Karama

List of uses for a Karama is limited to the original AH list. Ecaz karama vulnerabilities changed.

Treachery Card Deck

The base 33 deck is used. During the first reshuffle, 5 more cards are added. The cards added are a weapon and defence of each kind, and a karama card.

Discovery Tokens

Instead of being added, Discovery cards replace their corresponding Spice blow cards. Great Maker is not added to the deck. Jacurutu stronghold is assured to be one of the 3 random Hieregs to be revealed, and it's just a stronghold (Spice is not gained from undialed forces) Spice blows do not blow troops up, new Spice is simply added on top of previous spice. After reshuffle, if a 4th Hiereg/Smuggler card is revealed, it does not spawn.

Faster Storm

Only 2-6 speed Storm cards are used. 1-speed Storm card is removed.

Less Worms

Only 5 Shai-Hulud cards are added to the Spice deck. 1 card is removed.

Single Nexus

There is only one Nexus at the end of the phase if Shai-Hulud spawned at any of the two Spice blows.

Simple Dialing

There is no fraction dialing. Dialing up to 2 troops is free. Starting with 3, you have to pay 1 Spice for each further troop dialed. You cannot dial if you do not have the Spice for it.

Fremen

Wormriders: Your forces do not die to Shai-Hulud or to Storm. At the end of the Spice Blow & Nexus phase, you may move some or all of the saved forces to a single destination - either to your reserve or to any other territory, subject to storm and occupancy rules. This replaces original wormriding and storm loss reduction advantages. Alliance: Fremen allies do not block the Fremen special victory condition by occupying Sietches.

Harkonnen

Mulligan: Harkonnen may ask to redraw their traitors if they draw 2 Harkonnen traitors or 3 traitors of any single faction. Special Karama: During bidding, look at all Treachery cards that a player holds. You may pick and steal one by giving them one card from your hand.

Spacing Guild

Solo Stallout: Guild always breaks their alliance at the end of the Spice Blow phase of the last turn, and cannot ally afterwards.

Bene Gesserit

Worthless Karama: BG Worthless Treachery card can only be used as a Karama once per game, but is not vulnerable to a Karama itself. Avalon Hill: Reverting to and adapting AH rules, which can be summarized as: can only flip to fighters at the start of S&M phase and when entering a new territory; cannot flip to advisors on reinforcement; no CHOAM charity on Turn 1; cannot Voice Cheap Hero.

Ecaz

Recommended: GF9 Ecaz Cheaper Ambassadors: Each turn, the 1st ambassador is free to send. All further ambassadors cost 2 Spice to send. Immediate redraw: After you trigger a non-Ecaz Ambassador, draw a random Ambassador from the side to add to your supply. Then, return the triggered Ambassador to the side.

Moritani

Recommended: GF9 Moritani No EomE blocking: When allying Moritani using Enemy of my Enemy, that faction loses all forces in territories where they still coexist with Moritani, immediately after finalizing their moves. This does not apply to Bene Gesserit advisors.

Bene Tleilax

Recommended: Tleilaxu rework. For best experience, due to various reasons, other GF9 expansion factions are not recommended.

WHAT ARE KISS RULES? KISS rules (standing for Keep it Simple, Stupid) are an appendment and alteration of the original Avalon Hill or 2019 GF9 rulesets. The aim of KISS is to revisit the base rules - addressing their main flaws, clarifying or reverting some questionable recent rulings, incorporating the best bits of the expansions to the base rules, and removing some of their needless complexities. The expected outcome is a revised base ruleset that preserves and enriches the original Dune experience.

It is not the intent of KISS to rework every released variant, incorporate every homebrew suggestion, or to fix every new faction. Some expansion content was borrowed, but only those parts which clearly enriched gameplay while being effortless to incorporate and which neither provided any mechanical drawbacks nor any misaligned incentives to factions. Overwhelmingly, the idea of KISS is to remove complexity and to solve issues in the simplest way possible - and so the dominating decision is to remove content which doesn't make the cut. KISS will then end up being a new base which can be used when trying out these removed variants - but as optional add-ons; not as base content.

Even though some factions or released expansion variants haven't been included in KISS, don't feel discouraged to try them out at least once! While some minor details may not be compatible with KISS updates, overall most other factions and variants should still function.

KISS IS NOT A STANDALONE RULESET - YOU NEED AN ORIGINAL 1979 AH OR 2019 GF9 RULEBOOK TO PLAY. KISS BUILDS ON, MODIFIES AND CLARIFIES THESE ORIGINAL RULESET RELEASES ONLY. NO OTHER ERRATAS, FAQS, RELEASES, OR CLARIFICATIONS APPLY.

NEEDED RESOURCES To play KISS, you still need these rulesets, upon which KISS builds: - Either the original Avalon Hill rulebook or the original GF9 rulebook, for the main rules. - GF9 expansion 1 for the additional Treachery cards, and components for the Tleilaxu faction. - GF9 expansion 2 for the 3rd Karama Treachery card. - GF9 expansion 3 for the Discovery Tokens variant, and the Ecaz and Moritani factions.

While KISS was played and tested only on the 2019 GF9 ruleset, Avalon Hill ruleset was thoroughly consulted during the process and is compatible with KISS updates. There are a few differences between the two, with phase structure being most obvious. However, phase structure should not have any impact on the way these rules function. Meanwhile, some of the other differences, like differences in Fremen advantages, are already covered by KISS when providing a full faction rules sheet for each faction.

Faster Storm

Only 2-6 speed Storm cards are used. 1-speed Storm card is removed.

Reasoning

Both going first or last has upsides - factions going first have more options in terms of open strongholds; factions going last can react to what others have already done. However, the slow 1-speed Storm, especially if drawn multiple times in a row, and even more so when supported by a slowing Weather Control, may result in a stale boardstate where the same factions keep having to go first or last for several turns in a row. This can become very frustrating and limits the dynamics of a game.

With the 1-speed Storm card removed, the worst slow storm scenarios are no longer possible, and the average Storm speed is increased from 3.5 to 4 each turn. As an example, over the course of 7 turns this results in Storm having moved 3 sectors further. The sequence of players changes more rapidly and players get to experience a wider array of tactical scenarios over the course of the game.

Less Worms

Only 5 Shai-Hulud cards are added to the Spice deck. 1 Shai-Hulud card is removed.

Reasoning

Over a 10 turn game, Basic rules result in roughly 2 to 4 turns with a Nexus, but Advanced rules result in roughly 4 to 6! When polled, a very strong majority of players preferred less turns with a Nexus, a delayed first alliance, and slightly less alliance swapping. Removing 1 Shai-Hulud card bumps the expected number of turns with a Nexus down to roughly 3 to 5 turns per a 10-turn game. On any given turn, this has reduced the probability of having a Nexus from roughly 50% to roughly 45%.

Single Nexus

There is only one Nexus at the end of the phase if Shai-Hulud spawned at any of the two Spice blows.

Reasoning

The double Spice blow may cause two Nexuses, allowing two opportunities to change alliances. This almost always is a waste of time, as alliances barely ever change again, Moreover, this also introduces a very rare issue where Fremen can ally with a faction that exists in a stronghold which they rode to during the first Nexus - blocking the stronghold. Although there is a use case where the second Nexus can be used to break an alliance which was made only as part of an earlier deal (breaking all existing deals), this never was particularly fun and felt like an exploit.

Having only a single Nexus saves time and makes the phase more intuitive overall.

Treachery Card Deck

The base 33 deck is used. During the first reshuffle, 5 more cards are added. The cards added are a weapon and defence of each kind, and a karama card. Suggestion: start the game with the 5 mentioned cards already in the discard pile. You can get the additional weapons and defenses from the 1st GF9 Dune expansion (Ixians and Tleilaxu). You can get the additional karama card from the 2nd GF9 Dune expansion (CHOAM and Richese) - either the one from Richese deck or one of the replacement Karamas.

Reasoning

The base deck offers a nice balance of useful and useless cards… at first. When time comes for a reshuffle at around turn 5, rather frequently factions can find themselves in a position where most of the good cards are still held in hands. This is beneficial for the factions holding those cards, but quite the opposite for any faction that has lost everything and is on the back foot. These underdog factions find themselves with a deck that is now overwhelmingly filled with worthless cards and cheap heroes, making comebacks frustratingly hard.

Notably, this situation did have an effect of making winning easier. Once someone got ahead, the window they had for their attempt was longer, and their own good cards meant more. It also had a small impact on solo victories, since a faction with a good hand had more certainty that others are less likely to have any useful cards at all. On another hand, this meant that there were also less incentives to hurry up, as waiting for better opportunities posed less risks of other factions catching up. It was not rare for stalling to be the best course of action.

At the end, the 5 added cards are there to make the reshuffled deck better for factions that still haven't filled their hand. This makes comebacks easier. It also makes weapons just ever so slightly more disposable - and so less scary to lose, encouraging risky win attempts.

The added weapons and defenses are only basic, and the added karama is not special in any way. This is there to preserve the original ability to deduct and to predict which factions may be holding which weapons or defense types. KISS deck intentionally does not include any of the special weapons, special combat cards, or any other cards - those cards make it especially difficult to predict battles and make it harder to plan battles, undermining the strategic element of the game.

Truthtrance

Truthtrance answers are never future binding, not even in the current battle.

Reasoning

To play the devil's advocate, future-binding Truthtrances did allow for some creative plays, where binding your opponent to a future shipment to one stronghold would allow you to adjust and ship elsewhere. It also allowed you to ask for the weapon or defense that would be played against you, functioning as Prescience, which was liked by some people. While arguments about it being nonsense were abundant, in a way it was thematic, considering that an answer to a Bene Gesserit truthtrance answer could definitely allow a strategic mentat to adapt and adjust their plans accordingly.

Unfortunately, they created an overwhelming array of problematic scenarios where factions would technically be locked into future actions, but in practice would find ways to block themselves out of it, freeing themselves to act as they wish. Sometimes it raised a question of how honest a player should remain to their answer and should they follow it through. Entire lines of reasoning appeared on what lengths the player should go to so that their answer remains correct despite changing circumstances. This raised rare, but ardent arguments - and some side was always left feeling cheated and unfair.

In the end, future-binding Truthtrances are too much hassle and too much risk for what they are worth. Non-future binding truthtrances are still useful enough, and it's relaxing to no longer argue about them.

Karama

List of uses for a Karama is limited to the original AH list. Ecaz karama vulnerabilities have been reworked for balance reasons. You can find the full karama rules and use list in the next page.

