It is well known that Dune, while a fantastic game, has one of the most frequently disputed sets of written rules. I have found that almost no two groups of players can completely agree upon exactly how Dune is played. While not all of the questions raised here are necessarily impossible to adjudicate with the rules as written, all have come up as points of contention during play-by-email games and tournaments in which I have taken part. I know that every group has its own preferred interpretations for many of these rules, but I have found this set of rulings to be the most self-consistent and justifiable.
These clarifications will be enforced as official extensions/clarifications of the published rules throughout the tournament, so make sure you are familiar with them.
III. Set-up For Play
1. If fewer than six players are playing, only the leaders of
the factions actually involved in the game are eligible to be
drawn as traitors.
2. The Bene Gesserit's prediction must be made immediately after
factions are assigned.
3. The Bene Gesserit token placed at the start of the game is
not required to coexist in the first game turn.
4. Fremen tokens placed at the start of the game may include
Fedaykin (starred) tokens if desired.
IV. Object of Play
1. Bene Gesserit tokens in a space that was declared to be coexisting
during the turn do not count as occupying a stronghold for the
purposes of determining victory, even if they are the sole occupants
after battle is resolved.
2. You may not claim a solo victory if you are currently part
of an alliance.
VI. Storm
1. The precise order of activities during the Storm Round is:
* Reveal storm marker,
* Play Weather Control,
* Play Family Atomics,
* Move storm.
(This takes some liberty with the wording for Weather Control
on the Player Aid Pad, with the intention of avoiding potential
timing conflicts.)
2. Weather Control and Family Atomics may not be played during
the first game turn.
3. No tokens are destroyed by the storm during the first game
turn. The storm is considered to begin over the randomly-determined
sector; it is not considered to have moved in the first game
turn.
4. After Family Atomics is played, the Shield Wall, Arrakeen,
and Carthag all still retain their normal status as non-desert
spaces, even though the latter two become susceptible to storm
effects.
5. Two groups of tokens (same faction or not) in different sectors
of the same region are considered to be "separated by storm"
for the purposes of movement and battle if the storm is between
them or covering one of them.
VII. Spice Blow
1. A Nexus is caused for every worm that is revealed (excluding
worms raised by the Fremen's play of a Karama card), regardless
of which spice blow it appears at or how many worms have appeared
that turn.
2. When more than one worm is drawn for a given spice blow, the
Fremen may send the additional worms to any territory on the
board.
3. If the Fremen directs a second or additional worm to appear
in a space occupied by their tokens, those tokens may ride the
worm normally.
4. When the Fremen rides a worm, tokens and/or spice in the destination
space are not eaten.
5. Fremen worm riders may not leave or enter a space under the
storm.
6. Fremen worm riders
may enter a stronghold already occupied
by two other factions, if and only if one of them are Bene Gesserit
tokens which ended the previous turn coexisting. This will force
those Bene Gesserit to remain coexisting when they declare their
status in the upcoming Movement Round.
7. Tokens owned by an ally of the Fremen are safe from being
eaten by worms, but they may not ride worms as the Fremen do.
8. Worms eat tokens only after the Nexus is resolved.
VIII. Bidding Round
1. When a treachery card is required to be drawn and the treachery
deck is empty, the discard pile should immediately be reshuffled
to form a new deck. The only card that is ever removed from the
game after one play is Family Atomics.
2. After a player passes during the bid for a treachery card,
that player may choose to later enter bidding for the same card
again on his normal bidding turn if the card has not already
been sold at that time.
3. The Atreides is not permitted to see any free cards drawn
by the Harkonnen.
4. The Harkonnen is considered to have a single 8-card hand,
not two separate 4-card hands. The Harkonnen is not required
to separate his free cards from his purchased cards for any purpose.
5. The Emperor receives payments for treachery cards immediately
upon the purchase of each card.
6. Spice paid by the Emperor's allies for card purchases is paid
to the Emperor. Only the Emperor's own card purchases are paid
to the bank.
7. If the Emperor gives spice to another player to purchase a
treachery card, the spice is still paid to the Emperor (not the
bank). If another player gives spice to the Emperor to purchase
a treachery card, the spice is paid to the bank.
8. The Emperor may not choose to offer discounted card purchases
to any player, but he may give spice to any player at any time
(before or after the purchase) to defray card purchase costs.
(That is, the full cost of the bid must be able to be paid somehow.)
9. A player may bid higher than the amount of spice he currently
holds if he intends to play a Karama to avoid paying for the
card. In the event that more than one player intends to play
a Karama to buy a card, the first one to bid "infinity"
in his proper turn to bid wins the card (and obviously must use
the Karama ability to avoid paying).
10. A player may never bid if his hand is currently full, even
if he intends to play a Karama to avoid paying for the card.
