Dune: Adventures in the Imperium

Dune: Adventures in The Imperium

by Nathan Dowdell (Lead Designer)

Ropleplaying game based on the classic science fiction novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Also contains material from the sequels and prequels.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Gaming, Science Fiction

339 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2021

Reviews

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dune is my absolute favorite book, so I had to get the RPG. Now despite what Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson think, setting new stories in the universe of Dune isn't easy. So much of the fantastic setting is tied up in the events surrounding Paul Atreides' version of the hero's journey, and the horrific legacy of his jihad and then Leto II's prescience on humanity. Odds are your group is not going to improv a stunning combination of politics, ecology, religion, and self-transformation at the table over some dice. But with that caveat, this is a perfectly reasonable system.

Modiphius 2d20 system is a skill+stat target number, than roll some number of dice (starting at 2, you can buy more), and anything equal to or under that target number is a success. Both stats and skills range from 4-8, there are five of each, and you often need multiple successes. Talents and skill focuses allow characters to shine in their area of expertise. Skills are fairly broad: Battle, Communicate, Discipline, Move, and Understand. But the stats are psychological drives, why your character is acting, and it matters whether it's Duty, Faith, Justice, Power, or Truth. Drive statements provide a way to narrow down exactly what your character believes, with mechanical effects when you act in accordance with them, or test your principles against the world. In an appreciated touch, major characters from the books are written up, and while they have several advances (Paul has 7 focuses and 5 talents, you'll start with 3 of each), they follow the rules of the game.

Several varieties of metacurrencies tilt the odds. Players generate Momentum by rolling well, which they use to buy extra dice and increase results. If you're out of Momentum, players can take Threat as well, which the GM uses much like Momentum. And rare points of Determination allow you to declare a critical on a roll or take an extra action.

Drives are inspired, but I'm less sure about the rest of the system. 2d20 is definitely more trad than narrative, and while this system is on the lighter side, there's a fairly complex conflict system for representing major battles that I'm not sure how to use properly. Similarly, the changes in the fiction are supposed to represented by adding Assets to play, a common RPG move which I've found rarely works in practice. The basic gameplay takes an almost cyberpunk approach to the setting, where you are the key retainers of a Noble House/family business, engaged in intrigue and Dune style War of Assassins with key rivals, which is definitely a workable hook. If I were to run a Dune game, I might wait to see how Court of Blades handles this playstyle, but I'm a BitD stan.

On a stylistic note, this book looks great, with top-notch artwork and design. Chapters begin with epigrams drawn from the books, which as a fan I enjoyed. Sadly, the canon follows BH and KJA, and not the far superior Dune Encyclopedia, though I can understand why they made this choice (lawyers, it was lawyers.)

[Taddow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the typical type of role-playing game that I (and my current gaming group) tend to play but for several reasons, which I will outline below, I decided that overall the book and the content within was well put together and held enough promise that I am tempted to give this ruleset a shot.

The Good:
The art and layout of the book is fantastic. I found it visually appealing (with a lot of Dune relevant art pieces to set the tone of the setting), easy to reference information and the extra tables and reference sections at the back of the book were especially helpful as a quick reference.

The setting lore information presented is a lot. I never read the original Dune novels, but I have seen all of the Dune movies (the original one from 1984 and the newer two movies of the trilogy) and I learned more about the setting from this book than from all those movies combined. It gave me an appreciation for the greater Dune universe and provided some inspiration for non-Arrakis Dune RPG adventures and campaigns. Roughly a third of the book concerns the lore of the setting (with additional tidbits sprinkled amongst the rest of the game mechanic sections).

The Game Mastering section was a reasonable presentation on establishing and managing a gaming group, coming up with adventure scenarios and handling player conflict. It touched on several “hot button” issues, such as Safety Tools and Session 0, but I think it did so in a way that was fair, acknowledging areas of argument from the opposing sides and encouraging communication.

The included sample adventure, “Harvesters of Dune,” was actually a good adventure (way better than the quick-start adventure, “Worm Sign”). I thought it had a decent storyline, offered several routes for the players to take to further the adventure and encouraged several paths that the game master could develop/expand on to further the adventure or customize it.