Reasoning

The original Avalon Hill ruleset included only 2 specific advantages that a karama can negate for each faction. An exception to this was Bene Gesserit, which had 3. Another exception, in a way, was Atreides - one of the options for which was to "prevent Atreides from seeing the future, once". Over time it became common to interpret this as an option to use karama either to negate bidding prescience, or Spice prescience, or Battle prescience. These options stood and were refined for a long time, without many changes.

For the GF9 Dune release, in an attempt to simplify karama use, GF9 made almost all abilities vulnerable, with the negation always lasting for only a single instance. However, some abilities were still immune. Examples could be the Emperor giving Spice to allies freely, Harkonnen using traitors in allied battles, Fremen offering free revival to allies, or Moritani activating terror tokens. In addition, none of the "inherent" advantages like default victory conditions or Harkonnen having a larger hand could also be affected. In short - instead of becoming more intuitive, players still had to remember the whole list of what a karama can do; but now the list was significantly longer, sometimes going to as much as 9 options per faction. The GF9 simplification just became a longer list to memorize.

Furthermore, the expanded GF9 karama use list is largely imbalanced. It added some unfairly punishing options, especially against Fremen: options such as negating free dialing, negating them moving 2, or negating Storm immunity. Meanwhile, most of the other additions are useless - details such as preventing Bene Gesserit from claiming charity or negating Spacing Guild from receiving shipment Spice are not ever used.

Finally, the GF9 rulebook has misrepresented the karama options against the Emperor (buying cards without paying) and against the Spacing Guild (shipping for cheaper and pay to the bank instead of to the Guild). In the original release, both of these are described as effects used precisely against those factions - since they deprive them of expected Spice, and also prevent domination through tactics like the Emperor subbing Spice to their ally. While this has minimal gameplay impact, it does lose a level of nuance and perspective. It also unintentionally avoided having to resolve the question on whether these effects are available if either the Emperor or the Guild are not in the game, when adding additional expansion factions. For consistency and simplicity, the KISS decision here is to allow using these effects even if neither of these factions are in the game.

In KISS, the karama options almost fully return to the original AH list. The resulting list is much shorter and easier to reference, and the options available are also more balanced. For some options like Atreides prescience, an interpretation commonly used in 2016-2018 WBC rules was used - both because of clarity and for balance reasons, since Atreides were lacking options to stop them when they got going. Fremen options were updated to match the Fremen faction buff. Effects for Moritani (from expansion 3) were added exactly as presented in the rulebook. After much testing, effects for Ecaz were rewritten altogether to be less punishing, as the original uses were extremely unforgiving.

The clarification of allowing using battle karamas at any time is done from a practical perspective - timing windows are quite rarely respected, and often cause arguments. This does weaken Voice, since now players can wait for the Prescience answer or any other information before deciding whether to use a karama on Voice. However, Bene Gesserit winrate has always been significant and this side-effect may even be considered beneficial.

Karama can be used to subvert one of faction advantages from the list below, or to invoke the faction's Special Karama. There are no other karama uses. If applicable, karama effects can be used even if the appropriate faction is not in the game. A Karama cannot be used to subvert a faction's own advantage, but they can subvert their ally's advantage, if needed. Battle plan karama effects (marked with a ◀️) may be played at any time after battling factions are determined but before battle plans are revealed.

ATREIDES

• Prevent Atreides from viewing all remaining Treachery cards in this bidding phase.

◀️

• Prevent Atreides from viewing the top Spice card this turn.

◀️

• Prevent Atreides from using Prescience in one battle.

◀️

• Prevent Atreides from using Kwisatz Haderach in one battle. Special Karama: Once per game, view any one player's entire battle plan for one battle, before their opponent has to commit theirs. HARKONNEN

• Prevent Harkonnen from taking a bonus free treachery card, once.

• Prevent Harkonnen from capturing a leader, once. Special Karama: Once per game, at the start or end of the bidding phase or between bids, look at all Treachery cards that a player holds. You may pick and steal one by giving them one card from your hand. FREMEN

◀️

• Prevent Fremen and their ally from surviving Storm or Worm in one territory during this phase.

• Prevent Fremen from using Fedaykin bonus in one battle. Special Karama: Once per game, during the Spice Blow phase, summon a worm to any one location. If summoned to strongholds or rock territories, opposing forces are not devoured but Fremen forces can ride it. This does not cause a Nexus. EMPEROR

◀️

• Refuse to pay for one Treachery card you are purchasing. You may bid more Spice than you currently have if you are able to use this effect.

• Prevent Emperor from using Sardaukar bonus in one battle. Special Karama: Once per game, at any time, revive 3 forces or 1 leader for free. Sardaukar revival is still limited to 1 per turn but no other limits apply. SPACING GUILD

• Prevent Guild from collecting Spice for one shipment of yours, and ship at Guild rate.

• Prevent Guild from choosing their movement order. Guild must move in normal turn order. Special Karama: Once per game, after they declare their intended shipment, prevent any one player from shipping at all this phase.

◀️ BENE GESSERIT

• Prevent Bene Gesserit from using Voice in one battle.

• Prevent BG from sending one spiritual advisor. Special Karama: Once per game, you may use a Worthless card as a Karama card. ECAZ

• Prevent Ecaz from activating an ambassador once.

• Prevent Ecaz and their ally from considering each other's forces as the same faction in one territory where they were not co-occupying before, for this turn, as they attempt to do so. Special Karama: Once per game, when battle plans are revealed and if you played neither a weapon nor a defense, you may add the difference between your leader disc and your opponent's leader disc to your number dialed. MORITANI

• Prevent Moritani from placing or moving a Terror token this turn.

• Prevent Moritani from acquiring Duke Vidal. No effect if they already have him.

• Prevent Moritani from threatening Enemy of My Enemy once. They may still reveal the token but they may not change alliances. Special Karama: Once per game, if you lose a battle, force your opponent to discard or to keep any or all Treachery Cards they played.

◀️ TLEILAXU

• Prevent Tleilaxu from adding strength from killed leaders to Tleilaxu or their allies' battle plan in one battle.

• Prevent Tleilaxu from collecting Spice for uncollected or unspawned Spice Blows that phase. Special Karama: Once per game, at any time, take any leader from the Tleilaxu tanks for yourself at no cost, even if you had already revived a leader of that faction.

There is no fraction dialing. Dialing up to 2 troops (usually 2 Strength) is free. Starting with 3, you must pay 1 Spice for each further troop dialed. You cannot dial if you do not have the Spice for it. Fremen never pay for dialing any amount of forces.

In case troops are of different strength, such as Emperor's Sardaukar, more than 2 Strength could end up being free. For example, if 3 Sardaukar are being dialed in a battle for a total strength of 6, the Emperor would only need to pay 1 Spice for them.

It is also worth noting that dialing is, and always has been, capped at 20. Even with Fedaykin or Sardaukar, no one can ever dial more than 20 in a battle.

Breakdown

1 dial = 0 11 dial = 9 2 dial = 0 12 dial = 10 3 dial = 1 13 dial = 11 4 dial = 2 14 dial = 12 5 dial = 3 15 dial = 13 6 dial = 4 16 dial = 14 7 dial = 5 17 dial = 15 8 dial = 6 18 dial = 16 9 dial = 7 19 dial = 17 10 dial = 8 20 dial = 18

Reasoning

The classic Avalon Hill Advanced dialing is an interesting rule that accentuated faction differences. In Basic rules, each battle strength coming from troops is worth only as much as the Spice needed to ship them - 1 Spice per strength. With Advanced dialing, the cost of each troop strength doubled to 2 Spice. Meanwhile - Leader strengths were the same, both in Basic and Advanced. The amount of troops needed to equal a 5-Strength leader costs 5 Spice in Basic and 10 Spice in Advanced . In other words, killing your opponent's leader and making sure your leader survives is relatively more important in Advanced when compared to Basic rules. Furthermore, it also means that factions without income have a harder time funding large troop dials. As a result, in Advanced rules, combat factions were even more defined by their combat abilities, while economy factions were defined by their dial strength.

Advanced rules and Spice dialing did become the most common way of playing the game, but that doesn't mean that they are without criticism. First and foremost, dialing with halves and calculating how much strength you can dial based on the Spice you have is quite cumbersome. Experienced players have grown accustomed to it, but it's rare for a new player not to have multiple questions, with mistakes being frequent. Secondly, not all players appreciated how much the importance of leaders and treachery cards increased, and some still preferred the more brawly and relaxed nature of the Basic ruleset.

Simple Dialing is an attempt to alleviate both of these issues. Firstly, it is much easier to explain and use, even for first-time players. Secondly, with some of the forces being free to dial, it does make the fixation on leaders ever so slightly smaller. Hopefully this should make the ruleset more palatable both to Advanced and Basic players.

There are a few further implications

• There is an additional incentive to have multiple smaller engagements, since first troops in each engagement are free. - 2 Spice saved means factions can potentially afford to ship and dial 1 more troop for the same amount of Spice, lessening leader importance. - Factions that completely run out of Spice become extremely vulnerable, as they can no longer dial the troops on the planet, in any way. - Cherry on the top: Atreides can no longer gain an early Kwizatz Haderach for free, without actually losing.

Base Discovery token rules in short

A random Discovery token is placed on the board face-down whenever a Spice card with a Hiereg or a Smuggler symbol is drawn. The Spice card shows the location where the token is placed. During Spice collection, a faction with non-advisor forces standing in a territory with an unrevealed Discovery token, may take a look at it and decide whether to reveal it (and use it), or to keep it unrevealed. If the token is a territory, the revealing faction does not immediately move in, but has the option to do so for free at the start of the following turn. KISS modifications: Instead of being added, Discovery cards replace their corresponding Spice blow cards. Great Maker is not added to the deck. After adding the cards and removing the 6th Shai-Hulud card, the full Spice deck should have 20 cards. Jacurutu stronghold is assured to be one of the 3 random Hieregs to be revealed, and it's just a stronghold (Spice is not gained from undialed forces) Spice blows do not blow troops up, new Spice is simply added on top of previous spice. After reshuffle, if a 4th Hiereg/Smuggler card is revealed, it does not spawn.

Note - some Discovery tokens are territories. The cost to ship into a revealed territory token is the same as for shipping into strongholds. Forces in these locations are immune to the effects of the storm or sandworms. Only two factions can occupy a revealed token territory.

HIEREG TOKENS

Whenever a Hiereg token is face down on the board, the Fremen may look at it at any time without revealing it.

Jacurutu Sietch - This counts as a normal stronghold. This token is a territory.

Cistern - If you occupy Cistern during the Spice Collection phase, gain 2 Spice from the Spice Bank. This token is a territory.

