Non-human enemies

Dune: The Roleplaying Game
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I know that the system is for human vs human combat, before someone says anything, but hear (or read) me out.

In the early stages for my campaign, i have my players go to a jungle planet to invade a smuggler hideout that have been stealing weapons and intel from their House, and while going through said jungle, they might have to fight off minor and major creatures, from venomous bears to flying boas.

So, while their fighting styles and “natural assets” are a no brainer, I’m having trouble figuring out their character sheets, since I want a couple of them to be mini bosses (aka taking a few hits before being killed), and since there isn’t a HP bar in the system per se, I’m thinking about instead of giving them drives + skill values, just give them skill values that go up to 16, or perhaps even giving them an actual HP bar with values uo to 20.

This could even be relevant in their homeworld, since they have giant sea creatures there like huge marine hydras (let’s say they were inspired by shai-hulud, but made an 180 on the concept).

What do you guys think? Is it a good idea?

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You might think in terms of a skirmish rather than a duel when it comes to animals.
D-Wolves and Laza Tigers are certainly a part of the canon and they are not fun to meet.
They might also work better as assets under a character’s control rather than characters with stats.

Were you running the twins being chased by the Tigers I’d do a series of zones with the children PCs moving from zone to zone trying to avoid the tigers. The tigers would be assets used by the baddie working in ‘architect mode’ to control the tigers as they chased the children.

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I was thinking of those animals as something like a natural/environmental defense, but they would attack anything that enters in their territories.

And yes, i was thinking about using them in skirmishes, rather than dueling. The idea of having to outrun those creatures is fine, but this course cause the players to find themselves between a rock and a hard place against the creatures on their back, and a group of smuggler/mercs in front of them.

And I talked about the architect gameplay, and they didn’t like it very much, so I’d like to avoid it as long as I can.

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How about Beasts being defined with a simplified Charactersheet such as…

SKILLS: Battle, Speed, Stealth, Awareness (with 1 or 2 focuses that seem sensible)
DRIVES: Hunger, Territory, Power, Rage (with 1 or 2 statements that seem sensible)

*Rather than use Determination, the Drive Statements also act as Focuses. *
“Power” could come in when asserting dominance over a rival (usually same species)

TRAITS: as required
TALENTS: as required
ASSETS: as required eg. Claws, Horn, Thick-skin (defensive)
FLAWS: as required eg. Afraid of Fire, Skittish, Water-bound

Example Tiger

SKILLS: Battle 8 (savagery), Speed 7 (chasing), Stealth 5, Awareness 6
DRIVES: Hunger 5, Territory 6 (defend cubs), Power 7, Rage 8 (when wounded)
TALENT: Hunting
ASSETS: Claws, Fangs
FLAWS: None

Example Wolf

SKILLS: Battle 6 (as a pack), Speed 7 (chasing), Stealth 5, Awareness 6
DRIVES: Hunger 5, Territory 7 (defend cubs), Power 5, Rage 5
TALENT: Hunting
ASSETS: The Pack
FLAWS: Afraid of Fire

Example Sandworm

SKILLS: Battle 8 (size), Speed 6, Stealth 3, Awareness 5 (vibrations)
DRIVES: Hunger 4, Territory 8 (defend spice), Power 4, Rage 4
TALENT: Burrow through Sand
ASSETS: Gaping Maw Quality 4 (adds to damage), Massive Size Quality 4 (adds 20 to the Requirement Score)
FLAWS: Sand-bound (cannot leave the sand)
Alternatively something like a Sandworm could be defined as a Platoon-level foe and can only be fled from, not meaningfully attacked

5 Likes
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This is awesome. Using them as an asset is just to abstract for me.

But this is what I was thinking of putting together… but you did it so well.

Nice job!

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I have a question. I know that the Duniverse doesnt include Non-Human intelligence, but if Millions of worlds have been discovered and colonized br Humanity it seems unbelievable that no other form of Sentient life was ever discovered. I was thinking of a few options to explain this absence of Aliens in future planned games.

  1. I could have the Bene Tleilaxhave ‘uplifted’ some less sentient species to serve a specific customer. This would providd something in the nature of an Alien Presence without breakin continuity.
  2. It could be that the Empire had secretly engaged in species wide genocide in human space, but hidden either the genocides, or that the species in question was infact sentient. I could see the last part of this as easier since a true alien might not follow the usual trope of bein humanoid, and be wholly ‘other’ in nature. Less how they are treated in Star Trek and more how they are treated in the Star Carrier Series of books (Ian Douglas).
  3. Possibly as part of Pre-Butlerian Jihad History, the AI Omnius was performing its own plan for the Genocide of ‘local’ aliens, finding them no better than humans and cosidering them a threat.

Of course it could also be a combination of all 3. Thoughts anyone?

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The machines might have systematically wiped them out as they fled too :slight_smile:

I don’t think its too odd no other life has been discovered. Life might be so rare it only appears once per galaxy. I’d argue that Star Wars and Star Trek probably have more alien life than is likely.

It is also possible that Humanity (like Gallifreyans) are simply the most advanced and the other species haven’t caught up. So maybe the Guild does a deal with new species to hide their planets from the Imperium for ‘a small fee’. After all ,the joy of foldspace travel is that you don’t pass anything else on the journey and only see destinations the Guild wants you to see.
I generally take the view that the Guild only tells the Imperium about half of the useful planets they discover, as who’s going to tell on them :slight_smile:

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That is actually a great answer. I like it. It fits in with the Machiavellian nature of the game.

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Hi,
The presence of extra terrestrial life can be defended by the Fermi’s paradox giving plenty of room to imagine that there is indeed alien lives (or not). Btw the sandworm is a sort of alien life, isn’t it? I suggest to read about this paradox as this can give avenues to develop great stories and campaigns. Be warned however that some people might be scared as this is a real theory especially when starting to think about the Kardashev scale (so only dig in if you think you are ready to open pour mind on the topic).

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  1. I could have the Bene Tleilaxhave ‘uplifted’ some less sentient species to serve a specific customer. This would providd something in the nature of an Alien Presence without breakin continuity.

That’s pretty much what the Futars seem to be. It’s not a stretch to imagine that they were not the only attempt the Tleilax made in that vein.

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Yup. I can easily see the Tleilaxu creating something strange on an unknown world and then deciding it wasn’t what they wanted and leaving it there. Several years later some innocent House comes across this unknown planet…

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Has anyone stated up a cymek or robot from the Butlerian Jihad.