Another month, another Round Table courtesy of Corvus.  Just the thing to help me shake out of the case of Final Fantasy XII I came down with last month.  I swear, that game just doesn't stop.

This month's challenge is to choose the work of another Round Tabler from last month's group and build on it.  Since waiting for someone to pick up my own humble addition is going to leave me with a lot of free time, I decided to pick up where mighty Steve of Nerdquest left off, chronicling the saga of Frank Herbert's seminal tabletop RPG masterpiece, Dune.

The idea came out as a narrative piece, focusing on the author's favorite module for the game, so I didn't really touch on the mechanics at all.  If this missed the point of the exercise, well...I do that sometimes.  We all have our talents.
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As the tenth anniversary of Dune 2nd Edition draws near, I thought I'd take a few minutes (and enough inches to keep the editor at bay) to look back at where it all began. Not the origins of the game itself; better pens than mine have covered that topic well enough. What I'm looking back on is none other than the first official pre-packaged adventure for Dune 2E (and still one of my personal favorites), "God Emperor and the Golden Path."

Even now, nine years after its release, those six words can split a room of Dune players faster than anything. "Path" was born to controversy; as the first official module released for the new edition, its remarkable departure from the traditional space-operatic formula players cherished had some convinced the publishers were entirely off their nuts. Thankfully, disaster was averted as PlaySim turned out a spate of adventure modules closer to the vein of the original story lines. The fans' mutinous grumbling eventually settled to the usual dull roar. "Path" became something of an oddity, regarded as a strange little stepchild in a place all its own.

What many players - most painfully those who dismiss "Path" as a freak offshoot - don't seem to realize is that their "stepchild" is in fact the true heir of the master himself. Step back with me for a moment, and we'll see how this sadly overlooked little gem came to be.

The original "Dune" campaign - the backbone of the game as we know it today - stretched on for years, with players shifting forward through generations as game master Frank Herbert continued the tale. Paul Muad'dib, driven mad by the visions induced by his spice addiction, was relegated to NPC status; his player took on the role of Leto, Muad'dib's son. Jessica's player chose to retire her as well, in favor of Alia, Paul's sister, born near the end of the first major adventure on Arrakis. Stilgar and Duncan Idaho remained, and a few new faces were added to the mix as new players found their way into the group.

Unfortunately, the end of these second-generation adventures seemed to leave little room to continue. Many of the main characters were dead, including Alia - the ultimate villain of the later story arcs. Having chosen to play her as a "pre-born" character, her player left Herbert the opening for a stunning twist. Alia had been under control of the shade of Baron Haarkonen for much of the game. Only her player and Herbert knew, though suspicion was dawning on Duncan near the end.

It was several months after the end of the last adventure when Herbert finally announced to the group he had a new and wholly different idea. Rather than carry on with the campaign where it had left off, the action would take place thousands of years later. Leto, son of Paul Muad'dib, was not dead as had been thought. Rather, he had undergone a great and terrible transformation into a strange human-sandworm hybrid. Using the prescient powers granted by his new state, Leto raised himself to the level of a god-emperor, ruling the known universe with an iron grip and a stranglehold on the ever-precious spice. Here the players would begin - not as heroes but as rebels, bent on overthrowing the Tyrant Worm. The previous adventures' focus on combat and adventure, derring-do and glorious set-piece battles was left behind. Intrigue and guile were the order of the day. Where once the PCs had raised the mighty Fremen legions, they now were reduced to a humble band, facing an all-mighty and all-knowing enemy.

Some of the players were put off by the shifting emphasis of the game. Others, particularly the core remnant of the original group, were not so surprised. Throughout the Arrakis campaign, Frank Herbert had shown a fascination with the notion of inevitability versus free will. Indeed, Leto's transformation had been intended for Paul, but the player balked at carrying through as the visions revealed the enormity of this "Golden Path." Only after the player's departure and Leto's "death" was Herbert free to pursue and flesh out the idea. The result was a fascinatingly philosophical adventure for player and PC alike. Could the PCs ever really hope to succeed against an enemy whose foresight spanned thousands of years? Was the God-Emperor's wisdom truly infallible? If so, was the very idea of their rebellion nothing but another step along the Path? If they were to succeed, what then? Would freedom be worth a galaxy plunged into chaos?

Such a challenging scenario caused all but a few of the group to beg off. Those who remained set about building new characters, with the exception of Duncan Idaho's player. The character had proven so popular with group and GM alike he had already been resurrected once before - no small thing in a game world lacking high-fantasy magic. After much debate and discussion, Herbert decided the swordmaster would remain, once again restored courtesy of the Bene Tleilax. He paid for the privilege, though, as Herbert stationed him inside the innermost circle of the God-Emperor Leto himself, leaving Idaho's player to walk a dangerously fine line.*

And so the stage was set for Duncan, Hwi Noree, Siona and the rest. What followed was by far the most unique event in the early history of tabletop roleplay. Thankfully, Frank Herbert's legendary obsessive note-taking preserved this captivating glimpse into the far future of Arrakis and the Empire. Unfortunately, when PlaySim and Herbert first began their collaboration the focus was kept entirely on the earlier sessions. Not until the days leading up to Second Edition's release did a team of writers at PlaySim broach the idea of adapting Herbert's post-Empire story. While their work has never (and likely will never) earned the widespread popularity of "Battle For Arrakeen" or the Imperial House expansions, through their efforts we as players have a chance to step into an adventure which may lie closer to the heart of Frank Herbert's story than any other.

* - An amusing little hat-tip to Idaho's astounding survivability: he was the only PC to be carried over as a named NPC in the published module.

Posted by: Steve Miller at 23:57 | No Comments | Add Comment
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