Ecological Testing Station - If you occupy the Ecological Testing Station during the Storm phase, you may add or subtract the movement of the storm by 1. This has no effect on Weather Control. This token is a territory.

Shrine - If you occupy the Shrine, you may play Truthtrance as a Karama card, and vice versa. The Bene Gesserit can play Worthless cards as Truthtrance cards. This token is a territory.

SMUGGLER TOKENS

Whenever a Smuggler token is face down on the board, Spacing Guild may look at it at any time without revealing it.

Orgiz Processing Station - If you occupy the Processing Station during the Spice Collection phase, take 1 Spice from any Spice blow being collected by any other faction, before they collect. This token is a territory.

Treachery Card Stash - Gain 1 Treachery Card. If your hand is full, gain a card then discard any card. This token is a stash. Once revealed, remove this token from the game.

Spice Stash - Gain 7 Spice from the Spice Bank. This token is a stash. Once revealed, remove this token from the game.

Ornithopter - Gain the token. You may use it on any subsequent turn to have 3 movement instead of your normal movement for one movement action. This token is a stash. Once revealed, take it. After it is used, remove this token from the game.

Reasoning

Discovery tokens is a variant introduced by GF9 in expansion 3 (Ecaz & Moritani). It provides a reason to move into some of the territories in the game that are otherwise never visited. It also provides some map randomization, increasing game variety. All of this is achieved without distorting the incentives and other mechanics in the game. This variant is loved by all and hated by none.

Most importantly - Discovery tokens is the best variant so far that provides a 6th stronghold. With the update on how the Discovery cards are added to the deck, and the update to assure that Jacurutu is always in the supply, the Jacurutu Sietch never comes up later than Turn 8, and so can function at least from Turn 9. Of course, usually it comes up much earlier. In general, a 6th stronghold becomes desirable in mid-game, as it prevents the game from stalling, while also providing a period in the early game where winning is harder, reducing very short games.

KISS rules covers the 6 original factions (Atreides, Harkonnen, Fremen, Emperor, Spacing Guild, and Bene Gesserit), 2 factions from the Ecaz & Moritani GF9 expansion, and a Tleilaxu homebrew faction.

AT START

10 forces in Arrakeen and 10 in reserves (off-planet). Start with 10 Spice.

FREE REVIVAL

2 forces.

You have limited prescience.

BIDDING

During the bidding round, you may look at each Treachery Card as it comes up for purchase before any faction bids on it. You, and only you, may keep written records about cards.

MOVEMENT

At the start of the Movement Phase, before anyone moves, you may look at the top card of the Spice Deck.

BATTLE

During the Battle Phase, you may force your opponent to reveal your choice of one of the four elements they will use in their Battle Plan against you: the leader, the weapon, the defense, or the number dialed. If you choose to ask about a weapon or defense and your opponent tells you that they are not playing that element during this battle, you may not then ask to see a different element.

KWISATZ HADERACH

The Kwisatz Haderach card starts out inactive and may not be used. Use the Kwisatz Haderach card and counter token to secretly keep track of force losses. Once you have lost 7 or more forces in a battle or battles, the Kwisatz Haderach card becomes active for the rest of the game and may be used as follows:

• It cannot be used alone in battle, but may add its +2 strength to leaders or cheap heroes in one territory per turn. If the leader or cheap hero is killed, the Kwisatz Haderach has no effect in the battle.

• A leader accompanied by Kwisatz Haderach cannot turn traitor.

• The Kwisatz Haderach can only be killed if blown up by a lasgun/shield explosion. If killed, the Kwisatz Haderach must be revived like any other leader.

• Alive or dead, the Kwisatz Haderach has no effect on the rule governing revival of Atreides leaders.

ALLIANCE

You may assist your allies by forcing their opponent to show them one element of their Battle Plan.

SPECIAL KARAMA

Once per game, view any one player's entire battle plan for one battle, before their opponent has to commit theirs.

VULNERABLE

Karama can prevent you from viewing all remaining Treachery cards in this bidding phase; or from viewing the top Spice card this turn; or from using Prescience in one battle; or from using Kwisatz Haderach in one battle.

THE NOBLE HOUSE ATREIDES

House Atreides is a noble line revered for its sense of duty, honor, and loyalty. virtues that shine brightly in an Imperium shaped by cynicism and fear. Rulers of the oceanic world Caladan, the Atreides have long cultivated a legacy of justice and compassion, earning them the admiration of allies and the suspicion of rivals. To many, they are a rare force of principle in a cynical age. To others, they are merely persuasive idealists playing a long, dangerous game.

Duke Leto Atreides governs through loyalty, not fear. But his honor does not make him naïve. Beneath the surface, House Atreides cultivates elite spies, masterful propagandists, and political operatives capable of matching any rival in the Great Game. Their image of virtue is not always deception. but it is always strategic. In a universe that runs on perception, few wield appearances more effectively.

It is true that House Atreides does not crave war. But they prepare for it all the same. Their legions are trained, their troops are ready for battle, sometimes even before the Atreides ask them to. Under the image of honor lies a deep understanding of power - how it works, how it is perceived, and how it can be used without appearing to grasp for it. Their enemies know this well. And perhaps that is why they fear them most.

Arrakis is not just a test of strength for House Atreides. it will test whether integrity can survive contact with power.

Caladan, homeworld of House Atreides, is the third planet orbiting the star Delta Pavonis. It is a lush oceanic world, known for abundant rainfall, scattered archipelagos, and almost never-ending oceans. The landscape hosts a diverse and complex underwater ecosystem, and as a result, a significant amount of trade on the planet is based on fishing. Indeed, fishing is such a large industry on Caladan that it is deeply ingrained into the culture of its people. Any view of the sea from the coastline is frequently dotted with fishing trawlers.

Caladanians have always had to observe and account for weather. While rainstorms are not nearly as deadly as the sandstorms on Arrakis, their sheer frequency makes traveling difficult. A badly timed fishing trip has a very high chance of ending up either as a shipwreck, or in being cast out to open oceans without enough supplies to return. Rains frequently isolate island villages, sometimes for weeks on end, preventing trade and communications. This has made Caladanians into a robust, disciplined, and self-reliant people.

Atreides maintain a modest, but well-trained regular standing army on Caladan, and rule it by fully controlling its skies and seas. A large part of the army is constantly involved in humanitarian aid or disaster relief, sometimes even using their warships to resupply cutoff villages, or to scour the oceans for stranded fishermen and traders. Since a significant part of the army is recruited locally, it is in return fiercely loyal, and serve with pride. The Duke is loved and well-known by the people, and uniformed soldiers are seen and woven into streets and markets of every village on the planet.

NOTABLE RULES DIFFERENCES

Avalon Hill 1979

Original release

WBC 2016-2018

Karama vulnerability clarifications

GF9 2019

More karama vulnerabilities added; restricted to one instance

KISS 2026

Karama effects reverted to WBC

ATREIDES Q&A

PRESCIENCE

SIMPLE DIALING

AT START

10 forces in Carthag and 10 forces in reserve (off-planet). Start with 10 Spice.

FREE REVIVAL

2 forces.

You excel in treachery.

TRAITORS

At the start of the game when you draw 4 Traitor Cards, you keep them all including your own, and any leader cards of other factions can be revealed in a battle as a traitor. If you draw at least 2 Harkonnen traitors or at least 3 traitors of any single faction, you may ask to redraw traitors by immediately revealing them.

TREACHERY

You may hold up to 8 Treachery Cards. When you have 8 cards you must pass during bidding. At the beginning of the game you are dealt 2 cards instead of 1, and every time you buy a card you get an extra card for free from the Treachery Deck (unless you are at 7 cards, because you can never have more than 8 total Treachery Cards in hand).

CAPTURED LEADERS

Every time you win a battle, you can either randomly select 1 leader from the loser (including the leader used in the battle, if not killed, but excluding all leaders already used elsewhere that turn) and place the Leader Disc face down into the Tleilaxu Tanks to gain 2 spice from the Spice Bank; or you can keep the leader and use it once in a battle, after which, if it wasn't killed during that battle, you must return that leader to its faction. When all of your own leaders have been killed, you must return all captured leaders immediately to their factions. Killed captured leaders are put in the Tleilaxu Tanks from which their factions can revive them (subject to the revival rules). A captured leader used in battle may be claimed as a traitor.

ALLIANCE

Traitor Cards that you hold may be used against your ally's opponent if you so choose.

SPECIAL KARAMA

Once per game, at the start or end of the bidding phase or between bids, look at all Treachery cards that a player holds. You may pick and steal one by giving them one card from your hand.

VULNERABLE

Karama can prevent you from taking a bonus free treachery card, once; or from capturing a leader, once.

THE EVIL HOUSE HARKONNEN

House Harkonnen is power without pretense. Rulers of the industrial world Giedi Prime, their strength lies in the clarity of their methods: domination, fear, and exploitation. Where others cloak their ambition in civility or faith, the Harkonnen make no apologies. They understand the Imperium for what it is. a machine of power, corruption, and survival. And they have no intention of being crushed beneath its wheels.

Under Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, the House has perfected the calculus of cruelty. He rules not just through force, but through psychological warfare: control the supply lines, corrupt the officials, buy the traitors, and break the will of those who resist. Morality is a weakness he does not share. Compassion is a tool, if it has use. Loyalty is earned with gold or terror. either will suffice.

Despite their infamy, the Harkonnen are not without genius. Their spies are everywhere. Their networks run deep. They manufacture dependency, debt, and silence with a precision that rivals any mentat. Their cruelty is not mindless. it is engineered, refined, and efficient. And above all, it works.

To rule Arrakis is not a privilege for House Harkonnen. it is a right they intend to reclaim. The Spice is power, and power is survival. If fire and blood are required, then so be it. Let the others talk of justice or fate. The Harkonnen know: in the end, history belongs to those strong enough to seize it.

Giedi Prime, homeworld of House Harkonnen, is an oil-soaked, blood-soaked hell hole orbiting the star Ophiuchi B. Since the planet was heavily industrialized for as long as any written history reaches, the current ecosystem can only be described as severely polluted and artificial. Several active volcanoes routinely dump clouds of ash, with deep smog and smoke constantly covering the planet and dimming the sun. All of the local fauna have long gone extinct, and the local flora is also very limited, although a few twisted weed and tree species have been able to survive in places where they are permitted to exist. Algae barely keep up producing sufficient oxygen for the sprawling, dense population. Interestingly, its atmosphere is rich in ozone, giving the otherwise foul air an invigorating quality.

