Rabadon, the Death Mage

Role: AP Mage, AP Assassin

Inspiration: A member of these forums named BouncingBannanab suggested that I take on the infamous Rabadon. This was too cool of an idea to pass up, so I got to work right away. Rabadon is the first new Champion concept I have designed after a nearly year-long break. As such, I wanted to challenge myself with a crazy, over-the-top concept that fired on all cylinders- visuals, theming, narrative and kit mechanics. Choosing a concept that already exists in the world of Runeterra and has pre-existing lore attached to it only adds to the challenge, as oftentimes League players are more apprehensive and vocal about characters they already have connections to.

General Design Philosophy: To put it simply, Rabadon is the chaotic embodiment of pure and evil magical power. The legendary name conjures thoughts of huge AP ratios, power spikes, aggressive builds and 100-deathing any marksman you happen to find on Summoner’s Rift. This core theme of Ability Power courses through the lore and kit of this Champion. Rabadon is all about Ability Power; thirsty for it, constantly seeking it out, eager to duel for it and even willing to die for it… and when Rabadon finally gets enough of it, no one on Summoner’s Rift will be safe.

Mechanically speaking, Rabadon is a relatively short ranged mage with a suite of AoE abilities, similar to Lissandra. Rabadon is meant to fish for mid-range stuns, rush towards an enemy and then lay down a consistent barrage of easy-to-land damage. Rabadon can follow up this damage with a reliable anti-kite ability, allowing him to stick to targets once managing to make an initial engagement. Rabadon's Ultimate isolates a single target in an attempt to cleanly assassinate them before they have a chance to escape.

Risk Analysis: High. Rabadon has a powerful theme and identity as a “death mage” and its abilities offer a good mix of proven mechanics mashed up in unique ways. Rabadon’s Ultimate is certainly the exception to this, and should be playtested early on in development on the merits of its game-changing properties. Finally, due to the nature of Rabadon’s Passive, the art resources needed for this Champion are exceptionally high.

Appearance: Rabadon is an evil essence who has manifested itself inside the infamous witch’s hat known as Rabadon’s Deathcap. As an entity of pure magic and power, Rabadon has the ability to conjure humanoid shades or avatars to “wear” it, allowing it to transport its physical form wherever it would like to travel. Having siphoned the magical essence of countless mages, warlocks and witches since it was first created, Rabadon oftentimes chooses to conjure shades that resemble its various victims from the past.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/19_zpshh8emo9q.jpg Rabadon in its true form as a shadowy, decrepit witch's hat. A summoned, humanoid Shade appears beneath it as a means of conventional travel from place to place.

All the images below are representations of the various Shades that Rabadon can conjure. Each Shade represents a powerful mage, warlock or witch who was power-hungry, desperate or downright deceived into having their magical essence siphoned away by Rabadon. In-game, Rabadon will change into these various forms as the player gains Ability Power.

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http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/10_zpsv3uuzvv9.jpg Rabadon summoning its diabolical Death Chamber onto the battlefield, trapping its victim inside and dooming them to a duel to the bitter end.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/14_zps4ci3gr4k.jpg In this case, the Death Chamber stayed true to its name...

Lore:

Centuries ago, a powerful but kindhearted mage and tailor named Rabadon unwittingly created a monstrosity unlike anything Runeterra had ever encountered before. Late one night, Rabadon was putting the finishing touches on his latest creation- a witch’s hat capable of imbuing magical powers to anyone who wore it. In order to contain its magic, his cap had to be woven together from the hair of a truly powerful and demonic beast from the Shadow Isles. The price Rabadon paid for such a reagent was steep, but he knew it would be worth it.

His intentions were pure, having invested only a tiny bit of his own power into the hat and envisioning a world where children and other non-magic users could experience simple parlor tricks like levitation or flickering lights. Little did Rabadon realize that his simple witch’s hat had become tainted and cursed by the inherent evil of the very fabric that stitched it into existence. As the kindhearted mage placed the hat upon his brow for the first time, it came alive from the powerful magic surging through Rabadon. Unnaturally and without warning, the hat began to animate like a living thing, clamping its rim around the unassuming mage. The evil essence within the hat thirsted for Rabadon’s raw magical power, and began to siphon it out of him until he was nothing more than an empty husk. Having fed itself on pure power, the hat conjured itself a shadowy figure to “wear” it, then walked out of the tailor’s shop and into the cover of darkness.

