Dune

Yeah, I know, there is the old game from 2k, I guess, and of course Burning Wheel's Jihad. But BW is not really my cup of tea (I prefer more rules-lite games), and 2k games are, well, 2k games, OK?

And Dune is an amazing universe.

So, I'm thinkin', maybe AW? (been thinking about working on Game of Thrones, too, but then I've seen two first episodes of the TV series and lost interest. maybe go back to that after 5th volume. meanwhile: Dune!)

Ever heard of the Alejandro Jodorovsky approach to movie? 14-hour long script, with Salvadore Dali as the Emperor, Giedi Prime created by H. R. Giger (the Alien guy) and music by Pink Floyd and Stockhausen? If not, read this: http://www.duneinfo.com/unseen/jodorowsky.asp . Sample:

In film, the Duke Leto (father of Paul) would be a man castrated in a ritual combat in the arenas during a bullfight (emblem of the Atreides house being a crowned bull...) Jessica - nun of the Bene Gesserit -, sent as concubine at the Duke to create a girl which would be the mother of a Messiah, becomes so in love with Leto that she decides to jump a chain link and to create a son, Kwisatz Haderach, the saviour. By using her capacities of Bene Gesserit - once that the Duke, insanely in love with her, entrusts her with his sad secret - Jessica is inseminated by a drop of blood of this sterile man... The camera followed (in script) the red drop through the ovaries of the woman and sees its meeting with the ovule where, by a miraculous explosion, it fertilises it. Paul had been born from a virgin; and not of the sperm of his father but of his blood...

I'm going for something like this. Tons of symbolic fuckery, El Topo, retro sf decorations and French comics.

So, I'm reskinning AW to play Dune, and the other way around. I'd like to have 5 playbooks:
Noble (covering Harkonnens, Atreides, Emperor's family, and so on)
Bene Gesserit
Freemen
Mentat + Sook Academy
The Techie Guy (The Spacing Guild and Bene Tleilax)
, but maybe I'll split Mentat from Sook, and Guild from Tleilax.

Stats as usual: hot, hard, cool, sharp, and spice (instead of weird). Highlight Hx as if it would be a normal stat.

Some random moves from the things I'm working on:

Bene Tleilax: When you die, roll +spice. On 10+, they have your ghola in the axlotl tank, this whole dyin' just a minor inconvenience (lose just a tiny part of your memories - reset your Hx with a character of MC's choice to 0). On 7-9, something went wrong, but no technology ain't perfect (lose your memories - reset your Hx with each other to 0; moreover, your genome is fucked up - substract 1 from any stat, your choice). Still, better than death, isn't it? On a miss you may decide whether you die or not, but if you decide to survive, lose your memories, something is wrong with your genome, and in addition to that, you're preconditioned by other Tleilaxians (they have 2 hold over you, which they can spend 1 for 1 to force you to enter hypnotic state). And MC gets to make his/her move as usual.

Ibad Eyes: +1 spice

Jihadist: whenever you inflict harm, inflict +1 harm.

[replaces opening brain to the psychic maelstrom]
When you open yourself to the possible histories, roll +spice. On a hit, you may ask question concerning any past or future issue, your choice. On 10+, MC tells you something new, interesting and highly probable about that issue. On 7-9 MC gives you an impression or a good detail. If you already know all there is to know, the MC will tell you that.

Sandrider: When you summon Shei-Hulud, roll +hard. On a hit, it arrives and you can ride it to travel or to fight against your enemies, your choice. On 10+, you have +2 ongoing (it's really fuckin' huge).

Influential: Your help gives +2, your interference gives -3.


More to follow. Comments are welcome, of course.

I really, really want to see that happen. Shame there's no answer and no update.

For your playbooks, don't forget the Master Assassin! In fact, I think you can reskin most original Playbooks to suit your Dune vision. Hardholders become Nobles, Operators become Rogue Traders (aren't there smugglers on Arrakis? I think there are), Battlebabes make perfect Master Assassins, Hocus can be Bene Gesserit (their cult is their circle of influences, people they can tilt across the Empire), the Angel becomes the Suk Doctor obviously, the Chopper can easily become the Fremen leader, etc.

There's a lot of moves to customise but I think more than 5-6 playbooks is better. The 11 basic playbooks cover a pretty good range of playstyles. In the Character creation chapter, p.97 ongoing, you have little flavor texts about each playbook and their place in the group dynamics. I used them to map my playbooks for my C-Tech hack/reskin. I found them really useful to understand why the playbooks are what they are and what they're good for.

Thanks for the comment!

This thing is slowly turning into a more general SF hack (something like Greg Egan's Diaspora vs Altered Carbon vs The Stars My Destination vs Dune vs Alien vs Firefly vs Blindsight vs Star Wars vs Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri vs whatever else), because it seems to me that I have some serious creative problems, as well as problems with setting expectations, while playing in established settings. As if ready-made setting would act as a kind of blocker for me.

But, obviously, you're right about reskinning the original playbooks (and I'm rather lazy, so it is another factor). I've been thinking more like Bene Gesserit being Brainers, Fremens Gunluggers, Nobles Hocus/Hardholder, Sook Academy Angel, Techie = Savvyhead. Rouge Trader is a nice idea, too!