Wednesday 25 October 2017

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. 

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