Human life on Giedi Prime would no longer be sustainable without organized control. The planet must import almost all of its organic food and supplies from other worlds to feed its endless industrial cities. Supplements and medication are universally and abundantly used to extend otherwise miserably short livespans. Substance abuse is widespread and culturally embraced. People growing up on Giedi Prime are forced to enter the labour force - either willingly or as slaves - at a very young age, lest they starve. Human life matters little, with frequent cutthroat games and gladiatorial fights organized by the Harkonnens for local entertainment and distraction. Interestingly, rebellions rarely spring up, mainly because a simple logistical reroute may lead to mass starvations. The people know this, and oppression has become the accepted way of life.

While the working class and slaves survive on meager industrial rations, the few Harkonnen elite indulge in massive feasts, consuming rich foods, imported fruits, and quantities of spice. Being conscripted to the Harkonnen military is seen as a small, but assured step closer to these luxuries - or at least closer to a slightly bigger ration. While not the most disciplined soldiers, Harkonnen troops may be the most desperate and most familiar to violence - which works just as well in high numbers.

NOTABLE RULES DIFFERENCES

Avalon Hill 1979

Original release

WBC 2016-2018

No changes

GF9 2019

Special Karama use window narrowed down to bidding phase

KISS 2026

Special Karama restricted to stealing only 1 card.

HARKONNEN Q&A TREACHERY

CAPTURED LEADERS

SPECIAL KARAMA

AT START

10 forces distributed as you like on Sietch Tabr, False Wall South, and False Wall West; and 10 forces in reserves (on the far side of Dune). Start with 3 Spice.

FREE REVIVAL

3 forces (you cannot buy additional revivals). You are native to Dune and know its ways.

SHIPMENT

During shipment, you may bring any or all of your reserves for free onto the Great Flat or onto any one territory within two territories of the Great Flat (subject to storm and occupancy rules).

MOVEMENT

During movement you may move your forces two territories instead of one.

WORMRIDERS

Your forces do not die to Shai-Hulud or to Storm. At the end of the Spice Blow & Nexus phase, you may move some or all of the saved forces to a single destination - either to your reserve or to any other territory, subject to storm and occupancy rules.

SANDWORMS

During a Spice Blow, all additional sandworms that appear after the first sandworm can be placed by you in any sand territory you wish. Any forces there, except yours, are devoured.

FREMEN SPECIAL VICTORY CONDITION

If no faction has won by the end of the last turn and if you (or no one) occupies Sietch Tabr and Habbanya Sietch and neither Harkonnen, Atreides, Emperor, nor Richese occupies Tuek's Sietch, your plans to alter Dune have succeeded and you and any allies win the game.

STORM RULE

Move the Storm Marker normally using the Battle Wheels on the first turn of the game. Subsequent storm movement is determined by you using your Storm Cards. You randomly select a card from the Storm Deck, secretly look at it, and place it face down on the margin of the game board. In the next Storm Phase the number on that Storm Card is revealed; the storm is moved counterclockwise that number of sectors and your Storm Card is returned to the Storm Card Deck. You then shuffle the Storm Deck, randomly select a Storm Card and look at it for the next turn's storm movement, and place it face down on the margin of the game board.

FEDAYKIN

Your three starred forces, Fedaykin, have a special fighting capability. They are worth two normal forces in battle and in taking losses. They are each treated as one force in revival. Only one Fedaykin force can be revived per turn.

BATTLES

Your forces do not require Spice to be sent to battle.

ALLIANCE

You may decide to protect (or not protect) your allies from being devoured by sandworms, and, at your discretion, you may also increase their free revival to 3. Finally, your allies win with you if you win with the Fremen Special Victory Condition, and they cannot block it by occupying Sietches.

SPECIAL KARAMA

Once per game, during the Spice Blow phase, summon a worm to any one location. If summoned to strongholds or rock territories, opposing forces are not devoured but Fremen forces can ride it. This does not cause a Nexus.

VULNERABLE

Karama can prevent you or your ally from surviving Storm or Worm in one territory during this phase; or from using Fedaykin bonus in one battle.

THE ENDURING FREMEN PEOPLE - color

The Fremen are the hidden soul of Arrakis. shaped by the desert, hardened by scarcity, and bound by dreams of a world reborn. Scattered across the sands in isolated sietches, they are a people long overlooked, mistaken for scavengers or zealots. Yet beneath this obscurity lies one of the greatest fighting forces the Imperium has ever known: warriors forged by necessity, sharpened by ritual, and unmatched in both ferocity and cunning.

They do not merely survive the desert. they have mastered it. They read its winds, ride its worms, and harvest its spice with reverence and precision. Water is life, and every drop is sacred. Their lives are sacrifice and secrecy, and yet something far greater binds them: a dream of Arrakis green and free, no longer ruled by offworld greed.

But the Fremen are not wholly united. Deep rivalries linger between sietches, traditions differ, and leaders vie for authority. For generations, this fragmentation has kept them from acting as one. And so the Imperium continues to dismiss them. underestimating their numbers, unaware of the Guild's silence bought with spice bribes, blind to the sleeping storm beneath the dunes.

Yet should the Fremen ever rise together, the consequences would be profound. With their unmatched warriors, hidden legions, and unwavering vision, they would not merely resist. they would remake the world. The desert is patient. So are its people.

NOTABLE RULES DIFFERENCES

Avalon Hill 1979

Original release

WBC 2016-2018

Free dialing added

GF9 2019

No changes

KISS 2026

Wormriders replace storm and worm immunity. Added a clarification that allies do not prevent the Fremen special victory condition.

FREMEN Q&A MOVEMENT

WORMRIDERS

SIMPLE DIALING

ALLIANCE

AT START

10 forces in Carthag and 10 forces in reserve (off-planet). Start with 10 Spice.

FREE REVIVAL

1 force.

You have access to great wealth.

BIDDING

Whenever any other faction pays spice for a Treachery Card, they pay it to you instead of the Spice Bank. You may not discount the price of Treachery Cards; the full price must be paid.

SARDAUKAR

Your five starred forces, elite Sardaukar, have a special fighting capability. They are worth two normal forces in battle and in taking losses against all opponents except Fremen. Your starred forces are worth just one force against Fremen. They are treated as one force in revival. Only one Sardaukar force can be revived per turn.

ALLIANCE

You may share your great wealth with your allies as well as paying spice (directly to the bank) for the revival of up to 3 extra of their forces (for a possible total of 6 during each Revival Phase) from the Tleilaxu Tanks.

SPECIAL KARAMA

Once per game, at any time, revive 3 forces or 1 leader for free. Sardaukar revival is still limited to 1 per turn but no other limits apply.

VULNERABLE

Karama can prevent you from using Sardaukar bonus in one battle; or to allow the playing faction to refuse paying for one Treachery card they are purchasing. That faction may bid more Spice than they currently have if they are able to use this effect.

EMPEROR SHADDAM CORRINO IV OF THE GOLDEN LION THRONE

Shaddam Corrino IV sits atop the Golden Lion Throne, sovereign not by love or lineage alone, but by control of the Imperium's most vital currency: leverage. His position is upheld by fear, his image bathed in opulence, and his power ensured by two unmatched assets. the Sardaukar, and the flow of Spice. Through CHOAM's coffers and quiet bribes, the Emperor's influence reaches further than any banner could fly.

But thrones are fragile things. Shaddam cannot rule by force alone, nor can he act too openly. The Landsraad watches for weakness and overreach alike, ready to unite in fear should imperial power overstep. The Guild buries bolder troop shipments in red tape. And so, the Emperor's hand must strike without being seen. On Arrakis, his involvement is real. but always veiled, always deniable. Troops wear false livery. Orders pass through proxies. He does not appear to choose sides… only to restore balance. Or so it must seem.

Now, with tensions sharpening among the Great Houses, the time to act draws near. Whether it is Harkonnen brutality or Atreides popularity that most threatens the throne is known only to the Emperor. and perhaps not even fully to him. What matters is the preservation of his order, his dynasty, and the flow of Spice that sustains it all.

What the Emperor cannot possess directly, he controls with coin and consequence. CHOAM dividends, Sardaukar whispers, and the cold calculus of survival. these are the tools of an emperor. And on the sands of Arrakis, they may soon be tested.

Kaitain is the second capital of the Corrino Empire, moved from their original homeworld, Salusa Secundus. These worlds could not be more different, and Corrino continues to directly control them both. While Salusa Secundus is a harsh, rugged, unforgiving world, Kaitain is a temperate paradise. Imperial visitors cannot help to notice forever-blue skies with little clouds and a perpetually warm climate throughout the year. A fleet of weather control satellites over Kaitain hints to the fact that this paradise is at least partially manufactured.

Kaitain hosts not only the seat of the Imperial Corrino House, but is also a frequent meeting place for the Landsraad. It is a matter of honor for any Houses Major embassy on Kaitain to be of sufficient grandeur, and every respectable organization of the Imperium maintains some diplomatic residence. A large population of bureaucrats, servants, merchants, masons and artisans needed to support this diplomatic endeavour have formed several large cities. Orderly and exemplary in the daytime, during nights these cities turn into the main battleground in the War of Assassins between rival Houses. Luckily for the local population, they are rarely affected by it.

Salusa Secundus holds no such subtlety. It is a desolate world full of extreme weather conditions and wild beasts. Survival there is difficult, even if not as difficult as on Arrakis. After moving the capital, Corrino repurposed Salusa Secundus as their penal prison planet. Inspection of this prison planet is not permitted, but stories tell of horrific conditions and extraordinary mortality rates. It is speculated that the harsh environment of the planet is a crucial element of the training and recruitment of the notorious Sardaukar, though this has never been confirmed.

NOTABLE RULES DIFFERENCES

Avalon Hill 1979

Original release

WBC 2016-2018

No changes

GF9 2019

Ability to revive 3 extra forces for an ally added

KISS 2026

No changes

EMPEROR Q&A SHARING WEALTH

AT START

5 forces in Tuek's Sietch and 15 forces in reserve (off-planet). Start with 5 Spice.

FREE REVIVAL

1 force.

You control all shipment onto and off Dune.

PAYMENT FOR SHIPMENT

When other factions ship forces onto Dune from their off-planet reserves, they pay the Spice to you instead of to the Spice Bank.

THREE TYPES OF SHIPMENT

You are capable of making one of three types of shipments each turn:

• You may ship normally from off-planet reserves to Dune;

• You may ship any number of forces from any one territory to any other territory on the board;

• You may ship any number of forces from any one territory back to your reserves.

