Introduction Pg 1 The following set of rules are intended to be used for playing an RPG in 's Universe. The rules are a hack of the World of Darkness rules system. The setting takes place in a non- canonical time-line approximately one-and-a-half centuries prior to the original Dune novel. The information used to compile the setting as presented here is collected from Frank Herbert's six Dune novels and The Dune Encyclopedia written by Willis E. McKnelly and published in 1984. Later works and novels are not drawn upon, although significant inspiration comes from the Dune 2 RTS video game, published by Virgin Studios in 1992. The cover artwork is a modified, early promotional poster from the film, released in 1984, as is the image used for the page borders. The black-and-white drawings are taken from The Dune Encyclopedia. Information is presented here as it directly relates to the Chronicle that this booklet is intended to govern. I do not rehash the entire Dune Universe, nor go into depth regarding the World of Darkness rules system. That information is widely available from other sources (like the Dune Novels and World of Darkness books). This booklet assumes that the reader has at-least a passing familiarity with the Dune Universe. It will not explain who Ixians, or Bene Tleilaxu are. It will not explain the mechanics of space travel nor the history of the . It contains only the information necessary for the campaign, and is provided mainly for ease of reference.

Table of Contents Introduction 1 Setting 2 Character Creation 10 Backgrounds 12 Combat 20 Equipment 21 Maps 22 Character Sheet 24

-Version 1.3, gs. Setting Pg 2

Arrakis Far from the star systems of the Great Houses, outside the common trade lanes lies —Dune. Third satellite from Canopus and orbited by the moons Krelln and Arvon, Arrakis is an arid planet with little atmospheric water. Most of its surface is covered in the shifting sands of the Deep Desert, while rocky outcroppings provide safe-havens for the human population and the few introduced species that manage to survive the harsh environment. Greatest amongst the native inhabitants of Dune are the fearsome Sandworms —monstrosities that travel the Deep Desert, and devour any living thing in their path. The North polar region of Arrakis contains areas of exposed bedrock that renders it inhabitable, protected by the Shield Wall of mountains surrounding the area. Here, Arrakeen, Carthag and other cities serve as way-stations for the members of CHOAM enforcing spice-harvesting contracts out on the vulnerable sands. In addition to defending against the Sandworms, the Shield Wall protects the better-settled areas from Coriolis Storms. These storms, whipped into motion by a combination of the planet's movements and the currents of the winds, can blow massive sand clouds at speeds up to seven-hundred kilometers per hour, rending flesh from bone. The Spice occurs here, and only here. Because the Spacing Guild is dependent on the Spice to operate their Heighliners, the Spice is the most valuable substance in the universe, without which society would collapse. It is harvested by members of the Landsraad holding CHOAM contracts to operate on Arrakis, as well as by the local Fremen population and the occasional smuggler. South of the 60th parallel, Arrakis is a forbidding, desolate waste. All imperial settlements lay above this demarcation, and surround the pole. The Northern Polar Sink of Arrakis contains water locked in sand and ice, but is forbidden from being utilized to any significant degree. The Imperial climatologists understand little of Arrakis and even less about the Spice, and fear upsetting the ecological balance of the planet, and possibly disrupting the flow of Spice. Although the restriction against exploiting the pole is officially an Imperial decree, many assume that the Spacing Guild encourages it. Arrakis has none of the artificial satellites and scanners common to most worlds. These have been banned by the Spacing Guild over Arrakis, with the Guild stating that the search for Spice leads to innovation and competition in its harvesting. Purportedly, the Guild fears that a status-quo would be reached on the planet were satellites used to exploit the planet-surface, diminishing the desire to increase Spice production amongst the holders of CHOAM contracts. In addition to the cities erected by the Great Houses, the settlements of Arrakis include Fremen Sietches, smuggler camps, towns established by locals who have passed under the rule of countless CHOAM contract holders, and the botanical testing stations established long ago by the Imperium, now turned to the purpose of growing the planet's little produce. Setting Pg 3

Major Features Above the 60th parallel are a number of inhabitable areas either laying on, or protected by bedrock. Chief amongst these bedrock features is the massive Shield Wall. If Arrakis' sands are seen as its seas, then surely the Shield Wall is its greatest (and perhaps only) continent. Protected by the Shield Wall are the Hagga Basin, Imperial Basin and Minor Erg. The Basins lay above the dune level considered Arrakis' equivalent of sea level, while the Minor Erg is of the same elevation as the planet's great deserts. No spice can be found in the areas within the Shield Wall, but these regions are the most-hospitable on the planet. Safe from worms, the few settlements on Arrakis are largely clustered around the basins and the erg. North of the Shield Wall is the Polar Sink. As one nears it, worm activity ceases, temperatures drop, and humidity begins to cling to the sands' surface. In the heart of the polar sink lies the North Pole, a region of sand-locked ice. Few areas disconnected from the Shield Wall are habitable. The False Wall, however, sports a small number of communities, and both Habbanya and Shibaya ridges are believed to house Fremen communities. Spice harvesting is largely limited to the area immediately south of the Shield Wall. Due to the threat of worm attacks, harvesters cannot stray far from the carry-all bases that deliver the moving factories to patches of the melange. As a result, few crews stray into the Deep Desert where spice is more plentiful, but refuge from worms is non-existent. Spice can be found north of the Shield Wall in smaller, less-pure patches, but these are rarely worth the investment of manpower and machinery, when richer fields lay just south of the continent. Setting Pg 4

Cities The planet Arrakis is a non-awarded Siridar Fief. The Imperial Padashah Emperor has delayed awarding the planet to appease the Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles—CHOAM. Because of Dune's economic importance, the Emperor has allowed all the Landsraad to bid on CHOAM Spice contracts, with the winners each being awarded the opportunity to travel to Arrakis and compete for the support of the CHOAM board of directors. Whoever wins the CHOAM board's nomination will be awarded the planet. The Padashah Emperor has put in place a Judge of the Change to ensure that the competition follows the forms of the Great Convention, the Guild Peace and the Faufreluches. Currently, House Metulli of Novebruns, House Moritani of Grumman, House Thorvald of Ipyr and House Harkonnen of Giedi Prime all hold cities on Arrakis, from which to begin production and impress the Board. It is rumored that CHOAM intends to accept one or two additional bids, but it is unknown to which Houses these might be awarded. Each of the Great Houses awarded a bid have been granted control of one city, to use as a staging point to demonstrate their Spice-producing capabilities.