The Bad:
The game mechanics. This isn’t really a “bad” thing but I’m not sure that it is a “good” thing either. As I said earlier, these types of RPGs are not really my (or my gaming group’s) thing. By “these types of RPGs,” I mean RPGs that have loosely defined mechanics where there is a lot of ability for players to contribute to and change/modify game aspects. I’m not against “player agency” and I think that there is potential for a great gaming experience from this…with the right type of players (and game master). I’ve played and ran other RPGs (not 2D20) systems where there are rules for things similar to “Drive Statements” or “Traits” where their interpretation can present a bonus or a penalty to dice rolls. I found that these tend to encourage abuse from the players because a statement or trait will be selected with the hope that it can be used in most if not all situations and they could argue for it to be so, and make that attribute, skill, whatever be their highest value. In this system I could see a player make a Drive Statement like, “Everything I do is for the success of my House,” and then argue that every roll they make (a combat check, a stealth check, a diplomacy check, etc.) is for the success of their house. Sure, I can see how the game master could use this same statement to place some penalties or dilemmas on the player character for certain situations, but this rarely seems to be as applicable as the benefits the player character gets, and potential negative consequences can be seen as adversarial.

Which is another problem that I have with systems where there are points, bennies, etc. that the players and game masters spend to modify the circumstances of a situation to give bonuses or penalties. I am not against these things (Fate Points and Inspirations are used frequently in my D&D and Dark Heresy games) but their use in Dune (and other 2D20 systems I’m assuming) seems to promote an adversarial game master. If a situation that a player character is trying to succeed at warrants a high difficulty (disabling a high-tech alarm, in a wounded state with a nearby patrol for example) it seems weird (to me) to just tack on another complication because I have some Threat to spend. If the player characters bumble something and create some complications, I think the difficulty should be adjusted to match (increased or decreased based on the outcome or their rolls or actions not just because I or they have some dice to spend). Some players might also get upset that the game master is spending these resources to tamper with their roll and not another player characters. Is this different then Legendary Resistance in D&D 5th Ed. For example? I think so, because in those mechanics and games that use similar-style mechanics, these are usually finite resources whereas in Dune it’s a constant give and take to trigger abilities and such and so the exchange (and available resource pool) is never-ending. You would think that this makes for a fair exchange (and maybe ideally it should be) but in the games that I have been a part of this does not seem to be the case. These points are used by the game master to block the power attack of the main warrior of the player group (and why wouldn’t they be if the “Big Bad” can clearly recognize that that particular character hits like a Mack Truck and the others aren’t too much of a problem, for example).

The Conflict mechanics are interesting, and I see the potential, but I think that many “traditional” RPG gamers will find them confusing at first and will probably have a learning curve to get used to them. Moving assets through zones and the nuance on what is considered an asset based on what type of conflict is being engaged in represents a line of thinking that is foreign to those used to a to-hit bonus and roll versus an armor class value. I like the idea that this makes for some abstract and more narrative style play in some cases but I’m not sure how definitive it makes for outcomes. Perhaps that is the point, as the book even says that character death is not really a thing unless the player really wants it to be (which means the game master will perhaps come out as adversarial if they determine it to be despite what a player might want).

Skill check failures result in Complications being placed on a character and these complications and their penalties are defined by what the game master (reasonably) thinks they should. The gambit of complications could be wide range, which is good and also bad, since sometimes having a list of complications (and benefits) with defined penalties (or bonuses) creates an understanding of how the player character is faring.

I didn’t really go into the basic game mechanics (which might have helped understand some of points about my concerns about them) as there are many YouTube videos and gaming articles about them (or you can pick up the free Quick-Start rules) but for the reasons I listed above (and some other minor issues) I’m concerned how the game plays out, especially long-term or in a sandbox-style campaign (as I believe that more linear campaigns seem better suited for Dune). Despite these concerns, I do think that Dune is worth a try and could offer a pleasant experience.