HALF PRICE

You pay only half the normal fee when shipping your forces, and pay 1 spice for every 2 of your forces shipped back to reserves.

SHIP AND MOVE WHEN YOU WISH

You may take your shipment and move action out of turn. This would allow you to go first or last or in between other players' turns, however you wish. The rest of the factions must make their shipments and moves in the proper sequence. You do not have to reveal when you intend to make your shipment and move until the moment you wish to take it.

SPACING GUILD SPECIAL VICTORY CONDITION

You always break from any alliance that you have at the end of the Spice Blow phase of the last turn, and you cannot ally for the rest of the game. If no faction has been able to win the game by the end of play, you have prevented control of Dune and automatically win the game.

ALLIANCE

Allies may ship from their off-planet reserves onto Dune or cross-ship from one territory to another with forces that are already on Dune at the Spacing Guild half-price rate.

SPECIAL KARAMA

Once per game, after they declare their intended shipment, prevent any one player from shipping at all this phase.

VULNERABLE

Karama can prevent you from collecting Spice for one shipment of the playing faction, and let them ship at Guild rate; or from choosing your movement order. You must move in normal turn order.

THE NEUTRAL SPACING GUILD

The Spacing Guild holds the Imperium's breath in its hands. As the third pillar of power. alongside the Emperor and the Landsraad. it guards the secret of foldspace travel with an unyielding grip. Its Navigators, warped and hidden by Spice and isolation, peer beyond time's edge to guide Heighliners through the void. Few have glimpsed them, fewer understand their true nature or intent. Their strength rests on absolute neutrality and a shadowy detachment from the cargo they ferry. Only one law matters: the Spice must flow.

The Guild's monopoly thrives on preserving a delicate balance. It allows fractured rivalries among Houses to fester and bicker, for this discord guarantees the Guild's control remains unchallenged. No House dares test the Guild's patience, knowing well that a silent choke on passage or a sudden rise in fees can quietly crush even the grandest ambitions. all under the guise of strict impartiality.

In service of this brittle equilibrium, the Guild wields a subtle arsenal: a shipment delayed or a satellite image denied can unexpectedly turn a well planned battle into a disaster. Moreover, a network of quietly tolerated smugglers tells a different story about the Guild's neutrality. These outlaws, far from being mere nuisances, are pawns encouraged to stoke endless skirmishes and petty wars. distractions that sap unity and entrench the Guild's unseen dominion, while driving prices ever higher.

In this way, the Guild becomes both guardian and jailer. preserving a fragile status quo that freezes the Imperium in time. Change is a threat; progress a risk. The Guild's patient neutrality is a cold and calculated force, bending fate only when the Spice demands. To challenge their hold is to threaten the fragile order they maintain. and invite ruin.

When Spacing Guild representatives refer to their center of operations, they purposefully avoid specifying whether it is a planet, planetary object, or if it is even a single object at all. Regardless, one planet stands out and is known to serve as the headquarters for the Spacing Guild and its bank, and is colloquially considered to be their homeworld. It is known as Junction.

Junction is an inhospitable world that is kinder to ships than to people. For anyone else in Imperium, Junction is useless - it is a barren rock, lacking any atmosphere, water, or any outstanding resource deposits. For Guild, however, this undesirability may have been a great plus. Instead, what Junction offers is a strategic location, flat terrain, and ease of landing - all essential qualities that have allowed Guild to turn it into a massive interstellar shipyard. Most of the planet's surface is covered by landing fields and repair bays for Heighliners; the rest is dedicated for Guild's administrative centers and training academies, including a Navigator school. Structures pierce deep underground, where the whole population lives, and where Guild's Spice silos are hidden. It is a place to which every Heighliner eventually returns to.

Junction has no native population; everyone living on Junction works for the Spacing Guild. Off-worlder visits are permitted, but happen only under tightly controlled circumstances. Even Guild's own workers are sectioned off by function. Only higher-ranking Guildsmen and Navigators are able to piece the full picture of all operations happening on Junction. From here, all logistics of the Imperium are controlled - and possibly the Imperium itself, as well.

NOTABLE RULES DIFFERENCES

Avalon Hill 1979

Original release

WBC 2016-2018

No changes

GF9 2019

No changes

KISS 2026

Special Victory condition was made more appealing as Guild never shares it with their ally

SPACING GUILD Q&A SPACING GUILD SPECIAL VICTORY CONDITION

KARAMA

FREMEN ALLIANCE

AT START

19 forces in reserves. 1 force in a territory of your choice, placing after Fremen. Start with 5 Spice.

FREE REVIVAL

1 force.

You are adept in the ways of mind control.

PREDICTION

After factions are selected and seated, you secretly predict when one other faction will win, placing a turn number card and a faction card from your prediction cards face down behind your Player Shield. If the faction you predicted wins (alone or as an ally, even your ally) in the turn you predicted, reveal your prediction and win alone. You also can win normally. You can't predict that the Spacing Guild or Fremen will win with their special victory conditions.

VOICE

You may force your opponent to do as you wish with respect to one of the cards they play in their Battle Plan. For instance, to play or not play a weapon type (poison or projectile), defense type (poison or projectile), or a Worthless Card. Other cards that can be played, such as the Lasgun, need to be named to be directly affected, though some may be indirectly affected by falling under the targeted weapon or defense types. You cannot voice a Cheap Hero. If your opponent cannot comply with your command, they may do as they wish.

CHARITY

Beginning with the 2nd turn, you always receive the CHOAM charity of 2 Spice regardless of how many Spice you already have.

ADVISORS AND FIGHTERS

Your forces have two sides: Advisors (with stripes) and Fighters (without stripes). Fighters are regular forces. Anytime your forces enter a territory in which you previously had no forces, or when another non-allied player enters a territory only occupied by your Fighters, you must decide to which side your forces in that territory are flipped. Your forces that enter a territory with Fighters or Advisors flip to that side. You ignore occupancy limits when entering strongholds, but you must flip to Advisors if that causes an illegal state. At the beginning of each Shipping & Movement phase, in any territories where you have forces, you may flip them to the other side. Forces cannot flip under Storm, where allied forces exist, or in full Strongholds.

COEXISTENCE

Advisors coexist peacefully with all other players' tokens in the same territory. They have no effect on the play of the other players whatsoever. They are treated as if they are not even on the board, and they cannot, for example, collect spice, be involved in combat, contest control of a stronghold, prevent another faction from shipping or moving in, secure ornithopters, or play Family Atomics. They are still susceptible to storms, worms and explosions.

SPIRITUAL ADVISORS

Whenever another player ships forces to Dune from off-planet, you may ship, for free, one Advisor from your reserves either into the same territory (provided you have no Fighters there or if they flip to Advisors) or into the Polar Sink.

ALLIANCE

In an Alliance you may Voice an ally's opponent.

SPECIAL KARAMA

Once per game, you may use a Worthless card as a Karama card.

VULNERABLE

Karama can prevent you from using Voice in one battle; or from sending one spiritual advisor.

THE ENLIGHTENED BENE GESSERIT SISTERHOOD

The Bene Gesserit Sisterhood is a secretive and ancient order devoted to the mastery of body, mind, and history. Outwardly, they present themselves as advisors, concubines, and quiet companions. harmless women weaving themselves into the periphery of power. But beneath this cultivated image lies a vast and deliberate conspiracy, centuries in motion. Through breeding programs, genetic memory, and psychological conditioning, the Sisterhood steers bloodlines, empires, and belief itself toward ends only they fully understand.

Few comprehend the depth of their discipline. A Reverend Mother can control her body on the cellular level, detect lies with a glance, and bend others to her will through the Voice. The Sisterhood swears allegiance to no house or creed but their own. They fight not with legions, but with influence, with myths, with strategic placement. And when more direct force is needed, they can always call upon pawns who serve without realizing who pulls the strings.

Their goals remain opaque. an elusive vision of human survival, stability, and transformation. They are not above manipulation, nor even quiet cruelty, if it serves their purpose. In the chaos unfolding on Arrakis, the Sisterhood sees not disorder, but design. If they can position the right heir, stir the right legend, guide the right hand... then the Imperium may awaken to a future it never chose. yet one the Bene Gesserit have long prepared.

Wallach IX is the ninth planet of the Laoujin system. Extensively obliterated by atomics during the Butlerian Jihad, it is a world that has not fully finished healing ever since the founding of the Empire. Temperate forests have again spread across the planet, but significant mountain ranges, many of which were formed during the bombing, are a continuous reminder of the planet's old wounds. Generally damp, chilly and overcast, it is not a very pleasant world to live in, but is otherwise surprisingly habitable.

The Bene Gesserit sisterhood were granted formal refuge on Wallach 9 some time after Butlerian Jihad, and the world has since served as their central headquarters and sanctuary. The Mother School is located here, as well as major archives, and countless small fortresses and settlements. While most of these settlements are mundane and simply grow food, many others hold secret Bene Gesserit projects in various stages of development. The complete list and purpose of these projects is known only to Mother Supreme, who watches over the world. Without Mother Supreme's permission, no one can visit or inspect, nor even land on the planet.

The world's security starts in the advisory boards and minds of every House of the Imperium, which has been pervaded by Bene Gesserit advisors. A planned attack on Wallach 9 would not only be discovered far in advance, it would be prevented immediately by damage done to the House's reputation, by calling in troops from many indebted houses, and through inside sabotage. If all that fails, the privacy and security are further ensured by multiple guarded strongholds, as well as a powerful, active planetary defense. There is no risk of revolt either, as anyone living on Wallach 9 are part of the Bene Gesserit operational hierarchy - everyone from staff and servants to aspiring acolyte candidates. As so, those allowed to step on this world find themselves in one of the safest places in the known universe - likely much safer than even the Emperor's palace.

NOTABLE RULES DIFFERENCES

Avalon Hill 1979

Original release

WBC 2016-2018

No changes

GF9 2019

Extended CHOAM charity to T1. Introduced flipping back to fighters when alone (nova flip) and flipping to advisors on reinforcement. Allowed Voicing Cheap Heroes.

KISS 2026

Full revert to original rules, with wording changes to accommodate the new two-sided force tokens.

BENE GESSERIT Q&A ADVISORS AND FIGHTERS

While still outside of the battle plan, they count as their default types (projectile weapon and poison defense), and are unaffected by Voice if forcing their alternative use . You can still Voice your opponent to not use those types - for example, Voicing not to use a poison weapon prevents playing Chemistry as a weapon. You may also Voice to use or not to use any of those cards by naming them directly, but in that case it is up to the opponent to choose which type of card is Chemistry / Weirding Way played as.

