Hot desert sands, melange dizziness, grand hall schemes, and discreet assassin wars – this is what awaits us as we plunge into the dunes of a desert planet. When reading the Dune lore , one must be careful not to get consumed not only by the Great Maggot, but also by the enormity of the good that the book of Adventures in the Empire offers to the reader .
Together with Paul Atryda
The Titans and the Cymeks were defeated. The 1,000-year war against thinking machines has been won. Most of the knowledge of the native Old Terra was lost. Faykan Butler took the name of Corrino and proclaimed himself Emperor of Mankind. The Space Guild and KHOAM are formed. Paul Atryda was born and reached the age of 6. It is at this point in history that we, one of the families of the empire, who have a role to play in the events to come, and this may turn out to be so big that it will irreversibly change the course of history.
The main adventure scene in the empire is Arrakis and the information in the textbook will be limited to it. This case seems to be a fairly good, though not ideal solution. This kind of compromise will not necessarily satisfy longtime fans of Frank Herbert’s prose. Rather, it is a tribute to new Duna supporters reaching for the textbook on the wave of interest in the recent premiere. On the other hand, the veterans of this universe can also find something for themselves and enjoy recreating the events known from the pages of the novel, or take advantage of the opportunity to write their own story and the curve of the line drawn by the canon.
A book as beautiful and engaging as the original novel
The visual art remains elusive to the text, hence it is impossible to fully describe something beautiful in words. And I dare to call art the Dune textbook that I am holding . And although I know that the task I want to undertake is impossible, I am not going to give up and I will try to give you any view of this dazzling book published in Poland by Alis Games .
The 335 brilliantly formatted pages between the hardcover covers are almost perfect. Almost, because nothing is perfect, although not much was missing here; namely, one or more ribbons. Today it’s the standard that makes it really easy to navigate through chapters. This is a clear, though in truth the only observable negative. So back to the raptures; everything else has to be praised. Solid, but very pleasant to the touch, the paper is filled with great content supplemented with atmospheric illustrations. Both the font, the layout of the text and the layout of the chapters make communing with this book pure pleasure. And we are only talking about the visual side here, it gets even better when we go to the merits.
In addition to the introduction, the first 75 pages of the manual are devoted to the introduction to the Dune universe , and I am pleased to say that it reads phenomenally, which is also undoubtedly due to the high level of the source material. Nevertheless, such an approach to the topic should be praised, because thanks to it both novices and long-time fans of the saga will be able to get to know this extremely interesting world and recall all the important events. Malcontents would probably think that this mini-compendium can spoil the pleasure of watching the next parts of the adaptation, but something at the expense of something. The specific pages are a great source of inspiration and provide the knowledge necessary to be able to enjoy the adventures in this world full of intrigue.
I believe that you will forgive me for the imperfections of this approach and want to see for yourself whether this text at least somehow refers to reality, or whether the melange influenced my perception too much and I was a little carried away.
New good 2D20
As you know, you cannot be afraid because fear kills the soul. Following this maxim, the creators of the mechanics on which Duna is based were not afraid to experiment with it and adapt it to the needs of individual games. According to the 2D20 tradition, we will throw at least two icosahedral dice, trying to get results lower than the level of the skill we are currently using. We will still generate momentum reflecting the good streak of our character for the extra levels of success, and invariably, through not very careful actions, we will increase the pool of threat points available to the game master. With its help, he can add additional complications to the characters of the players and thus increase the stakes of the ongoing confrontation.
So what is the innovation that I am announcing? Mottos and motivations. Thanks to this change in the game, we have the opportunity to add our own maxims to the already honorable pool of quotes from the original saga. We describe the values that guide a given character through motivation and the mottos that define it. These cover five areas: duty, faith, justice, authority, and truth. Sentences, apart from being a characteristic element of a character, also have a mechanical function. By following their assumptions, the character has the opportunity to spend a point of determination during the test related to a given belief. It is more interesting, however, when the hero does not want to follow the principles he professes, then he can cover himself with a different motivation, receive a point of determination and face the obstacle caused by opposition,
One should always appreciate the efforts of the creators trying to connect fiction with mechanics and give it additional value. Often, however, similar types of solutions may fall prey to the so-called metagamers. Players who like to optimize their style of play can choose such universal mottos that they will be able to turn almost any situation to their advantage. In other cases, however, it will be a good generator of situations important to the characters of the players, which will allow to reflect the depth of their moral dilemmas.
Another mechanical solution closely related to the plot is the system of awarding experience points. Characters are rewarded for taking bold and risky actions during a given session. 1 development point is awarded when the hero fails during the conflict. Also, 1 point is awarded for failing a test with a difficulty of 3 or higher, and 1 point will be credited to your account when the gamemaster uses 4 or more threat points at the same time. In this way, the creators encouraged us to take risks and play for the highest stake. Needless to say, these are the actions that make history the most and make us fail, but in fact we will come back stronger after each of them and even more hungry for success.
The family’s future is in your hands
The beginnings will be difficult and tedious, but the end result will be worth the trouble. Dune is a great system for playing political campaigns, its mechanics perfectly supports social confrontations, honorable duels, as well as clashes with assassins lurking in the shadows. All this thanks to a comprehensive approach to the subject, which unfortunately also translates into a high level of complexity; Certainly, there will be those who will be overwhelmed by the detailed rules. Probably the entire first series of sessions in Dunewill be characterized by learning to manage the meta-currency, developing the habit of using battle maneuvers and correctly using skills during tests. However, it is worth being patient, because this manual is worthwhile. The ability to experience adventures on Arrakis and influence the politics of the empire more than repays for all the effort put into learning the rules.
