Information about our scenario

Setting: Battle of the Somme

Witness: William "Willy" Fraser

Trait: Anxious, Superstitious, and Engages in Anxiety-Induced Compulsions. As trait I would choose a set of small compulsions, this can be everything, from biting his nails until his fingers are all bloody to uttering the same phrase again or again or have some sort of small ritual for every step of his life in the trenches. A mix of anxiety-reducing little things and superstition developed after years in the front by a mind poisoned by constant stress and fear. These compulsions can be mostly unsconscious but most certainly annoying for those around him, and could turn into a serious obsessive compulsive dissorder if his sanity erodes.

Source of Strength: Memories of Home. I imagine our guy as coming from some farm in the countryside rather than the industrial neighbourhoods of bigger cities, this life wasn't easy, not by a long shot, but life at the trenches have make the worst parts of it not so bad when compared to artillery and barbwire, the idea of coming back, of being able to have what he once had can be a powerful source of motivation and willpower for our character.



LOCATIONS:

- Main trench. A trench with roughly 10 men in this section. Muddy, wet, dirty, awful and dreadful. Our PC has been here for some time.

- The Y Sap Mine

Wiki:

One of the many instances of tunnel warfare. A failed attempt at sapping a german machinegunners nest, the mine left a large crater near the Y Sap trenches. (read more here and here)

- Destroyed forest. A large copse of trees that has been decimated by enemy artillery. Though the canopy and upper branches have largely been destroyed, a good number of bare, skeletal trunks still stand. Many trunks and branches lay fallen throughout the area as well, providing plenty of soft cover if you're maintaining a low profile or while the sun is down.

- Front Line Support Bunker.
A covered bunker behind the front lines, containing the necessary supplies for front line troops. Ammunition, food, weapons, and first aid equipment. Like most bunkers, this one contains a wired telephone for communication with command.

- Trench 334 So designated in the oficial maps, Trench 334 is an old german trench that became abandoned a year before the Somme, due to changes in the frontlines and the massive use of artillery and gas. Through the orderly lines of german engineering can still be seen in its outline, gas has formed pockets in it's now abandoned but still deep passages. Some areas of it still appear intact, hell, it even has a piano in the officer's quarters but others are rotten and chock-full of putrid and bloated corpses. An usual locations from where to launch patrols or small assaults into no man's land, the trench has a reputation for being a haunted place where people disappear, surrounded by strange and terryfing campfire stories, the kind the soldiers are so prone to invent.

- The Meadow. An untouched portion of No Man's Land. The Meadow has become something of a legend among the men of the trenches as it has been the meeting place of opposing officers for at least two truce talks. While both truces proved to be extremely short-lived, artillery men on both sides have still either refused or "missed" this section of land.


NPCs

- Peter Zann. A 25-year old man. Quiet, keeps to himself. Smokes as many cigarettes as he can, stares blankly into the distance. Seems shell-shocked, yet shows an odd calm and even smiles or chuckles at inopportune times, like right before a charge or when they're being shelled. Needless to say, he's off-putting to the rest of the soldiers in the trench.

- Reginald Knox. 28-year old member of the Royal Engineers, 13th Division. Involved in the planning of sapping operations from the first day of the Somme. A quiet and contemplative individual, the man was originally a civil engineer before signing up to aid the war efforts. After the failure of day zero sapper operations in the Somme, he has become even more withdrawn, barely speaking a word to soldiers outside of the Royal Engineers division that has remained at Somme.

- Rifleman Kearn O'Rourke. 22 years old. A member of the Royal Irish Rifles regiment, part of the 36th Ulster Division. A cheerful lad, with a strong, if rarely seen, conviction in Ireland's place in the British Union. Injured during the initially successful, but costly, charge on the first day of the Somme, Kearn O'Rourke recovered quickly, and soon returned to the front lines. However, since his return, thick scarring covers his left thigh, and Kearn's humour has changed to suit the ugly wound.

- Billy Abbot. A 16 year-old who most definitely lied about his age to enlist in the army, and who day after day show what can only be either massive courage or recklessness when he darts among the trench gaps to carry the food to the unit, a task often more exposed than sentry duty. His youth has made the rest of the unit act sort of protective around him, save for those bitter enough to resent the small mercies subofficials and other soldiers grant the young lad.

- Dipprasad Pun. 25 years old, Pun is well known up and down the line for single handed holding his section of trench against a German counter attack until reinforcements could arrive. When they did arrive, they found Pun holding his Khukuri and entrenching tool as he had run out of ammunition and grenades early into the attack. Up and down his section of trench were the bodies of 30 of the Kaiser's soldiers.


