RPR Archive Epic Dune Game - Planning Thread

I think we'd be cautious, but not totally against it. Out of curiosity, would it be a Swordmaster of the House of Ginaz or an external initiate of the Ginaz School? The assumption was usually that Duncan Idaho was the former, but I think the prequels confirm the latter, that he was an Atreides soldier sent to train with the Ginaz. Anyway, I recommend trying your hand at a CS and posting it here for review. This way, we get used to figuring out the kind of CS we're looking to approve.

[image=http://data1.blog.de/media/093/1979093_e03dd00904_m.jpeg]

PoT: Glad to hear you feel that way, because weekly (at least) chats on AIM or some other server were sort of what I had in mind, specifically for the reasons you stated. Also, would you be interested in controlling Wallach, or does that fall to me? I'm trying to be democratic about this lol.

When you said opening crawl, do you mean the post or just the story introduction bit? How about the epigraph? And the title's probably got to change...

MIB: Good looking out. Yeah, many Atreides joined smugglers or sort of faded into the background, so technically being part of what's left of the Atreides would just be part of a character's bio/allegiance rather than their faction.

 

On the Ginaz question: why not give the character an ongoing quest in the game that he's looking to be qualified/recognised/given the title of Swordmaster of the Ginaz? Is that not more interesting than having the title at the beginning?

On the Atreides remnant: IMMHHO, no remnant as a faction per se, but rather as an element of the bio.

 

I like the sound of that, as that's the method we used for some time when it came to the GMs and players planning out plotlines for all the different factions and individual characters together. The execution is just where things tended to get a little stuck.

 

Greetings.

I have ventured here upon invitation...thank you, BobaMatt.

Experienced player and GM, but relatively green in terms of the Dune universe...I've read Dune and Children of Dune...and I'm probably one of the few sane folk who finds Children of Dune to be the better story.

My personal game style stresses world building...I'm not a huge fan of arithmetic gymnastics as a fun game mechanic. If the story doesn't move beyond what the books/films represent, I'll lose interest in a hurry.

Other then that...I'm intrigued by the notion of this effort...I'll browse the Dune wiki...if there are particular elements I should investigate, please link them.

Let me know what I can do and when I can do it.

 

Excellent.

Meh, after the first three books the story rockets off thousands of years into a future largely irrelevant to this RP.

Well that's a useful set of skills and focuses.

I managed to find an online copy of the out of print Dune Encyclopedia...

Get involved now, and upon launch we'll have a whole lot of fun!

 

House Wallach's crest, taken from the Dune Encyclopedia:
[image=http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o203/RudeMechanical/wallach.png]
The image Wikipedia uses for the Harkonnen crest, because it's probably the closest thing to what's described in the later novels:
[image=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ed/Liftarn_Polish_16th_Infantry_Division.jpg]

 

Hmms. Well, random thoughts:

I like the opening paragraphs.

I think this is a good idea, because IIRC the Swordmasters were like Mace Windu or something in terms of skill with a blade. But I also remember something (from the prequels) about there being a swordmaster school thingie on Ginaz where candidates go from being fairly decent with a blade to Swordsmasters, rather than an ongoing quest ... and we all know RPing training is boring as hell, so I dunno. Unless you mean a "grunt is trying to earn a place in the Ginaz School" sort of thing or disregarding the whole school deal entirely.

Chats on AIM: awesome!

The non-House factions look awesome, but remind me again, how will the GM structure work for that? You've got (IIRC) each House Major leader played by a GM, and a sub-GM for every House Minor, but for the other factions, are we assuming all characters will still be affiliated with a House? (Like smugglers in the employ of the Harkonnens, Suk doctors working for a House Minor, etc.) I'd drop the random blue font for the faction descriptions, too, but that's just me.