[Krell75 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Qualità manuale: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ambientazione: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sistema regole: ⭐⭐⭐

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fantastic new Dune RPG from Modiphius Entertainment is unique, to say the least. The mechanics of play lend themselves wonderfully to narrative play akin to the intense, descriptive action that the novels do so well. In theory (having not played it yet), it’s amazing! In practice, I could see a couple of pitfalls that might cause turbulence for TTRPG players coming from other games.

Mechanics
First things first: there are mechanics in this game that are exciting and unique, and with the dice pool system (what Modiphius is calling the 2d20 system), the “table math” is friendly to players. The whole game was clearly designed with intention and focus, trying and succeeding in capturing the spirit of the Dune novels. And at the end of the day, that’s what counts. I would love to sit down and play this right away, and that's a great sign.

Still, I have concerns. There are some quirks here that might leave a bad taste in the mouths of seasoned TTRPG players who fear--and perhaps overuse--the phrase “railroading” (the feeling that the person running the game is forcing you down a specific path and robbing you of individual creativity and agency). Because of this, this system might also inadvertently teach poor lessons to new players.

Before I go further, I have to stress again that I love this system and I would drop everything to join a game right away. But as with all TTRPGs, player-facing mechanics are integral to enjoyment and so they should be examined with a critical eye.

Drive
Rather than setting a target number and having the player roll based on a skill, the Dune RPG introduces an element of “Drive.” This means that your skills are really only half (excluding Focus) of the things that determine the number you need to roll under. Whereas in other games, your skills and proficiencies determine how you measure up to a task, here you also factor in just how important this is to your character. Your “Drive” statements add to the number just like a skill. For example, my character’s #1 Drive is loyalty to his House above all, so it’s the same, mechanically, as a maxed out skill (which is capped at 8).

This is a wonderful idea, and I assume it’s meant to encourage players to lean into their character’s motivations, play to those strengths, and think about their character as a person rather than as a myriad of stats. I worry that this core mechanic might ask too much of players who are new to role playing or shy about being narrative in front of others. Feeling the pressure of being a new player is a very real issue, and making narrative central to play with the Drive mechanic will either 1) make some players even more nervous, or 2) do an excellent job of teaching new players that ultimately, TTRPGs are best when you personally engage with the story and characters.

On the Gamemaster side, I immediately worried about having to litigate over whether this or that Drive actually applies to a given roll. You would need trust from your players (as you do in any game) to let your decisions stand.

Fewer Stats, More Story
Let's not mince words: weapons, vehicles, and armor don’t have stats.

Yeah. No stats.

They simply add to the narrative, or in the case of armor, for example, simply add 1 to the defender’s contested roll in combat. Like Drive, they are attributes that shift the balance of the scene, or of combat. You use them to describe how you fight, to determine if you even can fight, to add or remove dice from your pool. This means that your skill in Battle (again, along with Drive statements and Focus) is mainly what will lead you to victory. This is interesting as hell, but again, might weird out fans of D&D or Cthulhu.

Final Thoughts
If you’ve read Dune, and you remember the way Paul’s fight with the first Fremen was described—the way he studied his body language, shifted his blade hand, moved subtly in a feint or moved boldly, attacking and defending—then the combat system in the Dune RPG is designed to recreate that at your table. It’s narrative forward, even to the point of encouraging a Gamemastering style that would be considered railroading by most TTRPG players.

But if you put in the work, if you have the right group… this will be an incredible experience.

[Carlos Gutiérrez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una pequeña decepción. El manual tiene una gran cantidad de trasfondo, lo cual es fantástico y la generación de personajes es sencilla y el formato con motivaciones de los personajes es muy interesante. Sin embargo, cuando llegas al sistema todo se complica innecesariamente. El sistema basado en la gestión de recursos es raro, difícil de manejar y comprender y poco intuitivo.
Ese es el motivo que le de una puntuación baja y que haya descendido en mi escala de hype. No descarto dirigir Dune, pero tengo claro que voy a obviar total y absolutamente el sistema de gestión de recursos.