Arrakeen Arrakeen is currently held by the forces of the Padashah Emperor. It is ruled by Pardot Kynes, the Imperially appointed Judge of the Change, and boasts a contingent of Sardaukar sent to ensure that the forms are followed in any conflicts arising between the competitors. Arrakeen is the largest and most cosmopolitan city on the Planet. All of the Great Houses on CHOAM's board of directors have enclaves within the city, from which they observe the houses competing for the fiefdom. Other interests, including the Spacing Guild and , also maintain a presence in the city. Setting Pg 5

Carthag The newest city on Arrakis, Carthag was established in a flurry by House Harkonnen, when Dimitri Harkonnen, son of the current Baron Grigori Harkonnen, arrived on the planet to begin executing that House's bid. It is a militarized city ruled with an iron fist, located on the smashed ruins of a smaller town, whose folk were put to work in the Hakonnen's shining new fortress. The Harkonnen appear to be paranoid to a fault, and it is rumored that even the Judge of the Change has had trouble entering the warren-like fortress- city. Isimpo Sprawling on the Hagga Basin, Isimpo is a city built around a number of ancient, Imperial Testing Stations that were established before the discovery of the Spice Melange. Thanks to the work done in generations-past at the testing stations, Isimpo has the largest market of fresh produce on all Arrakis. The stations and the basin around them produce poverty grass, onions, bis-naga and even melons, as well as a variety of shrubs, herbs, dwarf trees and wild-flowers. Isimpo has been taken by House Metulli and is currently ruled by Duke Martin Metulli himself—the only House Head so-far willing to risk his presence on Dune. Lamrab On the edge of the Minor Erg, Lamrab is currently controlled by House Moritani. The city was once a smuggler's haven, located far from the Imperial Basin. Out of caution born from a long-standing War of Assassins with House Ginaz, Earl Omar Moritani has sent his nephew Tarek to accept the House's contract on Arrakis. Khiter On the Southern edge of the Shield Wall, Khiter is a small city built into a natural canyon. The city has excellent, immediate access to the spice fields of the Funeral Plain, but its population must hide in their homes whenever a Coriolis Storm strikes the area, for the Southern side of Khiter's canyon is open to the winds of the desert. Khiter has a larger Fremen population than the cities taken by the other Great Houses. It is currently administered by Calder Thorvald, second son of Earl Lamont Thorvald. The Other Cities If a further bid is awarded by CHOAM, there are five likely candidate-cities for the new contender to occupy. Like the four cities mentioned above, these are desirable for the spice-harvesting infrastructure already present. Motom, on the Southern edge of the Shield Wall, is built high above the Funeral Plain, and has an almost-entirely native, Fremen population. Kadhab on the Fake Wall is removed from the Shield Wall, making it an isolated city of secrets, but more susceptible to the dangers of the desert, and more distant from political power. Mayyah and Lodon Lakbyr both lie on the edge of the Minor Erg and have large harvesting operations already in-place. Dohn in the Imperial Basin is the remaining city nearest Arrakeen, and so serves the interests of politics and appearance by allowing for more contact with CHOAM and its partners. The Competition The houses awarded a bid to compete for CHOAM's backing on Dune have a vague mandate to best- impress the company, and sway the votes of the Board of Directors in their favor. The most obvious method of doing so is to simply have the most-profitable, sustainable spice-harvesting practices. This does not necessarily mean harvesting the greatest amount of Spice, since not all the Houses present on Arrakis brought equal resources to the task. Instead, it means using those resources to best effect. However, as is common within the Landsraad, straight-forward accomplishments are rarely the sole measure of success. House Harkonnen seeks to impress CHOAM by demonstrating its ability to employ the native population to increase production through forced labor. House Thorvald is rumored to seek the aid of the and perhaps even Ixian technology to revolutionize production. House Moritani are known to be paranoid and violent, and the other Houses fear that Moritani may resort to military action and sabotage to win favor. House Metulli are skilled negotiators believed to be trading on political favors to win votes. Setting Pg 6

The first House to receive a simple majority —with seven or more votes—when a vote is called by the board of directors will be awarded the Fiefdom. As such, those who can call the vote, as well as those participating in it, are of great interest to the Houses competing for Arrakis. Anyone holding a directorship is capable of calling a vote including the Imperial House Corrino, Houses Atreides, at-Tam, Ecaz, Genissai, Ginaz, Hirado, Lompok, Rhylme, Wallach and Yasu. Additionally, House Metulli holds a directorship, providing that House a distinct advantage in that it can call a vote of the directors the moment it has enough support to win. Aside from Metulli's obvious support of their own House, no director has yet declared their favored candidate, but it is suspected that Corrino supports the Harkonnen, Wallach and Yasu support Moritani, and House Ginaz supports Thorvald simply out of spite towards Mortinai.

