Dune Part 3 - Regicide #

Purpose #

Dune Part 3 - Regicide’s purpose is to create a fun environment where we can get together, laugh, and stretch our imagination through the medium of collaborative story telling. The characters you take on have a history, they expressed themes and ideas in Frank Herber’s original book Dune, those ideas were altered to fit the movie, I have now taken those ideas and tweaked them to fit a specific narrative direction for this evening, and finally the ideas are handed off to you. Please add, embellish, and alter your character as we play to put your personal flare into our story.

Changes to your character should not alter events that took place in the Dune films, that would invalidate the group’s shared background information. They should supplement the existing character information, ideally fleshing out details the movie did not cover in depth.

Background #

Our story takes place the moment the Dune part 2 movie ends, Paul has announced his marriage to Princess Irulan to cement his claim as the new, non-hereditary, Padisha Emperor of the Landsraad and is hosting a coronation dinner for any nobility that will attend.

How to play the game #

Show up to mom’s house on April 21st at 5:00 PM dressed in formal attire. Everyone will pick a character and be given an envelope that contains additional secret character details. Those secret details will tell you about your character’s relationships with the other coronation attendees as well as what your objective is for the game. In additional to your secret objective, Paul Atreides has been found dead, leaving a power vacuum to be filled. Nearly everyone at the coronation has a potential motivation to want Paul dead, so his murder is no surprise but who will be the new Padisha emperor? No reason to waste a good coronation feast, the Landsraad are going to elect a new emperor before the night is out.

Each leader of a House of the Landsraad will get a vote, when each voting character has committed to a vote (done by secret ballot) the game is over and everyone will check to see if they accomplished their secret objective. Most characters objectives will be related to having themselves or a certain person be crowned as the new Padisha emperor.

How do I influence people’s votes? #

You will be roleplaying as your character to convince the other coronation attendees why their interests align with yours. This is the world of Dune, you will have to put on your politics hat and make some backroom deals. In addition to your personal cunning, you will also have influence you can trade throughout the night and use to trigger events. Your influence is tracked using colored tokens that correspond to the faction the influence is for. You may trade your influence with other attendees at any time by giving them any tokens of any combination in exchange for an agreed upon amount of any tokens they have.

You may also exchange influence for favors and actions that do not include the other party giving you influence directly. Any influence exchanged for future favors is not required to be taken. However, know that doing so will hurt your reputation for future deals so it is recommended to use this option with caution.

Example

After chatting with Chani, Shaddam IV learns that one of Chani’s goals is to ensure that Princess Irulan ends the night destitute. Though Shaddam can not take Princess Irulan’s influence away directly, he offers to lend Chani a battalion of Sardaukar in exchange for a shipment of Spice. Chani agrees to exchange one of her spice influence tokens for two of Shaddam IV’s House Corrino influence tokens. Shaddam IV thinks this is a good deal because he knows Guild Navigator Edric is gathering as much spice as possible and Shaddam IV plans to bribe Edric to decrease cost of House Corrino actions. Chani thinks this is a good deal because her secret character information tells her that if she ends the night with more House Corrino influence than Princess Irulan then Chani can have Princess Irulan exiled.

To help keep the immersive roleplay it is best to negotiation influence transactions using in universe objects that your character would reasonably have access to. In this instance, Shaddam IV and Chani were bartering battalions of Sardukar and Spice even though the transaction is mechanically represented using influence tokens. Have fun with what your items/service you are offering while trying to keep them realistic to things your character has access to.

Types of Influence tokens #

Influence Actions #

At any time throughout the coronation influence may be given to the game master to trigger an event to happen. Some characters have unique events they can trigger that are specified in their secret details. Every character my use their influence to perform the following actions:

• Destroy the Spice fields with the Atreides family atomics: Expend 9 Atreides influence then remove all Spice tokens from the game regardless of who owns them. No more Spice may be created.
• Sardukar extortion: Expend 3 Corrino influence then steal 2 influence from another character, that character gains 1 House Corrino influence.
• Initiate a Sardaukar coop: Expend 9 Corrino influence then steal every Corrino influence from another character.
• Reveal the location of a Shai-Hulud breeding pit: Expend 3 Atreides influence then everyone, except 3 characters of your choice, gain 1 Spice. The maximum number of Spice must be distributed, you may select yourself.
• Leverage the Spice: Exchange 2 Spice for 1 of any other type of influence.
• Create a minor house coalition: Expend 3 Minor House influence, gain a vote for the new Padisha emperor. The coalition is with an unlisted minor house, you will select their vote during the final election, though you may purchase the coalition before voting time if you are concerned about holding onto the raw influence.

