The Black Stone
A reality/magic system for ARIA: Roleplaying

Reality Concept: (Single or Multiple) Ancient powers of Evil once roamed this world, until the Lords of Pedran and the Prince of the Ten Thousand Lights imprisoned them in the Black Stone, smashed it to fragments, and scattered them to the four corners of the world. Ever since, the sharp slivers of stone have sought to reunite themselves back into the single Black Stone, from which they would have a chance of freeing themselves. By offering some power to the unwary, they are carried from place to place, encountering others fragments over time, killing their carriers, and then waiting for the next power hungry traveler to come their way.

Origin Template

Nature - (Partially Sentient) The fragments rarely contain a whole sentient, but merely parts of many creatures which are not always compatible. This tends to give them some guiding intelligence, but really only enough to know to seek out other parts of the Black Stone. The Awareness is Corrupt, though this is rarely apparent to the user and sometimes not even to his friends.

Form - (Entity) The entire Black Stone contains 999 extremely dangerous demons, whose personalities are all cut up and distributed among the tens of thousands of fragments. Every time 10 fragments are assembled, there is a 10% chance that one of the demons has been sufficiently re-integrated to attempt possession of the person carrying the piece of the Black Stone.

Genesis - (Created) The Black Stone was created by the Lords of Pedran, a minor assembly of demi-gods, who still have some control over the fragments of the Black Stone. Any piece with less than 1,000 fragments contained in it can be split apart again by anyone with any amount of their power.

Connections - (Related, Partially Controlled) The Black Stone is widely recognized as a serious danger by many different Origins, who try to keep tabs on the locations of many major fragments. The Black Stone is partially controlled by the Lords of Pedran, who can often attune themselves to track reassembled pieces above 100 fragments.

Orientation - (Visceral) The Black Stone and its spirit contents try to keep their activities focuses closely on their own affairs and one another, in an attempt to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

Relations - (Control) The fragments of the Black Stone seek to control their adherents, guiding them to other fragments, possessing them when possible.

Apotheosis - Once the Black Stone has reached 52% of its full size, the demons inside will be able to exert instantaneous control over their carrier the instant the stone is touched, and will be able to perform vast magics through him or her. The demons will use this person to re-integrate as many pieces as possible before the host is killed by their Opponents. The demons will make the person carrying them think, however, that they are on the way to Apotheosis. If the Black Stone is ever fully integrated, the Origin will cease to exist.

Omnessence Fundamental

Primary Trait - Aura

Affinity - Black Stone Fragments 10; Lord of Pedran 10; Adept of Pedran 9; Spellcasters of any other Origin 1.

Omnessence Province
Conjuration 4 + Physical 3 = Physical Conjuration 7
Conjuration 3 + Energy 3 = Energy Conjuration 6
Conjuration 2 + Spirit 3 = Spirit Conjuration 5
Destruction 4 + Organic 5 = Organic Destruction 9
Destruction 4 + Energy 3 = Energy Destruction 3
Destruction 4 + Physical 4 = Physical Destruction 8
Destruction 4 + Reality 4 = Reality Destruction 8
Destruction 3 + Spirit 5 = Spirit Destruction 8
Manipulation 4 + Will 5 = Will Manipulation 9
Manipulation 4 + Spirit 5 = Spirit Manipulation 5
Manipulation 4 + Physical 4 = Physical Manipulation 8
Manipulation 4 + Organic 4 = Organic Manipulation 8
Manipulation 4 + Energy 3 = Energy Manipulation 7
Transformation 3 + Energy 3 = Energy Transformation 6
Transformation 3 + Reality 1 = Reality Transformation 4
Transformation 3 + Organic 2 = Organic Transformation 5
Transformation 2 + Spirit 4 = Spirit Transformation 6

Province Aspects: May not heal injury until Stone is 52% complete. May not attack directly any Lord or Adept of Pedran. All Destruction effects have token signature recognizable by many senior Adepts of other Origins as coming from the Black Stone. All Conjuration effects turn conjured object/being/event black.

Availability: (Limited) The power of the Black Stone can only be found in fragments of the Black Stone.

Manifestations: (Spontaneous Creation) The Black Stone or any fragment thereof embues its creator with knowledge of the potential power he or she carries. Paradigms are created by the carrier by describing the desired effect out loud and then defining a trigger word. If the Black Stone cannot create that effect, the power of the Stone may define a different effect to go with that trigger word. The carrier may (40% chance) also be endowed with the trigger words, but not the effects, of paradigms created by previous carriers. The fragments themselves look like pieces of jagged obsidian, though some (10%) have a curved, polished side that looks like the arc of a sphere. Any fragments left within 10 feet of one another for 1d10 days will gradually join to form a single, slightly larger piece.

Availability: 1 fragment= 1; <10 fragments = 2; 10-99 fragments = 3; 100-249 = 4; 250-499 = 5; 500-999 = 6; 1,000 - 9,999 = 7; 10,000-49,999 = 8; 50,000-99,999 = 9.

Amount Category: (Finite, Recyclable) Any fragment of the Black Stone needs time to 'recharge' after the fragment's Availability Level x 10 in Omnessence has been used. The amount of time needed to recharge is 10 days / Availablity Level of the number of assembled fragments.