AT START

6 forces in the Imperial Basin. 14 forces in reserves (off-planet). Start with 12 Spice. Take the Ecaz Ambassador token and 5 random Ambassador tokens from the remaining pool of Ambassador tokens to form a supply.

FREE REVIVAL

2 forces. You forge strong alliances.

AMBASSADORS

At the end of Revival you may spend spice to place Ambassador tokens from your supply in any stronghold not in storm that does not have one. Each turn, the 1st Ambassador is free to place. All further Ambassadors placed that turn cost 2 Spice to place. When another faction (other than your ally, advisors, or the faction matching the marker) enters a stronghold with an Ambassador, you may trigger its effect. After you trigger a non-Ecaz Ambassador, draw a random Ambassador from the side to add to your supply. Then, return the triggered Ambassador to the side (with the exception of the Bene Gesserit, see below). Ambassadors are vulnerable to game effects like Storm or explosions, returning to your supply. Ambassador Effects: Ecaz - Gain Duke Vidal if he is not in the Tanks, captured, or a ghola until used in a battle, or form an alliance with the faction triggering the token (if neither of you are allied and they agree to form an alliance). You may then give control of Duke Vidal to that faction for this turn if they allied with you. This token returns to your available supply.

Atreides - See that faction's hand.

Bene Gesserit - Trigger the effect of any Ambassador that is not part of your supply or on the board, then remove the Bene Gesserit Ambassador token from the game.

CHOAM - Discard any of your Treachery Cards and gain 3 spice for each one from the Spice Bank.

Emperor - Gain 5 spice from the Spice Bank.

Fremen - Move a group of your forces on the board to any territory (subject to storm and occupancy rules).

Harkonnen - Look at a random Traitor Card that faction holds.

Ixian - Discard a Treachery Card, then draw a new one from the deck.

Richese - Pay 3 spice to the Spice Bank to draw the top card of the Treachery Deck if your hand is not full.

Spacing Guild - Send up to 4 of your forces in reserves to any territory not in storm for free.

Tleilaxu - Revive one of your leaders or up to 4 of your forces for free.

OCCUPY

When you are in an alliance, you and your ally's forces are considered the same faction, and may enter and occupy the same territory. If you are both in a battle with another faction, you decide which of you is considered the faction in the battle (choosing a leader and playing Treachery Cards) once battle order is determined. Regardless of who fights the battle, your ally's forces are the ones dialed, and half of your forces in the territory (rounded up) are added to the number dialed (without needing Spice). After the battle, half of your forces (rounded down) remain in the territory if your side wins, and the rest go to the Tanks. If you and your ally both occupy a stronghold at the end of a turn, it only counts as one stronghold for both of you, and you control it. It only takes three strongholds for you and your ally to win, if you both are co-occupied in all three.

REVIVAL

You may always revive Duke Vidal for 5 spice, no matter how many of your leaders are in the Tanks. You may revive leaders normally when at least 5 are in the Tanks (counting Duke Vidal).

LOYALTY

At the start of the game, before Traitors are drawn, set aside a random Traitor Card for your faction face up for all players to see. It is never added to the Traitor deck. Draw Traitors normally.

COLLECTION

If you and your ally co-occupy Arrakeen, Carthag, and/or Tuek's Sietch, you both collect the full amount of spice for occupying the strongholds during the Spice Collection phase. If you are both collecting spice from a desert territory, you split the collection however you both agree, or as evenly as possible with your ally gaining the remainder if you can't agree.

ALLIANCE

You may choose to have your ally benefit from a triggered Ambassador's effect.

SPECIAL KARAMA

Once per game, when battle plans are revealed and if you played neither a weapon nor a defense, you may add the difference between your leader disc and your opponent's leader disc to your number dialed.

VULNERABLE

Karama can prevent you and your ally from considering each other's forces as the same faction in one territory where you were not co-occupying before, for this turn, as you attempt to do so; or from activating an ambassador once.

THE EXQUISITE HOUSE ECAZ

House Ecaz rules from a world of beauty. and makes it a weapon. Their domain is renowned for its art, sculpture, and botanical marvels, a paradise in a galaxy of dust and stone. But beneath the elegance lies the cunning of a House that has survived not through brute strength, but through influence, charm, and the careful cultivation of loyalty.

Their power lies in allure. Ecazian gifts. an impossibly rare perfume, a tree that flowers only once every century. can open doors no army could batter down. Their nobles move gracefully through salons and courts, turning enemies into allies with a smile, a favor, or a subtle reminder of unspoken debts. They trade in reputation, in favors owed, in the kind of cultural prestige that elevates and isolates in equal measure.

Yet it would be a mistake to mistake them for soft. Beneath the courtesies and cultivated graces, House Ecaz is no stranger to intrigue or vengeance. Their warriors strike like the poisons of their gardens. exquisite, rare, and fatal. In a universe ruled by fear and necessity, Ecaz rules by desire. And that, in the end, may be more dangerous.

Ecaz, the planet from which its ruling house took their name, is the fourth Planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B. It is the most biologically rich world in the Imperium: a humid jungle planet with extensive vegetation and extraordinary botanical diversity. Its most famous native plant is fogwood, whose unusual properties made Ecaz the "Sculptor's Paradise"; it also produces elacca wood, hufuf vine, and numerous medicinal and narcotic plants. Fine aerosols of pollen, spores, and microscopic plant particles have resulted in Ecaz's iconic pink haze, which has inspired and amused countless painters.

But Ecazi are not just artists. Only a small fraction of the planet is populated and curated. The rest belongs to the jungle, whose astounding biodiversity includes a major amount of flora and fauna that are immensely poisonous, toxic, venomous, or simply physically dangerous. Having accustomed themselves to this, Ecazis are some of the best poison and pharmaceutical producers there are. Many illnesses require medicine from Ecaz to be cured; several others are caused by them. Whether beauty, relief, or tools for assassination - Ecaz has something for everyone's needs.

House Ecaz has never had an easy time governing the locals. Early attempts at industrial-scale exploitation were met with rebellions and unrest. Disappearing into the jungle canopies and striking from the shadows, local rebels have always been able to paralyze imperial industries and to starve their rulers of income. Instead, House Ecaz were forced to grant significant liberties and autonomies to maintain control. Ecazis, as a result, are an unusually liberal, stubborn, and retaliatory people. Over centuries House Ecaz were themselves slowly assimilated into this mindset. Generally, Ecazis choose loyalty, cordial trade and uphold and defend their rights and treaties with fervor.

NOTABLE RULES DIFFERENCES

Avalon Hill 1979

N/A

WBC 2016-2018

N/A

GF9 2019

Original release

KISS 2026

The first ambassador was made free and the following ambassadors were made cheaper. Karama effects changed.

ECAZ Q&A OCCUPY

AT START

6 forces in any unoccupied territory after all other factions set up. 14 forces in reserves. Start with 12 Spice. You have 6 Terror tokens that you keep hidden.

FREE REVIVAL

2 forces. You resort to terrorism.

TERRORIZE

During the Mentat Pause, you may place a Terror token face down in any stronghold that doesn't have one (other than the Ixian Hidden Mobile Stronghold), even one under storm, or else move one to a stronghold that doesn't have one. You may reveal and activate a Terror token when another faction (other than your ally) enters a stronghold containing one (either moving or shipping in, including advisors), applying effects to that faction. Revealed tokens are removed from the game. Terror token effects: Assassination - Choose a random leader from that player and send it to the Tanks. Collect spice for the killed leader (3 for Zoal).

Atomics - All forces in the territory go to the Tanks. Place the Atomics Aftermath token in the territory. No forces may ever ship into this territory (even Fremen). From this turn forward, your hand limit is reduced by 1 (as well as your ally's), discarding a random card if a hand exceeds the limit. Extortion - Gain 5 spice from the Spice Bank, placed in front of your shield. Collect it in the Mentat Pause, then regain this Terror token unless any one player in storm order pays you 3 spice.

Robbery - Steal half the spice (rounded up) from that player or take the top card of the Treachery Deck (then discarding a card of your choice if you exceed your hand size).

Sabotage - Draw a random Treachery Card from that player and discard it if possible. Then you may give that player a Treachery Card of your choice from your hand.

Sneak Attack - Send up to 5 of your forces in reserves into that territory at no cost (subject to storm and occupancy rules), even if the Atomics Aftermath token is there.

ENEMY

OF MY ENEMY

When a faction (other than Ecaz) would trigger a Terror token, you may offer to enter into an alliance with that faction before the token is revealed. If that faction accepts, you both are now allied (breaking existing alliances either or both of you were in). After that faction ends their Shipment and Movement, in any territories where their forces (except Advisors) still coexist with Moritani, their forces are sent to the Tleilaxu tanks. Your Terror token is not revealed, and returns to your supply. If that faction does not accept, the Terror token must be revealed.

DUKE VIDAL

You gain Duke Vidal at the end of Shipping and Movement if you are in at least two battles in strongholds (not counting battles involving Ecaz) if he is not in the Tanks, taking him from any faction currently controlling him. Set him aside at the end of the turn if he's not in the Tanks or captured.

ASSASSINATE LEADERS

When you lose a battle in which the opposing player had a leader disc that was not killed (and no Traitor was called), you may reveal a Traitor Card for the same faction (other than the leader you opposed). If they are not in the Tanks, kill that leader and collect spice for them. During the Mentat Pause, set the revealed card aside face up as a marker, then draw a new Traitor Card. This advantage may only be used once against each faction in the game. You may reveal a Traitor Card normally, but then this advantage is lost.

ALLIANCE

When your ally loses a battle that had a winner, they may keep one Treachery Card they played in the battle that they would have been able to keep had they won.

SPECIAL KARAMA

Once per game, if you lose a battle, force your opponent to discard or to keep any or all Treachery Cards they played.

VULNERABLE

Karama can prevent you from placing or moving a Terror token this turn; or from acquiring Duke Vidal; or from threatening Enemy of My Enemy once. You may still reveal the token but you may not change alliances.

THE SADISTIC HOUSE MORITANI

House Moritani is a name spoken rarely and remembered grimly. From the shadowed world of Grumman, they rule with quiet precision and ruthless intent. Lacking the prestige of Great Houses, they have long favored subtlety and cruelty over honor or spectacle. Where others court influence with wealth or lineage, Moritani earns theirs with blood, blackmail, and fear.

Their power lies not in grandeur but in the calculated application of force. They maintain a cadre of assassins, saboteurs, and enforcers trained not merely to kill, but to unnerve and humiliate. Every raid, every mutilation, every political collapse bears a signature of studied brutality. The Great Convention remains their leash. but only barely. Moritani has mastered the art of cutting just short of forbidden.

