‘Dune: Fall of the Imperium’ Attempts the Impossible – Following Muad’Dib’s Golden Path
Dune: Fall of the Imperium sets itself a difficult task—putting players through the events of Dune without being the main characters. Does it work?
Modiphius has an ambitious campaign sourcebook out, right now, in the form of Dune: Fall of the Imperium. Ambitious because it wants you, the players, to follow not just the beats of the story of Dune, but to be swept up in the changing tides that rock the Imperium. In other words, Fall of the Imperium, wants you to play through the story of the Dune novels/movies, without being the ones at the center of attention.
But that’s weirdly fitting for Dune, which is, in many ways, about the nature of predetermined events and escaping or being bound to one’s fate. To the point where Leto II, eventual god-emperor of Dune, spends centuries plotting ways to break humanity free from the “future predetermined.” You can watch a young James McAvoy do exactly that in the Children of Dune miniseries, if you don’t mind poorly-aged CGI.
Back to the roleplaying side of things, though. Fall of the Imperium differs from the Dune RPGs other big campaign, Agents of Dune in that it doesn’t put your characters in charge of Arrakis. Or if they are, say, because you played through Agents of Dune and your house displaced the Harkonnen who then tried to sabotage their way back in, but you relied on desert power and an alliance with the Fremen to hold out, the Atreides replace your house by Imperial Decree.
It’s a fascinating take, because it sets up the challenge of making the characters both feel important and also caught in the tides of immense events beyond their control. It also faces the task of Dune’s story being well-known. After all, the books have been out for decades, by this point. Even with the movie bringing new people in, they’re still, by and large, aware of the plot. So, with that task set for it, can Fall of the Imperium live up to its hype?
Fall of the Imperium – House Politics at Empire’s End
Fall of the Imperium hews close to the core concept of Dune: Adventures in the Imperium. You create your own Great House of the Landsraad and compete for resources, Imperial favor, and the like. You aren’t necessarily the Harkonnen or the Atreides. You’re your own house. With your own spies and identities and allies.
And at the start of the campaign, your Great House is on Arrakis, for some reason. At least your players are, as agents of whatever house you create. Your paths have taken you to Arrakis, where even as the planet changes hands, wheels within wheels are already in motion. The well-known events are the backdrop for what happens to the players.
This is a double-edged sword. Because on the one hand, these sweeping, cataclysmic events are far-reaching and make for excellent points of tension. But there are also a lot of quiet moments, where the campaign is like, “Yeah but what else is happening while all the interesting stuff is going on ‘on camera’.”
You might be tasked with finding out what another minor house is up to as they plot revenge on the Harkonnen. All this as the Atreides are taking control of Arrakis. Or you could side with the Harkonnen, at least temporarily. But all of that feels kind of small in the face of what everyone knows is coming. Fall of the Imperium takes a bit to get started, but it’s worth trudging through the humble beginnings, for the feast of chaos. But even that has its own problems.
The campaign goes out of its way to call out the fact that “the Atreides are definitely smashed, and people will think you’re weird if you insist they aren’t.” It has to. Because otherwise, you just make the “right decision” all the time.
Which makes sense. Because players want, overwhelmingly, to be the good guys. And in Dune, there really aren’t any. While Paul Atreides is nicer, than say, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, he isn’t by any stretch of the imagination a hero. Timothée Chalamet’s performance in Dune Part Two reveals the more villainous side of Muad’Dib.
So there’s extra work for people who know the story well. I imagine there are going to be a lot of people playing this. This is a campaign for people who love Dune and want to live in it. But as far as that goes, I think the campaign delivers. It asks how would you fare, what would you do, and what morals would guide you through this Imperial crisis. Through the end of one era, and the beginning of another.
And it’s not always cut and dry an easy choice. While you might remain loyal to the Atreides, there’s no guarantee that you’ll stick by them once the Fremen take to the stars and start committing atrocities. No one comes out smelling like roses, in the events of Dune. But, that’s the interesting ground that this campaign lets you tread.
If you want to challenge fate, and grapple with the big questions, or just to see how you might do, this campaign is definitely worth picking up. Dune: Fall of Imperium is available now, from your friendly local game store, or online.
Just remember, all leaders are but human. Even, and especially, your GM.