[Cintain 昆遊龍 · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is very hard to pull off writing an RPG based on such an established franchise as Dune; it is even harder to write a review for such a book that judges it on its own merits, but I think it deserves a shot. I am a massive fan of Dune and really wanted to see what Mödiphius did with it.

First off, the book itself is lavishly produced and a joy to handle. Full-colour, glossy pages, sturdy hardcover, smythe-sewn, the works. It harkens back to the time when RPG sourcebooks were made to withstand use and abuse at the table. Precisely because I was so on the fence about this one, I refrained from purchasing any of the gimmicky “collectors’ editions” and I am glad I did. The “standard” edition hovers right below the level at which most high-profile RPGs are produced these days, where one is afraid to even handle the object for fear of damaging its purported value as a “collectible”.

I am definitely on the fence about the 2d20 system, and the version thereof presented in this book doesn’t do much to assuage my doubts. I am suspicious of its one-size-fits-all approach to handling conflict, especially as it diverges from the usual realm of handling small-scale skirmishes between low- to moderate-power level characters and mook NPCs. I would really like to see the system in use for handling things like espionage and political intrigue, without the whole exercise devolving into a series of dice-rolling back-and-forths with a lot of meta-talk. As an old-time RPG player and referee, I find this idea that one can use the same set of stats, and the same dice-rolling mechanic to abstract the resolution of all kinds of situations simultaneously lazy and contrived. However, I readily admit that I don’t have much experience with this particular iteration of the concept, so I reserve my judgment whilst noting my misgivings.

In terms of the writing, the book could have benefitted from another fine-combing editing pass. I found a number of typos, sentence fragments, syntactical errors and glosses that, whilst not detracting from the overall experience, did make for cumbersome reading at times. The fact that some sections were better edited than others (notably the Gamemastering section, with its rather loaded sensitivity/diversity/inclusivity material), gives the impression that no one actually read the whole thing in one go at any point in its later development. In light of the final product, it is quite annoying that Mödiphius chooses to rely on early access by end-users for proofreading. This is, unfortunately, becoming the norm for RPG publishers, and begs the question of how much this material is intended for actual reading, as opposed to collecting.

Now, to get to the central point of this review… the authors have done a remarkable job in synthesizing and presenting the setting material as presented in the books, giving a sweeping overview of the Dune universe that hews really close to the original. However, it hews too close, and doesn’t really convey a sense of what one might do with the Dune setting as an RPG. As I was reading through this, I was hoping for the kind of open-ended, suggestive prompts that characterise RPGs, inviting avenues for exploration and branching out to create other, original stories, but couldn’t find any. I found myself wracking my brain trying to come up with ideas for adventure scenarios that didn’t look like I was imitating or intersecting the plots of the novels. Admittedly, there is precious little to go on here. The Dune novels are good precisely because the world-building was made in service of the narrative. RPG settings at their best operate exactly in the reverse: the plot, if it exists, is loose and subject to derailing by ambitious GMs and reckless players. Still, In my opinion more could have been done to present the setting in a more open fashion.

For me, the biggest example of this is the spice melange. It is a central plot device in the novels, but there is barely any mention of it in the book beyond touting it as “the most important substance in the Universe”. There is no stat block for it, no description of its in-game effects, no mechanical way for players to interact with it. Why?!? This game would have piqued my interest and held my attention for much longer if I’d had been given a way to interact with this central, crucial aspect of the Dune Universe. This absence, together with the rest of the presentation, feels disappointingly like an attempt at preserving the canon of the Dune Universe, making the game about aping the plot of the novels without much creativity beyond that.

Overall, this RPG seems to be written more for the sake of having an RPG with the Dune name written on it. It is beautifully produced, and I can imagine the pressures the developers were labouring under in terms of faithfulness to the original. However, the end product is disappointing and I don’t think I’ll be playing or running this anytime soon.

[Bebertfreaks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lecture assez mitigé pour ce livre de base du jdr Dune.

D'un côté la présentation de l'univers fait très encyclopédies et c'est froid à la lecture.
Les informations contenues était en partie déjà assimilé avec les quelques romans déjà.
Je note un long passage, chiant et inutile, sur le Jihad Butlérien, plus d'une dizaine de pages, ce résumant à: une guerre contre les robots et que les humains ont dû trouver des subterfuges pour palier à leur absence.

