Conflicting Drive Statements

Dune: The Roleplaying Game
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Hiya

I’m working my way through the core book, and I was hoping for some pointers about how to manage a character having conflicting Drive Statements.

Let’s say that Character A has the following Drive Statements:

  • Duty - “Obey my House in all things”: 8
  • Justice - “Protect the weak and downtrodden”: 7

Character A is ordered by their House Warmaster to attack and drive away a group of refugees, who present a ‘potential security concern’. The player of Character A can can rightfully apply their Duty to their Warfare check to carry out the Warmaster’s instructions; it is entirely in line with their Duty Drive Statement.

To my understanding of the rules, this action being in conflict with the character’s Justice Drive Statement is basically irrelevant. The character could in fact freely carry out any action, regardless of conflicts with other Drive Statements, so long as they were following the orders of their House superiors.

Am I missing something? Thanks for any pointers/guidance.

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It does make for interesting character moments.

What helps here it to remember that Drive ratings are not just numbers, but the order of priority the character holds each one.
So the highest always takes precedence if there is a conflict.

So, while it will break the character’s heart Duty will ultimately make them pull the trigger. However, they may decide that it is their Duty to warn their superiors of the moral damage the orders will do to the House they love and respect. Duty isn’t just about obeying orders, but wanting your House to survive and prosper.

As a house rule, you might also let the player challenge the Drive statement for the Drive they are not using, to represent this conflict. Especially as doing so will let them change the statement or adjust the drive numbers

So, while the priority list should help you figure out what will overrule what, these conflicts can lead to some great role play and story possibilities.

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Thanks for the quick and very helpful answer, Andy. Certainly gives me food for thought.

Have a great New Year.

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I’ve also been running that I can offer the player a point of determination for them to use Justice.

This would either cause a complication or for the drivee statement to be unavailable for the rest of the session (or for good if they change it).
Or they can just ignore it and stick with Duty.

Again it offers great RP.

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