Night Witches: An Ideal One-Shot RPG

As a World War II history buff, I was excited to stumble upon the role-playing game Night Witches at a convention in 2019. This game focuses on the story of an all-female Russian bomber squadron, the Nazi's called 'Die Nachthexen'. 

I got a chance to give the game a try and immediately thought it was the perfect one-shot. The rules are straightforward, but the game feels more structured than most. For example, the gameplay is broken up into phases, and you can typically only do one or two things during each phase. Night Witches uses the Apocalypse World game system.

This game gets pretty immersive, and I strongly recommend emphasizing the role-playing aspects. It forces you to accomplish the impossible with limited resources. I played the squad leader and had to make some tough choices, like which squad members didn't make it back. When the replacement pilots showed up, I found myself thinking more about those I lost. Near the end of the session, I decided to go down myself instead of sacrificing another member of my team. 

While this could be a great campaign, Night Witches, contains all of the critical elements of a perfect One-Shot setting. I could easily see using this story and setting for one of my own One-Shot adventures, but I'd rather support another publisher to encourage them to produce more great content.

Night Witches is available from Bully Pulpit Games on DriveThruRPG. 

P.S. I am not affiliated with Night Witches or Bully Pulpit Games. I'm just a fan.