I know opinions are going to differ on this, but my personal criteria:
- • Having more dice on a roll is always better (except for explicitly intended one-offs like werewolves frenzying if they roll too well on a Rage roll)
• Well defined action economy - if someone asks "can I change my action right now" or "who acts last if we both want to act last" or "can I split my action to Dominate the same guy twice" there's a single provably correct answer
• No linear chargen / quadratic XP shit
• Passive defenses that actually stop attacks a significant percentage of the time
• Rough balance between core character concepts - think Country Gangrel in a fight with any other physical or mind control character for an example of what not to do
• Consistent expectations for power level and size of die pools
• No mechanics that obviously break the lore or setting assumptions (i.e. vampires can function around light sources and other vampires)
• Clear delineation between stats and/or skills - you can usually know your dice pools for tasks without waiting for your GM to free-associate about what "Wits" means
• Magic system is not based on a collectible card game tie-in where you draw random rituals your character may or may not actually be able to perform, that also instantly goes out of print because no FLGS owner in their right mind would re-order it, seriously everyone seems to have forgotten about this but it was a thing
• Minimally intrusive morality mechanics