Currency & The Economy The common currency of the Landsraad is the Solari. However, its value fluctuates locally based on the availability of goods and the cost of transferring goods from areas of higher to lower saturation. Currently on Arrakins, one kilogram of Pundi Rice (the most basic food-stuff in the Known Universe) costs about five Solari, while priced at only half a Solari on worlds with wet enough climates for it to be grown. A gram of spice, on the other hand, currently costs nearly one million Solari on any planet other than Arrakis, where even the destitute occasionally have Spice in their diet. Plasteel currently costs about four-and-a-half thousand Solari per cubic meter, while plascrete is valued around six hundred Solari in the same measure. Water is priced around two Solari per liter, meaning a normal person requires approximately six Solari worth of water a day, simply to stay hydrated. Because prices fluctuate so dramatically, barter is more-often used by the common folk than currency. Having no way to transport it off-world, a poor man may take a spoon-full of spice to a water seller and receive only a few liters, while the water-seller, in turn, has suddenly found himself in possession of a small fortune's worth of melange, if he can only find the right buyer.

Spice Harvesting Extracting, sifting, processing and storing spice is performed by two massive pieces of equipment: the spice harvester and the spice factory. The harvesters are used on the open desert sand to sift through spice just below the surface. The harvester collects the spice and ejects most of the sand collected with it, and the entire harvester is then transported to a factory where its cargo is further sorted and refined. To transport the harvesters, massive fixed-wing carry-alls are used. These can carry an entire harvester to a spice vein, and return it to its factory. However, because of the weight of the harvesters, carry-alls have a very short operating range, and must refuel between each trip. To spot worm-sign, ornithopter spotters fly around Setting Pg 7

operating harvesters, and warn the carry-all crews when a harvester needs to be retrieved. Ninety-seven percent of spice-harvesting operations are interrupted by worm-sign. A spice harvesting operation begins when a prospector first locates a spice vein. Prospectors typically locate veins by driving sand-crawlers within a day's drive south of the shield wall. Prospecting is extraordinarily dangerous, because prospectors have no spotters, and are often killed by worms. Once a spice vein has been located, a Sand-master takes a team of two dozen Union of Spice Miners (USM) employees in a harvester to the vein's location via carry-all. The team can expect an average of two days of mining before a worm is called, and the vein must be abandoned. Veins are destroyed by the worms that arrive, so prospectors are in constant demand, while USM teams are on stand-by to travel to a vein as soon as it is located. Crews claim veins by right of first-on-the-sand, occasionally leading to dangerous carry-all races to particularly rich veins.

Transportation Movement across Arrakis is limited by the unique challenges of the planet. Across the Shield Wall, ornithopters and groundcars are the most-popular methods of travel. However, Coriolis Storms make air traffic across the open desert dangerous, while sandworms mean certain-death to anyone traveling by ground- vehicle. Sandcrawlers are used for travel across the basins and ergs that are protected from worms by the Shield Wall. Frigates are used to travel between the surface of a planet and Guild Heighliners, of which there is almost always one in orbit around Arrakis. Setting Pg 8

Military Conflict The Great Convention and Guild Peace generally prohibit open warfare between the Houses of the Landsraad. Conflicts are instead resolved by Kanly and a War of Assassins. This limited form of warfare is designed to protect common people from the wars waged by the peerage. Because atomics are forbidden by the Great Convention and shields nullify the usefulness of projectiles, assassination has become an almost- elegant form of small-scale warfare in which few but professional military persons, and the peerage of the Landsraad, are even harmed. The profession and legal practices of assassination are detailed in the Assassin's Handbook. Divided into four parts, it covers legal methods of assassination, the legal system under which assassination is permitted, and best-practice information used by those employed in the trade. The first section of the handbook covers poisons, recognizing three general types: chaumurky, basilia and kriminon. Chaumurky are poisons in food or drink. These are the most-common forms of poison, and can usually be detected with a poison- sniffer, run over the food and drink before it is consumed. Basilia are poisons that can make their way into the blood-stream by either injection or contact with an open wound. Such poisons may be placed on weapons, or used in the infamous hunter- killer injection-drones. Kriminon are gas-based poisons, which are rarely used because of the possibility that bystanders will be killed (which results in penalties for any House guilty of it). A fourth type of poison is zenobia. These are poisons that are slow-acting and exceedingly painful for their victims, and are considered particularly bad-form. The second section of the handbook details the variously permitted weapons in the use of assassination, of which the most common are the sword, the knife and the lasgun. Because it is often difficult to assassinate a target with a lasgun without engaging in open, armed conflict, the use of guns is generally frowned upon. Swords and knives may be used in personal combat without drawing the attention of distant guards, or employed in formal duels. The third section of the handbook discusses philosophies and best-practices of assassination. It covers everything from statistical success rates to the etiquette of assassin masters planning assassinations at public events. The fourth section of the handbook details the laws of Kanly, the Guild's Peace and the Great Convention that govern allowed forms of inter-House conflict. The most important of these require that the instigators of a conflict file a declaration of intent with the Imperial Registrar and the Landsraad Secretariat. The war may continue until the two sides either make peace, or one side kills the last remaining member of the other's family, at which point the losing side's House ceases to exist. Because of the nature of a War of Assassins, most Houses will employ a Master of Assassins. The role of the Master is to oversee the House's assassins, but also to ensure the safety of the House's family. The ensuing battles are generally waged by individual assassins against the troops and guards of a household, who are fair game only in direct attempts upon the lives of the members of a House. The battle between Master Assassins is often compared to a game of Cheops, with the Houses moving their assassins and guards about Setting Pg 9

like pawns protecting their more valuable pieces. Once intent for a war has been officially declared, Imperial Judges are assigned to the conflict to ensure that the forms are upheld and that innocent bystanders are not harmed. Violating the forms can result in forfeiture of a fief, sentences of death for Master Assassins and their commanders, or even the exile of an entire House.