House Atredies: if we've decided that they'll be off-limits, along with Paul and Jessica (yes?), that should be specified somewhere in the opening post too. We're going to have people joining up who've never read this thread at all.

edit: videogame crests for Atredies and Harkonnen:

[image=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/27/House_Atreides_Insignia.jpg/200px-House_Atreides_Insignia.jpg] [image=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c2/House_Harkonnen_Insignia.jpg/200px-House_Harkonnen_Insignia.jpg]

I think the colours are wrong here because the game designers decided blue=good and red=evil, but I think they're pretty cool, anyway.

 

If you guys like the crests themselves, I can try to change the colors for you. Just tell me to what and I'll give 'er a whirl...

 

The Atreides crest is kosher, albeit the wrong color. The Harkonnen one squares with the Encyclopedia, but not with the novels, which say the Harkonnen crest is a griffin.

Sweet.

Well how much do we know about the school itself? It's always possible they quest at some point.

I thought so.

That was the plan, as I remember, and I tried to get that across in the OP.

Well House Atreides is gone. But as for Sietch Tabr, yeah, maybe that should be mentioned.

 

Phew! I've finally got a little time on my hands. So here's the draft House Harkonnen summary. Thoughts, comments, questions, brickbats, bouquets?

House Harkonnen
Siridar Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
House Major
Coat of arms: A white ram's head on a blue background (Note: On this I voted ram's head rather than griffin because (a) I think the ram's head symbol is more visually recognisable to the public and thus more in the public consciousness than the griffin. Happy to alter if need be.)
Flag: Blue with black diagonal striping (And this is pretty much improvised.)
Controls: Giedi Prime, Arrakis

House Harkonnen is a rising, but watched power amongst the Great Houses of the Landsraad, having been the first House in long decades to secure the utter destruction of another Great House -- Atreides -- under the strict, unyielding requirements of kanly in a War of Assassins. However, most scrutiny is given to the House because it holds control, in the Padishah Emperor's name, over one of the most important planets in the universe -- Arrakis, commonly known as Dune, and the source of the spice melange.

Giedi Prime, the principal seat of the House, is an industrial wasteland with a low photosynthetic potential, its once-rich natural resources exhausted and the environment fouled with industrial pollution. From here the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen -- a direct-line descendant of Abulurd Harkonnen, the very man banished for cowardice by an Atreides ancestor after the Battle of Corrin -- rules his world with an iron but cunning grip, seeking to advance House Harkonnen's fortunes as both a significant help to the Emperor and as perhaps one of his greatest threats. His nephew Rabban has been in place as the Governor of Arrakis for the past twelve months, and the Baron has demanded Arrakis squeezed of every ounce of spice which may be recovered from its vast deserts. This, too, is part of the Baron's byzantine plans -- for he intends his younger nephew, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, to be installed as the Governor of Arrakis when the populace is finally unable to further withstand Rabban's depradations.

Vladimir Harkonnen is a direct-line descendant of Abulurd Harkonnen, perhaps the most well-known Harkonnen in Imperial history, though the family is said to trace its roots back to House Germanus on Old Terra. The Atreides-Harkonnen feud -- which the Baron appears now to have conclusively ended in favour of House Harkonnen -- is quite literally a feud that spans the length of the Imperium, for it was an Atreides who banished Abulurd Harkonnen for cowardice after the Battle of Corrin, which established House Corrino as the heart of the empire and the source of the 4,000-year old Padishah dynasty.

 

Wondeful, though now I have to make one for House Minor Rabban.

 

Nice, though the information about the House's history is given twice. Personally, I'd prefer we went with the Griffin, but I'm open to compromise or overrule.

Maybe not quite yet.

 

One thing that occurred to me and which perhaps we need to work with: this RPG is going to be alternate-universe to that of the novels, yes? The reason I raise it is because it leaves you with a lot more creative options than simply following the course of the novels per se. It's even better in the sense that the main players (Paul and Sietch Tabr) are largely offstage during much of the game, which is good; it means people won't be playing directly at recreating moments from the novel per se. Timewise where we're set right now is about one third of the way through the gap between Books 1 and 2 of the original novel, IIRC: Book II "The Prophet" picks up about three years after Paul is accepted into the Fremen ranks.

