Adapted from Appendix C of The Courtyard of Hell. Written by Allan Goodall, © 2013.
The following pre-generated characters are ready to use in the streets of Ortona. The characters allow the players and the GM to get into the adventure immediately without having to build characters first.
If the players have characters they have built themselves, feel free to use those characters instead. These characters can be kept aside in reserve in case a character is killed or injured during the campaign.
- Archive of all seven character sheets
- 1st Lt. Mitchell Sterlin (“The Protector”)
- 2nd Lt. Farley Mowat (“The Projector”)
- S/Sgt. Robert Baker (“Brilliant Bob”)
- Sgt. Paul Langlois (“L’Électricien”)
- Sgt. Gordon Sinclair (“The Slotback”)
- Cpl. George Wright (“Animikii”)
- L/Cpl. Johnny Fay (“The Maple Leaf Kid”)
The characters are split into two groups; those who were sent to Scotland for extra Talent training (Baker, Fay, Sinclair), and those who manifested later and were thrown into combat without any special training (Langlois, Mowat, Sterlin, Wright). If using the pre-generated characters it is recommended that about half the party be made up of characters who were trained in Scotland and half consist of newly manifested characters. If using the pregens as replacements in mid campaign, those who received Talent training can be assumed to have been transferred from the Talent section fighting on the plain west of Ortona. Pregens who manifested recently are assumed to have manifested in the streets of Ortona rather than earlier in the Italian campaign.
Important: Players should feel free to adjust the points placed in their character’s skills. The skill are built around the author’s vision of the character. Players should alter the character to fit their own vision. If you think too many points were spent on Endurance or Health and not enough on Knife Fighting or Dodging, adjust the points so that they are more to your liking.
Two of the pre-generated characters are based on real people. Lt. Mitch Sterlin was not super-powered, of course, but he was a hero all the same. He led his platoon at the house that to this day bears his name—Sterlin’s Castle—where they held out against the Germans for hours after they missed the call to pull back. When Sterlin escaped with his men, some 30 panzer grenadiers lay dead outside the structure. Sadly, Sterlin died a week later when he and his men were cut down at The Gully during the attack on the “Cider” crossroads.
Farley Mowat was a lieutenant with the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment at the time of the battle. He took part in the Moro River campaign, resulting in him being hospitalized for stress after a Christmas Day incident outside Ortona where a friend was shot in the head. He was instrumental in starting unofficial negotiations with the Germans in the Netherlands during the closing days of the war that allowed food drops to the starving Dutch civilians. After the war Mowat became a famous writer and conservationist. His book, Never Cry Wolf, changed people’s attitudes about wolves, though the scientific accuracy of the book has been called into question. Mowat wrote over three dozen books, two of which are about his days in the army, The Regiment, and My Father’s Son. As of April, 2013, Mowat lives with his wife in Port Hope, Ontario.
