Lore/Background
Rae was born in a small, cramped home in the town of Gaetro on the edge of Piltover, Valeran’s third largest city. Known for being home to the Piltover’s poorest citizens, Gaetro’s population primarily works in the factories that power the many turbines and gears throughout Piltover’s infrastructure.
Life was difficult there. Rae’s mother died of Lung Grouge, a common ailment caused by inhaling dangerous materials at the factories, and her father was rarely around, working in the same factories that took her mother’s life. She had to become both a mother and a father to her little brother. This forged Rae into a person that would protect the things she loved the most, even if it meant her own life.
One day she had to go get food for her younger brother. Being in the streets alone at the age of 12 is never something a typical child should do in Gaetro, but for Rae, the streets were her playground. She shifted and vaulted across the gravel and rooftops without a sound. As she grew, she mastered the art of stealth and took what she wanted from the privileged people of Piltover. She never saw a problem with her behaviour. It was fun and she was able to provide for her family in the process. At the age of 18 she stole a battery like no other from a Factory’s shop in the middle of the city. When bringing the battery to her friend Vi, Vi told Rae that the Battery was a very rare Hextech Battery that can power almost anything and recharge itself. Being a master mechanic, Vi decided she was going to help her friend and construct a pair of gravity boots. These boots would be connected to a belt that would hold the Hextech battery, ultimately powering the boots. Vi wished to see her friend reach new heights and escape from the oppressive life she was forced to live.
The boots had enough juice in them for her to experiment across the rooftops of Gaetro for hours. She would vault and do tricks in mid air, feeling the breeze between her short cropped red hair. When she realized the abilities the boots possessed, she became bored with Gaetro and expanded her playground to the whole city. Pulling pranks on the High Class citizens and vandalizing the cities walls with red paint in a symbol of her own making. She began performing riskier thefts and breaking into citizen’s homes for baubles that could help her younger brother leave the streets for good. To the rich she was known as Red, as the color would be the last thing citizens would see as the bright shine of her red hair skydived from a room 3 stories high, landing safely below. To the law, she was the most notorious thief in Piltover, always leaving a ornate calling card with the letter ‘C’ for Caitlyn, a mocking gesture against the city’s lead sheriff, Caitlyn and her attempts to capture Rae.
On a scorching afternoon at the age of 21, Rae heard a knock at her door as she played with her now 14 year old brother. She pulled the curtain away from the door to see her old friend Vi standing there. As she opened the door she saw Vi’s large Hextech Gauntlets clearly made by the master machinist herself. Rae let Vi in, without knowing she now worked for the police. They talked for a while about Vi’s Gauntlets and then about how Ray had been using her boots. Vi understood her friends enjoyment in her own invention.
She stood, gauntlets resting by her sides saying :
“I’m with the police now, but I’m not here to arrest you, I’m here because the city needs your help”
“Something is coming that even we can’t handle alone...”
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“Why would I leave the first letter of my name at a crime scene? I’m having too much fun to get caught that easily.” -- Rae
City of Piltover
"Her services were soon requested by Demacia to help track down a mysterious outlaw who had begun committing high-profile heists. The bandit, who always left a card with an ornate 'C' at the scene of the crime, became Caitlyn's Arch-nemesis. To this day, Caitlyn still searches for this cat burglar, and the chase has led her all across Valoran."
This quote is where i started the idea of Rae, but instead of using the C to describe Rae i decided it meant Rae was mocking Caitlyn and the card was addressed to her.
"As a child growing up in the "lawless outskirts" of Piltover, Vi learned to rob and cheat to get by. Stealing and stripping hextech hardware gave her the skills of a master mechanic, while life on the streets taught her self-reliance."
I decided link both Rae and Vi together within the lore to establish a common ground in the city of Piltover. As a child being alone is dangerous and especially as a girl on the streets both Vi and Rae had to learn in order to survive. So i had Vi become the creator of the Boots since she was a mechanical prodigy and eventually recuite Rae into the fight against what is known as The Watchers.
Anatomy Study to help me understand the human form
Above is my workspace that I used to develope Rae's Pose and outfit from hundreds of pictures of inspiration.
Pose Study and refinement
Selected pose iterations to experiment different clothing options.
Clothing iterations to work with what the champion will look like and give her a sense of life in her environment of piltover.
Flat Color and material breakdown as well as turn around composition
Going back to the Belt design and iterating how the belt functions with the boots as well as what the battery will look like to go with her lore.
Boot iterations from the start of the project in April to the end of my iteration and concepting phase.
Added boot element that didnt seem right within the selected boot iteration. "piston" design for the heel.
The grenade needed to be iterated because it is used as one of her abilities.
"From the Bent and Broken, A Pheonix will Rise!"
This quote was put in her lore because i needed to find a purpose for the champion to even exist in the city of piltover. What better decision then to have her be oppressed by the rich in a city full of technology.
Final Turn around Concept of Rae - The Piltover Thief
(Passive)(Active) Hextech Battery - Rae's gravity boots gradually drain its battery when the active of the item is turned on and when she uses her abilities. The boots can be re-activated to turn the boots off. This puts Rae at a much slower movement speed/attack speed/and weaker blows.
Base Battery Supply = 100 (150 since she starts with Supplementary Battery Upgrade)
Upon activating the boots, Rae generates an electric shield that damages whoever she attacks and shields her for 5 seconds.