On nous présente sur plusieurs page Arrakis, qui a eu le droit à un supplément juste pour cette planète (normal, elle est au centre de l'univers).
Mais peu de détails sur les autres planètes juste survolé, alors que la proposition de jeu, nous propose de ne pas situé notre action qu'à Dune.

Vient ensuite les règles. Simple pour ce qui est de la base mais complexifié par le chapitre Conflits. Règles qui à la lecture se révèle incompréhensible, avec des exemples qui ne parle pas et qui ajoute à la confusion de l'écriture.

J'ai quand même noté quelques points intéressants et bons. Comme la création de personnage, et même si le texte est lourd, celle de sa propre Maison.
L'autre point est la partie pour mener des parties de jeux, excellente, pour ce jeu et pour d'autres.
Mais actuellement, pour devenir MJ dessus, il manque une meilleure compréhension des règles et des ressources.

Le chapitre Alliés et Ennemis, nous en donne un peu, quelques idées de scénarios, mais c'est léger, voir anecdotique.
Le scénario jouable à la fin, permet de nous donner une idée de ce que l'on peux jouer. Encore une fois l'action se passe sur Dune, et j'aurais aimé voir autre chose, surtout avec une proposition de jeu mettant l'accès sur l'espionnage et les intrigues en dehors de Dune.

Bref, je suis très mitigé.
J'espère que les suppléments de cette game, mettront un accent le dernier point que j'ai cité, et surtout une meilleure compréhension des règles.

[Jenn Kause · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm excited to start this RPG as a DM and lover of Dune, but it does seem quite complicated, especially with the 2D20 system and the momentum/threats/etc. I've spent so much time reading this that I still don't feel fully fleshed in the material.
I think the artwork and conception of this rpg is amazing, although at times in this guidebook especially for character creation, it will say how many traits/drives/etc to have and then at the end of the entire character creation state "you make 2 traits/drives/etc and create the others as you go along"; so basically they put a summary of most things at the end of each section rather than the beginning (which is maybe just my preference).
But we shall see! I hope it is fun for my players and I!

[Chris Aylott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A faithful-to-the-books interpretation of the Dune setting that makes good use of Modiphus's 2d20 system. Overall, the system is light and flexible, and it does a nice job of letting the characters' values and psychology drive the action. However, the conflict rules seem unnecessarily complicated, there mostly for players who are looking for a Combat chapter.

The setting also faces the problem of many licensed settings in that the most important characters and events in the setting are specific and very well-known. The book's efforts to shoehorn the potential player characters in without disturbing the overall storyline are well-meaning but awkward at best.

[Sean DeLauder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an absolutely gorgeous book with a thorough understanding of Herbert's Dune universe, and a significant attempt to make a comprehensive, expansive game of it.

I've run a few games with it and the players seem to enjoy it. It's just a matter of finding a balance between what is and is not necessary for a difficulty check.

If there's a shortcoming to it, it's the haphazard way in which it sometimes seems assembled. While knowledgeable, it can sometimes be difficult to find specific information when the question of rules come into play.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time to play!

[Jason Hebert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have used a bit more editing.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Several months before the Delta Green Humble Bundle, the company released a bundle of Dune PDFs. I really enjoyed the first Dune book and the new films, so this seemed like a no brainer to me. I'm glad that Humble Bundle is so inexpensive.

This game uses the 2d20 system, which I'd never heard of before. You want to roll lower with the 2d20s rather than higher, and your roll is, naturally, modified by skills, stats and other abilities. The thing is, that's a lot trickier to calculate in this game than most.

The skills and stats have base rules as to how they're supposed to work, but the game encourages players to try and convince the GM that completely unrelated skills and stats might work in a given situation. I like my players to be active with both me and each other, but I don't like that this ruleset encourages arguments and that it so loosely defines its skills, attributes, items, combat and so on.

[Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Banana Chan’s writing…❤️