Night Witches: Character Concepts the Return

So a while back I wrote some character concepts for Night Witches.  You can find those here.  Essentially they're characters I came up with after an initial glance at the prompts in the Night Witches playbooks.  I've been wanting to write a continuation to that post for quite some time now.  Only now am I finally getting around to it.  So without further ado here they are.  (Now with pictures courtesy of Marc Benson over at the Night Witches Google+ Community).

Sergeant Hanna Ruttmann 

Something like what Hannah looks like.  Perhaps a
little older and more haggard looking after her time
in the gulag.

Sex: Female
Uniform: Threadbare
Body: Cringing
Eyes: Cold
Home Town: Verkhoyansk (Siberia)
Who you write to back home: No one

Hanna is a Sparrow Zealot, a combination of someone devoted to the Soviet state, while trying to run away from their past.  In Hanna's case she is not devoted to the Soviet Army out of any kind of loyalty.  Rather she is loyal because she knows better than anyone what the state can do to those they suspect of treason.  Verkhoyansk was the camp where she and her family were held after the German invasion of the Rodina.  As Volga Germans they were taken from their village outside of Saratov and their possessions confiscated.  Hanna was eventually released from the gulag at Verkhoyansk, due to a need for trained pilots (she had received training in an agricultural club) and for her cooperation with the NKVD, while in the camp.  It has turned into a deal with the devil as the Politruks now expect her further cooperation on threat of being sent back.  A fate she is determined to avoid, she'd prefer going to hell for suicide over returning to Verkhoyansk.  I see Hanna more as a replacement character rather than being an initial member of the regiment.

Sergeant Maryam Bakradze

Maryam, the photo might be a candid shot of her in the
middle of a joke.

Sex: Female
Uniform: Tattered
Body: Wiry
Hands: Calloused
Home Town: Krasnodar
Who you write to back home: Your sister Sonya

Maryam is a pigeon a bird that is vaguely ridiculous and most comfortable in a crowd.  Essentially she's a the class clown.  Always cracking jokes at both her own expense, the expense of others and the expense of the brass.  She's also kind of wild and tends to do things that are sort of ill-advised.  Sort of like how a pigeon will fly into a window, she'll fly a little dangerously.  As such I can see her alternating between the two roles of Adventurer and Misanthrope.  Also unlike a lot of characters there's an opportunity to meet her family.  Since her hometown of Krasnodar is near one of the Regiment's duty stations.  There's an opportunity to really show the hardship of war by having something happen to her family during the fighting around Krasnodar.  This character is somewhat inspired by Sergeant William "Gonorrhea" Guarnere from Band of Brothers.

What Vera probably wants to look like by the end
of the war against the Hitlerite bandits.

Junior Lieutenant Vera "just Vera, thanks" Gromova
Sex: Female
Uniform: Full dress
Body: Aristocratic
Face: Handsome
Home Town: Suzdal
Who you write to back home: Mother and father

Vera is a Raven, a carrion bird that feeds off of corpses.  Which reflects her leadership style to a tee.  She is not afraid to throw a superior officer or a comrade under the bus if it advances her career.  If sacrificing the lives of her airwomen means a successful mission.  You can bet that she'll sacrifice them without a second thought.  If other officers are fathers to their men, then she is a deadbeat.  I imagine her bouncing back and forth between Zealot and Leader.  Zealot if she is not in control and Leader since she advances if one of her section dies under her command.  Reflecting her leadership style.  She is largely inspired by David Schwimmer's portrayal of Herbert Sobel in Band of Brothers.

So there you have it three more natural-born Soviet Airwomen.  Feel free to just read for entertainment purposes or use them in your own game if you feel a little uncreative when creating characters.  Be sure to +1, comment, reshare, and follow.  As always have a nice day and may the dice be ever in your favour. 

Night Witches: Character Concepts

I love the Powered by the Apocalypse Game Night Witches by Bull Pulpit Games.  Unfortunately I don't get a lot of opportunity to play it.  Due to a lack of players and interest from the players that I do have.  I also don't get a lot of opportunities to actually play as a player.  So I thought I'd write up some character concepts that pop into my head after cursory glances over the Playbooks.  All of these characters use prompts from their respective Playbooks.  The only thing that is new about them is how I've interpreted those choices to make characters that I find interesting.

Junior Lieutenant Yulia Salenkova
Sex: Female
Uniform: Ill-fitting
Body: Broken
Eyes: Expressive
Home Town: Bryansk
Who you write to back home: Your dead Child
Yulia is a Sparrow a bird prone to flying away from its problems.  She comes from Bryansk a town that was overrun by the Hitlerite Bandits early on in the war.  During the initial invasion she lost her young daughter and was separated from her husband (who perhaps can show up a soldier or a partisan later on in the game).  Yulia is a Dreamer, she lives in her own world.  A world where her daughter is safe and well staying with relatives far from the front.  Mentally she is broken and defeated, deep down she joined the 588th as a way to commit suicide by War.  I imagine her using the move Reach Out a lot to write letters to dead daughter.  Accumulating a bundle of unsent letters that her comrades might discover in her foot-locker in the event of her death.  As a game progresses she might evolve to become a Protector and constantly volunteer to act as Vedomaya for other aircraft.  A huge inspiration for this character is that of Calamity Jane as portrayed by Larry McMurtry in his book Buffalo Girls.

Sergeant Polina "Polya" Makarova
Sex: Female
Uniform: Sloppy
Body: Tough
Eyes: Laughing
Home Town: Zhelenogorsk
Who you write to back home: your baby sister Valya
Polya is from Zhelenogorsk, compared to Saratov or some of the other places in Western Russia it's in the middle of no-where.  Her father wanted two sons, but ended up with Polya and her baby sister Valya.  She received her training as a pilot from the local youth agricultural club.  Polya is a Hawk and something of tom-boy.  I see her starting out as an Adventurer and slowly becoming a Misanthrope.  Only avoiding disciplinary action on account of her skill at the stick and a chestful of medals.  The one thing I decided when I came up with her concept was that she wouldn't be a rank climber.  Meaning she wouldn't sleep with higher ups to advance her career.  For all of her wild behaviour Polya is an incredibly chaste girl.  In fact having grown up in the country she knows to be suspicious of boys that sweet talk.  Since usually all they want is a roll in the hay.

Junior Lieutenant Dariya "Dasha" Yegorova 
Sex: Female
Uniform: Regulation
Body: Graceful
Face: Honest
Home Town: Moscow
Who you write to back home: "The Editor"
Dasha is an Owl and a Zealot.  A bit of a cliche when it comes to Night Witches.  What makes her special is the reasoning for this combination.  She's an undercover correspondent for Pravda, the Soviet Propaganda newspaper.  I don't see Dasha as being a Zealot in the traditional sense of an unflinching fanatic.  I more see her as an enthusiastic student that truly believes in Marxism.  Perhaps not realizing that the reality of the Soviet State is not the same as what she reads and writes in her literature.  A huge inspiration for the character is Joseph Fiennes character in Enemy at the Gates.  I see Dasha as latching onto a Ace Pilot among the group (someone playing the Hawk Playbook would do nicely) and reporting on their exploits.  For an advancement the Raven move Permanent File would be a great way of simulating her articles in Pravda.  

So there you have it three Natural Born Soviet Airwomen.  Feel free to use these concepts in your own game if you like.  If you like this post be sure to comment and +1, who knows I might write a sequel.