City Setup Each of the cities being granted to the bid-winning houses have been initially left with equal Spice harvesting equipment. Regardless of what city is chosen, the House occupying it begins with one Spice factory capable of processing two harvesters at a time, four spice harvesters, two carry-alls, ten ornithopters, twenty ground cars and twenty sand-crawlers. This equipment represents only a tiny fraction of the Spice harvesting capabilities present on Arrakis. While the Houses each have their own territory within which to display their talents, the Corrino family is currently managing the majority of Arrakis' Spice production. Hundreds of Spice harvesters are on the sands on any given day. Along with the equipment, the cities each have similar populations around twenty-thousand inhabitants, with five hundred USM members within the population. The rules of the contest stipulate that the controlling House must use its own resources to defend the people and uphold the Faufreluches, with temporary ownership of the local Pyons granted to the house in control of each city. Character Creation Pg 10

Basic Information This section includes Character Name, Concept, Allegiance, Retinue, Age, Sex and Player. These should be straightforward, for the most part. Concept is a brief description of the character's nature, generally summed up in one or two words, such as “dandy” or “master swordsman.” Allegiance is used to indicate what faction or House the character belongs to. Retinue is just the term for “party” used in this set of rules. Chronicle is the name of the campaign (for which “Dune” should generally suffice).

Attributes There are three attribute groups, each with three attributes. These should be self-explanatory. The categories are Physical, Social and Mental. A human average attribute is a 2. You have points to spend in the three attribute groups, that you may choose how to distribute. You may assign 6 points to one group, 4 points to another, and 3 to the remaining group. Each attribute begins with one dot already filled in.

Abilities Like attributes, abilities are broken down into three ability groups. Just as with attributes, you have three groups of points to distribute between the three ability groups (talents, skills and knowledges). Once you distribute the three point pools to one of each of the three ability groups, you may spend the points to purchase dots in individual abilities. Unlike attributes, which begin with one dot each, before you spend points on them, abilities begin at zero dots. All abilities, like attributes, are straight-forward, but feel free to ask if you find something to be unclear. Abilities may not be raised above 3 dots during character creation. You have 11 points in your primary ability group, 7 in your secondary group, and 4 in your tertiary group.

Backgrounds Backgrounds detail what about your character's history makes him unique and interesting, and includes most of the more setting-relevant information, such as the ability to learn Bene Gesserit powers, or be the Duke of a Great House of the Landsraad. Players have five points to spend on Backgrounds.

Virtues The three virtues are Conviction, Self-Control and Courage. These reflect the nature of your character and are rolled in certain situations for Morale. You have seven points to distribute amongst the Virtues. No Virtue may begin above four dots, and all Virtues must contain at begin with one free dot.

Willpower Willpower has two measures: dots and squares. The dots represent permanent willpower. If asked to make a willpower roll, you will make the roll based on the number of Willpower dots you have. When spending Willpower (discussed below), you must subtract one dot, and fill out all ten boxes. You have spent one dot of permanent Willpower to receive ten boxes of Temporary Willpower. Your Willpower begins at the same rating as your Courage. Temporary Willpower may be spent to gain an automatic, bonus success on any roll. It also must be spent to attempt certain feats, such as employing Bene Gesserit and Mentat powers.

Freebie Points Once the above have been completed, you have 21 Freebie Points to distribute. These may be spent on attributes and virtues for 5 freebie points per dot, Abilities and Willpower for 2 freebie points per dot, and backgrounds for 1 freebie points per dot. Even with Freebie points, no Ability may be raised above three, nor virtue raised above four, during character creation. Character Creation Pg 11

Equipment You'll notice that there is no equipment section on your character sheet. That is because equipment is not individually tracked, as in many other games. You are characters of wealth, power and standing. Any normal equipment that would be possessed by someone equal to your position is something that you have access to. It's important to note what sort of equipment you carry with you when leaving your base of operations, but you do not need to record every individual lasgun or personal shield. If your character would have access to these items, you simply need to mention that you arm yourself with them. Backgrounds Pg 12

House This background indicates employment by, or familial ties to, one of the Houses of the Landsraad. To belong to a House and be offered its privileges and protections, a character must take this background at a level equal to that of their House (see dot values). A character who does not possess the House background is a free agent, but may still be a part of the retinue of players with a House, if they are unofficially employed or affiliated with members of it. Members of the Peerage must take House at the level of the House that they belong to. To create a new House, you simply need to select the House background, put points in it, and come up with a name for it. You may also join an existing House by taking the House background at a number of dots equal to that House's standing. A Retinue in which no one has the House background is a party of free agents who may be mercenaries, smugglers, Fremen or simple, common folk. Free agents, even if they belong to a Retinue in which some members do belong to a House, find themselves in a tricky legal position. Such folk on Arrakis have no legal recourse to claim the protection of another House, and are technically Imperial Pyons. As such, a free agent in a Harkonnen territory is subject to the laws of the Harkonnen controlling it, and could be forced into a Harkonnen labor camp without any legal recourse. A member of a House so-treated, however, could be recovered by the House to which he belongs by virtue of his technically being a possession of that House (which would make the Harkonnen's abduction of the House member essentially an act of theft from the House to whom the Pyon belonged).

