Check Out The First Dune RPG Art Preview

Modiphius has shared its first preview of the upcoming Dune tabletop roleplaying game -- it's a piece of art!

Polygon has some more information. The game will use Modiphius 2d20 System (as expected). You can create your own House or join one of Dune's existing major Houses.

Modiphius has a diverse team on this project. Chris Spivey, who you may know from Harlem Unbound, told Polygon that "The books themselves were very white-cis-male-focused. I wanted to attempt to expand that world, bringing different marginalized groups to the front. My goal was to show the history of humanity is vast and inclusive, and to explore the struggle as one where we must all work together to succeed." Khaldoun Khelil, another member of the team, talks to Polygon of his experiences in the Sahara desert -- "“Herbert was also very concerned with the environment, and the his focus on water and the desert as a living place has a special place in my heart as I’m half Algerian".

 

[Tyler Do'Urden]

"The books themselves were very white-cis-male-focused. I wanted to attempt to expand that world, bringing different marginalized groups to the front. My goal was to show the history of humanity is vast and inclusive, and to explore the struggle as one where we must all work together to succeed." Khaldoun Khelil, another member of the team, talks to Polygon of his experiences in the Sahara desert -- "“Herbert was also very concerned with the environment, and the his focus on water and the desert as a living place has a special place in my heart as I’m half Algerian".

cis, yes.... but white and male focused? What, because the main character was? I think they portrayed a pretty "diverse" future for their time - and there was no shortage of powerful female characters in the books as well!

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

Umm..

Spoiler

One of the main characters is a gay man, that returns later as a woman.

.. but I guess if it isn't positive representation, it doesn't count.

 

[zhivik]

Yeah, how exactly is the Dune universe not diverse, as the Fremen, a prominent ethnic group throughout the series, are based on Bedouin culture, have dark skin and carry Arabic names? Or that one of the main factions in the game, the Bene Gesserit, is an order of highly intelligent and able women, who have a very big weight in all major events that take pace in the books?

Look, I will very much appreciate if there are more diverse authors in sci-fi and fantasy, as it will only make the genres richer. But let’s not rewrite history only because it suits us politically. Such absurd comments are what give liberals a bad name and give fuel to extremists. Let’s just calm down and have some common sense for a change.

 

[MarkB]

Umm..

Spoiler

One of the main characters is a gay man, that returns later as a woman.

.. but I guess if it isn't positive representation, it doesn't count.

Well, it's certainly not helpful. As I recall, one of the books also includes a cadre of homosexual kamikaze shock-troopers, on the logic that "having given up the choice to reproduce, it was a short step to giving their own lives".

 

[Waller]

Well, it's certainly not helpful. As I recall, one of the books also includes a cadre of homosexual kamikaze shock-troopers, on the logic that "having given up the choice to reproduce, it was a short step to giving their own lives".

Well, describing it as a choice is certainly problematic.

 

[MGibster]

I'm not really in the market for this game myself. I really, really enjoyed the first few Dune books, even as they got a bit strange as things went on, but I stopped with the last one Herbert wrote. I just don't have any desire to play a game set in the Dune universe even though it's rife with adventuring opportunities.

From the linked article in the OP, Modiphius seems very defensive about their upcoming release. It's like they're embarrassed by the source material for their upcoming game and decided to make a concerted effort to stave off criticism.

 

[Paragon Lost]

Those Stillsuits look incomplete when I zoom in on the art. I'll second the confusion others posted on the lack of diversity.

 

[TrippyHippy]

I think the comments are just a reassurance that the game is inclusive and welcoming to all. The original books, written in the 1960s and 1970s, could be misconstrued as not being inclusive occasionally, but it was not trying to make a statement as such, as far as I am aware.

Anyway, without breaching any NDA, I think it is safe to say that the game will focus on Arrakis as a setting, and allow you to play lots of character types from the books (sword masters, Mentat, Bene Gesserit, Fremen, etc) within your own collectively designed Houses with different tiers of play. It will have original art, which ought to be spectacular, and will probably tie in nicely with the movie releases as inspiration as well as the books. I’d say more, but I don’t think I can yet...

 

[pemerton]

I recently re-read Dune (ie the first novel). I was heavily reminded of Lawrence of Arabia/Seven Pillars of Wisdom. It didn't strike me as particularly "diverse" at all. And I could see it being quite a challenge to rework it to reduce the Orientalism while still maintaining the tropes and themes that are central to the book.

I think those tropes and themes could make for a fairly interesting RPG setting. I don't have a good sense of what long-term play/reusability might look like.