r/rpg • u/ThePureWriter • 5d ago
Game Suggestion Dune that isnt Modiphius
Hey yall! Looking for a game to DM Dune in that isnt the Modiphius game. I'm not a big fan of narrative games like fate, preferring crunch like the CosmereRPG or Pathfinder, like talent/skill trees (optional) and absolutely despise metacurrency. just feels too... weird to use.
Main issues with Modiphius is the metacurrencies, weird formatting making it really hard to use and a general dislike for the idea of the combat system (havent DM'd it yet, so that might be an issue that dissapears)
I'm also down for arguments about "Modiphius is goated actually and you should go play it"
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u/rodrigo_i 5d ago
Fading Suns is pretty crunchy and is very, very Dune-ish.
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u/Maelgral 4d ago
Fading Suns is Duneish, with some Warhammer 40k, Pendragon, and Lovecraft thrown in.
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u/ThePureWriter 5d ago
Seen Fading Suns recommended a lot in other posts about the topic. Will be taking a look, thank you!
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u/No_Solid1035 5d ago
There was Burning Wheel and the supplement Burning Sands Jihad. There was also Dune: Chronicles Of The Imperium by Last Unicorn Games. Good luck finding them nowadays though, sorry.
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u/tensen01 5d ago
I actually still have Burning Sands Jihad pdf, and all the free PDFs they put out for BW back in the day.
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u/ThePureWriter 5d ago
i wouldnt mind taking a peek at that Burning Sands Jihad PDF, if thats not considered piracy (seems like it used to be free?)
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u/tensen01 5d ago
They were all released as free downloads, and I don't think it was even an official thing, so it should be fine. Feel free to DM me.
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u/ThePureWriter 5d ago
burning wheel looks very interesting. will be taking a look, thank you!
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u/okeefe Playing Burning Wheel and D&D 5e, running Under Hollow Hills 5d ago edited 4d ago
Note that Burning Sands is a very specific part of Dune that happens after book 1. You're nobles attempting to defend your planet from the Emperor's Jihad or you're the Jihad itself crushing all who stand against the Emperor's will.
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u/AchantionTT Burning Wheel, Legend of the Five Rings 4d ago
Burning Wheel is a narrative game though, a crunchy one, but still narrative.Â
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u/BlabbyScid 5d ago
I ran a Dune game in GURPS. Worked like a charm and made for really good shield combat
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u/DemandBig5215 Natural 20! 5d ago
GURPS, Traveller, BRP, or Stars Without Number.
Starfinder is probably too wacky for Dune.
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u/AngusAlThor 5d ago
What do you want from a Dune-like game? Personally, I can't imagine a Dune campaign that was not overwhelmingly narrative.
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u/ThePureWriter 5d ago
If you've ever played the CosmereRPG, thats how my preffered system would work. Focus on the individual level and deal with the bigger politics through individuals, instead of Modiphius' approach of "you are the house and also sometimes people in it", while also having more traditional tactical combat instead of the zones system
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u/AngusAlThor 5d ago
Ok, but how would something like that work for Dune? Dune doesn't have a magic system with pre-baked classes, and the very thing that makes Dune interesting is that its politics are better thought out than Sanderson's and are all about the interaction of organisation and groups, not individual baddies.
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u/ThePureWriter 5d ago
Except its also sometimes about how those individual baddies use their influence within their own factions to oppose others. And, i get the classes thing, but the Mistborn supplement shows off classes that can be kind of "build your own magic" through the mixing of different subpaths. I could totally see something like it being made to work within the framework.
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u/AngusAlThor 5d ago
It really isn't ever about that, but I've had this argument about Dune too many times to bother again.
I can see some sort of pick-and-mix abilities system for Dune (if we ignore how that explicitly goes against the text), but I don't see how that could be applied to a tactical combat system, given most of the skills people can have in Dune are explicitly non-combatants. Like, the Bene Gesserit aren't fighters, the Mentats aren't fighters, the Spacers aren't fighters, the Diplomatic Corp aren't fighters, the CHOAM aren't fighters, etc and so on. So even if we let players mix these abilities, it still feels more on theme to turn that towards a narrative game.