O A County, your Minor House is ruled by a Count OO A Barony, your Minor House is ruled by a Baron OOO A Viscountcy, your Minor House is ruled by a Viscount OOOO An Earldom, your Major House is ruled by an Earl OOOOO A Dukedom, your Major House is ruled by a Duke

Peerage Belonging to the Peerage means that, within your house, your are a direct descendant of the ruling family, or have married into it. You must have the House background to select Peerage. The Peerage are the only members of a House that may hold titles recognized by the Landsraad and CHOAM, and are generally the only members of a House that the peers of other Houses will recognize the authority of. Those who are not Peers have official standing only within their own House, which is not recognized by any other House except by profession (such as Suk Doctors, Mentats, Guild members or Bene Gesserit). A captain of the guard, for instance, is a title meaningful only within the House that has bestowed it, but gives the character no greater recognition than any other Pyon of that Household, within other Houses of the Landsraad. If belonging to an existing House, the Peerage background may not be taken above three dots, as existing Houses already have their core families (pending Storyteller approval, of course). Backgrounds Pg 13

O A bastard, concubine or adopted member of the ruling family, or their spouse OO A distant relative of the ruling family, or their spouse OOO A cousin to the ruling family, or their spouse OOOO You are the direct descendant of the ruler of the family, or their spouse OOOOO You are the leader of your House, or their spouse

Siridar Fief This background may only be taken if at least one dot has been spent in both House and Peerage, by the player. Fief indicates the holdings of the House to which the Retinue belongs. This background may be used to reasonably draw on the available resources of a House. A House without its own planet, for instance, has very little personal resources to be drawn from when the next Guild Heighliner arrives, while a House with a wealthy fief may have a nearly-limitless supply of replacement personnel. In game terms, a Fief may be used to attempt to replace resources that are lost during the course of the Chronicle. Any background that delivers a set of numbered resources (such as Soldiers or Pyons) may be replenished back up to its original number, when those resources are depleted (or killed) by drawing on the Fief's resources. To do so, the character using the Fief background must examine his ledgers and the cost of transporting the resources to Arrakis, make a roll to draw on his Fief's resources, then wait until the next Guild Heighliner from his Fief can bring the desired supplies. To roll for Fief, the player simply rolls a number of dice equal to his dots in Fief plus his Finance ability. Each success means that a background may be replenished by up-to ten percent of that background's original amount. Fief rolls may be made once per in-game month, per background being replenished, and may not bring another resource above its original total. For a character to select the Fief background, they must have both the House and Peerage backgrounds. Only those in a House have a fief to draw from, and only Peers of that fief may request its resources. Example: Sheela is the Duchess of her House, and has three points in the Soldier background, two points in Finance, and three points in the Fief background. She began with 250 soldiers, but forty have died during the last month. When the next Heighliner is scheduled, she rolls five dice for her Fief+Finance, seeking replacements for her lost soldiers. She gets two successes, and can replace 10% of her lost soldiers per successful roll, meaning that she may replace up-to 50 soldiers with her 2 successes. This allows Sheela to replace all 40 of her lost soldiers, again giving her 250 once the next Guild Heighliner arrives. O Diplomatic standing on a major planet OO Minor territory on a cosmopolitan world ruled by many Houses or the Imperium OOO A poor planet with no major exports OOOO A wealthy planet with at least one major export OOOOO An entire planetary system that may have up to five major exports Backgrounds Pg 14

Soldiers The character possessing this background directly commands the loyalty of a number of professional warriors. The character may be a bandit leader with smugglers as allies, a Fremen Naib, the Captain of a Great House's army, or even the leader of a mercenary band. What is important is that the character with this background has the right to command his soldiers and, so long as the commander's obligations to the soldiers are fulfilled (such as paying and feeding them), the soldiers will loyally follow orders. This background may be taken multiple times, with each instance of it representing a different contingent of soldiers over which the character presides. For instance, a General might command four or five different military units, while a Count might have 1000 soldiers in a military unit and another 25 devoted as personal guards. If Soldiers is taken by a character who has no Fief or Peerage Backgrounds, then the Soldiers have been assigned to that character per their granted rank or title. Without the Fief background, lost Soldiers cannot be replaced except by a member of the Household from which the Soldiers come, who does have the Fief background. O 10 soldiers OO 50 soldiers OOO 250 soldiers OOOO 500 soldiers OOOOO 1000 soldiers

Intelligence Network Most houses have intelligence operatives who can perform missions either within their own House's territory, within that of another, or scouting missions amongst other areas and populations. Intelligence operatives are highly specialized espionage agents, often controlled by Mentats. To use an intelligence network, commands must be given to individual members. The commanding officer adds his Investigation ability to his Intelligence Network's rating to plan the mission, then rolls the dice pool for each agent. The group against which the operatives are being employed makes a contesting roll of Intelligence Network+Investigation for each operative. A success on the side of the commander requesting intelligence means that the operative has completed his mission, while a success on the side of the defending party means that the operative is either killed or unsuccessful (50/50). If Intelligence Network is taken by a character who has no Fief or Peerage Backgrounds, then the Agents have been assigned to that character per their granted rank or title. Without the Fief (and consequently Peerage) background, lost Agents cannot be replaced. O 2 operatives, basic intelligence services OO 5 operatives, adequate intelligence services OOO 10 operatives, adequate intelligence services OOOO 15 operatives, excellent intelligence services OOOOO 20 operatives, exceptional intelligence services

Pyons Pyons are the ordinary folk of the Landsraad, having no title, and belonging to the House that rules them under the Faufreluches. On Arrakis, the majority of the population (including Fremen) are officially Backgrounds Pg 15 considered Imperial Pyons, as Arrakis is currently a non-assigned Fief, ruled by the Imperium. Selecting this background gives a Peer access to the Pyon's from that House's Fief, who may be brought from off-world to work and serve in the territory held by their House. Pyons are no great soldiers, nor particularly skilled. But their loyalty can be relied upon, and they are generally members of the same ethnicity as the House that has brought them in. To take Pyons, a character must have a House from which the Pyons will arrive. If Pyon is taken by a character who has no Fief or Peerage Backgrounds, then the Pyons have been assigned to that character per their granted rank or title. Without the Fief (and consequently Peerage) background, lost Pyons cannot be replaced. Characters not aligned with a House might have a crew of smugglers, or be a Naib whose Pyons are the other members of his Sietch. O 100 Pyons OO 250 Pyons OOO 1000 Pyons OOOO 2500 Pyons OOOOO 5000 Pyons