CLUES

- Clue from Scene 1 (Ian) - Rumor has it that of a team of 10 engineers who dug the Y sap mine, only 1 made it back and he was deemed insane. Willy learned this from Kearn, who was slightly tipsy and had heard it on the rumor mill.

SPECIAL CARDS IN PLAY


EDITED to include your details so that its all in one place.

Location: The Y Sap Mine

Wiki:

One of the many instances of tunnel warfare. A failed attempt at sapping a german machinegunners nest, the mine left a large crater near the Y Sap trenches.

NPC: Reginald Knox. 28-year old member of the Royal Engineers, 13th Division. Involved in the planning of sapping operations from the first day of the Somme. A quiet and contemplative individual, the man was originally a civil engineer before signing up to aid the war efforts. After the failure of day zero sapper operations in the Somme, he has become even more withdrawn, barely speaking a word to soldiers outside of the Royal Engineers division that has remained at Somme.

Location: Front Line Support Bunker.
A covered bunker behind the front lines, containing the necessary supplies for front line troops. Ammunition, food, weapons, and first aid equipment. Like most bunkers, this one contains a wired telephone for communication with command.

NPC:
Rifleman Kearn O'Rourke. 22 years old. A member of the Royal Irish Rifles regiment, part of the 36th Ulster Division. A cheerful lad, with a strong, if rarely seen, conviction in Ireland's place in the British Union. Injured during the initially successful, but costly, charge on the first day of the Somme, Kearn O'Rourke recovered quickly, and soon returned to the front lines. However, since his return, thick scarring covers his left thigh, and Kearn's humour has changed to suit the ugly wound.

Location: Trench 334 So designated in the oficial maps, Trench 334 is an old german trench that became abandoned a year before the Somme, due to changes in the frontlines and the massive use of artillery and gas. Through the orderly lines of german engineering can still be seen in its outline, gas has formed pockets in it's now abandoned but still deep passages. Some areas of it still appear intact, hell, it even has a piano in the officer's quarters but others are rotten and chock-full of putrid and bloated corpses. An usual locations from where to launch patrols or small assaults into no man's land, the trench has a reputation for being a haunted place where people disappear, surrounded by strange and terryfing campfire stories, the kind the soldiers are so prone to invent.

NPC: Billy Abbot, a 16 year-old who most definitely lied about his age to enlist in the army, and who day after day show what can only be either massive courage or recklessness when he darts among the trench gaps to carry the food to the unit, a task often more exposed than sentry duty. His youth has made the rest of the unit act sort of protective around him, save for those bitter enough to resent the small mercies subofficials and other soldiers grant the young lad.

Regarding or main character, I think this will be interesting:

As trait I would choose a set of small compulsions, this can be everything, from biting his nails until his fingers are all bloody to uttering the same phrase again or again or have some sort of small ritual for every step of his life in the trenches. A mix of anxiety-reducing little things and superstition developed after years in the front by a mind poisoned by constant stress and fear. These compulsions can be mostly unsconscious but most certainly annoying for those around him, and could turn into a serious obsessive compulsive dissorder if his sanity erodes.

For his source of strenght I will go with the memories of home, I imagine our guy as coming from some farm in the countryside rather than the industrial neighbourhoods of bigger cities, this life wasn't easy, not by a long shot, but life at the trenches have make the worst parts of it not so bad when compared to artillery and barbwire, the idea of coming back, of being able to have what he once had can be a powerful source of motivation and willpower for our character.

Location: The Meadow.
An untouched portion of No Man's Land. The Meadow has become something of a legend among the men of the trenches as it has been the meeting place of opposing officers for at least two truce talks. While both truces proved to be extremely short-lived, artillery men on both sides have still either refused or "missed" this section of land.

NPC:
Dipprasad Pun. 25 years old, Pun is well known up and down the line for single handed holding his section of trench against a German counter attack until reinforcements could arrive. When they did arrive, they found Pun holding his Khukuri and entrenching tool as he had run out of ammunition and grenades early into the attack. Up and down his section of trench were the bodies of 30 of the Kaiser's soldiers.

- Clue from Scene 1 (Ian) - Rumor has it that of a team of 10 engineers who dug the Y sap mine, only 1 made it back and he was deemed insane. Willy learned this from Kearn, who was slightly tipsy and had heard it on the rumor mill.