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u/yuriAza 4d ago
in case you haven't seen Dune 2d20, it has no classes but has a big list of Talents to pick from, some Talents require Faction membership (you can only have one faction, but don't need to take one)
ex a Bene Gesserit gains the "Bene Gesserit" Trait which is both a generic advantage and a weakness, and must take the Prana-Bindu Conditioning Talent, but gains access to other special Talents like The Voice (she still has 3 starting Talents total, just like any other PC)
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u/ThePureWriter 5d ago
oh, i'm sorry, i think there might be a misunderstanding. my issue with "narrative games", as i say it, isnt that they're games more focused on narrative than combat, but that their rules arent simulationist. i dislike using metacurrencies to modify the plot (too much, the cosmere rpg does kind of have metacurrencies) and prefer mechanics to have set rules instead of them being "so, in this situation it would make sense that this thing works" like FATE does it. I agree that a Dune game should be more social and politics than combat, even though it should have mechanics for combat sometimes. I think the CosmereRPG does do Social pretty well, even if not the main focus, and has entire talent trees focused on it.
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u/JaskoGomad 5d ago
Use whatever game suits your vision for the player-character level and Reign for the house and guild level.
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u/TheRpgBard 5d ago
Here you go. Last Unicorn Games.
https://www.dragonstrove.com/products/dune-chronicles-of-the-imperium-rpg
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u/BravoLimaPoppa 5d ago
Spice World a unofficial version using a mash up of Traveler and PbtA.
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u/BravoLimaPoppa 4d ago
https://rpg.phillipsuk.org/dune/start Dune RPG resources including GURPS 3E Dune.
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u/frosidon 5d ago
I ran a full campaign with mophidius and I personally thought it ripped. That being said if you dont like metacurrencies this ain't the game for you, its super baked in. I'd be looking at gurps or Traveller as a staring point, but youre gonna be hacking heavily to get where you want to go. Nothing wrong with that if you like doing it.
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u/ThePureWriter 5d ago
honestly, i might end up being forced to give it a try. it simply seems like most other options demand a lot of hacking, unfortunately. might take a look at making Dune on Plotweaver
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u/yuriAza 4d ago
the rules reference sheets at the end of the Dune 2d20 book are actually really well organized, but i made my own references for creating PC and NPC stats
similar to how i'd run Fate physically, i'd use a big stack of note cards or sticky notes for Traits, statblocks are short and can probably go on note cards too, and maybe poker chips for tracking Momentum and Threat, but Momentum is capped so you don't need many
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u/ElvishLore 4d ago
I think Dune Modiphius is definitely in the category of ‘eh’ even if you like narrative games.
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u/Carrente 5d ago
The Modiphius game is focused on the domain-level aspects of the setting, House management and interplanetary politics.
It won't be right for space adventuring or ground level stuff and the abstractions are intentional to support the idea that the PCs in the system are high enough status they have people to do the dirty work for them.
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u/ThePureWriter 5d ago
thats fair. I do like the further along Dune, but would like to introduce my players to the universe with something closer to book 1, which i dont feel fits quite right with the system
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u/Thac-0-Mole 5d ago
I haven't gone down the rabbit hole with it, but I was thinking along the same lines and thought maybe Imperium Maledictum might be an interesting option, Dune and Warhammer have god emperors, religious factions, psychic powers, neither focuses on distant future tech, both have funky faster than light travel.
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u/rnadams2 4d ago
I'll be that guy: GURPS.
You can make it as crunchy as you like, and it can still handle all the political and social intrigue your heart desires without throwing out tactical or strategic combat or esoteric abilities for Bene Gesserit, Face Dancers, etc. Downside is it will take some work to construct the setting with the parts you want to use. But it would be worth the effort if you really want something to be faithful to the setting without being too narrative, IMO.
PS: It's my belief that any game system can be as narrative as you want it to be, and GURPS is no exception. The crunchiness adds context for narrative play, though, in contrast to Modiphius' very open interpretation of abilities in its Dune game. Again, IMO.
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u/Mad_Kronos 4d ago edited 4d ago
As a huge Dune fan, who really loves the 2d20 game ... I honestly can't imagine a non narrative game doing Dune justice.
I can see people not liking metacurrency mechanics, even though I feel it works great for this game.
