The big problem is I haven't read the books in a really long time and I don't remember a whole lot about the setting. So I'm turning to you lot to help me figure out some character concepts that would be fun to play but don't require a lot of knowledge of the setting! What should I play?

(cross-posted at RPGnet, so if you post over there, no need to double post here)

I'm not sure how to answer this without knowing more of the system. IF you are talking THE Dune RPG (lost unicorn games?) then you are pretty restricted to playing members of a lesser house or somesuch.

If you are taking something like GURPS, then you have more options.

Fighting types include Swordsmen, Fremen (relgious tribesmen), Sardukar (imperial soldiers from prison worlds, hard hard HARD, suposedly).  With everyone having some sort of deadliness.

Then you have Mentats (scholarly types, but often with military bent), Bene Geserits (Prana Bindu 'psychic' witches with a breeding program), Bene Tleilaxu (religious technologists with no morals...), including facedancers and ghola (respectively: Shapechanging spies and dead guys clones)

Never mind the option to play one of the actual Nobles who run shit, or their inner circle of bad dudes (which any of the above could be).... and is typically going to drive a Dune game.

Hope that helps.

How about a water merchant? "Suuk! Suuk!"

Leave Spice to the big boys, and focus on water. It gives you the perfect excuse to visit towns, go into the desert (harvest your water traps, etc), deal with all kinds of people, etc.

I've always like the Imperial ecologist.

Quote from: SpikeI'm not sure how to answer this without knowing more of the system. IF you are talking THE Dune RPG (lost unicorn games?) then you are pretty restricted to playing members of a lesser house or somesuch.

If you are taking something like GURPS, then you have more options.

Fighting types include Swordsmen, Fremen (relgious tribesmen), Sardukar (imperial soldiers from prison worlds, hard hard HARD, suposedly).  With everyone having some sort of deadliness.

Then you have Mentats (scholarly types, but often with military bent), Bene Geserits (Prana Bindu 'psychic' witches with a breeding program), Bene Tleilaxu (religious technologists with no morals...), including facedancers and ghola (respectively: Shapechanging spies and dead guys clones)

Never mind the option to play one of the actual Nobles who run shit, or their inner circle of bad dudes (which any of the above could be).... and is typically going to drive a Dune game.

Hope that helps.

Thanks, that's a lot of help actually. The system we're going with is indeed GURPS, since that's the GM's favorite system.

You must dress as they do.  Else, badwrongfun.

Oh, you think I'm joking.

Ugh. That means I'm going to have goodrightnotfun.

With the sole exception of Irulan... and then not even 100%, I'd have to say I much prefer the costuming in the Lynch version.

Much.

Quote from: SpikeWith the sole exception of Irulan... and then not even 100%, I'd have to say I much prefer the costuming in the Lynch version.

Much.

Oh yeah. Oh hell yeah.

Plus, it has Patrick Stewart!

You guys got zippers in your heads.

The Lynch version of Dune is awesome.  Somehow, as a kid I managed to see it exclusively when suffering from a really high fever!  (This happened on at least 2 occasions, several years apart)

Feeling sick, confused and delerious... and then watching Dune. Well... good times, my friends, good times.

I had pretty much the same experience with Lynch's Dune its one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies and pretty much molded my view of Herbert's universe. The soundtrack also kicks ass.

Quote from: StuartThe Lynch version of Dune is awesome.  Somehow, as a kid I managed to see it exclusively when suffering from a really high fever!  (This happened on at least 2 occasions, several years apart)

Feeling sick, confused and delerious... and then watching Dune. Well... good times, my friends, good times.

I'm going to be iconoclastic here and defend the SciFi channel miniseries.

I suspect most of us look back on the Lynch version fondly because it was twenty-plus years ago and we were all kids or, like me, college age. I was very impressed when I originally saw it, mostly for the sheer achievement of bringing Dune to the screen; but I think it requires the viewer to already know a lot about the Dune universe to really know what was going on. And aside from the coolness of the stillsuits, it really wasn't a good adaptation of the chrome that gives the universe its feel: Sardaukar in hazmat suits? Weirding modules? WTF?

I liked the miniseries. I thought it took fewer liberties with the plot, and it did a far better job of handling the Bene Gesserit and showing the religious issues that inform the book. About the only problem I really had was with the German/East European cast: I can get past most accents, but I couldn't understand a damn thing Chani said.

*shrug* Eh, I liked 'em both.

After I saw Lynch's Dune, some (okay, a lot of em') my npc assasins resembled Sting :eek:

Regards,
David R