I say that because it means players don't have to feel like they must adhere to particular choices for particular characters -- they are able to shift their approach on the assurance that the game won't necessarily follow the same plot as the novel. Of course Paul's uprising is going to be preserved, because it's such a large thing no one person really can stop it, but I would've thought otherwise all bets are largely off; it's not outside possibility (albeit a slim one) that Paul might be taking on not Shaddam IV, but rather someone who's managed to finagle their way into House Corrino. Perhaps Shaddam's open to have a heart attack and die, which would alter events considerably, for example.

 

I'm not interested in adhering too closely, but I figured a wide-open space of time might leave room for it not to matter too much. It's conceivable that someone else can finagle their way onto the throne, but given the mechanics of the universe, it seems unlikely.

 

That's an eminently sensible approach. Very well.

 

Why thank you, my good man.

Perhaps Shaddam can have a heart attack during fall sweeps to keep 'em hooked and increase ratings lol.

 

I wouldn't want to fiddle with the canon too much, it's what makes Dune Dune!

As per the Ginaz question, I was thinking a graduate of their school - as Ginaz itself was wiped out by Grummans in the prequels. At last count, there were only three canon swordmasters - Duncan Idaho (dead by the start of this game?), Whitmore Bludd and Rivvy Dinari. Of course, if we're sticking to the canon, we could have Hayt in the game...though not as a key player on Arrakis.

 

Alternate reality...Boo!

It's not Dune without that story in place...If Paul doesn't face the Emperor...what's the point?

It would be like Luke Skywalker coming to the DS2 with Vader to confront Sate Pestage.

The game should supplement and augment the source material...the further deepening of the universe. Otherwise you are playing Space D&D.

 

1) Is there a time when people would be available this weekend to go maybe chat, on one client or another (I have iChat and Yahoo, but maybe an online client?) about story and launch details?

2) We need to work on discussion of factions' places in the galaxy so we can build an opening story, huh? I have some good ideas, but let's hear everyone's thoughts. We need a plan before launching.

3) Any other loose threads people see?

 

Third draft:

---

[blockquote][i]?It is true, yes, that the Harkonnen ruled Arrakis with the worst kind of dictatorial cruelty, but I [/i] will [i] say this for them: while they were in charge, the spice shipments arrived on time.?[/i]
[b] ? Judge of the Change Letmus Brunus[/b][/blockquote]
[image=http://media.tumblr.com/8WS8AW8f987p7etv1yca5Dle_500.jpg]
It has been a full year since the Landsraad was thrown into turmoil by Baron Harkonnen?s unconscionable overthrow of House Atreides on Arrakis; within a single day, a Great House had been overthrown and destroyed by a millennia old vendetta. In wresting control of Arrakis, the Harkonnen have once more taken the fate of the entire Imperium into their hands, for Arrakis - a wasteland also known as Dune that would otherwise be of no consequence - is the sole source of a mysterious substance known as mélange, the spice capable of extending life and expanding the mind. Without spice, the rich would live and die in mere decades, and the Navigators of the Spacing Guild would no longer be able to span the yawning distances between worlds in the blink of an eye.

But despite their power, the Harkonnen are not without powerful enemies.

Wheels within wheels within wheels are turning.

There is shifting within the Houses, and whispers in the desert.

Among the stars all mankind?s eyes turn once more to Arrakis. Dune. Desert Planet.

[blockquote][b][color=Blue]Welcome to [u]DUNE: CHRONICLES OF THE IMPERIUM[/color][/u][/b][/blockquote]

DUNE: CHRONICLES OF THE IMPERIUM is an RP set in the epic [i]Dune[/i] universe created by Frank Herbert, in the time after the Fall of House Atreides. The Harkonnen have returned to Dune as oppressors, and young Paul Atreides had joined the native Fremen and becomes an interstellar messiah.