  It is not advisable to trigger an event just because you have the correct influence, consider how the threat of triggering an event might be even more beneficial or can you get even more value by trading this influence to someone else before spending your influence for an event.

Characters #

Paul Atreides #

Paul goes by many names. Usul, to the Fremen he is close to. Muad’Dib, to people shouting a battle cry. Lisan al-Gaib, to anyone who hope for something more. Atreides, to anyone from his past life. Emperor, to those who are ready for a new order. And Kwisatz Haderach, to the forces at play before his own birth. Though everyone is gathered today to attend Paul’s coronation as the new self appointed Padisha emperor, he will never sit upon the golden lion throne as he has been killed.

Paul is not a playable character but Paul’s ghost will be played by your game master.

Executor Chani #

Before Paul, Chani was a fierce Fremen warrior and hunter. With Paul, she learned to have a softer touch. She is still all of those things, but now Chani has seen the corruption that follows the greed of man. Chani leads a sect of Fremen who wish to embrace the old isolationist ways and leave the spacemen to slit each other’s throats.

Naib Stilgar #

Once a humble leader of a northern Fremen tribe, Stilgar found himself tangled in Paul’s ascension to Lisan al-Gaib, serving as his mentor. Stilgar would have traded his life for Paul’s if given the opportunity but instead Stilagar is left to enact Paul’s vision. The vision of an interconnected Fremen, a people who have joined the intergalactic court as a people to be respected.

Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV - Voting Member (House Corrino) #

Shaddam IV decided that under Duke Leto’s leadership House Atreides was becoming too powerful, enough to threaten the House Corrino claim of the golden lion throne. Shaddam IV caused the instability of Arrakis and set in motion all of the events of Dune and the eventual loss of his own throne. The recently deposed Padisha emperor narrowly held onto his life by bending the knee to Paul and Princess Irulan agreeing to marry Paul. As head of the Corrino house Shaddam IV commands the fierce Sardaukar.

Princess Irulan Corrino #

Daughter of Shaddam IV, princess Irulan pledged to marry Paul in exchange for her father’s life. Paul’s rise to power has enlighted her to the sinister hands that guide the world’s true rotation, the Bene Gesserit.

Na’barron Glossu Rabban #

Glossu Rabban is the nephew to Barron Harkonnen, recently resurrected by the Bene Tleilax. After, living in his brother’s shadow Glossu looks to seize a higher power.

Na’barron Feyd-Rautha - Voting Member (House Harkonnen) #

After losing his duel to Paul, Fey-Rautha was ressurected by the Bene Tleilax. He now focuses his cruelty on surpssing what his uncle could never do, his sights are set on the golden lion throne.

Count Hasimir Fenring #

Advisor and assassin for Shaddam IV, Hasimir Fenring attempted to kill Paul years ago. Was Paul’s recent murder Hasimir’s redemption? Hasimir has been away from his house in pursuit of gaining Shadam IV’s favor, leaving operations of House Fenring to Lady Margot.

Lady Margot Fenring - Voting Member (House Fenring) #

Wife of Hasimir Fenring, manager of House Fenring in Hasimir’s absence, and Bene Gesserit initiate. Lady Margot looks to ensure House Fenring is secured for generations to come.

Mentat Duncan Idaho II - Voting Member (House Ginaz) #

The original Duncan Idaho, was military tactician and swordsmaster who served Duke Leto Atreides with unwavering loyalty to his death. Duncan Idaho II, however is a facsimile created by the Bene Tleilax, using Duncan Idaho’s corpse recovered by the Sardakar on Arrakis. He represents, House Ginaz but struggles with residual memories of his previous life.

Lady Jessica #

Jessica is a highly trained member of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, possessing abilities such as heightened intuition, control over her own physiology, and limited precognition. She undergoes rigorous mental and physical conditioning as part of her training. Despite her official role as a concubine rather than a wife, Jessica deeply loves her son, Paul Atreides. Jessica faces internal conflicts between her loyalty to the Bene Gesserit sisterhood and her love for her family.

Gaius Helen Mohaiam #

A Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother, similar to Lady Jessica, that has been mentoring Princess Irulan and advising Shaddam IV since before Jessica was born. She has set clear public boundaries that Lady Jessica’s choice to have a son would bring about the destruction of everyone. She seeks to craft the Kwisatz Haderach, and was unsurprised that Paul was a false positive.