Battery Supply is a recharging resource used for Rae's basic abilities and movement. This supply is refilled If she stands still for 5 seconds she starts to regenerate the energy through a channeling process that takes 7 seconds. This will only fill 75% of the battery and will be on a cooldown for 100 seconds. She can also refill the battery by returning to base.
(Passive) Gravity Boots - Rae starts each game with an exclusive item, her Gravity Boots, which permanently occupies one of her item slots. For 1000 Gold, Rae can upgrade them to increase their bonuses.
The battery will be a upgradeable item like ‘Viktor's’ HexCore. It can be upgraded 3 times. This item replaces normal boots upgrades (This champion is restricted from buying regular boots). After final form upgrades like (Homeguard) can be bought. Each upgrade is cumulative to the final upgrade.
Supplementary Battery Upgrade (Starting Item)
+5% Movement Speed
+3% Attack Speed
+20 AD
+50 Battery Supply
Enhanced Battery Upgrade ( + 1000g)
+10% Movement Speed
+8% Attack Speed
+20 AD
+100 Battery Supply
Perfect Grade Battery Upgrade ( + 1600g)
+15% Movement Speed
+14% Attack Speed
+20 AD
+150 Battery Supply
Unique Passive: Charges 4% of her maximum Battery Supply after every 3rd auto attack.
Final Item Stats:
30% Movement Speed
25% Attack Speed
60 Attack Damage
400 battery power
Unique Passive: Charges 4% of her maximum Battery Supply after every 3rd auto attack.
Mock up Icon for Double Kick Combo
Q - Double Kick Combo
(Active) – Rae charges forth into a one-two combo of gravity-induced kicks. Her first kick knocks the enemy back slightly and after re-positioning herself closer to her target she delivers a second one that pushes them further. If the target is painted then the second kick knocks them in the air. If the charge strikes a target to start the combo, then the cooldown is reduced to 8 seconds.
If you feel that Rae is in danger you can cancel the second Kick by re-casting the ability. She will leap away from the target pushing her away from her target and throwing a small grenade that blows up instantly blinding all enemies around the original target.
Damage (First Kick): 35/60/85/110/135 Physical Damage
Damage (Second Kick): 70/95/110/135/160 Physical Damage
Total Damage: 105/155/205/255/305 Physical Damage
Cooldown: 14 seconds
Battery Cost: 8
Rough storyboard sketch to iterate how the ability works within the game
Mock up Icon for Paint Bomb
W - Paint Bomb
(Active) - Tosses a bomb at a target area that explodes once it reaches its destination, dealing physical damage over 2 seconds and painting targets hit for 7 seconds, amplifying damage dealt to them by her basic attacks and Double Kick Combo.
The paint changes the effect of both Double kick combo and The second cast of Wall vault. Double kick combo will knock-up the target on the second kick instead of backwards. While painted targets will get knocked-up on the second cast instead of just knocking them to the side.
Damage from Bomb : 20/50/80/110/140 + (30% AD) Physical Damage
Bonus Damage to Painted Targets with Basic Attacks: 4%/6%/8%/10%/12% AD
Bonus Damage to Painted Targets with Double Kick Combo: +8% of the skill's damage
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Rough storyboard sketch to iterate how the ability works within the game
Mock up icon for Wall Vault
E - Wall Vault
(Active) (First Cast) - Launches herself forward. If she comes in contact with a wall, she will launch herself off of it in the opposite direction, repeating this effect every time she launches herself into another wall. Drains more energy every time she dashes consecutively.
If she avoids the wall and runs into a champion, she will perform a tripping attack, leaving the target stunned for 1 second. Painted targets are stunned for 2 seconds.
(Re-cast) - Ends her dash with a short slide, knocking enemies in her path to the side and dealing damage based on vaults performed. If the target is painted then they are knocked up in the air.
Damage on Kick: 40/60/80/100/120 Physical Damage
Damage of slide Amplification per Vault: 4%
Battery Cost: 1(2%)/2(4%)/3(8%)/4(16%)
Cooldown: 18 seconds
(a little side note: How would everyone feel if this champion stole a certain amount of gold from a enemy champion just by going through a champion after vaulting off a wall? You will still need the second cast to stop the skill. Only applies once per champion for a 20 second period.)
Rough storyboard sketch to iterate how the ability works within the game
Mock up icon for Hell Hammer Kick
R - Heel Hammer Kick
(Active) - Rae must position herself against a wall to build up enough force (enemies can hear the sonic boom of her leaving the ground) to leap into the air and smashing the ground with her heel, creating a outward traveling shock-wave that knocks up all enemy champions struck by it, dealing less damage with each subsequent wave. Rae can position where she wants to land within a diameter around her that is 1400 range. The shockwave is 750 diameter around her and the damage falls off the further away you are from the epicenter.
Damage: 130/260/390 Physical Damage
Damage Fall-off per Wave: 14%/10%/6%/2%/0% (amplified dmg on top of base dmg)
Cooldown: 160 seconds
Rough storyboard sketch to iterate how the ability works within the game
The splash art was the last thing on my list too do and unfortunately i did not have time to create it nor did i have the time to learn how to paint or illustrate the planned composition i had for her at the time. I did get far enough as too get rid of all line work for this action pose and do a quick pre render/texture pass to all of the materials.
I learned so much over the course of 6 months both during my research and during development.
At 1:40 All chat presented my work to the league community on the league of legends Client.