They are survivors, above all. too ruthless to ignore, too dangerous to provoke, and too insignificant to unite against. And so they persist, carving influence from the margins of power. Many Houses pretend to despise them, even as they quietly hire Moritani agents to do what their own name cannot be tied to.

Grumman does not seek a throne. It seeks a reckoning.

Grumman, the ancestral home of House Moritani, is a dying world. Over many past generations it was thoroughly strip-mined and exploited, with anything valuable on the surface consumed or sold. The old forests that used to cover most of the planet are long gone. Even water was not spared, with entire seas slowly freighted off-world. What remains are ecologically collapsing tundras, grasslands and salt beds. Most animal life has disappeared, with one exception: horses. Small herds of horses are always seen migrating between small pockets of drinkable water among salty lakes - over time becoming the main symbol for Moritani themselves.

Grumman is the second planet of the Niushe star system. The third planet, mockingly, is the hedonistic world - Gamont. This proximity has made it affordable for many locals to flee Grumman - even if that meant being welcomed in the pleasure planet as slaves or entertainers. The people that remained on Grumman were either too poor to leave, or were hardy enough to survive out of sheer spite. Ever-shrinking living space makes any life taken is a life gained. Desperation, jealousy and lack of resources have formed a cut-throat, violent society that treats any off-worlder with resentment.

Encountering a Moritani is never a pleasant experience. Quick to anger and to draw their blade over minor inconveniences, they make poor diplomats and traders. But their radicalism and motivation makes them perfect saboteurs. A Moritani assassin is not necessarily the most skilled or the most covert, but their vicious nature and willingness to sacrifice always leaves a painful mark.

NOTABLE RULES DIFFERENCES

Avalon Hill 1979

N/A

WBC 2016-2018

N/A

GF9 2019

Original release

KISS 2026

Enemy of my Enemy updated to prevent allied blocking

Moritani Q&A TERRORIZE

AT START

6 forces in Plastic Basin and 14 forces in reserves (off-planet). Start with 12 Spice.

FREE REVIVAL

1 force.

You have superior genetic engineering technology.

FACEDANCERS

In battles you are in, add half of the strength of leaders that die in that battle (rounding up separately), both your and your opponents, to your side of the battle plan.

FALSE FLAG

After a battle, you may send up to 2 forces you lost in that battle to your reserves instead of Tleilaxu tanks.

SPICE SUBSTITUTE

At the end of each Collection phase, collect 2 Spice from Spice Bank for each Spice Blow with Spice remaining. In addition, collect 4 Spice for each Spice Blow that cannot spawn.

PARANOID

Starting from the 2nd turn, at the end of each Spice Blow phase without a Nexus or a Sandtrout drawn, your current alliance breaks (if you had one) and you may offer factions other than your most recent ally to enter an alliance, with them breaking their current alliance if they accept.

AXOLOTL TANKS

Other factions make leader revival payments to you. At the start of the Revival phase, you may select and reveal one leader in the Tleilaxu tanks. If it is a leader of another faction, they may have it revived for them by paying one Spice more than the strength of the leader, or more Spice if they choose to. This revival does not count towards leader revival limits for that faction. If that faction does not pay and you do not control a leader of that faction yet, or if it is a Tleilaxu leader, revive the selected leader for free for yourself. You may use these leaders in your battles. Return non-Tleilaxu leaders that you use in battles to their original faction at the end of the phase if they survive the battle.

ALLIANCE

Your ally may use Facedancers in their battles. In addition, when your ally wins a battle, they may return up to 2 of their forces of any type lost in that battle back to their reserves.

SPECIAL KARAMA

Once per game, at any time, select any leader from the Tleilaxu tanks and take it yourself or return it to their faction.

VULNERABLE

Karama can prevent you from adding strength from killed leaders to your or your allies' battle plan in one battle; or from collecting Spice for uncollected or unspawned Spice Blows that phase.

THE PROFANE BENE TLEILAX The Bene Tleilax is a severely isolationist, chauvinistic, hierarchical, and zealous culture inhabiting Tleilax, the sole planet of the star Thalim. Their xenophobic nature has left the rest of the Imperium without any real insight into the inner workings of their society. Only one thing is widely known: their mastery of genetics and biotechnology outclasses any other scientific body by an order of magnitude. In fact, the array of services and "products" offered by the Tleilaxu seems unbound by morality or imagination. For the right price in Spice, one could acquire anything . from Spice-like substances and transplant organs, to desirable bodies or even clones of deceased relatives. Many consider this secretive, amoral society vile and abhorrent; to others, they inspire pure, primal horror. And yet, time and again, even the most vocal critics have quietly turned to the Tleilaxu, proving them to be a necessary evil.

Despite being widely loathed, the Tleilaxu leadership . the Masters Council. operate on their society with a deeply scientific rationale. Carefully avoiding violations of the Great Convention, they have succeeded in delivering progress and comfort through ingenious biological solutions. Any societal reforms required to support these breakthroughs were a small price to pay for the immense technological edge the Tleilaxu now enjoy.

While hiding these advancements have required extreme secrecy for many centuries, the Masters Council believes that recent events on Arrakis are finally setting the stage for a bold move. If they can gain control over the Spice, perhaps even their bitterest enemies will be forced to look past their revulsion. With Arrakis as leverage, the Imperium might at last embrace the technological and societal reforms that only the Tleilaxu could so far enjoy.

Tleilax is a cool, temperate and highly habitable world, with a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere and a generally quiet climate. Its landscape is green but subdued: cultivated vegetation, low forests and broad stretches of carefully tended land broken by settlements and industrial districts. Rather than extreme deserts, jungles or frozen wastes, Tleilax offers an environment that is comparatively easy to inhabit. almost deceptively comfortable. Its ecological character seems to have encouraged cultivation rather than conquest; life is abundant enough to study, manipulate and harvest, and over generations the Tleilaxu have reshaped their surroundings into increasingly controlled landscapes.

To outsiders, Tleilaxu society beyond its Masters and servants is largely invisible. What little is known suggests a secluded, disciplined and deeply religious people, raised in a culture where the manipulation of flesh is both sacred knowledge and practical industry. Encounters with ordinary Tleilaxu rarely progress beyond formal courtesies and shallow pleasantries. Visitors often recall feeling quietly unwelcome. not openly hated or dismissed, but subtly kept at a distance. Some even describe their encounters as strangely peaceful and almost pastoral. Behind this calm, however, lies a society whose true workings are deliberately concealed from the outside world.

Only beneath that calm does the true Tleilaxu character emerge. bodies grown, altered, preserved and repurposed with the familiarity other cultures reserve for metal or wood. Reproduction has become an industrial process, completely detached from its social experience; indeed, no outsider has ever knowingly seen a Tleilaxu female. The result is a civilization in which biological life, social identity and individual purpose have been deliberately separated. Rather than being born, people on Tleilax are simply produced - shaped into different castes and purposes. Some Tleilaxu outside of the Masters circle are still individuals that have agency, and are capable of decisions, emotions, and reasoning, but even they have very little political or intellectual freedom. The vast majority of Tleilaxians fall into the lower caste - facedancers - which is genetically engineered for subordination. Facedancers are generally used as servants, workers, agents and eventually increasingly sophisticated infiltrators. Tleilaxu society therefore feels less like an ordinary state than a civilization that has spent thousands of years cultivating itself in isolation. until its people, their religion and their science have become almost impossible to separate.

NOTABLE RULES DIFFERENCES

Avalon Hill 1979

N/A

WBC 2016-2018

N/A

GF9 2019

Original release

KISS 2026

Original release Complete rework

Bene Tleilaxu Q&A FACEDANCERS

The following is a section where I ponder about various game related topics in far too much detail than reasonably necessary. These have no further implications on KISS rules whatsoever. It would be most wise to stop reading here.

FACTIONS IN KISS RULES KISS rules covers the 6 original factions (Atreides, Harkonnen, Fremen, Emperor, Spacing Guild, and Bene Gesserit), 2 factions from the Ecaz & Moritani GF9 expansion, and a Tleilaxu homebrew faction.

Why these factions?

All of the original factions are classics and will always be included. The other three factions were added because each of them brings a strong, unique, and lore-accurate theme and feel to the whole table, without causing balance or game tempo issues. These factions are not only unique to play as - they also are very unique to play against.

• Ecaz (GF9) is a support faction that forms a strong, single front together with their ally. While all factions can form alliances, Ecaz alliances define them, and are unusually long-lasting and resilient.

• Moritani (GF9) are a treacherous faction that have a rare ability to change alliances in the Shipment and Movement phase. While they usually appear weak, a game with Moritani keeps everyone on their toes as any alliance may change suddenly.

• Tleilaxu (homebrew) are an insidious faction that is incentivized to destabilize the entire playing field, and never commits to any single alliance.

Why were other GF9 expansion factions included?

In general, factions were not included if they were not presenting a unique theme, if they misrepresented lore (with priority given to the original books), and/or if their gameplay relied on too many frustrating elements. Since a player always only plays one faction, but is playing against five, the theme and fluency of playing against a faction was weighted much more than playing as that faction.

• IX: Ixian faction has three issues: their deck control ability, game pacing, and lore accuracy. The deck control ability is the main issue, primarily because it is very volatile, and hardly ever fun to play against. It was immensely powerful when Ix got lucky with the initial card draw, but it was also possible to get very unlucky and for this ability to be a complete dud. Furthermore, as an ability it got significantly weaker towards the later rounds, meaning that Ix is usually extremely powerful in the first few turns, but then reliably quite underwhelming in long games. Last but not least, the Ixian faction has lore issues where a neutral technocratic confederacy defined by their double-edged and risky technology ended up being portrayed as yet another mundane noble house with stereotypical sci-fi cybernetics.

• GF9 Tleilaxu: Tleilaxu also has three similar equal issues: the Facedancer ability, game pacing, and accuracy to lore. The issue with the Facedancer ability was that it was completely random - as a system it barely interacted with the rest of the game, and yet it could completely derail someone's win attempt, even when Tleilaxu aren't involved in it. Or, it may never trigger at all. While some players appreciated the surprise, to others it was simply frustrating. When it comes to game pacing, Tleilaxu had a very weak start, and in shorter games Tleilaxu never had a chance to play at all. But if Tleilaxu did survive into the later game, the table was met with an almost unstoppable, rich, doomstack force. In the end this also misrepresents lore: for a society defined by their secrecy, infiltration, and vile biotech, their reliance on doomstacking as a faction was quite out of place.

