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?