Allies Allies are persons politically aligned with your character's goals who, will assistant you in achieving them. Allies represent major NPCs who should be named and detailed. Though allies aid you willingly, without coaxing or coercion, they are not always available to offer assistance; they have their own concerns and can do only so much in the name of friendship or loyalty. However, they might have some useful Background Traits of their own, and might provide you with indirect access to their contacts, influence or resources. Allies are typically persons of influence and power in other Houses. They can be of almost any sort, pending your Storyteller's permission. Your allies are generally trustworthy, so long as they are not betrayed and are given equal support, when it is requested. Your should create a general outline for your Ally including their name and function. These may be members of your own Household, such as a Bene Gesserit Concubine, a Master of Assassins, a Mentat, a Suk Doctor, or a Captain of your Guard, but could also be members of other Households, smugglers, Fremen, or other characters. O One ally of moderate power and influence OO Two allies of moderate power and influence OOO Three allies, one of whom is quite influential OOOO Four allies, one of whom is very influential OOOOO Five allies, one of whom is extremely influential

Contacts You know people. You can reach out to contacts in various other houses, groups or organizations. Contacts are largely people whom you can bribe, manipulate or coerce into offering information, but you also have a few major contacts—friends whom you can rely on to give you accurate information in their fields of expertise. You should describe each major contact in some detail before the game begins. In addition to your major contacts, you also have a number of minor contacts within the same House, group or organization as your Major Contacts. You need not detail these various "passing acquaintances" before play; instead, to successfully get in touch with a minor contact, you should roll your Contacts rating. You can reach one minor contact for each success; of course, you still have to coerce them into telling you what you need to hear. You may take Contacts multiple times but, each time you do, should specify the group within which your contacts are found. For instance, you might take Bene Gesserit, Bene Tleilax, House Corrino, Spacing Guild, Ixian, Smugglers or Fremen. Note that, to take Twisted Mentat, you must have at least one Backgrounds Pg 16 point in Contacts devoted to Bene Tleilax. O One Major Contact OO Two Major Contacts OOO Three Major Contacts OOOO Four Major Contacts OOOOO Five Major Contacts

Resources You have significant financial resources at your personal disposal. This could be in the form of goods, such as a stockpile of spice, or simply a large sum of Solari held in Guild accounts. You may draw on your resources once per session in an attempt to make large purchases. The number of successes required will be determined by the object you seek to acquire. To attempt to draw on your resources, simply roll a number of dice equal to the number of dots you have in resources. Listed next to the dots below are the sort of objects that can be purchased with a number of successes equal to that number of dots. O An ornithopter, home in the city, ground car, sand-crawler, shield or lasgun OO Ornate or expensive personal belongings such as antiques or personal spice quantities OOO A carry-all, Harvester or Spice Factory OOOO A frigate, or passage on a Heighliner for the entire Retinue and their staff OOOOO An entire city or small fife

Mentat Training After the Butlerian Jihad, the Orange Catholic Bible banned the use of thinking machines, with the punishment for anyone owning or operating such a device being death. The Mentat order developed as a replacement for the processing and computing powers of machines, and are capable of performing complicated computation on par with what thinking machines had once been able to accomplish. Mentat training requires tremendous discipline and tutelage from an early age. However, unlike the Spacing Guild, Bene Gesserit and other such organizations, graduated Mentats are free to pursue their own interests and professions. It is rare for a Mentat to be a free agent only because their training comes at great expense, and is often sponsored by the Great Houses. Diplomats, politicians, military commanders and other officials often receive some amount of Mentat training. A skilled Mentat can make not only deductive computations, but can organize data into an inductive reasoning structure that will give an accurate picture of what events are likely to result in or be caused by, based on the available evidence. Many Mentats become addicted to Sapho juice, and extract from the ecaz plant, which enhances a Mentat's abilities and stains their lips red. Mentats are required to use their abilities within an ethical framework that, due to conditioning at a sub-conscious level, they are incapable of ignoring. A Mentant could never grossly ignore the normal, ethical strictures of society. For instance, while a Mentat is perfectly capable of analyzing a battlefield, his abilities would fail him completely, were he commanded to organize a genocide. Only the “twisted” mentats of the Bene Tleilax are capable of performing such unethical calculations. Any Mentat with at least 1 dot in Contacts devoted to Bene Tleilax may choose to be Twisted. The Naive Mind allows the user of the Mentat Training Background to collate data and process it in a fashion similar to a thinking machine, using extraordinary cognitive powers to reach not only deductive, but inductive and abductive conclusions. This power grants extra dice to any dice pool rolled that governs reasoning, investigation, estimation or evaluation. Using the Naive Mind takes a significant toll on the Backgrounds Pg 17 Mentat, and requires the expenditure of a point of temporary Willpower. O Can reach any deductive conclusion, given sufficient evidence OO Can make limited inductive predictions regarding probably outcomes above 50% OOO Can make inductive predictions above 10% likelihood based on evidence OOOO Can make abductive predictions that determine not just outcome, but cause OOOOO Can teach the Naive Mind to others at a superb level