Amount Level: 6

Restrictions: Obviously, it is easier to deplete smaller fragments than larger ones.

Access Category: (Grant) The Stone itself activates paradigms through its carrier; the carrier must ask for the activation, however. The Access limit follows the same lines as Availability: 1 fragment= 1; <10 fragments = 2; 10-99 fragments = 3; 100-249 = 4; 250-499 = 5; 500-999 = 6; 1,000 - 9,999 = 7; 10,000-49,999 = 8; 50,000-99,999 = 9.

Restrictions: (Purchased) The Black Stone slowly corrupts those who use its power. Every 100 points of Omnessence used from the Black Stone requires a Willpower Trial to avoid gaining a negative personality trait. Traits are gained in a particular order: Hedonistic, Self-indulgent, Blameful, Jaded, Cynical, Destructive, Irascible, Rash, Insincere, Suspicious, Callous, Vulgar/Lewd, Sadistic, Amoral, Trecherous. Once the carrier has aquired all the traits, he or she begins again at Hedonistic. If a character possesses any of the traits before using the Black Stone, he or she, upon failing a willpower trial for the first time, aquires ALL the traits in the list up to that point automatically. For example, if a character possesses the Rash trait already, then upon failing a willpower check, he will immediately become hedonistic, self-indulgent, blameful, jaded, cynical destructive and irascible. The trait furthest along in the list is the one used to determine this. The Black Stone, obviously, does better with characters already on the worse side of their nature.

Method: (Closed, Interruptible, Spiritual) Despite not being gods, the demons of the Black Stone crave attention and devotion. They must be asked, in a manner not all that different from prayer, to grant power to their worthless carrier. Since the power is addictive, it is not all that difficult to get people to seek more. However, if the Stone is depleted, it will be unable to give more until it has had a chance to recharge its strength. Supplications to the Black Stone are interruptable, and it is not fatiguing.

Ease of Access: (1) Except as has already been noted, the Black Stone does not place any significant restrictions on the use of its omnessence, as it wants to lure people into using its power, for the furtherence of the Black Stone's destruction and the freeing of its demons.

Access Time: (Variable, minimum 10 seconds) It takes the Black Stone some time to develop a new paradigm, often 30 minutes or more. Once a paradigm is defined, however, the Stone retains it, and need only adjust local parameters, which usually takes a few seconds. An imaginative carrier can have a wide range of spells available to himself if he has taken time to prepare.

Storage Category: Impossible

Paradigm Notes:

Omnessence Nature: (Interpreted) The Black Stone is determined to reunite itself, and will interpret its carrier's wishes in light of its own power. Thus, if two wielders of the Black Stone are in conflict, the Black Stone may cut power to the stronger-willed user, or adjust spells for the one who has been more fully corrupted.

Aspects: (Curved, Restriction) The effects of Black Stone magics are at full strength for the first quarter of its range, three-quarters at the half-way point, one half at three-quarters distance, and at 1/4 full strength at the full distance. In addition, no spell may be activated while the caster is within 100 feet of any ground consecrated to the Lords of Pedran, or within 50 feet of any Adept of Pedran.

Preparation - (Preparation, Neutral) The Carrier must specify the effects of a new paradigm, and a trigger word or phrase, at some point prior to the time he intends to use it, usually thirty minutes or so. The Black Stone may then alter the paradigm slightly, or rewrite it, to suit its own purposes. Once a paradigm is developed, the same trigger phrase will always work for a particular paradigm, unles the Black Stone has sufficient guiding intelligence to countermand it when opportunity dictates. Access Methods (spiritual) are possible, but don't always work, and confer no benefits. The adept of the Stone must be in possession of a piece which must be in contact with his flesh in order to activate a paradigm.


Paradigm Method - (Channeled) The Black Stone uses its adepts as channels through which to direct casted spells.

Casting Time - Spells, once asked for and created and stored by the Black Stone, take a minimum of 10 seconds to activate when the trigger word is spoken.

Fatigue from Casting - Causes Fatigue at the standard rate: Cost/10= difficulty. However, the fatigue is exhilarating, a rush of 'good vibes' which the adept will be eager to experience again.

Distance - Base Increment=Feet; Range Increment=150 Feet. Range is Variable.
Area - Base Increment=Cubic Feet; Area Increment=50 Feet. Area is Variable.
Duration - Removed. Base Interval=Minutes; Duration Interval=30 minutes. Duration is variable.

Temper Aspects: Alter Potency/Intricacy; Chain; Contagious; Delay; Extend; Maintain; Mechanism; Removed; Target; Widen

Participation: NO! The adepts of the Stone cannot combine their powers; attempting to do so will cause the fragments to join.

Incidentals: All Destruction effects carry the signature of the Black Stone, a strange smell which can be smelled only by Adepts of other Origins, and which can be traced and tracked for up to 4 days after the casting of a spell; all Conjurations produce black objects/entities/events. Some effects will cause temporary personality traits from the list of those under Omnessence Availability.

©1995 Andrew Watt (; comments/suggestions welcome
Converted to HTML 26 June 1995 by Sixten Otto (