Wraith 5?

[tasti man LH]

With the way of how V5 was done, I'm not hopeful on how Wraith "5" will come about. Wraith barely even has a fanbase, so even with alot people going to disagree with any potential changes, I doubt any care would be considered. I'm just waiting to see how they're going to do Werewolf "5".

That seems to be the way how things are going. Between the VR game coming out and with absolutely nothing on a Mage5 (I don't count that text adventure from a few years back) or a Changeling5, and (for me at least) an off the record talk with a freelancer who said that PDX wants to do Wraith next after Werewolf, seems like it.

My concern is more "...do they have a plan to address Shadowguiding?" I assume they have one, and to not just throw it out, since the VR game is confirmed to have the Shadow be present.

Otherwise...yeah. Weird decision that it's Wraith being pushed up. It's one of my favorite WoD gamelines but...I dunno about this.

[Shakanaka]

My concern is more "...do they have a plan to address Shadowguiding?"

The best way (in my opinion of course) to handle Shadowguiding is to simply have the player roleplay their own Shadow along with their own Wraith. I know the core with how the Shadow is supposed to be done is unpredictability, but I find that since the Shadow is so integral to the player's Wraith and is often so personal, only the player would know how to roleplay them best. It also helps with pacing and allows the players more agency; even if that agency is self-sabotage via the Shadow for the interest sake of cool drama.

It also makes sense for the players to have full control of their Shadow anyway, since base non-homebrew rules stipulate that the player remains control of their Wraith when the other player Shadowguiding succeeds a Catharsis roll.

[tasti man LH]

The best way (in my opinion of course) to handle Shadowguiding is to simply have the player roleplay their own Shadow along with their own Wraith. I know the core with how the Shadow is supposed to be done is unpredictability, but I find that since the Shadow is so integral to the player's Wraith and is often so personal, only the player would know how to roleplay them best. It also helps with pacing and allows the players more agency; even if that agency is self-sabotage via the Shadow for the interest sake of cool drama.

It also makes sense for the players to have full control of their Shadow anyway, since base non-homebrew rules stipulate that the player remains control of their Wraith when the other player Shadowguiding succeeds a Catharsis roll.

I disagree, for the sole reason that that doesn’t really solve the logistical issues of Shadowguiding.

The above approach still has each player controlling two characters at once, with the only difference being a switch in who’s the Shadowguide, which is going to be a headache for players to juggle.

Me personally, in terms of what I feel is the more likely course, is to just abstract the Shadow out to the point of being discrete dice rolls and nothing else, with any RP being optional at best.

I admit I don’t really like that option, but honestly there isn’t really a good solution to fixing Shadowguiding without throwing it out.

[Trippy]

With the way of how V5 was done, I'm not hopeful on how Wraith "5" will come about. Wraith barely even has a fanbase, so even with alot people going to disagree with any potential changes, I doubt any care would be considered. I'm just waiting to see how they're going to do Werewolf "5".

Not having a self-identified fanbase is usually a strength when it comes to new editions. It means the people who will pick it up are more likely to have an open mind.

[Trippy]

The best way (in my opinion of course) to handle Shadowguiding is to simply have the player roleplay their own Shadow along with their own Wraith. I know the core with how the Shadow is supposed to be done is unpredictability, but I find that since the Shadow is so integral to the player's Wraith and is often so personal, only the player would know how to roleplay them best. It also helps with pacing and allows the players more agency; even if that agency is self-sabotage via the Shadow for the interest sake of cool drama.

It also makes sense for the players to have full control of their Shadow anyway, since base non-homebrew rules stipulate that the player remains control of their Wraith when the other player Shadowguiding succeeds a Catharsis roll.

That takes away from the dynamic of the game. The player does have a say in the design of their own Shadow, but having another player of ST play the Shadow brings an antagonism to the game that would be difficult to do if a player plays their own Shadow. Shadowplay is how players end up experiencing personal horror in the game, with the feeling that they are in conflict with their dark psyche which they cannot control.

[Banu_Saulot]

Since I'm not a designer working officially at Wraith (who knows if one day maybe), I'm thinking more of a homebrewy way for the moment. And at my mind I see a Wraith setting that since the mess at the Underworld, has the wraiths more closely playing with the Shadowlands, and less on the Tempest and Kingdoms. Maybe the Labyrinth has more ways into it, for the hell of wraiths, like it has grown bigger and more rooted.
There should be more factions gameplay, especially with the Hierarchy shooked up, like a vanilla Anarch wraiths experience. The wraiths should feel more than ever like the Shadow is the bastard that keeps them "alive" (in a world falling apart) at the same time that is plotting against it. I think a hunger dice thing isn't necessary, but a Dark Compulsion would be interesting, and there can always be extra shadow dice being offered (especially after the wraith has rolled).

I'm really not sure about how Morality/Integrity or even Harrowings could work, but I bet anything post-V5/W20 would be fun. Arcanoi could have alt. powers per level I think, it always gives that mysterious vibe to have something like that.

You could say that since the Maelstrom there would not only be more 'things' from deep within the Underworld appearing more and more on the surface, like an ecology that was disturbed by the actions of men. With that, there should be more necromancers, hunters and the alike, beside the specters and plasmic monstrosities, giving the Wraith chronicles even more options.

[Ramnesis]

Since I'm not a designer working officially at Wraith (who knows if one day maybe), I'm thinking more of a homebrewy way for the moment. And at my mind I see a Wraith setting that since the mess at the Underworld, has the wraiths more closely playing with the Shadowlands, and less on the Tempest and Kingdoms. Maybe the Labyrinth has more ways into it, for the hell of wraiths, like it has grown bigger and more rooted.
There should be more factions gameplay, especially with the Hierarchy shooked up, like a vanilla Anarch wraiths experience. The wraiths should feel more than ever like the Shadow is the bastard that keeps them "alive" (in a world falling apart) at the same time that is plotting against it. I think a hunger dice thing isn't necessary, but a Dark Compulsion would be interesting, and there can always be extra shadow dice being offered (especially after the wraith has rolled).

I'm really not sure about how Morality/Integrity or even Harrowings could work, but I bet anything post-V5/W20 would be fun. Arcanoi could have alt. powers per level I think, it always gives that mysterious vibe to have something like that.

You could say that since the Maelstrom there would not only be more 'things' from deep within the Underworld appearing more and more on the surface, like an ecology that was disturbed by the actions of men. With that, there should be more necromancers, hunters and the alike, beside the specters and plasmic monstrosities, giving the Wraith chronicles even more options.

I think that the Shadow as the bastard that keeps you going is a good dynamic that keeps the shadow interesting. I don't know that Wraith needs an integrity system beyond Passions, though.

Regarding the more Shadowlands focus gameplay:

As a homebrew this works great. There was actually a fan project in the early 00s that mapped out Wraith set during the 6th Great Maelstrom. It was centered around isolated Necropoli completely cut off from Stygia weathering the stormwinds and spectres. It was quite good and would work well as a variant setting for Wraith.

Orpheus too pictured a Wraith with a massive metaphysical shakeup and no Stygia and it was also good. It could get away with that because it was a different gameline with a different focus. (On a technical level, Orpheus was probably skinlands focused and the shadowlands weren't even accessible for much of it, but that's not really important here).

I'd hope that the Tempest and the Labyrinth are not cut out or restricted in any 'official' capacity, though. Though there are things that could temporarily make them inaccessible they shouldn't be gone forever. Styiga, the Tempest, and all those other locations say a lot about Wraithly existence and they shouldn't be removed unless they are replaced with something that says even more.

Shaking things up, though, is a good plan. As you say, it gives even more options.