Bene Gesserit Training Following the Butlerian Jihad, the Bene Gesserit quickly rose to power as an influential political force. Their origins appear to trace back to ancient Earth, but are unknown to any but the Reverend Mothers. The Bene Gesserit serve as a stabilizing force in the universe, seeking to lead humanity along a path of insight, reason and genetic development. Along with the Bene Tleilax, the sisterhood are silent partners in CHOAM. The Bene Gesserit are divided into Chapter Houses in charge of various programs, or overseeing the activities of the Sisterhood in certain locations. The function of each Chapter House serves the overall ambition of the sisterhood to create greater order, further their breeding programs, influence the universe's politics, and collect information. The Order is overseen by the Mother Superior, who holds near-fanatical loyalty amongst the Reverend Mothers. The Reverend Mothers are those members of the Bene Gesserit who have undergone and survived the Spice Agony, and serve as instructors, department-heads, missionaries and diplomats. Within each Chapter House, one Reverend Mother serves as the Proctor Superior, overseeing the other members of the House. Below the Reverend Mothers are the Truth- sayers, the Sisters, and the Initiates. Few members of the Order understand its grand schemes. Most Initiates and Sisters are members of the Great Families or products of the Bene Gesserit breeding programs, and serve as little more than concubines, wives, intelligence gatherers and minor agents. Many of the Great Houses send their daughters to receive at-least an initiate level of training within the Bene Gesserit, if the order is willing to accept the child. Bene Gesserit are often known by the derisive term “witch,” by those who see their meddling in the affairs of the Great Houses and their role in shaping religious narrative as a malicious influence. The ill-informed often regard the Sisterhood as little more than a finishing school for young women, where they are taught the skills necessary to be pleasing as concubines and wives. Few, even amongst the Order, understand its ultimate aims and designs. The arm of the Order most likely to influence the lives of average people directly is known as the Missionary Protectiva. This branch of the sisterhood is responsible for distributing the Panoplia Propheticus, which guides common people in religious belief and understanding. Bene Gesserit training imparts a number of skills honed over centuries that those without the Backgrounds Pg 18

Sisterhood's training can never hope to match. The focus of the training is on extreme muscle control, an heightened physical awareness. Its primary talents are the Prana Bindu, The Weirding Way, The Voice and Soothsaying. Devoting points to the Bene Gesserit background does not necessarily imply that a character belongs to the Order. The children of Sisters or other variously valuable persons may receive unofficial training up to two dots in the Bene Gesserit Background. A character may not gain more than two dots in the Bene Gesserit Background without being a member of the Order. A character may not gain more than three dots within Bene Gesserit without undergoing the Spice Agony. O Initiate or unofficial training by a Sister (such as a Concubine's son) OO Sister or official training for a non-Sister (such as a male soldier of the Order) OOO Truth-sayer OOOO Reverend Mother OOOOO Proctor Superior

Bene Gesserit Powers Powers are additional backgrounds that provide Bene Gesserit abilities, that may be taken in a dot- total up to the level of the Bene Gesserit Training background. To use a Bene Gesserit Power requires the expenditure of a point of temporary Willpower. Example: Sheela puts two dots in the Bene Gesserit background. With this number of dots in Bene Gesserit, Sheela may now spend additional background dots in any of the three Powers of the Bene Gesserit: The Weirding Way, The Prana Bindu and Soothsaying. Sheela's skill in any of these three Powers may not exceed two dots, as that is all the dots that she has put into Bene Gesserit. To increase her Powers above two dots, she will first need to increase her standing within the Bene Gesserit, and raise that background above two dots.

Prana Bindu (Bene Gesserit Training) This Power focuses on a Sister mastering her own body. She learns to identify the chemical composition of food and drink by taste, to nullify poison by causing her metabolism to selectively process or ignore it, and even to alter her basic vital statistics such as body temperature, heart rate, sensitivity to pain and level of consciousness. At the greatest levels of mastery, the Prana Bindu gives a Reverend Mother access to her own genetic history, and the memories of her ancestors that come with it. The Prana Bindu may not be trained above three dots without enduring the Spice Agony. O May identify chemical components of food and drink by taste, and ignore pain OO May manipulate her own metabolism to produce any reasonably-possible result OOO May process foreign agents within her body, and attempt the Spice Agony OOOO May access her own genetic memory for insight OOOOO May actively interact with her genetic memory to seek specific information

The Weirding Way (Bene Gesserit Training) This power is a superior form of hand-to-hand combat that focuses on extraordinary, precise muscle control. Masters of it are able to move faster and strike with far more force than normal pugilists, targeting strikes with precision that allows them to disable or kill their opponents with speed, grace and ease. The few men who serve the Order, as well as the children of Bene Gesserit mothers, or consorts of Bene Gesserit men, may be taught the basic principles of the Weirding Way. However, without the Prana Bindu, mastery of the talent is impossible. The Weirding Way may not be trained above three dots without at-least Three dots in Prana Bindu. When using the Weirding Way, a Sister is capable of moving much faster than anyone uninitiate in the skill. When splitting their combat pool, a sister adds her Weirding Way dots to each action that the pool is split into, as long as the total number of actions is within her available number (between 2 and 6). Example: Sheela has a 3 Dexterity and 2 Unarmed. She has a combat pool of 5 dice. To make two Backgrounds Pg 19 attacks, she must split this pool however she pleases. She chooses to put 3 dice in the first attack, and 2 dice in the second. If Sheela has a 1 in Weirding Way, she receives +1 dice to each of her attacks, giving her 4 dice in her first attack and 3 dice in her second. However, because her Weirding Way is only at 1 dot, if she chose to perform 3 attacks with 2 dice, 2 dice and 1 die, she receives her Weirding Way bonus die only to the first two attacks that she makes, as Weiridng Way at 1 dot only allows up-to two actions per combat round to beaffected. O One additional die, up-to two actions per combat round OO Two additional dice, up-to three actions per combat round OOO Three additional dice, up-to four actions per combat round OOOO Four additional dice, up-to five actions per combat round OOOOO Five additional dice, up-to six actions per combat round

