. By dissecting and applying the three principals (gameplay, design, and art) to the six witches, you will hopefully gain insight into why these characters will be featured so prominently in Legion.

-GAMEPLAY-

Gameplay is arguably the most important aspect of not just TCGs, but games in general. In order to attract players and hold onto them the gameplay needs to be nuanced, enjoyable, and thoughtful. To use a ubiquitous example: Monopoly has existed on the market for as long as it has because something about the gameplay keeps attracting people to it. Gameplay also informs the way people perceive any given card; if it serves the type of gameplay that is the most attractive to the player, then that card will be remembered fondly and easily recognized. It is for this reason that I set out to develop the witches in such a way that everything about them feels powerful. More-so than other plot important cards, the witches needed to feel like game enders while still being fair (a topic for another article). Whether or not they achieved this goal is still to be seen, but from their inception I have given each of them abilities that do things no other card does; as well as hit-points and attack values that are substantial. They are meant to be these godlike entities and one of the hallmarks of a god is an exceptionally large power-level. 

-DESIGN-

One of the core concepts in game design is that gameplay should inform design and design should inform gameplay; but what is design? In the simplest terms, design is the wording, abilities, typing of the card, and representing its role in the world. Gameplay is the definition of these elements (for instance: this card will cost this exact amount. This card will have this many hit-points, and this much attack power). An ideal card is one that blends the design and the gameplay into a seamless object. With this in mind, I set out to design the witches in such a way that even before their gameplay was considered you felt like they were going to be important. Since each of the six witches is meant to embody their respective domains, it was important to design them to highlight that. One of the ways this was achieved was making sure that their abilities best represented what that domain's ideologies. To use the example of Irradia (whom I hope you became artistically familiar with on Wednesday), her abilities are designed to convey the idea of aggression. Something that the Atomic domain embodies more than anything else.

Another way that the design of the witches expresses their important is that all six are typed as "Epic Grunt - Witch". In gameplay terms, this means that you can only play one copy on the battlefield at any given time. This helps tip the gameplay towards the fair end of the spectrum, but it also intuitively tells the player that this card is significant. As humans we often remember unique things the most. By using a simple four letter word, designers are able to tap into this to emphasize what has been deemed important. Even the choice of word feeds into this. Epic is a word that holds universal recognition; every culture has had them and they all convey heroism, legendary deeds, and grand adventures. Epic is the perfect descriptor for beings as plot important as the witches.

-ART-

Shifting beyond gameplay and design, the last principal is art. More than words, art is the connection between idea and player; if a card is important to the plot, and the witches certainly are, than their art has to express that. As you'll see over the coming weeks, each witch has their face covered by a mask. The reasoning behind this is that by covering, exaggerating, or removing an expressive feature you create a disconnect between the piece and the observer. For the witches, we wanted them to feel alien--to feel almost unknowable. Masks are a great way to do this, as they hide our most expressive feature: the face. Masks also carry symbolic baggage and this has been exploited on each witch to help convey what their role is.

Composition is another important piece in the artistic puzzle, and we've made sure that each of the witch's have been depicted in a posture, lighting, and form that both relates to, and expresses, their role in the plot. Even beyond the plot, their composition conveys their relation to their domain. While they embody their domain's ideologies, some may not feel particularly connected to the cultures surrounding them. Lastly, their composition has been chosen to elaborate on their connection to one another. While all will be revealed in time, what I can say in this article is that there is a duality among the witches.

Being a physical card game means we are limited in the actual size of our product, but that doesn't mean that we can't try to tell interesting stories or convey interesting ideas. As we reveal more and more about them, I hope that you have a better understanding of the decisions that went into each of the six witches.

From Concept to Card: Irradia, the Atomic Witch

Irradia is the brainchild of our resident Art Director, Taylor Jones. Speaking on her unusual design, he says this:
"Irradia needed to be a marriage of everything the Atomic Domain represents: she's part dieselpunk princess, part radioactive zombie, part murderous harlequin. Early incarnations had atomic masks adorned with car parts and weird, breast-like tumours. As her design evolved, I hacked away piercings, engine parts and growths until the general ideas of Irradia were streamlined to a decaying torso, ratty leather armor, a jester-like mask and that amazing explosion of Atomic-Pink hair. She'd play cards with you as quickly as kill you."

From her earliest conceptualizations, Irradia has been a creature of insanity. She was rugged, bizarre, and full of nonconforming parts. From her motor parts to her tumorous flesh, she was abstract and full of strangeness. This concept art demonstrates the sheer psychotic nature of this immortal Being.

