Trench Crusade: A No Man’s Land of Possibility

1. The Human Dominion
2. Columbian Reserve
3. Last Nations Confederacy
4. The Stygianity of Death Exiled
5. Cult of R’lyeh
6. Golden Veda of Indus
7. Outer Heralds
8. –

Trench Crusade is a grimdark tabletop game that blew fundraising Kickstarter records out of the water.

I – a game maker – of course was drawn to a ruleset that drew so many others. Spoiler: It uses 2D6 (two six-sided dice) to resolve conflict (just like my own WIP BITS!) yet also leans on dice pools (a mainstay of many wargames). There is plainly a lot to learn from here…

However, I have kept attention on also for the brutal lore of this alternate reality. Taking note from the original grimdarkness of the Warhammer universe and combining it with the most dreadful modern imagination of dire metal, this product is not a game nor tale for immature audiences.

That said, count my fancy piqued by the possibilities this novel universe presents. “Church space program”? “Sultanate of the Iron wall”? “Black Grail”? “Anti-tank hammer”? These spark the imagination for factions and feuds within the bleakness of the trench wargame. As I work on roleplaying rules and other projects, I share a few faction ideas for continents yet to be rolled up into the strife of Trench Crusade‘s 1914:

The Human Dominion

Endless waves of humanity pour forth from under a blood-red rising sun. At their helm stand lords encased in towering suits of eight-times-forged steel and iron, their every step a proclamation of mankind’s defiance. Their crusade is singular: cast down the callous cosmic forces that reduce human potential to a game of dice. The vision is clear that the Earth is theirs to inherit – not by divine right, but by the supremacy of human might. Under the Dominion’s banner, Man shall reign master of all – unchallenged, unbound, and unrivaled.

Columbian Reserve

From mountains high to valleys low, no river is wide enough to halt the ceaseless flow of war across the ranges of the Columbian continent. Flames devour ancient forests, and battles scar the land as Heaven, mortals, and Hell wage eternal strife over the discovered world. Whether the aboriginal sacrifice of the Heretic King Cortés or the final defense of the Seven Colonies by English General Washington, evidence abounds that forces in the Columbian Reserve fair little better than their peers in the trench network across the Atlantic. Yet, amidst this unending chaos, whispers persist – rumors of a hidden pilgrimage moving in the shadows unbound by divine or infernal allegiance on their own mission: freedom at any cost.

Last Nations Confederacy

Refugees from every corner converge upon the Southern Fortress Continent which welcomes believer and uncommitted alike, so long as they contribute to the cause. The exhaustive labor of admission until death forges an ever-growing bastion against the malevolent forces that crash against the barrier coasts. These holdouts, united in work and defiance, seek escape. Wielding the twin powers of advanced science and ancient sorcery, their projects explore ways subterranean, ocean bottom, and deep space to get away from the wars. Yet, these confederates do not cower behind their hidden jungle bunkers – warriors strike out, fearless and fierce, against the genocidal ambitions of would-be conquerors who dare jeopardize the evacuation. Only through the research of secret pyramidal sacrifices and the relentless toil of their sweat does the Last Nations Confederacy cling to its fragile hope of salvation.

The Stygianity of Death Exiled

The old ways are remembered yet. In the shade there creeps the creed of gods long dead, multi-millennia machinations still unfolding. Their agents – the last of the fairies, phoenixes, sphinxes, genies, centaurs, gorgons, ravens, and more – lurk unseen among the devout of New Antioch and the vilest of Heretics alike. Bolstered by the restless tide of spirits entombed since before the first light graced the Earth, the motives of these cast-outs are shrouded as if Nature itself plotted in the dead gods’ favor.

Cult of R’lyeh

Elder terrors and their mutants bleed into this reality from places blasted and cursed. Beyond the understanding of mortals, angels, or demons, these grotesque and writhing fiends peer through rifts in the fabric of existence. Their dreaming whispers bring madness to the sane, bend believers into blasphemers, wash-up chthonic treasure to exchange for a wealth of terror. Though only shadows of their true forms can manifest, the Cult of R’lyeh gathers in dank, corrupted sanctuaries. Twisted rites of dark war are chanted in wet, fetid enclaves aboard living swamp-barges, the tepid coasts of Antarctica, and the submerged cities where slumbering corpses lie.

Golden Veda of Indus

Neither the murdered Alexander of Macedon nor the modern Sultanate could breach the sacred Indus River. Behind blood-crimson valleys and 108 frigid Himalayan castle palaces, the many denominations of Brahman have thrived in a Golden Age of science, art, and culture, where avatars of their gods walk among blooming groves and shining spires. And now the first god has failed to reincarnate, and the sleeping lotus stirs. Thus the Great Karmic Armies spill forth into the trench-riddled lands of shattered nations. Tools that blend mysticism and science, lore and technique like the world has not yet seen – energy-drenched bows, gilded sky chariots, pre-emptive strikes of divine insight – purge the many and various frontlines. Should this last crusade fail, the prophecies hold no doubt: the universe itself shall fall into the eternal ruin of oblivion.

Outer Heralds

They are not of this world. They descend from the Moon and Mars, perhaps realms far more distant. They are faceless, enigmatic. They are but a vanguard, harbingers of a greater force looming beyond comprehension nor number. They bare arms so advanced some suppose the monsters have their own numen: cyclopean tripods of liquid silver, gleaming craft that defy gravity, rays of light and heat that turn flesh to ash and boil stone as water, shimmering suits seen worn deep in gas clouds and the rings of Hell alike. They crusade for extermination complete upon Earth. They slaughter with such desperation, one may only guess at what unfathomable horror chases at the heels of these Outer Heralds.

–

Some other ideas as I write:

• Air Forces: Bi- and tri-planes, blimps, balloons, floating fortresses.
• Space: Rockets, flights to orbit, satellites, a counter-invasion of Mars, battles happening beyond the reaches of Earth’s influence.
• Scale: solo roleplaying game elements (be the wretch in the trench), big and strategic battles, global conflict maps and evolution, hellscapes, a war in Heaven, urban warfare, pillars of fire and nuclear blasts.
• Progression: Spanish Flu, Armageddon and Ragnarok and Rapture events, Great War part 2, space race, the Australian Continent, more of the Americas (Columbian Reserve and Last Nations Confederacy from the post above).
• Crossovers: Powered armor from the future, DOOM‘s Doom Slayer, naval combat, a Rise of the Machines (a Matrix faction?), Warhammer AoS and 40K (but of course).

These just scratch the surface of the new creative itch I have inspired by the malevolent world of Trench Crusade. Almost certainly I will be back here to explore new ideas and tests of lore, games, and mechanics.

I wonder if you are moved yet to check out this alternate timeline – comment below what you find and think about it. Or, comment which of these factions need a bit of further expounding! For now, cheers to the crusades you get after in your own life ~