Your character will be loyal to a House of the Landsraad. The game will open two Houses Major, and will later add the Houses Minor that serve them. When each faction reaches five members, new Houses will be unlocked for your pledges of allegiance.

[blockquote][color=green] House Wallach
Siridar Earl Jonas Wallach VII
House Major
Coat of arms: A serpent coiled about a closed book, on an indigo field
[image=http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o203/RudeMechanical/wallach.png]
Flag: Blue with a green ring at center.
Controls: Wallach IX, Buzzel, Rossak

House Wallach is known for its close relationship to the Bene Gesserit; the women of the House have swollen the Sisters? ranks for millennia, ever since the latter were known as the Sorceresses of Rossak. The Sisterhood had long vied for the opportunity to use Wallach IX, House Wallach?s throne world, as a training center for its initiates and a Chapterhouse of its knowledge ? it is perhaps not insignificant that, not long before they established their first library on the planet, the Bene Gesserit punishment world of Buzzel fell under the control of House Wallach, which was then able to gain immense wealth from the soostone trade.

Another strong link to the Sisterhood is less well known. While many scholars have pointed out the influence of Judaism on Bene Gesserit philosophy, few know that the name of the Sisterhood is not only a phrase the ancient Latin of Old Earth meaning ?that it may be accomplished well,? but also draws inspiration from the ancient Hebrew b?nai gesher, meaning ?people of the bridge,? an allusion to the Orange Catholic Bible?s description of human existence as a journey across a narrow bridge. House Wallach?s religion is something of an open secret among the largely Zensunni and Zenchristian Landsraad. The Wallach coat of arms not only illustrates the jealously guarded knowledge that the Bene Gesserit so prize, but is also an allusion to the Towrah?s story of Creation.

House Wallach has been left reeling since the destruction of their greatest ally, House Atreides, and has been working clandestinely to undermine Harkonnen authority on Arrakis.[/color]

[color=blue]
House Harkonnen
Siridar Baron Vladimir Harkonnen

 

RE: AU vs. Canon - we're going to have to really discuss things and make a number of decisions based on textual ambiguities. I would go so far as to say that, for the purposes of our RPG, gholas at this point in history are definitely not clones. There's argument there, but it doesn't fit with Dune Messiah. Is the Wallach Chapterhouse really as big and important yet, or is it more like a huge, really important library? What is Harkonnen life like at this point? "

What about Idaho?


Harkonnen stinks for everyone but Guards in my opinion. Even the Rich Minor Houses memembers that aren't upper level, seem to serve quite short terms. Unless you serve the Baron himself on the other hand, as long as you aren't killed, you might live out a normal life span.

 

Hayt seems, for all intents and purposes, to be a reanimated/regenerated corpse, rather than a clone. Ghola's aren't technically clones until, like, the later books.

I get the impression, to, that if you aren't in on the Baron's plans, you're probably plotting against him.

 

Aren't they clones from the same cells, albeit with a few flaws?

Hayt has mechanical eyes, and his memories aren't awakened until much later. He's just a clone, not a ghola as we know them later.

 

Not compatible. First of all, in the later books, the gholas are often stated to not technically be gholas at all, but rather clones - frankly, this line even shows up in the BH stuff. Second, in the later books gholas are created from naught but a few cells, whereas in the earlier books there's multiple references to entire corpses being sent out to the Tleilaxu. Third, a clone wouldn't need replacement eyes. Lastly, Dune Messiah takes place twelve years after Dune, but Hayt is not a twelve year old boy. There are other references that point to early gholas not actually being clones, as well. The evidence, basically, stacks up on the side that early gholas are actually just regenerated and revivified corpses, whereas later the Tleilaxu abandoned this technique and began making clones.

 

Ah, okay. I could've sworn reading somewhere that Hayt had replacement eyes.