Over the next few years, the entity became a legend, referred to by citizens as “Rabadon’s Deathcap.” The darkest circles of magic and necromancy learned of the cap’s power, but also of its terrible secrets. Rabadon sought out weak-minded mages and warlocks desperate for power, fame or fortune. It tempted them, bribed them and promised them untold founts of power; all they had to do was simply put on the hat and their dreams would come true. Fairly, Rabadon would grant its wearer untold power… for a short time. After a few years, however, their usefulness would run out and Rabadon would siphon their powers, as well, further fueling itself and growing even more tempting to future wearers.

Centuries passed since the creation of Rabadon’s Deathcap, and the entity had grown so powerful that the material plane of Runeterra could hardly contain it or stabilize it. Even Rabadon itself had become bloated with power, consumed by an unquenchable thirst and uncaring of the consequences that might arise if it continued its pursuit for magic. It didn’t take long for Rabadon’s constant gluttony to catch up to it, however, as it eventually reached a point of critical mass.

The magic energies Rabadon had consumed became so dense and concentrated that the hat itself began to tear at its seams. The evil entity, fearing that its mortal vessel might be destroyed, felt that it had no choice but to vent its excess power like a steam valve. The ensuing explosion was so powerful that entire mountain ranges became warped and twisted around the blast zone.

Now in a weakened state, Rabadon has become frantic and desperate to re-amass its immense deposit of magical energy. That is what brings the being to Summoner’s Rift- it senses the untapped power constantly present on its mountaintops. Veigar, Syndra, Xerath… their auras of energy call to Rabadon like a demented dinner bell, and the power Rabadon promises them will undoubtedly be too tempting to pass up...

Strengths: Aggressive and damage-oriented kit, nearly-infinite AP scaling and late game dominance, can snowball into a hyper carry, ability to isolate and assassinate a single target, can become briefly untargetable

Weaknesses: Limited crowd control and utility, susceptible to anti-snowballing if behind, short range on all abilities, incredibly gold dependent

Plays Most Like...:

Hidden Passive: Rabadon has unique dialogue upon purchasing Rabadon’s Deathcap.

• “This is nothing but a forgery.”
• “Doran is a fool if he believes this shoddy knock-off would fool me.”
• “Ha! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
• “This secondhand recreation is nothing compared to my real power!”
• (rarely) "Well, uh... this is awkward."

Auto Attack: Rabadon fires a shadowy bolt of energy from its shades’ hand from up to 450 range.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/8_zpsnfs7takz.jpg http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/6_zpsulw58eoz.jpg Passive- Fount of Power: Rabadon can summon Shades of its former wearers to fight on its behalf, but doing so requires Ability Power in order to summon increasingly powerful Shades. For every 250 ability power Rabadon has, the Shade it summons will change. Each Shade brings with it increasingly powerful sorcery, up to a cap of 1,000 AP. Shades of higher tiers retain the traits of all previous Shades. Lower tier Shades will take the place of higher ones in the event that Rabadon loses enough Ability Power.

