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If mastering the use of Aria-Worlds was a daunting task, then tackling Aria-Roleplaying equals picking up a copy of Dr. John Dee's Enochian magick system and self-teaching its use.

The book suffers from excessive verbage, needless redefinition of game terms and pretensiousness. It's too complex for what it tries to do, and the poor writing doesn't help at all. As a game system, it works but it is nothing special. I felt like saying "Pay no attention to the rather ordinary system behind the curtain!" after I figured it out.

Character generation is entirely dependant on the concept. From this comes your character's initial age, and that determines your pool of Development Points (DP). The concept also determines your Heritage Template, which is a catch-all for racial and cultural divisions as seen in other RPGs.

>From this point onward, you must spend DPs to get anything or- at the GM's option- you may spend a Window of Opportunity. If DPs represent the potential expended during childhood and adolesance, then Windows represent those brushes with fate that completely change your life. A Window allows you to change your Template, enter professions that you couldn't access normally, violate social taboos that are usually unassailable and other feats of similar magnitude.

After spending a half-hour (experienced) to a couple hours (newbies), you're ready to go. Gameplay itself is easy, with bloody simple die rolls. (1d10+modifiers vs. Target Number; result determines Level of Success or Failure.) The downside is that there are a plethora of modifiers, and most of them involve combat.

Combat is a slow-moving, complex affair that better resembles a chess match played while stoned out of your mind. If you use it, strip away as much as you possibly can. You won't miss it.

Magic? Their approach is simple; they give you the tools, and expect you to craft your own system. This is a great idea in theory, but in practice it's more trouble than it's worth. Most of this comes from the combination of poor writing and renamed terms. They confuse the reader and frustrate attempts to use the design tools. The samples don't help much.

The rest of the book is given to examples of world design. While this is of value, and useful to boot, the poor writing detracts from the text and makes it needlessly difficult to use. The sections about meta-time and generational gameplay, however, are enlighting and worth the time to struggle through.

The verdict is this; Aria-Roleplaying is not for newbies or those who don't want to do a lot of homebrewing. However, if world-building and game design is your thing then you'll love this book. If you can get the game engine to work, more power to you. (Good luck!) Otherwise, find a different system.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Aria- Roleplaying
Author: Christian Scott Moore & Owen Matthew Seyler Category: game Company/Publisher: Last Unicorn Games Cost: $30 (US) Page count: 306 pages ISBN: 09645-9030-1 Capsule Review by Bradford C. Walker on 04/15/98. Genre tags: none	If mastering the use of Aria-Worlds was a daunting task, then tackling Aria-Roleplaying equals picking up a copy of Dr. John Dee's Enochian magick system and self-teaching its use. The book suffers from excessive verbage, needless redefinition of game terms and pretensiousness. It's too complex for what it tries to do, and the poor writing doesn't help at all. As a game system, it works but it is nothing special. I felt like saying "Pay no attention to the rather ordinary system behind the curtain!" after I figured it out. Character generation is entirely dependant on the concept. From this comes your character's initial age, and that determines your pool of Development Points (DP). The concept also determines your Heritage Template, which is a catch-all for racial and cultural divisions as seen in other RPGs. >From this point onward, you must spend DPs to get anything or- at the GM's option- you may spend a Window of Opportunity. If DPs represent the potential expended during childhood and adolesance, then Windows represent those brushes with fate that completely change your life. A Window allows you to change your Template, enter professions that you couldn't access normally, violate social taboos that are usually unassailable and other feats of similar magnitude. After spending a half-hour (experienced) to a couple hours (newbies), you're ready to go. Gameplay itself is easy, with bloody simple die rolls. (1d10+modifiers vs. Target Number; result determines Level of Success or Failure.) The downside is that there are a plethora of modifiers, and most of them involve combat. Combat is a slow-moving, complex affair that better resembles a chess match played while stoned out of your mind. If you use it, strip away as much as you possibly can. You won't miss it. Magic? Their approach is simple; they give you the tools, and expect you to craft your own system. This is a great idea in theory, but in practice it's more trouble than it's worth. Most of this comes from the combination of poor writing and renamed terms. They confuse the reader and frustrate attempts to use the design tools. The samples don't help much. The rest of the book is given to examples of world design. While this is of value, and useful to boot, the poor writing detracts from the text and makes it needlessly difficult to use. The sections about meta-time and generational gameplay, however, are enlighting and worth the time to struggle through. The verdict is this; Aria-Roleplaying is not for newbies or those who don't want to do a lot of homebrewing. However, if world-building and game design is your thing then you'll love this book. If you can get the game engine to work, more power to you. (Good luck!) Otherwise, find a different system. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Aria- Roleplaying