Steve Conard

Steve Conard is a former Magic designer, and a founder of Wizards of the Coast.

Biography

In the late 1980s, Steve was one of five founders of Wizards of the Coast in Peter Adkison's basement. During this time, Richard Garfield was introduced to Peter and they began working on a game concept that would eventually become Magic. Steve however, married a Canadian girl and moved in 1991 to Vancouver, B.C. Canada. While working for a software company, he met Robin Herbert. Meanwhile, he continued to work on freelance projects for Wizards, which meant an occasional trip to Seattle. One day while at Wizards, Peter introduced him to Magic. The next trip to Seattle, he took Robin with him and by the end of the weekend, the game had them in its grips.

They quickly became addicted and started making their own cards for fun on their own time, based on the epic fantasy that both of them enjoyed. A few months later Steve and Robin began designing their own set, but still on a casual basis. Many of the ideas for Legends came from notes taken by Steve on Wizards's Christmas recreational outing to Mt. Rainier. One of those ideas was to create a more unique, heroic kind of creature that would have a sense of depth and strength. This led to the creation of legendary creatures, as well as other mythical-sounding creatures, such as Hell's Caretaker and Evil Eye of Orms-By-Gore. Many of the ideas used for legendary creatures came from the Dungeons & Dragons campaigns enjoyed by those involved.

The expansion was originally named "The Legend Continues", in order to pay homage to the original game, but it was shortened to just "Legends" by those involved. Peter Adkison later asked to review the set they had created, and it was quickly accepted because the upcoming Ice Age was delayed. Peter and Skaff Elias came to Vancouver to discuss Legends. A playtest system needed to be established. Skaff was to be the liaison between the design team and the "East Coast playtesters" in Philadelphia. Development of Legends followed, which was complicated by communication issues. As the language found on cards was not yet standardized, it was sometimes difficult for the developers, who were across the country in Philadelphia, to understand what the cards were intended to do. After a face-to-face meeting between the design and development teams, however, many cards' intentions were clarified.

Designing

• Legends (lead)