TONIGHT WE FLY

There was a night bomber regiment in World War Two composed entirely of women. Natural-born Soviet airwomen.These 200 women and girls, flying outdated biplanes from open fields near the front lines, attacked the invading German forces every night for 1,100 consecutive nights. When they ran out of bombs they dropped railroad ties.

To each other they were sisters, with bonds forged in blood and terror. To the Red Army Air Force they were an infuriating feminist sideshow. To the Germans they were simply Nachthexen—Night Witches.

Night Witches is a tabletop role-playing game about women at war. As a member of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, you’ll answer the call of your Motherland in her darkest hour. Can you do your duty and strike blow after blow against the Fascists? Can you overcome discrimination and outright sabotage and rise above your sexist comrades? Are there limits to patriotism—or endurance? Play Night Witches and find out!

Night Witches requires 3-5 players, who will take turns in the role of game master during the game. It can be played for a single two-hour session or expanded into a literal campaign following the Regiment across the entire Second World War. Either way, you’ll tell an epic tale of heroism and sacrifice that honors the women who did it for real.

The game is based on Vincent Baker’s brilliant Apocalypse World and is heavily modified from that core to meet the demands of Night Witches. We also took inspiration from the many offshoots already on tables everywhere—Dungeon World, Monsterhearts, Sagas of the Icelanders, and others.

In play you will alternate between day and night, with unique moves for each. Days are about renewal and interpersonal conflict, and nights are about hair-raising bombing missions on historically accurate targets across the Soviet Union, Poland, and, in the end, Germany. Missions are crazy dangerous and you have to make hard choices constantly. And when they end, a whole new kind of danger is waiting back at the airbase—paranoid secret police, sexist Red Army officials who want you to fail, and chronic supply shortages are just the beginning of your troubles.

Night Witches

by Jason Morningstar

Code: BPG014

6×9 perfect-bound paperback

184 full-color pages

ISBN: 978-0-9883909-2-8

Release Date: April 2015 by Jason MorningstarCode: BPG0146×9 perfect-bound paperback184 full-color pagesISBN: 978-0-9883909-2-8Release Date: April 2015

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Praise

“Night Witches is a remarkably powerful game. It unites contemporary gender issues with world war two drama and never hesitates to deliver terrible beauty. Perhaps most importantly, it’s an RPG that creates stories about heroes who are women, and that’s something in this genre that we desperately need.” —Kira Magrann

“With Night Witches Bully Pulpit ushers in the next generation of games powered by the Apocalypse. It’s both a real treat to see the finely-detailed brush that Jason paints the world of Soviet Airwomen with and to play a game so tightly focused on making their stories come alive at the table.” —Adam Koebel

“The stories that come out of Night Witches feel so very real, and full of ferocity and heartbreak. Having the chance to play it and get even a glimpse into the lives of these airwomen has been one of my most intense and rewarding roleplaying experiences.” —Sara Williamson

“Bully Pulpit Games does it again with a powerful roleplaying game about war—not simply about glory in battle, but about the human costs. Night Witches is an explosive cocktail of personal pain, a culture of political paranoia, and feminist struggle.” —Ryan Macklin

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Actual Play