This may be one of the more frustrating RPG systems Ive ever run

this may be one of the more frustrating RPG systems Ive ever run.

I bought heavily into MCG shit. Mostly because the books were high production value(and at the time, 5e books were approaching their sixth month post release and everyone was realizing they were falling apart) and the art could be pretty nice. The ideas behind them werent terrible. I like the Ninth World. A lot. Not so much the shit in the corebook, but the extra setting books(not the ninth world guidebook, the ones on outer space and the ocean, havent read the dimensional shifting one yet) are fan-fucking tastic, and actually pay off the promise of good ideas for this setting.

But the system is just...such a fucking pain in the ass to wrap my head around. I haven't seen a d20 system pointlessly complicate itself while trying to be a rules-lite system. We got these shitty-ass armor rules, which actively harm you while you wear it. We got the single resolution mechanic, which sounds good on paper, but ultimately isn't very interesting or well thought out. Nobody uses XP to re-roll, and it's objectively smarter to only spend XP on shit that makes your character stronger and more capable. The system is really only designed for resolving combat and using magic, and anything else the system actually doesn't touch. I mean, the game just says "that NPC is difficulty 5" which means they're just as hard to persuade than they are to stab. what the fuck?
Cyphers are really pointless too, and the whole system hinges on things being constantly interesting because you're getting random cyphers 24/7. Why not just give me some awesome loot and have a really good adventure to keep things interesting? Turning your loot into a lootbox every time isn't a great RPG mechanic. People tell me this system can run "anything and any setting!" but that's a load of horse shit. Might as well make flipping a coin your only resolution mechanic.

Does Veeky Forums like the Cypher System? Do you see what I'm constantly missing?

I've never read the books myself, but every time Numenera/Cypher gets brought up in here people take a massive steaming dump on it, so it can't be that good.

Mostly it's based around the idea that:
>too complicated to be a rules-lite game
>too simple to be a regular RPG or satisfy crunchfags
>it's basically trying to be what DnD5e ended up being two years later(a simple, story focused RPG that's complicated enough that crunchfags won't completely hate it, but simple enough to easily mod without breaking)
>d20 isn't as good swing as a d10(I dont know what the fuck this means but it's been brought up 4 times, so)

>By Monte "The Dickeater" Cook
That should have been your first and last sign it was going to be shit, user. It's the "Ubisoft" and "Online Only" of TTRPGs

I've read some of the core book. Parts seem interesting but the difficulty/target number thing seems needlessly complicated. Multiples of three? Why?! Two or five maybe, but THREE seems really strange to me. Why even have a seperate difficult/TN anyway, why not just have like say in Mouse Guard- an Obstacle 2 challenge needs 2 successes, not 2 times n.

Character creation gave me the shits. It kind of treats FATE-like Aspects as 3.5-style Feats, does away with freemform freedom, by making you pick from a list of boring/badly balanced options.

Its read like a 3.5 D&D Grognard read a review for FATE that praised Aspects, then reverse engineered them having never seen it in play or understood why they work and bolted it onto their shitty homebrew system.

Why...?

The video game didnt use the system, op. Thats how good it is.

Not him, but look for his new game Invisible Sun.

The man is a walking, congealed mass of shit game design.
He's one of the main reasons 3.5 was shit.
He released 3 D20 knockoffs following 3rd edition that were shit.
He released a D20 version of World of Darkness that was shit.
He released Invisible Sun, which was shit.
He made the Cypher system and Numenera, which was shit.
He flew to Japan to attend a party where an insane man cut off his own dick, cooked it and fed it to the crowd. While this doesn't effect game design all that much, it's weird af and should be mentioned.

What's wrong with Invisie sun, aside from the retarded asking price?

It's a game made by someone who has no idea how to design a game, who read the summery of Mieville's books on Wikipedia and checked Unknown Armies / CoC general and thought "I can totally do that and charge an absurd price for it."
Sorta interesting idea, terrible execution.

Would you mind being specific? Im not up to date on lovecraftian stuff minus bloodborne and that one conan story.

Im seeing it and its not actually a released product yet.

From what Im seeing it looks like he repackaged the cypher system and added a bunch of dumb shit onto it.

I think he's a great game designer who's too arrogant to accept feedback. Each of those had a pretty cool idea underlying them, especially Numenera/Cypher system, but each of them had some obviously, glaring, stupid ideas that fucked them over in the end even though there was plenty of warning for all of it.

I think he's another creative-types who needs an editor to hold his leash: some of his ideas are solid gold but left to his own he'll cover them in total bullshit because he won't tell himself "no" or let anyone else do it for him, a thing I call "Russo syndrome."

At least The Planewalker's Handbook was good. That's like 20 years ago, though.

>penis eater rpg
Well you got exactly what you paid for lol

What?

>this fucking shit again
Monte Cook did not cannibalize that Japanese guy's dick. There were contemporary news articles that listed the genders and ages of all the individuals that did, and none of them are a match for Monte Cook.

I don't think anyone really believes he did. It's just a joke at his expense.

While Veeky Forums loves to post shit like Cypher is my favorite system to run. It's got it's weak spots (ability stacking), but for a GM, it hits that good blend of simple but structured that makes a system easy to run. In specific address to your complaints:

>We got these shitty-ass armor rules, which actively harm you while you wear it.
Not the shitty part of the armor rules from my point of view. Armor takes energy to wear. The shitty part is that if someone really stacks armor, they can just ignore damage from physical sources. That's not the end-all, but it can mean you have to be more creative, and you don't always want to have to do that.

