individual by creating a personality type. Using a point-buy system based on the character's age, the player then buys attributes and skills. Task resolution and combat use essentially the same rules as for player nations. Magic Unlike many other role-playing systems, the rules do not include pre-made spells. Instead, the player must decide on the purpose of the spell, and then invent their own spell, cost and effects. Reception In the February 1995 edition of Dragon (Issue #214), Rick Swan found the rules complex and time-consuming, but the premise of the game novel. Swan warned that "The system isn't easy — here's one of the formulas for the Civil War Action: [(Power Value + Consent Value + Authority Value)/3] X 0.1 = Percent of Total Forces Controlled By Ruling Agency." But he thought that the reward for the patiently diligent player was "a gaming experience of unprecedented sweep." Although Swan liked the concept of player nations, he found the single player character system to be "an obstacle course of ambiguous rules." He called the design-your-own-spell magic system "ingenious", but allowed that developing magic spells would take much time: "If you have the patience, it's a fascinating way to spend a weekend. Or two." Swan gave Aria an average rating of 4 out of 6, liking the magic system and player nation system, but not player character creation. Calling the game "borderline brilliant", Swan concluded, "The Aria game is such a hodgepodge of breakthroughs and boo-boos, it's hard to believe it all sprung from the minds of the same two guys. But I'm willing to overlook the missteps; I'm not the kind of guy who discovers a talking dog then complains about its diction." In the May 1995 edition of Pyramid (Issue #13), Paul Beakley liked the game, saying, "Page for page and pound for pound (the first two books are almost 600 pages of material), Aria: Canticle of the Monomyth is an excellent buy. It's sufficiently generic that its best ideas can expand any fantasy game, the art and production is beautiful, and the research and thoroughness of the game is unparalleled." In the December 1996 edition of Arcane (Issue 14), Andrew Rilstone found the massive rulebook to be "little more than a mega-complex character generation system." Adding to the rule complexity, Rilstone found the language dense, commenting that this is "a rulebook to be read with dictionary in hand."