• Richese: Richese is a very unorthodox and unique faction, and they do carry their own theme well. Out of the other removed factions, perhaps Richese deserves to be reconsidered the most.

The main issue that they still had is just how much they clash with the Emperor, and how much they extend the bidding phase, especially if paired with Atreides and Ix. The Emperor clash is quite severe, as in some rare cases Richese may be denying income from up to 3 Treachery card purchases each bidding phase. Since the Emperor usually wishes to purchase one or two cards for themselves or their ally, the income lost to Richese abilities effectively nullifies their whole income advantage. If you ever think of trying out Richese - never draft them together with the Emperor! Feel free to try these factions out yourselves! They arguably have some issues and may not result in the best experience, but they can still be some good fun if you are bored of the current roster and want to try something different.

THE BIG REBALANCE

FREMEN & SPACING GUILD Fremen and the Spacing Guild have long stood at the opposite sides of winrates. Spacing Guild had a notorious reputation for stalling games; a skilled Guild player could reach a stallout victory quite reliably. Meanwhile, Fremen usually struggled to find grip in games and had a few potential pitfalls regarding mobility - spreading forces too thin got them harrassed; stacking their forces too rigidly got them stuck. To solve the Guild issue, their stallout victory is no longer shared with their allies. While a superficial change at first sight, this actually completely changes player incentives in late game. Originally, roughly by the turn 7, a dynamic emerged when people started positioning themselves to be the best alliance choice for Guild, aiming to win along with the stallout. Not only this was a boost to Guild winrate, but this also entrenched stallouts, as sometimes half of the table was working to freeze the game instead of trying to resolve it. Making stallout non-shareable has removed this incentive completely, making stallouts only appeal to Guild itself, and therefore also leaving a large dent in its winrate. Then, Fremen received a huge improvement to their mobility to boost their winrate.

THE BIG REBALANCE continued

Previous advantages of storm resistance and worm riding were far too unreliable, and did not compensate Fremen enough for only being able to reach 1 stronghold without using up both the shipment and the movement actions. The new combined Wormriders advantage gives Fremen a completely new way to approach entering strongholds, where they can step into the storm in preparation to enter a stronghold next turn.

REVERTS

AND NERFS

ATREIDES & BENE GESSERIT Atreides and Bene Gesserit have been strong in the few years before KISS, frequently challenging Guild for its winrate, and sometimes even surpassing it. They frequently formed the notorious Toxic alliance - where wins become guaranteed and stop attempts are futile. Interestingly, this recent patch of strength may at least partially be supported by several relatively recent changes. Atreides have primarily benefitted by being less vulnerable to the increased uncertainty introduced in GF9 expansions. The severity of anti-Atreides karama options was also muted. In a way, both of these have been reverted - the KISS treachery deck is smaller, making it more predictable to everyone - and the returned ability to remove bidding prescience for the entire phase is a genuine option to slow Atreides down. Combined this should make Atreides dominate less. Bene Gesserit is an interesting case. Whether intentionally or not, GF9 introduced several buffs - things such as BG flipping to fighters when left alone, BG voicing Cheap Hero, or giving BG CHOAM charity on turn 1. Then, seeing their unsurprising dominance, GF9 tried balancing through awkward changes such as prohibiting BG advisors from coexisting with their allies. All of these buffs and balance attempts have been reverted and removed.

AND NERFS continued

To further hit their winrate, BG worthless karama card has also been limited to only be usable once per game. These should result in BG having clearer vulnerabilities and downsides.

LESSENING FRUSTRATING MECHANICS Some updates were done to simply reduce frustration. Harkonnen special karama was almost exclusively used against Atreides, and took them completely out of the game for several turns - so it needed moderation. Moritani Enemy of my Enemy could sometimes permit pre-planned blocks, where two allied factions could block off the necessary strongholds for each other, preventing any counterplay - in that case, the update prevents blocks. And there's yet other changes, like the Fremen ally somehow blocking a Fremen special victory by winning a fight in Tueks.

REWORKS

ECAZ AND TLEILAXU Ecaz is a very unique and rather complex faction with very different incentives and mechanics. When playing Ecaz as any other faction, it was very easy to enter a death spiral and drop out of the game. Even in experienced hands, their win rate was not very impressive. They never really were the driving force of their alliances, and their victories mostly boiled down to another faction choosing to carry Ecaz. As such, they were deserving of a buff. While a rework may be a strong word for their modifications, KISS makes their toolkit significantly more accessible and cheaper, while also covering the major possible pitfalls and weaknesses that unknowing players were succumbing to. Tleilaxu rework, meanwhile, is quite thorough. GF9 Tleilaxu is a faction that starts slow, but ramps up to be an inevitable doomstacking force - with an addition of unpredictable Facedancers. Facedancers is a core part of Tleilaxu lore, depended on for espionage, infiltration, and assassinations; but their in-game implementation felt very random and uncontrollable. Furthermore, Tleilaxu are severely xenophobic, but this was not represented in the mechanics at all. In my rework I explored many different versions of how these could be represented better, and the current result - while not perfect - is something that I am quite happy with.

REWORKS continued

The resulting faction is no longer an economic powerhouse; instead it focuses on Facedancers, nifty short-lived alliances, and opportunism.

1963-1965: Frank Herbert first publishes Dune in parts, over several releases of a monthly science fiction magazine, "Analog". Later, the first three parts became "Book One: Dune", and the following five became "Book Two: Muad'dib" and "Book Three: The Prophet". Many publishers reject publishing the series as a novel. 1965: Sterling Lanier, an editor at Chilton Books, champions publishing the novel. The first printing does not sell well, and Lanier is dismissed from Chilton a year later. However, over time the book grows more popular and Frank Herbert is able to switch working on Dune sequels full time. 1973: Jack Kittredge, Bill Eberle and Peter Olotka (Future Pastimes) design a game "Tribute". Although never released, several of its mechanics and aspects, such as the Battle Wheel and highly asymmetrical factions, will later be reused for Dune. 1979: Avalon Hill secures the license for a Dune boardgame. After their initial internal designs fall through, they task Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge, and Peter Olotka (Future Pastimes) to build the game - which, after adapting the beforementioned "Tribute", provides the main game systems and what is now known as Basic rules. Future Pastimes is able to license the simultaneous dial-based combat system under themselves, which will later allow them to publish similar games without infringing on Dune IP.

continued

Mick Uhl, Richard Hamblen and the Avalon Hill team continue developing the game, adding optional rules - what is now known as Advanced rules. Developers of Advanced rules will not be involved with Dune after its original release. The release goes reasonably well, though not splashy. Where Dune earns its reputation is word-of-mouth and staying power, with fans claiming that the game never goes old and reviewers praising its fidelity to the source material. 1980-1984: Avalon Hill's own house magazines, "The General" and "Heroes", publish fan and contributor-designed rules for additional factions: Bene Tleilax, the Ixians, and the Landsraad. While not definitive, these releases will be influential and sought by players for references later on. 1984: Dune movie, directed by David Lynch, is released. Timing to coincide, Avalon Hill prepares a reprint of Dune with two additional expansions designed by Future Pastimes: The Spice Harvest and The Duel. The movie is a box office failure, and the boardgame reprint tanks with it. After the failure of the 1984 reprint, despite its strong reputation, Dune goes out of print. Original prints become a sought-after collector's item, with secondary-market copies fetching hundreds of dollars.

continued

It continues living on being played in people's garages and print-and-play versions, with the community slowly building the infrastructure and forums to preserve the game. Homebrewing and fan-made variants shine. 1986: Frank Herbert dies, having written 6 Dune books in total. Control of the Dune intellectual property and material passes to a family-run entity, "Herbert Properties LLC". This shift is widely cited as making licensing meaningfully harder and pricier than before.

1992-currently: Dune tournament is first played in Avaloncon, run by Avalon Hill, with Paul Saunders winning the first tournament in 1992. Tournaments continue running yearly ever since. Avaloncon ends in 1998, when it is discontinued by Hasbro. The community then forms the Boardgame Players Association and continues the convention as "World Boardgaming Championships", where Dune continues being played. Tournaments use the original Avalon Hill rules, with optional rules included, but without the Spice Harvest, The Duel, or other later additions. 1998: Hasbro acquires Avalon Hill and wants to republish Dune, but the Herbert estate is not interested in republishing at that time. 2007: Fantasy Flight Games publicly announce plans to reprint Dune, as they secure the underlying game system from Peter Olotka and the other original Basic game designers. However, FFG fail to secure the Dune IP itself from the Herbert estate. The game in development is then re-themed and later released in 2012 as "Rex: Final Days of an Empire". 2013: Ilya Baranovsky (known online as Ilya 77), a highly regarded designer and illustrator within the global board gaming community, does a professional-grade visual overhaul of the Dune map, cards, and all other components, and shares them online for print-and-play. These designs gain massive acclaim and spread throughout the community.

continued

GF9 later contract Ilya for the rights to use these designs in the 2019 Dune release. 2016: Legendary Entertainment reaches an agreement with the Herbert estate for film and TV rights. This reinvigorates the franchise commercially, and the Herbert estate becomes evidently more receptive to broader licensing generally - also opening an opportunity for a Dune reprint. 2019: Gale Force 9 secures Herbert-estate permission and publishes a reprint. The original Basic game designers - Eberle, Kittredge, and Olotka - participate directly, assisted by Greg Olotka and Jack Reda. GF9 contract Ilya Baranovsky for the rights to his Dune art, which speeds up development significantly. The rules are kept largely identical, with a few minor additions taken for what is used in WBC. The reprint does well and is received positively, but also receives some criticism for failing to close old rule gaps. Most of the community largely shifts to playing the GF9 release rules. Tournaments are slow to shift and continue relying on their own rule clarifications. 2020-2023: GF9 continues to publish three expansions: Ixians & Tleilaxu, CHOAM & Richese, and Ecaz & Moritani.

continued

Designed by Jack Reda, Greg Olotka, and the original designers, these expansions double the original faction count, and offer several variants and modifications to use in the game, such as additional treachery cards, homeworlds, tech tokens, and others. Reception to the new factions and variants is mostly positive. Some variants, such as Discovery tokens, are almost universally loved. Others have a mixed reception or are quickly forgotten. The lines blur on what is the one clear way to play Dune, and a few initiatives spring up aiming to redefine and rebalance the rules: Dreamrules, Landsraad of Las Vegas, and others.

2021: Dune movie directed by Denis Villeneuve is released, rekindling public interest in Dune overall. Many new players flock to play Dune boardgames, and several other Dune-themed boardgames are released.