Dune RPG in 2020 (finally)

[imagineGod]

So, this year promises to be a monumental year of change. The seminal work of Frank Herbert and his Dune series of novels will finally see the light of day as a proper role playing game this year.
Also, there is the grand Dune movie remake by Denis Villeneuve.

Of course, some may remember the first but defunct RPG "Dune, Chronicles of the Imperium" by Last Unicorn Games,,that never made it into retail.

But speaking of the role playing game, what would the fans want to see incorporated?

There is some debate about the prequel novels by Brian Herbert (Frank's son), namely The Butlerian Jihad, The Machine Crusade, and The Battle of Corrin. Those books push the timeline way back but many critics do not consider them as well written as Frank Herbert's originals.

The original Frank Herbert;s Dune novels include:

• Dune 1965.
• Dune Messiah 1976.
• Children of Dune 1976.
• God Emperor of Dune 1981.
• Heretics of Dune 1984.
• Chapterhouse: Dune 1985.

The newer novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson include:

• House Atreides
• House Harkonnen
• House Corinno
• The Butlerian Jihad
• The Machine Crusade
• The Battle for Corrin

• The Road to Dune (a collection of previously unpublished work)
• Hunters of Dune
• Sandworms of Dune
• Paul of Dune
• The Winds of Dune
• Sisterhood o Dune
• Mentats of Dune
• Navigators of Dune

So I am guessing the core rulebook from Modiphius, will focus on the era from before the fall of The Emperor Shaddam IV up till the rise of the new God Emperor, Leto II Atreides.

Here are the role playing books I think will cover most of the Dune universe:

(a) Dune The Role Playing Game Core Rules
(b) Dune House Atreides Sourcebook
(c) Dune House Corrino Sourcebook
(d) Dune House Harkonnen Sourcebook
(e) Dune Factions: Spacing Guild, Navigators, Bene Gesserit, Bene Tleilax
(f) Dune Eras: The Rise and Fall of Machines and Emperors

Those are just the books that I believe will grant us all everything we need to enjoy role play through the vast series of novels in the Dune universe.

 

[imagineGod]

Wow, found this wonderful glossary of unique Dune universe terminology, and wondering whether the core rulebook should include it?

Glossary of Dune terminology - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[GreyLord]

The original Frank Herbert;s Dune novels include:

• Dune 1965.
• Dune Messiah 1976.
• God Emperor of Dune 1981.
• Heretics of Dune 1984.
• Chapterhouse: Dune 1985.

Hmm...I think you need to put in Children of Dune as another book by Herbert.

Hunters and Sandworms of Dune are additions which supposedly (not by Frank Herbert though) complete the original six books by the author.

Don't know the state of how fans consider them though.

Have you tried the new release of the Dune Board game?

 

[imagineGod]

@GreyLord, thanks for spotting the omission of the novel "Children of Dune" by Frank Herbert. I corrected y initial listing accordingly.

 

[RSIxidor]

I think the BH/KJA book contents would be great as eventual supplemental material.

But first, focus on the FH books to build the core content. This would allow a strong foundation, I think, and allow those Dune fans which don't like the extended content to stay with that core.

 

[imagineGod]

Tried out the Dune board game. I suspect it is a re-skin of an older Dune boardgame. It was okay to play, though the whole need to harvest Spice did not seem to be as big a driver as I thought, since other factions like the Spacing Guild could earn Spice from fellow Players for transporting troops from orbit.

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

Tried out the Dune board game. I suspect it is a re-skin of an older Dune boardgame.

Your suspicions are correct. The Dune board game was originally published in 1979 by Avalon Hill. In 1984 it got a second edition to tie into the movie along with a couple of expansions and then the game goes out of print for a long time. In 2012 it was kinda sorta reprinted when Fantasy Flight Games got the rights to the game, but not the setting so they released Rex: Final Days of an Empire set in their Twilight Imperium universe. In 2019 the game was finally reprinted proper by Gale Force Nine with a basic mode emulating the original game and an advanced mode to add in the mechanics of the expansions.

Overall I find myself excited for the RPG adaptation despite only having surface level familiarity with the setting. I've seen the Lynch movie, but from my understanding is that it's not even close to a faithful adaptation. Most of my limited knowledge comes just from references and other works that have taken inspiration. Dune is very much a seminal work of science fiction and perhaps it's about time I got around to reading the novels.

 

[Beleriphon]

Overall I find myself excited for the RPG adaptation despite only having surface level familiarity with the setting. I've seen the Lynch movie, but from my understanding is that it's not even close to a faithful adaptation. Most of my limited knowledge comes just from references and other works that have taken inspiration. Dune is very much a seminal work of science fiction and perhaps it's about time I got around to reading the novels.

They are exceptional. And weird. Very, very weird. Especially the later ones. I always felt Chapterhouse: Dune was leading to a follow up that never arrived.

 

[aramis erak]

Overall I find myself excited for the RPG adaptation despite only having surface level familiarity with the setting. I've seen the Lynch movie, but from my understanding is that it's not even close to a faithful adaptation. Most of my limited knowledge comes just from references and other works that have taken inspiration. Dune is very much a seminal work of science fiction and perhaps it's about time I got around to reading the novels.

The DeLaurentis/Lynch Dune is actually not a bad adaptation, but diverges from the literal text quite a bit. It has got the look down very closely to the text, tho'. The "wierding modules" however, were totally made up for the movie.

The Sci-Fi channel Mini-series is closer text-wise, but gets the look dead wrong in many ways. Plus, it creates interactions with Irulan that don't exist, rather than relegating her to her correct role of narrator and historian.

The book is interesting - the first hundred pages are slow, but they really do build a foundation. The first hundred pages are the Caladan portion and the trip itself... it sets up the rest of the book. Force through there, and the rest of the book gets much better.

 

[aramis erak]

They are exceptional. And weird. Very, very weird. Especially the later ones. I always felt Chapterhouse: Dune was leading to a follow up that never arrived.

It did - Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson turned the sequel notes/outlines into two novels: Hunters of Dune, Sandworms of Dune.

And, while not quite the same writing style, they do give a really good ending to the cycle. One that left me going, "Damn, that was foreshadowed from book 2 on..."