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".

 

[pemerton]

Yes, but a big point of the Dune saga is that the agency of EVERYONE is subordinated in one way or another.

One of most important points of the series is that Paul refuses to accept his role in the myth.

Secondly, Paul is intended to become a controllable product of eugenics. Thinking that for some reason his lineage was strictly white is quite a leap.

Three, Paul is not an outsider to Fremen culture, with all the work of Bene Gesserit and their missionaries. His fate is to become a cog in a complex machine.

I re-read Dune (the novel, not the series) fairly recently. The focus of the action is clearly on Paul. We learn about his thoughts. His choices are central to the events of the story. The prophecies for the future are all introduced and filtered through him as the medium and chief actor of them. He is the trigger for the Fremen beginning the realisation of their destiny.

I think this is the sort of thing @MarkB was referring to upthread. And it belies the point that, within the fiction, everyone is subject to external causation. Paul is a protagonist par excellence.

 

[pemerton]

Anyone who has seen the beta rules (it was briefly posted on Reddit) but taken don) will notice the game abandons the attributes popular with D&D heroes and goes for some thing called beliefs to define characters.

Sadly, that Dune preview of rules did not look like any other 2d20 game. The radical new design seems interesting at first glance, but most people still play D&D so would surely be looking for attributes like Dexterity/Agility or even Intelligence/Reason or something like along those familiar lines.

It does sound promising to define characters by reference to the sorts of personality elements that matter in the story.

 

[imagineGod]

I must confess a lack of Burning Wheel play experience. This Christmas I must find a group online and try it.

 

[imagineGod]

With regards to not-everything being 5th Edition D&D, one reason I supported that new Stargate RPG was that D&D angle. Sadly, the classes there stop at Level 5, based on the previews backers got shown.

 

[TrippyHippy]

Anyone who has seen the beta rules (it was briefly posted on Reddit) but taken don) will notice the game abandons the attributes popular with D&D heroes and goes for some thing called beliefs to define characters. A hurdle, surely, to convince your D&D group to play Dune.

Modiphus has been hiding those rules from the public. Not sure if that is a winning strategy since maybe something closer to D&D could have been done with more feedback.

Well, it looks like that NDA has just been blown!

The reason why they are using more abstract Attributes than typical D&D, is so that you can play the game at a strategic level as well as typical adventure level. The game will have elements of Ars Magica’s troupe style play. It won’t just run like D&D.

They’re using their 2d20 system, I thought.

Yes. It’s a variation of the 2d20 system.

 

[ruemere]

I re-read Dune (the novel, not the series) fairly recently. The focus of the action is clearly on Paul. We learn about his thoughts. His choices are central to the events of the story. The prophecies for the future are all introduced and filtered through him as the medium and chief actor of them. He is the trigger for the Fremen beginning the realisation of their destiny.

I think this is the sort of thing @MarkB was referring to upthread. And it belies the point that, within the fiction, everyone is subject to external causation. Paul is a protagonist par excellence.

Oh, I wholeheartedly agree with that. Paul does a big job attempting to escape the programmed destiny (ref. the ending of the second book).

What I would like to say, is that Paul is intended to play his role. To become a part of larger scheme. And he (and Alia) appear too soon according to certain BG on the scene.

In a way it is confirmed by Paul moving away from the grand vision, while his son becomes what Paul (and Alia) refused to.

 

[imagineGod]

Well, it looks like that NDA has just been blown!

The reason why they are using more abstract Attributes than typical D&D, is so that you can play the game at a strategic level as well as typical adventure level. The game will have elements of Ars Magica’s troupe style play. It won’t just run like D&D.

Yes. It’s a variation of the 2d20 system.

I wondering if keeping the rules secret, protected by the NDA, maybe Modiphius is concerned with scaring away D&D players with its variant rules mechanics in Dune's 2d20, which seems so different from their traditional 2d20 line like Star Trek or Conan?

Previously, Modiphius offered quickstarter previews for Mutant Chronicles and Conan, and even third party products like Odyssey of the Dragonlords, which is D&D by the way.

 

[imagineGod]

Ars Magica, another RPG I never played.
It seems I may be a victim of the super successful D&D bubble myself.

 

[TrippyHippy]

I wondering if keeping the rules secret, protected by the NDA, maybe Modiphius is concerned with scaring away D&D players with its variant rules mechanics in Dune's 2d20, which seems so different from their traditional 2d20 line like Star Trek or Conan?

Previously, Modiphius offered quickstarter previews for Mutant Chronicles and Conan, and even third party products like Odyssey of the Dragonlords, which is D&D by the way.

There is meant to be some sort of rules preview quickstarter type of thing coming out when the pre-orders open (in December). We aren’t actually supposed to be discussing the rules publicly before then.

The rules variances are basically about tailoring the game to the setting and mode of play. Conan is about heroic adventure, whereas Dune involves a lot more political intrigue. And yes, Ars Magica was definitely something discussed in the game development.

 

[ssvegeta555]

I thought that was a giant eyeball at first and not tons of thin teeth lol