For more information about GameStorm, visit www.gamestorm.org
They were the underdogs.
It was March of 1943 and the all-female Soviet fighter pilot regiment, the 588th night bombers, had to make use of worse planes and landing strips than their male counterparts. They were to take on anywhere from five to a dozen missions against the Germans in one night — all without radio or radar.
At least that was the story game master Carl Rigney provided to the four gamers sitting around his table Sunday afternoon to play Night Witches during GameStorm 17 in Vancouver.
“When your brother unit in the 218th aren’t mocking you, they’re stealing from you,” Rigney told the group.
Night Witches, which allows gamers to play the parts of those female fighter pilots in the Soviet army, was one of several cutting-edge games being tried out during the “Indie Hurricane” portion of the gaming convention. Created by Jason Morningstar, the game became available earlier this month after a successful online fundraising campaign.
The three men and one woman sitting around Rigney’s gaming table started by creating their characters. They described their characters’ fighting style, appearance and even whom they write home to. One character was 38, much older than the average age of the women in the regiment, which was about 20 years old. Another character had a somewhat strained relationship with her fraternal twin sister, who made it into a coed Soviet air regiment that garnered more headlines.
After their background stories were crafted, the four players stood up and took an oath to the Motherland.
In the game, the women of the 588th regiment try to fit in as many missions as they can before dawn breaks, and the cloak of night is their only real advantage against the Germans.
“If the fighter (planes) catch you in the daylight, you are so toast,” Rigney explained, because the Germans had superior aircraft.
The success of each mission would depend in part on the statistics on each player’s character sheet. Rigney warned the players that it was possible for their characters to perish in the fight.
Gamer Michael Rude of Portland seemed excited to be playing Night Witches for the first time, noting that he was a fan of the game’s creator. It was his fourth time at GameStorm, and he said he enjoys role-playing games because they provide an opportunity for great storytelling.
“I like these silly stories that we tell,” he said.
Some of the other games being tried out during “Indie Hurricane” included: Becoming, a game about the sacrifices a person makes to become a hero; Dread, a horror-style role-playing game; Sagas of the Icelanders, a role-playing game about the first Norwegian settlers in Iceland; and The Tribunal, in which players were soldiers in a totalitarian army who are interviewed about a crime.
Trying out newer games wasn’t all the 17-year-old convention had to offer.
GameStorm, which drew about 1,700 participants to the Hilton Vancouver Washington from Thursday through Sunday, allowed gamers to take on a variety of activities, including simple board games, puzzle quests, collectible card games, video games and even crafts for children.
Rigney, the Night Witches game master, said it was probably his sixth time at GameStorm. He makes the trip from the San Francisco area.
He said he came to the convention this year with the intention of running at least a couple of role-playing games, and after he read the Night Witches player manual, it quickly became one of his favorites. The game is somewhat grounded in history, it’s easy to teach, and it’s structured in a way that creates just the right amount of pressure and heat, he said.
“Everyone expects them to fail, but they’re going to succeed anyway,” Rigney said of the women in the 588th.
