THE MAGICIAN - i've always taken this card to mean that you already have everything you need, it is just up to you to actually do something; in the same vein, you have everything you need at the start of rain world. unlike a metroidvania, there are no upgrades earned mid-campaign. it's just you, and eight buttons.


this card is meant to look like survivor at the very start of their campaign, with all the main things needed to progress and survive in rain world - food (batfly and bluefruit, the most common foods found in campaigns) and weapons/defence (rubbish and a spear). again its meant to convey that 'everything you need is within you' energy (<- reference to the minecraft end poem) and the idea that despite its similarities to metroidvania games its really not one (metroidvanias are largely defined by the 'get movement/ability upgrade, kill boss' style gameplay loop. in contrast in rain world('s base game) upgrades are either visiting echoes or visiting pebbles and have nothing to do with ability or movement upgrades unless you count the campaigns itself and their difference in slugcats.)
other design notes:
-ive finally figured out scug anatomy! i dont know why it took me so long to finally settle on how slugcat anatomy works but i did in this piece.
-the rubble was intentionally chosen those three are my favorite rubble types hell yeah brick :DD
-again the background is survivor (and monks) starting room in outskirts. to reference its in outskirts (and to reference that one map in the miraheze wiki that puts all the region maps together) i put a slight tealish green blue gradient over the whole piece.
-it wasnt intentional totally intentional but the spear is referencing the actual magician tarot card which always seems to hold either a candle or some other manner of stick
-very intentionally does not have the survivor sigil on top. this is to reference the fact that number one you do not have it at the start and number two the like. forty cycles it took for me to get it the first time i played rain world (im pretty sure i only got it after receiving the pebbles karma upgrade)


[originally posted on niftukkun.tumblr.com]