IX. Movement
1. The precise order of activities during the Movement Round
is:
* All players take revival (in player dot order if it matters),
* The Bene Gesserit declares coexistence status where necessary,
* Players ship and move in player dot order.
2. The Guild receives payments for shipment immediately when
the shipment is made.
3. Spice paid by the Guild's allies for shipping is paid to the
Guild. Only the Guild's own shipping is paid to the bank.
4. If the Guild gives spice to another player to pay for shipment,
the spice is still paid to the Guild (not the bank). If another
player gives spice to the Guild to pay for shipment, the spice
is paid to the bank.
5. The Guild may not choose to offer discounted shipping to any
player (except allies, as written), but he may give spice to
any player at any time (before or after the shipment) to defray
shipping costs. (That is, the full cost of the shipment must
be able to be paid somehow.)
6. Tokens may be moved on-planet in the same turn that they are
shipped to the planet.
7. A player is considered to have access to ornithopters during
his turn only if he controlled Carthag and/or Arrakeen at the
end of the Storm Round. That is, you generally get ornithopters
in the turn after you take control of Carthag or Arrakeen, but
not if you are subsequently wiped out by the storm. You do not
get ornithopters the same turn you ship, ride a worm, or come
out of coexistence in one of the cities. (This clarification
is a conscious re-write of the existing ornithopter access rule
in order to simplify as many conflicts in interpretation as possible.)
8. Fremen shipments may be to any space within a movement of
2 from The Great Flat, regardless of the location of the storm.
Only shipments ending in a space under the storm take half losses,
rounded up (as written).
9. Fremen shipment or movement may not end off the board. (Barring
special Guild ally shipments, Fremen shipment is one-way to the
surface of the planet, just like other factions.)
10. Fremen movement may not leave or enter a space under the
storm.
11. If the Fremen are allied with the Guild, the Fremen may choose
to either use normal Fremen shipment for no cost, or any form
of Guild shipment for Guild cost.
12. The Guild (and its allies) may not ship tokens that begin
in a space under the storm.
13. Guild cross-planet shipment is considered to be a shipment,
not an on-planet move.
X. Battles
1. All battles, including the Guild's, are resolved in player
dot order as written (regardless of when the Guild actually chose
to take his movement turn).
2. All battle ties, including the Guild's, are resolved in player
dot order as written (regardless of when the Guild actually chose
to take his movement turn).
3. The precise sequence of activities in a battle is:
* Issue the Voice command,
* Play Karama to cancel the Voice.
* Issue the Prescience question,
* Play Karama to cancel the Prescience.
* Answer the Prescience question (if not canceled).
* Play Karama to view entire battle plan.
* Play Karama to cancel Kwisatz Haderach.
* Play Karama to cancel Sardaukar or Fedaykin bonus.
* Commit battle plans,
* Reveal battle plans and resolve the battle.
Karama actions mentioned above may occur at point after the applicable
step but before the Commit Battle Plans step.
Truthtrances and other Karama actions other than those specifically
mentioned above may be played between any two of the above steps.
Battle plans may be changed at any time during the above sequence
before the Commit Battle Plans step as long as all un-cancelled
Voice and Prescience effects are not violated.
4. Tokens under the storm may only battle with tokens in the
same space and sector.
5. Elements of the battle plan that have not been locked down
by effects of Voice, Prescience, or Truthtrance may be changed
any time before battle plans are committed. Once battle plans
are revealed, no further voluntary changes are permitted.
6. The Bene Gesserit may not specify weapon or defense when Voicing
an opponent to play or not play a Worthless Card. (That is, the
Voice may only be "play a Worthless Card" or "do
not play a Worthless Card".)
7. If, when battle plans are revealed, a player has failed to
include a leader in his battle plan when he was required to do
so, his lowest-value available leader must be played.
8. If, when battle plans are revealed, a player has dialed a
number higher than his tokens and/or spice paid would allow,
the number must be reduced to the highest supportable number
given the number of tokens in the battle and the spice paid.
9. The Harkonnen's capture of an opponent's leader when he wins
a battle is optional.
10. The identity of leaders captured by the Harkonnen is not
required to be public knowledge.
11. If the Harkonnen chooses to immediately kill a captured leader,
the Harkonnen receives 2 spice (as opposed to pa
ying 2 spice).
12. A captured leader played by the Harkonnen against the original
owner in battle may always be called as a traitor (regardless
of whether or not the captured leader was also a traitor to the
Harkonnen or any other player).
13. A captured leader played by the Harkonnen in battle against
a player who chose that leader as his traitor may still be called
as a traitor, as normal.
14. If a traitor is called in a battle with a potential lasegun-shield
explosion, the explosion does not occur. (That is, traitor calls
take precedence over lasegun-shield explosions.)