Soothsaying (Bene Gesserit Training) The soothsaying talent, at its most-obvious level, is simply the ability of a Bene Gesserit to detect when others are lying through observation of body-language, vocal inflection and micro-expressions. On a deeper level, however, Soothsaying is a mastery of human psychology that allows the Sister to not only understand another, but to manipulate them. O Soothsaying and deception bonus OO Sense motive OOO The Voice against the uninitiated OOOO The Voice against the initiated OOOOO Supreme understanding of psychology, requiring no rolls for soothsaying and deception Combat Pg 20

Step 1: Initiative Initiative is resolved by rolling one die and adding the character's Dexterity and Wits. The result determines the order in which characters act during the combat sequence, from highest Initiative score to lowest. Ties are resolved by an additional die roll, until all participants have a place in the initiative order. Wound penalties subtract from initiative, while any dots in The Weirding Way add to it. Each character then declares their intended action in reverse order, from lowest initiative score to highest, in order to give faster characters the oppurtunity to react to slower characters. Characters may also choose to delay their action, and interrupt at any point in the combat sequence after their initiative rating. Players may also declare that their character takes defensive actions, which disrupt the initiative order. Additionally, some characters may take more than one action, which results in the character taking their first action in the initiative sequence normally, with their second (and any additional actions) following the initiative order once again once every character has taken their first action.

Multiple Actions Any character may declare multiple actions during the initiative step. To do so, the player declares each of their character's actions. Find the action that has the lowest dice-pool. The player has that number of dice to distribute between all actions being taken. Example: Sheela declares she will shoot one Saudukar and stab at a second. Her dexterity is 3, her Firearms is 2 and her melee is 1. Her melee attack, then, is her lowest dice pool (since her shooting action is dexterity+firearms which is 5, while her melee action is dexterity+melee which is 4). So Sheela has 4 dice to distribute between her two declared actions.

Defensive Actions A defensive action may either be declared during the initiative phase, or may be used at any point prior to the character taking their action in the combat round. If a defensive action is declared during the initiative phase, the character may take a defensive action against every attack directed to them during that combat round. If the character decides to defend during the combat round, they declare when an attack is directed at them, before it is rolled, that they will defend against it. The player then selects the defensive action that they will use, and splits their dice pool between their originally declared action using the rules provided in Multiple Actions. The three defensive maneuvers are Block, Dodge and Parry. Block is a defense against unarmed attacks. Dodge is a defense against ranged attacks, and Parry is using a melee weapon or shield to defend an attack. Brawl uses Dexterity+Brawl, Dodge uses Dexterity+Dodge and Parry uses Dexterity+Melee.

Step 2: Resolution Once initiative has been resolved, combat rolls are made. Melee attacks use Dexterity+Melee, Unarmed attacks use Dexterity+Brawl and Ranged attacks use Dexterity+Firearms. The attacks rolls their dice to hit their target, and counts the number of successes by which they succeed. If the target is defending, each success that the defender makes removes one success from the attacker. After deducting defensive successes from the attack roll, count the remaining number of successes. If the attacker has at least one success, he has succeeded in his attack. Each success the attacker scores adds one damage to the attack (so even defensive actions that fail to foil an attack still decrease the damage that it deals). The attacker then adds the number of successes by which he hit to the damage of his weapon, and rolls the appropriate number of dice. Each success on this damage roll deals one point of damage. There are two types of damage: Lethal (L) and Not-Lethal (N). Not-Lethal damage may be Soaked. When a character receives damage from a Not- Lethal source, they may roll their Stamina. Each success on this roll subtracts one point of damage. Lethal damage may only be soaked if the character is wearing armor. Armor adds its score to a Soak roll to Soak Not-Lethal damage (Stamina+Armor), but Lethal damage receives only the value of the Armor when rolling to soak. Equipment Tables Pg 21

Weapons Attack Type Damage Type Damage Knife Melee Not-Lethal Strength+1 Sword Melee Not-Lethal Strength+2 Ballistic Pistol Ranged Not-Lethal 2 Laspistol Ranged Lethal 3 Lasgun Ranged Lethal 4 Hunterkiller Specia*l Special** Special Assassin Needle Unarmed Special Strength Weak Basilia Poison Special*** Lethal** 3 Moderate Basilia Poison Special*** Lethal** 5 Strong Basilia Poison Special*** Lethal** 7 Zenobia Poison Special*** Lethal** 7 * Hunterkillers are controlled remotely, and attacks are made with Perception+Investigation. ** Poison damage is rolled seperately from attack damage, and is not dependent on the success-level of and attack. Poison may only be soaked by Bene Gesserit with the Prana Bindu background, by expending a point of temporary willpower and rolling their Stamina+Prana Bindu. *** Poison is added to any attack that can penetrate the skin. It cannot be applied to las-weapons.

Armor Penalty* Armor Rating Heavy Clothing 0 1 Stillsuit 1 2 Light Amor (reinforced clothing) 2 3 Combat Armor 3 4 Personal Shield 4 Special** *Heavy armor applies a penalty to all dexterity-based dice pools, including attacks. Any attempted action reduced to a pool of 0 by this armor penalty is automatically unsuccessful, meaning a person must have at least average dexterity and skill with a fire-arm to even have one die to roll to hit with a ranged weapon, when outfitted in Combat Armor. **An activated personal shield cannot be struck by ranged weapons. Only melee weapons may pass through a personal shield. A successful melee attack through a personal shield deals only the damage in the number of successes by which the attack is successful plus the weapon's Strength modifier. The Strength score of the attack is not used to calculate damage. So an attack through a shield with a knife deals damage equal to the number of successes scored on the attack roll plus one (the damage of the strength-modifier of the weapon).

Spice Consuming spice regains Temporary Willpower that has been spent during the current session. The consumption of a simple, spice-laced glass of water will restore a point of spent Temporary Willpower. No more than ten points of Temporary Willpower may be restored by spice, per session. Permanent Willpower cannot be earned by consuming Spice.