Guild Navigator Edree #

A spacing guild navigator specializing in the regulation of House Corrino transactions. This character does not appear directly in the Dune movie or books and their public information is a mystery.

Guild Navigator Rapham #

A spacing guild navigator specializing in the regulation of House Atreides transactions. This character does not appear directly in the Dune movie or books and their public information is a mystery.

Known Factions #

House Atreides #

House Atreides was originally given control of Arrakis, to oversee Spice extraction by emperor Shaddam IV. This operation was lead by Leto Atreides until his death at the hands of Harkonnen incursion. The Atreides were assumed to be a dead bloodline until Paul returned as Paul, Muad’Dib Atreides, Lisan al-Gaib to the Fremen people as the self selected new Padishah emperor. The core of Paul’s claim to the Padishah throne is through his threat to destroy the Spice fields using the Atreides family atomics, without Spice the entire empire would collapse as the Spacing Guild navigators would no longer be able to pilot via ships through space at faster than light speeds.

Paul Atreides and Lady Jessica are the remaining members of House Atreides.

Fremen #

The Fremen are the native inhabitants of Arrakis, their cultural identity is derived from their fight for survival in the brutal deserts of Arrakis. They are known to ride Shai-Hulud, the sandworms, take water conservation seriously, and care for the preservation of Spice for use during everyday life.

Chani and Stilgar are notable surviving Fremen, however millions of Fremen live throughout Arrakis, it is not a specific bloodline of people.

Spacing Guild #

The Spacing Guild, also known as the Guild of Navigators is one leg of the political tripod maintaining the Great Convention, along with the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, and the Landsraad. The guild has a monopoly on space travel and international banking. Their navigators use Spice for safe and accurate interstellar navigation.

Guild navigators Edric and Rapham represent the Spacing Guild at the coronation.

House Corrino #

House Corrino is the Great House whose bloodline had ruled the known universe as Padishah Emperors for 10,000 years until Shaddam Corrino IV is deposed by Paul Atreides. Their greatest asset is the loyal Sardaukar, visious warriors that have been trained since birth.

Shaddam IV and Princess Irulan are the present members of House Corriono.

Bene Gesserit #

The Bene Gesserit Order is an organization of all female spies, nuns, theologians, and scientists who use a variety of secretive methods to inch toward their goal of elevating humanity through the creation of a messiah known as the Kwistatz Haderach. The Bene Gesserit combined political scheming, genetic engineering, and religious engineering to pave the way for the Kwisatz Haderach. Also known as The Sisterhood, the Bene Gesserit are thousands of years old and their influence on the development of humanity across the galaxy is profound.

They are trained to maximize mental and physical human potential, leading them to have incredibly sharp senses and become capable of making computer-like calculations in their heads. The Bene Gesserit training makes its members something close to evolutional superiors among the human race. They are capable of controlling their body chemistry and consciously affecting processes in the body that most people have no control over. The Bene Gesserit are led by the Reverend Mother Superior, who has supreme control over the order, and their headquarters are on the planet of Wallach IX.

Lady Jessica and Gaius Helen Mohaiam are the present members of the Bene Gesserit. Lady Margot Fenring is a Bene Gesserit inititate.

Landsraad Houses Minor #

House Harkonnen #

Led by the curel Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, supplemented by his nephews Glossu Rabban and heir Fey-Rautha. The Harkonnen homeworld Giedi Prime is an industrial wasteland. The Harkonnens hold power through the vast wealth generated by depleting their planet’s natural resources. After conspiring with Shaddam IV to replace House Atreides in overseeing the extraction of Spice on Arrakis, the Baron and his nephews were killed by Paul after his return as the Lisan al-Gaib to the Fremen people. Fortunately for the Harkonnen family house as long as one member of their bloodline remains their Phoenix protocol was able to revive some of them.

A ressurected Glossu Rabban and Fey-Rautha will be attending the coronation, in addition to Paul, Paul’s grandfather was Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Lady Jessica’s father.

House Fenring #

Known to be Loyal to House Corrion, now may be their chance to sieze the golden lion thrown.

Count Hasimir Fenring and Lady Margot Fenring are the present members of House Fenring.

House Ginaz #

Home to the Bene Tleilax, a group of genetic engineers that speicalizing in restoring deccased tissue.

Duncan Idaho II is a presenter member of House Ginaz.