Aria: Canticle of the Monomyth, also known as Aria Roleplaying, is a role-playing game published by Last Unicorn Games in 1994. Description The rules for this role-playing system are contained in a 500-page softcover book designed by Christian Scott Moore and Owen Seyler and edited by Kirsten Kaschock, with cover art by Michael William Kaluta. Aria is based on the concept of the 'monomyth', the theory that one fundamental story is at the core of most myths, legends and fairy tales. Unlike many other role-playing games which center on individual characters in a pre-set game world, Aria encourages players to create entire "player nations", using "Narrative Environments" (regional units such as villages or kingdoms) and "Interactive Histories" (the phases of social development). The book is divided into two halves (each paginated separately): "Persona Creation Book", and "Myth Creation Book". Creation of "player nation" Using a step-by-step formula, the players determine the attributes (called "Determinants") of their player nations in the areas of Environment, Economics and Political, as well as geography, political framework, demographics, philosophical orientation, and social status divisions. Player then create a historical timeline that touches on the game world's pivotal events and major personalities. Gameplay Once every player has created a player nation, the resultant interplay between the players results in an interactive history — essentially the game campaign. Game time is divided into Historic Intervals, roughly equivalent to five years. Each Interval begins with an event introduced by the referee. A phase of internal development follows, with players using their Determinants and sub-Determinants to resolve Critical Junctures that may occur as a result. A phase of External development follows, with interaction between players (warfare, espionage, diplomacy, trade, etc.) During an Interval, a player may decide on taking Actions, from a list of more than two dozen possibilities. A player may declare two Internal Actions during an Interval, along with a number of External Actions equal to half of his player nation's Scope rating. All of these will be resolved by the referee at the end of the Interval, using rolls of ten-sided dice by the player matched against the relevant Determinant, with a potentially large number of optional modifiers. Tables included in the rules help the referee to resolve each Action. Player character option If the players wish to play a more traditional game of single personalities within the game of player nations, they can create an