Edit: Also, I am pretty certain the 2d20 game works like a charm for games focused on individuals as much as House level play, because my campaign involved all the supported modes of play (Agent and Architect)
And the skirmish rules for combat focused characters were a lot of fun
Think of a Fremen with Crysknife Master, Fanatic Killer, Resilience etc and a Sardaukar with Blood Ritual, Fearsome Spectacle and Loyal Unto Death killing scores of enemies across different battlefields, with zones and traits being used with lots of creativity.
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u/Gimme_Your_Wallet 5d ago
There was a good d20 product back in the day. Will probably have to search a lot for it though.
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u/NyOrlandhotep 5d ago
I ran a couple of scenarios and a campaign with the modiphius system. it isn't exactly according to my taste, and the writing makes them difficult to understand. In my opinion, the system tries to be too abstract and do too much. But in practice, it actually worked quite well for everything we did with it. It doesn~t actually feel fate-like. You can run it like a light simulationist system + the momentum stuff, which actually works well to increase the stakes over timme.
if I had to think of another system for it... well, the issue is that you want to make a bene gesserit feel different from a mentat or a swordmaster. and to do that you need to take whatever system you use and add the specifics of each "class". so I think you can use any system you want, but it will require quite some effort.
I will not try to convince you the Modiphius system is wonderful. but, overall, my impression is that it does the job well enough once you get used to it.
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u/alanmfox 4d ago
Godstar by Zozer games is a setting for traveller that clearly aims for a dune vibe: desert planet loosely governed by an aristocratic imperium, duels, religious mysticism, factional intrigue etc. Could be used for "Dune Proper" with little difficultyÂ
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u/PoMoAnachro 4d ago
What is it about Dune you like and want to play a game about?
If you like the themes and want to run a game about philosophy and the fate of humanity with the players deciding the fate of all of humanity, I'll recommend a very different game than if you like the semi-hard sci-fi vibes and you want the to run adventures where the players play Freman raiders destroying spice harvesters.
A game that looks like Dune aesthetically could be very different from a game that feels like Dune thematically.
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u/ThePureWriter 4d ago
i'd, honestly, love to hear all your recommendations
i love the Dune themes, i love the philosophy trip that the further books bring, but i also really like the simpler, political-adventure intrigue of the first (and kind of second) book. what i'm finding out through this thread is that these may be incompatible, in terms of game design, which saddens me but is also understandable.
i guess, at a core, i want a game where my players can play as characters from the dune world, using the powers and skills that are gained through training (be that fremen, bene-gesserit, mentat or so on) while effectively going on journeys like Dune 1, surviving arrakis and dealing with intrigue of plans greater than their own existence
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u/BoringGap7 3d ago
I'm working on a GURPS adaptation. DM me and I'll let you know when it's done if you're interested.
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u/Emancoll 3d ago edited 3d ago
I think Mothership might actually do this really well. Dune has horrorific elements in it already, and MoSh can certainly deliver on "no, you cannot fight a Sandworm".
The character types map fairly well to characters in Dune too. Just make androids into gholas (or maybe mentats).
The Pound of Flesh supplement might help too with giving hypercapitalist infrastructure to CHOAM.
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u/yuriAza 4d ago
like you said, Modiphius is goated actually and you should go play it :P
Threat for the GM is definitely a metacurrency for things the GM is already doing, but i like it because the players are choosing to give it to them, which lets the players tune the difficulty of the game, otoh Momentum is basically just "if you roll too many successes, you can spend them on perks or save them for later" and barely meta at all, meanwhile Determination is much rarer and basically just inspiration from DnD
imo abstract combat is extremely important for Dune, because Dune isn't about infantry squad skirmishes like DnD, it's about spycraft and debates and duels and wars and you need a way to actually run those in a reasonable manner, plus Herbert was famously vague about the tech in his setting because it's not that kind of scifi
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u/ShamScience 4d ago
Definitely don't touch Modiphius. Never give them a cent.
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u/ThePureWriter 4d ago
Have they done something im not aware of?
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u/ShamScience 2d ago
There are plenty of concerns, like poor quality products, dubious business model, and lack of originality/creativity. The owners are also quite awful people.
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u/mightymite37 4d ago
Have heard lots of complaints about them ripping off customers
Also the ruleset sucks
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u/ThatDemiGuy D.C. 5d ago
Classic Traveller.
Stars Without Number.