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".

 

[TrippyHippy]

But what prompted them to make that reassurance? Have there been complaints about the game not being diverse? Are they afraid of the source material?

I wasn’t really privy to (or even that interested in) all the conversations in the development of the game, but there was an issue with one of the contributors who I think left, accordingly. I think the comments may have less to do with the book than that, but flatly, I don’t fully know and it really isn’t for me to say. All I will say, is somebody making a statement about inclusivity doesn’t offend me particularly, and it certainly wouldn’t put me off the game.

 

[MGibster]

All I will say, is somebody making a statement about inclusivity doesn’t offend me particularly, and it certainly wouldn’t put me off the game.

It doesn't offend me either I just find it bizarre that they chose to focus on this.

 

[TrippyHippy]

It doesn't offend me either I just find it bizarre that they chose to focus on this.

Can we just say that there was a few comments made on the Modiphius board, some while ago, which they are possibly addressing with the press release? Like I say, it isn’t much worth dwelling on for me, and I had little interest in it. In the case of Chris Spivey, it is probably worth noting his previous award winning work that addresses cultural issues a lot.

 

[Fenris-77]

We got more than a bit of art we also got a few paragraphs attached to it.

OMG, paragraphs. Paragraphs that say they're trying to shake the cis-male thing that Dune leaned into, back in the old days when it was all cis-male. Great, what's to argue about?

 

[Fenris-77]

It doesn't offend me either I just find it bizarre that they chose to focus on this.

Really? With the enormous focus on inclusivity that's been headline grabbing in the hobby lately? I don't find it odd at all. YMMV I guess.

 

[MGibster]

Really? With the enormous focus on inclusivity that's been headline grabbing in the hobby lately? I don't find it odd at all. YMMV I guess.

You know what? That's a fair point and I didn't even think of that.

 

[pemerton]

But what prompted them to make that reassurance? Have there been complaints about the game not being diverse? Are they afraid of the source material?

The Polygon article that was linked to in the OP discusses this a bit. And it's obvious just from reading Dune (the novel - I can't comment on the rest of the series): in my view it owes a great deal to Lawrence of Arabia/Seven Pillars of Wisdom, and clearly subordinates the agency of the "indigenous" people who figure in the story.

 

[MGibster]

The Polygon article that was linked to in the OP discusses this a bit. And it's obvious just from reading Dune (the novel - I can't comment on the rest of the series): in my view it owes a great deal to Lawrence of Arabia/Seven Pillars of Wisdom, and clearly subordinates the agency of the "indigenous" people who figure in the story.

That the Freeman cannot prevent the Emperor and other interested parties from exploiting the natural resource of Arrakis isn't really a problem to me as it's not like they're without agency. When Stilgar accepts Jessica and Paul into his sietch he does so on his terms not theirs, the Fremen bribe the Spacing Guild with spice to keep spy satellites from orbiting, they've got a long term plan to terraform Arrakis, and when Paul sees visions of the Freman jihad to come he's powerless to prevent it. (I'm not sure if the terraforming plan was mentioned in the first book though.)

 

[pemerton]

That the Freeman cannot prevent the Emperor and other interested parties from exploiting the natural resource of Arrakis isn't really a problem to me as it's not like they're without agency. When Stilgar accepts Jessica and Paul into his sietch he does so on his terms not theirs, the Fremen bribe the Spacing Guild with spice to keep spy satellites from orbiting, they've got a long term plan to terraform Arrakis, and when Paul sees visions of the Freman jihad to come he's powerless to prevent it. (I'm not sure if the terraforming plan was mentioned in the first book though.)

The terraforming is mentioned in the first book.

 

[MarkB]

That the Freeman cannot prevent the Emperor and other interested parties from exploiting the natural resource of Arrakis isn't really a problem to me as it's not like they're without agency. When Stilgar accepts Jessica and Paul into his sietch he does so on his terms not theirs, the Fremen bribe the Spacing Guild with spice to keep spy satellites from orbiting, they've got a long term plan to terraform Arrakis, and when Paul sees visions of the Freman jihad to come he's powerless to prevent it. (I'm not sure if the terraforming plan was mentioned in the first book though.)

He's still the prophecised white-guy messiah come to lead the natives to their manifest destiny, no matter how little he likes the role he's been cast into.