>We got the single resolution mechanic, which sounds good on paper, but ultimately isn't very interesting or well thought out.
Not sure what you mean. This is the thing that makes running easy. Since everything is tied to the same mechanic, you don't have to pour over rules to make things work as intended.

>Nobody uses XP to re-roll
Yeah, no. The most common house rule is to separate the XP you get from rolling ones and GM intrusions and call it fate points. That way you don't have to decide to screw yourself. XP for making discoveries and progressing the story advances your character.

> I mean, the game just says "that NPC is difficulty 5" which means they're just as hard to persuade than they are to stab
Unless you don't want them to be. Plenty of things in the bestiary say: thing is lvl 3, but defends at level 5 because it's really fast.

>Cyphers
This complaint just seems like grognardism. They are consumables. You don't have to assign them randomly, they just have mechanics for doing so.

>People tell me this system can run "anything and any setting!"
It can. To be fair D&D can if you do some conversion work, but it's easy to drop any setting into this system.

>Might as well make flipping a coin your only resolution mechanic.
Maybe it's not for you, but this statement is pretty hyperbolic.

He can't be specific because he's just regurgitating.

I have been running tabletop rpgs for over a decade and it being easier to run is not a selling point to me at all.

>like a 3.5 D&D Grognard read a review for FATE that praised Aspects, then reverse engineered them having never seen it in play or understood why they work and bolted it onto their shitty homebrew system.
It literally is.

He did a few bits of good work in 2e but that was it, everything since then was horrible.

I BELIEVE!
You also can't spell believe without lie.

So basically just planescape

>I've never read the books myself, but every time Numenera/Cypher gets brought up in here people take a massive steaming dump on it, so it can't be that good.

I mean, I've read Numenera and I agree with OP, rules look like crap, setting has some cool stuff, but this is a TERRIBLE way to rate games.

People here shit on good stuff all the time. Just like /a/ or wherever else. Sometimes we shit on bad stuff too, but plenty of games have like 2 anons with a hateboner for them that make them seem way more hated than they are. Just maybe not this game.

Also
>"regular RPG" means D&D

Basically just a few bits of planescape.

Holy shit, what the fuck.

The cheapest pledge level was $197 but somehow the Kickstarter raised $664,274. Parts of it won't even be out until 2019.

It's meant to be some sort of an RPG/ARG/semi-LARP real-time all-encompassing semi-24/7...thing. Even the lowest reward tier came with a $200 box of props that make very little sense so far and part of the game is apparently figuring out how exactly the game is played is the start of the game, which is why there are 4 books that only make sense in the light of each other. So there's a distinct possibility that the plaster hand statue that's meant to hold the "sooth" card of the day actually has a part to play in solving some problem.

Honestly, I'm not against the ARG-in-a-box aspect but I am concerned that Invisible Sun is writing a check it can't cash in making so much obtuse: I give it two weeks until the ARG community has completely solved everything and then we find out if there's actually any there, there.

Best case, after all the ARG kickstarters hack the $200 puzzle system he drops a $30 book that's *just* the RPG part. Or at least a $10 PDF about what the hell all this was supposed to "mean" for game design. The nice thing about MCG shit-piles is there's usually at least one gold nugget in there somewhere.

Honestly it just sounds like Cook is trying to figure out how to cash in on the "legacy" craze that has been stirring in the boardgame industry to mixed results. He wants to make the first "legacy RPG" where you can't really replay it past a certain point (or if it gets spoiled for you) but it's undoubtedly going to sucker players in with promises of how great the "experience" is.

everything I've seen rules-wise is basically just the Cypher System with ARG shit sprinkled in.

It's like really annoying though they constantly act like it's mysterious.

Like imagine reading this in a DnD book:
>A "class" in DnD is a strange and mystical thing. Some call it a job. An occupation. A calling. For our players(referred to as yobnoths) it is your true and core self, a path which you walk that defines how you grow.
>"levels" are not simply a number that determines character strength. They are a shining beacon to the world of Dungeons and Dragons, a truest form of expression that allows you to come to grips with the swirling energies of experience around you.

And so on

Jesus christ you're right

>Do you dream of escape, but don’t know from what, or to where? Looking for a chance to escape the insanity of the world, and immerse yourself into something rich, DEEP, and fantastical? Something that challenges the limits of your creativity as well as your intellect?

>If so, then join us. Escape the Shadow of the real world and find the Invisible Sun. Enter a new Actuality of surreal fantasy where mystical characters wield fabulous powers and struggle to discover the secrets of true existence

>Invisible Sun is the new roleplaying game by Monte Cook. Its focus is in DEEP immersion storytelling. Its mechanics and gameplay are tailored around overcoming the barriers to that immersion. Magic is not mechanical, but truly magical. Character creation and development is based around story arcs. And we’ve gone further than that. Because we know the challenges gamers face in the modern world, with conflicting schedules and sometimes distant players, Invisible Sun does something different. It embraces traditional tabletop play, but enhances it with away-from-the-table activities, rules to deal with absent players, solo play, online play, and more. All the barriers are down. All doors are open.

>Invisible Sun is adult. It’s imaginative. It’s intricate. It’s a challenging game, not because it’s difficult to play (it isn’t) but because it’s DEEP. It’s not for everyone, but for those of you who want something DEEP, lush, and intelligent, it’s what you’ve always been waiting for.

>It’s a sophisticated approach to roleplaying for people with busy lives but who still thrill at the idea of really immersing themselves into another world whenever they get a free moment. It’s not for everyone, but for those of you who do want something DEEP, lush, and intelligent, it’s what you’ve always been waiting for.

>Invisible Sun is DEEP. It’s smart. Just like you.

>Invisible Sun will change the way you play roleplaying games

It's just too deep for you guys