0 AP- Rabadon gains 3% bonus AP from all sources 250 AP- The effective range of Dispersion (W) is increased from 450 to 600 500 AP- All casts of Shadow Strike (Q) perform the double hammerfist effect 750 AP- The travel speed of Dark Fusion (E) is increased and its stun duration is increased to 1.5 seconds 1,000 AP- 30% of the damage Rabadon deals to its target during Death Chamber (R) is dealt as true damage. Design Philosophy: Fount of Power works similarly to Syndra and Casseopiea’s Passive Abilities, and provides Rabadon with a near-infinitely scaling late game when combined with its Ultimate. Reaching 1,000 AP should be an aspirational goal that Rabadon players attempt to reach each game, but in reality this should only happen rarely. It will be far more frequent for games to end with Rabadno players somewhere in the ballpark of 600-900 AP. From a development perspective, Fount of Power requires new 3D models, animations and dialogue for each Shade, dramatically increasing Rabadon’s production costs and putting it on the same tier as a Legendary skin. Thematically speaking, each Shade should ultimately feature their own backstory and lore, as well as distinct visuals. Please refer to Rabadon’s Appearance section for reference images relating to possibilities for Rabadon’s various Shades.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/5_zpstkqy7hgy.jpg http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/4_zpsjnrv2d4b.jpg Q- Shadow Strike (4 seconds): Rabadon’s Shade flings its shadowy arm out as a 600 range lined skillshot, dealing magic damage to all targets struck. This ability alternates between the Shade’s left and right arms. Every third cast of Shadow Strike causes the Shade to perform a double hammerfist, which creates an AoE burst of bonus magic damage at the edge of the ability’s cast range. Rank-ups increase damage. Design Philosophy: Visually this ability is similar to Zac’s Stretching Strike. Mechanically this is a short range, low cooldown ability that allows Rabadon to pump out consistent magic damage against multiple targets. On a somewhat esoteric level, both Shadow Strike and Dark Fusion are themed around reaching or clawing hands, which is a subtle way of further driving home the point that Rabadon feels deprived of power and will lustfully reach for more of it whenever possible.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/7_zpsb1pati3t.jpg http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/2_zpskrhn950d.jpg W- Dispersion (12 seconds): Rabadon causes its current Shade to disperse into a wave of shadowy mist, dealing magic damage within 450 range around Rabadon and marking all targets struck with the “Shade of Death” debuff. Without a Shade beneath Rabadon, it becomes briefly untargetable but immobile and unable to cast spells. Within the next 1.5 seconds, Rabadon can target an enemy unit within 800 range affected by Shade of Death, instantly teleporting itself to them and reforming its Shade. Rabadon can quickly recast this ability on himself to end the dispersion early and reform at its current location. Rabadon will also reappear in this way if no target is in range or if no target is selected after the 1.5 second duration. Rank-ups increase damage and lower cooldown. Design Philosophy: This is another short range ability that allows a Rabadon player to chaotically disrupt the center of a fight while simultaneously setting themselves up for a follow-up engage. Typically Rabadon players will want to cast 1-2 Shadow Strikes before becoming untargetable, using the precious moments of invulnerability to wait for the third and more powerful cast of Shadow Strike. Thematically, it was imperative to me that a floating hat that conjures magical ghosts would have an ability that allowed it to disperse said ghosts and appear as its true form.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/3_zpshxy0beh2.jpg E- Dark Fusion (8 seconds): Rabadon targets an area before summoning two claw-like skillshots that appear at a fixed distance apart from one another (roughly 600 units), up to 900 range away. After appearing, these claws begin to travel towards each other (increasing in speed the closer they get) before merging into one pair of shadowy, interlacing hands. All enemy units in the path of these claws suffer magic damage, and enemies caught directly between the converging claws suffer bonus magic damage and are stunned for 1 second. Rank-ups increase damage and lower cooldown. Design Philosophy: For usability’s sake, this ability’s skillshot indicator should show where the claws will meet and where the stun range is. Furthermore, it should likely be cast in a similar manner to Anivia’s wall or Malzahar’s silencing beam. This is Rabadon’s longest range ability and is intended to be used for initiations. The stun component is intentionally unreliable and will require precise timing and aim from Rabadon players in order to capitalize on it from long distance. This should add a high skill ceiling for Rabadon and separate the good Rabadon players from the exceptional ones, while also offsetting the otherwise consistent nature of Rabadon’s other damaging abilities.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/1_zpshqxmhpxi.jpg R- Death Chamber (150 seconds): Rabadon encases a target enemy champion into a magical domed chamber from up to 400 units away, which is 800 units in diameter and is centered around the target. Neither Rabadon nor the targeted enemy champion can move beyond the circular walls of this chamber, even with abilities such as dashes, blinks, Flash, or Thresh’s Dark Passage. However, all other allied and enemy units can move freely through the walls throughout its duration. While within the Chamber, the target receives a debuff that causes them to take 10/15/20% bonus damage from Rabadon. The Chamber lasts for 6 seconds. If Rabadon kills its target within this time, it permanently gains 25 AP. However, if Rabadon dies within the Death Chamber, it permanently loses 15 AP instead. Rabadon can only lose bonus AP previously earned from Death Chamber and its conventional Ability Power cannot be reduced. The Chamber will disappear prematurely if either Rabadon or its target dies. Rank-ups increase the target’s bonus damage that they receive, as well as lower cooldown. Design Philosophy: This is a massive, epic, game-changing Ultimate that pushes the envelope of what should be possible in League of Legends. Since this ability is so seemingly powerful, I felt that it was necessary to provide an immense amount of detail outlining various facets and edge cases of the ability. I urge readers to overlook the technicalities of this ability and focus on its practical applications. Death Chamber is the pinnacle thematic ability representing a chaotic, evil, power-hungry entity like Rabadon. It’s a high risk, high reward ability that must be cast at precisely the right time to avoid being dogpiled on by the enemy team. Limiting the dome’s restrictive terrain to only Rabadon and its target allows for minimal disruption and maximum intervention for the other 8 players on the map. The Chamber is designed to be large enough that Rabadon’s victim has room to juke, run or otherwise position themselves in such a way that counterplay opportunities exist.

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