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<blockquote data-quote="woodelf" data-source="post: 949989" data-attributes="member: 10201">The mechanics are, overall, less complex than D&amp;D3E.&nbsp; The only part that is more complex is the basic die roll--that's a bit of a beast.&nbsp; But it gives you a much smoother curve of results, rather than a flat distribution with abrupt ends.&nbsp; With an Aria roll, you can generate any result, regardless of your ability--but the vast majority of results will fall pretty close to your ability.&nbsp; (There are 10 level of result--5 failures, 5 successes--and if you had &quot;no&quot; chance of succeeding, you might need to roll 4 1s (on d10) in a row just to pull off a bare success.)The only thing about Aria that is more complex than D&amp;D3E is the need to build your own setting.&nbsp; Even the default game (without Aria: Worlds) starts from the assumption that you'll codify reality (and thus magic), then create the societies (and possibly histories), then figure out the castes and vocations within those societies, then create families, then create characters within those families.&nbsp; But, if you have a built setting (ambitious GM, use one of the examples in the book, use one that you found online), the game runs as or more-smoothly than D&amp;D3E, and requires a lot less bookkeeping and rules knowledge.Oh, the multiple attributes is actually a gem of an idea (though Aria is neither the first nor the last to use it): Basically, the premise is that most character conceptions (in any RPG) don't strongly involve all aspects of the character--they're focused on a few areas.&nbsp; IOW, you can sum the character up using only half-a-dozen broad traits (&quot;dumb, uncouth, powerful warrior&quot; &quot;book-smart but socially-inept wizard&quot;).&nbsp; So what Aria does is give you 16 attributes to play with, but 10 (or more) of those are considered average.&nbsp; You pick up to 6 of them to be above or below average (or maybe it was 6 above, + 2 below), thus defining your character.&nbsp; The reasoning is that, for the most part, you were just going to be jiggering points for points' sake for the rest of those attributes (because they didn't really apply to the concept), so we'll just cut to the chase and make them average.&nbsp; It also helps the game balance issues--you can't make a whole bunch of stats that you weren't going to use anyway really low just to jack up your other scores--and verisimilitude--most people aren't freaks with every single way you could rate them coming out very high or very low.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="woodelf, post: 949989, member: 10201"] The mechanics are, overall, less complex than D&D3E. The only part that is more complex is the basic die roll--that's a bit of a beast. But it gives you a much smoother curve of results, rather than a flat distribution with abrupt ends. With an Aria roll, you can generate any result, regardless of your ability--but the vast majority of results will fall pretty close to your ability. (There are 10 level of result--5 failures, 5 successes--and if you had "no" chance of succeeding, you might need to roll 4 1s (on d10) in a row just to pull off a bare success.) The only thing about Aria that is more complex than D&D3E is the need to build your own setting. Even the default game (without Aria: Worlds) starts from the assumption that you'll codify reality (and thus magic), then create the societies (and possibly histories), then figure out the castes and vocations within those societies, then create families, then create characters within those families. But, if you have a built setting (ambitious GM, use one of the examples in the book, use one that you found online), the game runs as or more-smoothly than D&D3E, and requires a lot less bookkeeping and rules knowledge. Oh, the multiple attributes is actually a gem of an idea (though Aria is neither the first nor the last to use it): Basically, the premise is that most character conceptions (in any RPG) don't strongly involve all aspects of the character--they're focused on a few areas. IOW, you can sum the character up using only half-a-dozen broad traits ("dumb, uncouth, powerful warrior" "book-smart but socially-inept wizard"). So what Aria does is give you 16 attributes to play with, but 10 (or more) of those are considered average. You pick up to 6 of them to be above or below average (or maybe it was 6 above, + 2 below), thus defining your character. The reasoning is that, for the most part, you were just going to be jiggering points for points' sake for the rest of those attributes (because they didn't really apply to the concept), so we'll just cut to the chase and make them average. It also helps the game balance issues--you can't make a whole bunch of stats that you weren't going to use anyway really low just to jack up your other scores--and verisimilitude--most people aren't freaks with every single way you could rate them coming out very high or very low. [/QUOTE]

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