XI. Spice Collection
1. Bene Gesserit tokens in a space that was declared to be coexisting
during the turn can not collect spice.
XIII. Bribery
1. All players may exchange spice freely, for any purpose, at
any time, even though this effectively makes the Emperor's special
alliance power meaningless. The fact that spice is changing hands
and the amount of spice exchanged need not be announced publicly.
2. Private negotiation away from the table is permitted. Any
deals discussed during this time cannot be considered formal
and enforceable unless they are made public at the table.
3. Only those aspects of a deal that are announced publicly are
required to be enforced. Assumptions, inferences, and unspoken
implications cannot be enforced.
XV. Additional Character Advantages
1. The Atreides gains permanent access to the Kwisatz Haderach
immediately after losing a cumulative total of 7 or more tokens
in battles over the course of the game. That is, the Atreides
may use the Kwisatz Haderach in a later battle in the same game
turn that it is gained, and he may thereafter use the Kwisatz
Haderach once per turn every turn for the rest of the game
(unless it is in the tanks).
2. The Kwisatz Haderach may only be played on an Atreides leader
played in battle by the Atreides player. (That is, it may not
be played on an ally's leader nor a captured Atreides leader
played by the Harkonnen.)
3. Bene Gesserit coexistence status is attached to the territory
(as opposed to the group of tokens occupying that territory).
4. The Bene Gesserit must declare coexistence status only in
territories where Bene Gesserit tokens and opposing tokens are/become
co-located. Territories in which coexistence has not yet been
declared this turn are implicitly not coexisting.
5. Coexistence status is only declared at the start of the Movement
Round (after revival is taken) and during the Movement Round
at the instant when Bene Gesserit tokens and opposing tokens
become co-located.
6. A space that has been explicitly announced to be non-coexisting
may change to coexisting in the same turn only when the space
has been vacated by all non-Bene Gesserit tokens and then is
later entered by a different faction.
7. A space that has been explicitly announced to be coexisting
may never change to non-coexisting in the same turn.
8. The Bene Gesserit must always declare territories that contain
tokens owned by both him and his ally to be in coexistence.
9. An ally of the Bene Gesserit may move tokens into a space
containing only the Bene Gesserit, but the Bene Gesserit must
immediately declare coexistence for that territory. An ally of
the Bene Gesserit may not move tokens into a space containing
a third faction with Bene Gessert tokens that are not coexisting.
(In that case, the stronghold is blocked.)
10. The Bene Gesserit's sending of spiritual advisors is optional.
11. Bene Gesserit spiritual advisors may be placed in the Polar
Sink instead of the territory into which the other player shipped
if that territory is not coexisting or if the Bene Gesserit so
chooses.
12. The Bene Gesserit may send spiritual advisors with his ally's
shipments if desired.
13. The Bene Gesserit can not send a free spiritual advisor with
the Fremen's shipment.
14. The Bene Gesserit can not send a free spiritual advisor with
his own shipments.
15. The Bene Gesserit can not send a free spiritual advisor with
a Guild shipment that originates on the planet.
16. Coexisting Bene Gesserit tokens are allowed to use ornithopter
movement (but do not count for the purpose of determining access
to ornithopters).
XVII. Special Karama Powers
1. The Harkonnen can play a Karama to steal treachery cards from
another player at any time not forbidden by another ruling.
2. The precise sequence of activities when the Harkonnen plays
a Karama card to steal treachery cards from another player is:
* Declare how many cards are being taken,
* Randomly select the declared number of cards from the target,
* Look at the cards that were taken,
* Return the declared number of cards to the other player.
Returned cards must come from the Harkonnen's original hand (but
may be of the same type as the cards that were stolen, if desired).
3. The Harkonnen is permitted to invalidate a Voice command by
using a Karama to give away treachery cards after receiving the
Voice command. However, Prescience answers that have not been
canceled may not be invalidated in this way.
4. The Atreides can play a Karama to force any opponent to immediately
commit and reveal his entire battle plan any time before battle
plans are committed (i.e. after Voice and Prescience are resolved,
if desired). The Atreides commits and reveals his own battle
plan (if applicable) after seeing the opponent's plan.
5. The Atreides can play a Karama to force any player to reveal
his entire battle plan. The Atreides is not required to be a
part of the battle involved, but the battle plan is only revealed
to the Atreides (who may sell/give the information as he sees
fit).
6. The Guild can play a Karama to cancel another player's shipment
any time after the shipment is declared, but before the player's
movement is declared.
7. The Guild can not play a Karama to cancel the Fremen's shipment.
8. The Fremen may play a Karama to cause a worm to appear only
during the Spice Round.
9. The Emperor may play a Karama to revive three tokens or a
leader at any time not forbidden by another ruling.