In the following concept art for her, a lot of the grizzly dieselpunk bits were replaced with a smoother, yet more "stitched" look. A flair of sick yellow hue adds a sense of chaos to Irradia's unique character. In some ways, she was more human-esque. In others, absolutely not.

The face masks are a recurring theme for such characters as the Witches. Here we see additions to Irradia that would stand the test of time: rough biker-like leather, spiked coverings and a sickeningly emaciated, supernatural look. Something about the unnatural look of Irradia gives a feeling of uneasiness. She's getting back her original Atomic flair, the rough-and-tumble "post-apocalypse" dieselpunk look, and has donned a jester-like mask, showing off her playfully sinister attitude.

Is this what happens when a Witch lets her hair dry naturally? Here Irradia's mask has gotten a sabertusk look, and she's gotten a new hairdo, showing off an abstract sense of flow to an otherwise fetid appearance. That's the beauty, or whatever it is you'd call it, about Irradia: she's haunting and decrepid but it's definitely part of her character, as other aspects are eerily smooth and flowing.

Just about completed, Irradia has taken on a more sleek mask as well as a more cutting-edge hairstyle. Her sickening smile throughout all of this has remained all but the same: deadly, playful, sweet, venomous. Her skeletal frame has gotten its final upgrades, topping off her wretched Atomic look.

Taylor's use of color in this final depiction is what really astounds. The unknown radioactive ooze, the muted colors, the sharp pop of bright pink locks, the shading which gives her ratted apparel a sturdy, hard appearance, and an eery background, complete with that nightmarish grin.

So there you have it! The dawn-to-dusk of one of the creepiest characters in Legion: Irradia. She is the epitome of the Atomic Domain's thesis: chaos, terror, waste, fear, and selfish might. Though she be its crowning jewel, don't look to Irradia for any kind of "leadership". She's in it for herself, and she's got all but eternity to wreak havoc. 

Will you be wise(or foolish) enough to align yourself with the Atomic Domain?

Morals only matter to mortals, after all.

Team Feature: Taylor Jones

Dragon King Art Director

From the screen to the tabletop, Taylor loves games. Lost in a perpetual world of fantasy, he's excited to bring his design and vision to a project so conceptually rich. When he's not studying biology or painting for Legion, he's off in some mystical world completing quests and subjugating his goblin foes. His experience with worlds both fantastical and natural gives him a wealth of knowledge and inspiration from which to draw(seriously, you should see his bug collection).

His art styles range drastically, and is well known for his strikingly realistic creations. He's armed with a brilliant sense of creation, able to make his imaginations into visual masterpieces, whether with pen or electronic stylus. Check him out on Instagram at @charminglychastyl to be wowed by his stunning artistic mastery.

Legion Introduction

Legion

Legion is the up-and-coming fantasy trading card game, with all the benefits of real time action but still with plenty of time to calculate and plot your moves. 

Legion is intuitive, creative, artistic, and based on a rich lore of chaos, harmony, and the very struggle for existence. Immerse yourself in a world of beautiful art, personally crafted by brilliant artists with a passion for adventure and an eye for perfection. Delve deep into the extensive lore and backstories for each character. From the smallest rat to the tallest Witch, everything has a purpose in this world. 

Choose your hub, manipulate and twist your essences to conjure an army to bring down your foes, plot, calculate, conquer, and lay waste to those that stand in the way of your goals.

Legion is the quintessential personalize-able trading card game, giving you the option to design your deck however you please, giving you the opportunity to understand your play style and grow from it. 

The world of Legion is one of constant growth and change, inside and out. With an ever-growing caste of characters and updates, you can be sure that you will never get bored. You may even be graced with the presence of one of the mighty Witches...

Our team is friendly, adventurous, and constantly growing together. We have a pool of resources more diverse than Johnny Depp's wardrobe. Artists, writers, marketing specialists, designers, and much more. We all come from unique backgrounds, with a central love for the rich diversity of fantasy and we're so excited to bring our mystical world to your playing field.

Follow us here to stay on top of all the updates regarding this unique trading card game, and be sure to leave any feedback you have as well. Legion is a living thing; it changes with time. Your feedback helps it become as great as possible. 

                                 -Landen Blume,

                                    Marketing Grand Potentate or some other arrogant titular flaunt

Become one with the Legion. . .