01-22-2020, 02:14 AM | #81 | ||||
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Frederick, MD
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Re: GURPS Dune
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Thanks for that! And I see that the term I should be using is ‘deep spice addiction’. And so no, the typical House noble does not have have a deep spice addiction. As I thought, Fremen have deep spice addiction. I will note that the concentration of spice in the atmosphere on Arrakis might be enough to keep a navigator alive. The players could meet a young failed navigator at a Dune cantina! That is awesome! Thanks! The scene I remember is Paul (weak in The Voice) using is to tell kidnappers to take the gag off Jessica. Jessica then tells the kidnapper to untie Paul. That action would have taken a minute, but I think it still fits with your rules. Quote:
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Last edited by beetle496; 01-23-2020 at 03:40 PM. Reason: grammar |
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01-22-2020, 09:58 AM | #82 | |
Join Date: Dec 2012
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Re: GURPS Dune
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Feel free to tweak my build to match your perception of how it works. If you don't like that it's an Advantage, just treat the [10] point cost as a UB to gain access to the skill. Anyway, here's my take on the Saurdakar: Sardaukar should essentially be Special Forces in Space ™. They are the highest threat in the galaxy and should be treated as such. Attributes should put them in the super human range Start at maybe ST 15, DX 13, IQ 12, HT 12, etc. and go up from there. Higher secondary characteristics would be in the form of more HP, Per, and Will. Since they’re considered super warriors we need to start with the basic “warrior” package: Combat Reflexes and High Pain Threshold. I would give them Fit or possibly Very Fit. Consider giving them Weapon Master or Trained by a Master. I would also state that they are experts are anything martial. Skill 16 minimum in any of their combat skills. I would suggest 18+ for those who like to do cinematic/space opera campaigns and go 16 for those who follow the cult of stat normalization. So primary weapon skill(s) at 18, backup weapons and hand to hand at 16. I’d give them the suite of “special forces” skill: camouflage, climbing, electronic operations: communications, escape, fast-draw, first aid, forced entry, holdout, intimidation, observation, soldier, stealth, survival, tactics, throwing, and various vehicle operating skills. All at high levels (so at attribute level and up to attribute+2). I could see Sardaukar also having Specialist lenses. So Commanders, Medics, Pilots, Sappers, Shock Troops, etc. Commanders would have Intelligence Analysis, Leadership, Strategy, and higher Tactics. Medics would have Physician, Surgery, techniques for quicker battlefield medicine, and possibly Pharmacy. Pilots would have Piloting, higher vehicle operating skills, and mechanic. Sappers would have Chemistry, Explosives, Architecture, higher forced entry, etc. Shock Troops would have Fearlessness, Hard to Subdue, maybe more HP, and wear armor under their shields (ceramic or something). Give them the best tactical military gear and go for it: Light weight Personal shields, lasguns (for the rabble), very fine + very balanced blades, force entry gear, “space” NVGs, medical supplies, climbing gear, etc. Sardaukar also hide weapons on themselves so give some of their gear the Disguised modifier. Sardaukar should not be just “as-good” as PCs but should be scary for them to encounter. Play them smart, brutal, and dangerous. Their disadvantages should include Duty (To the Empire), Sense of Duty (the Emperor), and Fanaticism (the crazy +Will version, to the Emperor). You should not be able to turn one of them through coercion or bribery. |
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01-22-2020, 02:43 PM | #83 | |
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Thomaston, GA
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Re: GURPS Dune
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Why do I feel like I'm reading Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson's Dune books? Last edited by AllenOwen; 01-22-2020 at 02:46 PM. Reason: spelling |
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01-22-2020, 02:46 PM | #84 | |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Re: GURPS Dune
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__________________
“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...” Marcus Aurelius |
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01-22-2020, 03:16 PM | #85 |
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Thomaston, GA
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Re: GURPS Dune
Good odds that Sardaukar are the inspiration for Space Marines.
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01-22-2020, 04:01 PM | #86 | |||
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Frederick, MD
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Re: GURPS Dune
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Thank you for acknowledging that the Fremen natives are deep Spice addicts. That seems like the environment should be enough Spice to keep our young navigator alive, assuming she abdicated her responsibilities on Arrakis. |
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01-22-2020, 04:40 PM | #87 |
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Thomaston, GA
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Re: GURPS Dune
Like the Guild is gonna let a navigator just quit. They'd have her killed, most ricky-tick; the Guild keeps its secrets and won't risk letting a ex navigator live. Even if she knew nothing, they still won't risk it. At least, they'd make an object lesson out of her. Thinking about quitting as a navigator? Think twice!
Deep spice addicts from diet, not breathing the air. Everyone who so much as set foot on Arrakis and took a breath would be addicted. Plenty of spice workers left the planet when the Atreides took over, of their own free will. And they'd been working there for years at that point. If they were deeply addicted, they'd go insane and then die after they left. And spice isn't cheap. This is too much like something Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson wrote. That might be a compliment, depending on your point of view. I didn't like them, at all. Dune is not a sandbox, and you end up making it something it isn't if you tried to make it so. Even if you had a navigator, you still can't use her/him/it for anything. Only the Guild had foldspace capable ships. And I think only 3rd stage navigators can actually, you know, navigate. Last edited by Andrew Hackard; 01-22-2020 at 07:45 PM. Reason: removed offensive comment |
01-23-2020, 06:20 AM | #88 | |||||||||
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Frederick, MD
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Re: GURPS Dune
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I would just give Sardaukar +2 rep and overconfidence. They are mooks. Quote:
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Mind you, I would not plan for a player to be a navigator. It is just if the players feel like they need a ship, I want to have given the idea a deal of thought ahead of time. |
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01-23-2020, 07:31 AM | #89 |
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Luxembourg
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Re: GURPS Dune
I wish I had a copy of the DUNE rpg, but the second hand prices are just insane.
Regarding the navigators, I remember there are 2 differents views : -one is that a navigator fold space by mental power fueled by the spice. In that case, no space travel without a navigator. (or, possibly, forbidden technology) -the other is that the navigator use the spice prescience to find a safe path, while the ship engine fold space. In that case, travel without a navigator is possible, if dangerous. (how dangerous is left to the GM to decide). I don't remember if Herbert ever indicated one way or other. |
01-23-2020, 10:28 AM | #90 | |
Join Date: Dec 2012
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Re: GURPS Dune
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[SPOILERS] Sardaukar are from the prison planet Salusa Secundus which is a harsh world environment much like Arrakis. It forces those who survive on it to the most hardened and toughened people. Which is why the Sardaukar take their ranks from the people who survive from the planet. [/SPOILERS] I have a different interpretation of that scene. The Atreides theorize that the harsh conditions of Arrakis create hardened, tough people who are forced to be better just to survive. This makes the Fremen the perfect people to be elite fighters. We see in the later books that the Fremen, trained in the Weirding Way, are able to sweep the galaxy with Paul's Jihad in an unstoppable force. The Fremen do have ridiculous stats. They come from a militant background, one that is ok teaching children and women how to fight, and are forged into hardened people in the harsh environment of Arrakis. The Sardaukar were defeated due to the following: They were surprised that women and children could fight, they could not use their personal shields (which means that they probably took no thought to defense), and were in the Fremen's home ground. These are huge tactical mistakes coupled with Fremen being trained in martial skills to almost the same level would mean that the Sardaukar could be taken out. |
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