Agents of Dune
Agents of Dune is a core supplement for the sci-fi Dune roleplaying game, written by Rachael Cruz, Andrew Peregrine, Mari Tokuda, and Peter Wright and published by Modiphius Entertainment.
By Aaron T. Huss
Learn more about Agents of Dune here
Purchase Agents of Dune here (paid link)
Find other Dune posts here
Agents of Dune is a mini-campaign book for the Dune roleplaying game. It takes a deep delve throughout all the main aspects of gaming in the Dune universe including the political intrigue and military conflicts that run as common parallel themes. While on the surface it is a campaign, it also includes a number of gaming aids, pre-generated characters, tokens, and maps (more like guides than maps though) to get the most out of the campaign. In all honesty, it is the ultimate supplement for Dune as it gives the GM and players a number of cool accessories to make that game that much more fun.
For those familiar with complex video games, Agents of Dune is essentially the beginners approach to the game in the form of a tutorial that launches into a campaign. It does this by walking the GM through, step by step, the building of a group of PCs, how to play the game (a literal narrative explanation), and examples of the most essential mechanics early on for everyone to familiarize themselves with the game. Then it launches into the campaign with a number of options depending on what type of house the PCs want to represent (I won’t go into that any further as it could spoil the gaming experience). To keep with that tutorial theme, all the accessories included enhance your experience, even though they’re not required, by providing visualizations of how the game is played. This includes two decks of cards with equipment, characters, and more! And those pre-gens… they even include a page that presents an overview of the games base mechanics. Even after you’ve played through the campaign, all those accessories can accompany you throughout a larger campaign.
I personally find Dune to be an interesting setting and loved the recent movie that was released. However, I really struggle to understand what type of role-playing experience it’s meant to embrace. Agents of Dune completely answers all my questions by running through all the different styles of gaming experience it sets out to present in a seamless fashion that follows the storyline perfectly from beginning to end.
It should be noted that this campaign utilizes the setting as the backdrop and not the storyline presented in the novel. Instead, the PCs are members of the house being given a piece of Arrakis, allowing everyone to explore the creative aspects of the setting instead of worrying about the flow of the novels.