XIX. Increased Spice Flow
1. Bene Gesserit tokens in a space that was declared to be coexisting
during the turn may not collect increased spice flow.
Player Aid Sheet (Treachery Card Descriptions)
1. The Hajr card effect may only be used to move tokens owned
by the player who played the card.
2. The Tleilaxu Ghola card effect may only be used to revive
tokens (or a leader) owned by the player who played the card.
3. Truthtrance questions and answers must be announced publicly.
4. Truthtrance questions must be answered immediately after the
question is given. No other card plays or other game actions
(except player discussion) may occur until the question is answered.
5. Truthtrance questions are permitted to require the target
to speculate about future actions or conditions. No player is
required to act to make the conditions of the question true.
When/if the explicit conditions specified by the question are
met, the target must abide by the answer given to the question
to the best of his ability. If the target is truly unable to
abide by the answer given to the question, then the Truthtrance
is negated, and the target must publicly state that the answer
given is invalid.
For example, I ask "Will you play a projectile weapon in
battle against me in Carthag this turn?" and you answer
"Yes". You are bound to play a projectile weapon if
we have a battle in Carthag this turn and if you hold a projectile
weapon at the time that battle plans are committed. If we do
battle in Carthag, but you have no projectile weapon in your
hand when it comes time to commit our battle plans, then you
must announce that you are physically unable to abide by the
answer you have given, the Truthtrance is negated and we ignore
the answer to the question. If you had answered "No",
then you may not play a projectile weapon in any battle against
me in Carthag this turn, no matter what else happens. In practice,
highly speculative questions have rarely been found to be valuable
uses of Truthtrances anyway. Players are encouraged to confine
Truthtrance usage to the least speculative questions possible.
Player are required to avoid frivolous or purposely paradoxical
use.
6. Karama powers that specify "once" in the description
refer to "once per Karama card play" (as opposed to
"once per game" or "once per player").
7. Any player may play a Karama to "prevent Atreides from
seeing the future once", selecting one of the following
effects: cancel Prescience in one battle, prevent looking at
the next spice blow card this turn, prevent looking at the rest
of the treachery cards up for bid this turn. The Atreides use
of a Karama to see an entire battle plan can not be canceled.
8. Any player may play a Karama to cancel the Atreides' Prescience
in any battle any time after the Prescience question is asked
but before battle plans are committed. If the Prescience is canceled
after the answer was given, the answer may be ignored.
9. Any player may play a Karama to cancel the Atreides' use of
Kwisatz Haderach any time before battle plans are committed.
(This does not prevent the Atreides from using the Kwisatz Haderach
in a different battle later in the same turn.)
10. Any player may play a Karama to cancel the Bene Gesserit's
Voice in any battle any time after the Voice is given but before
the Prescience question is asked (if applicable) or battle plans
are committed.
11. Any player may play a Karama to cancel any single BG spiritual
advisor immediately after the advisor is announced.
12. Any player may play a Karama to cancel the Bene Gesserit's
use of a Worthless Card as a Karama immediately after the Karama
effect is announced. (The Worthless Card is still discarded.)
13. A Karama card may only be used to cancel a treachery card
payment owed by the player who played the card. The Karama must
be played immediately when the purchase is made.
14. Any player may play a Karama to cancel the Emperor's or Fremen's
starred token advantage in any battle any time before battle
plans are committed.
15. Any player may play a Karama to prevent the Fremen (or an
ally of the Fremen) from controlling a worm once (thus sending
their tokens to the tank instead) any time after the worm is
revealed but before worm-riding is resolved. If this was an "additional"
worm that was placed in a location by the Fremen, it instead
appears at the first spice blow in the stack beneath
it, as usual. You can not cancel the Fremen's control of a worm
that he called with a Karama card of his own.
16. A Karama card may only be used to reduce the cost of a shipment
made by the player who played the card. The Karama must be played
any time after the shipment is declared, but before the player's
movement is declared.
17. Any player may play a Karama to force the Guild to move in
proper player dot order any time before the player who would
move after the Guild has begun his turn.
18. Any player may play a Karama to prevent the Harkonnen from
drawing a free card any time before the identity of the free
card is seen.
19. Any player may play a Karama to cancel the Harkonnen's capture
of a leader any time after determining which leader has been
captured but before the Harkonnen decides whether to keep it
or kill it.
Miscellaneous
1. Only the Atreides player may keep written notes of treachery
card ownership during the game.
2. No computer assistance is permitted during the game.
3. Any player may reveal any personal information, including
their treachery cards, to any other player at any time if desired.
4. All spice transactions require agreement from both players
involved. (That is, no player may give spice to another player
unless that player consents to receive it.)
5. In any timing dispute not ruled on elsewhere in these clarifications,
(for example, if players attempt to play Truthtrances and/or
Karamas simultaneously) resolve the tie in player dot order.