House Creation
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In this game, the Player Characters all serve the a single noble House on Caladan. So, before we create those characters, it is vital to determine a few details about the style, agenda, and attributes of the House they serve. The House is obviously of great importance to the players, as it determines what type of characters they can each create and what they might aspire to.
The House Creation process will walk the Players through making the following decisions with a majority-vote to settle disagreements (or GM vote in case of ties):
1. House Type
2. Domains and Areas of Expertise
3. Name, Banners, and Arms
4. House Traits
5. House History
6. Enemies
7. Player Character Roles
1. House Type
For the purpose of this game, the Player House will start as a House Minor, which is defined as: an established house that while it has not established itself beyond its home planet, is one of the most important vassals Houses that serve the same House Major. The House has a strong tradition or dedication of service to their patron. Their holdings will cover large portions of lands, a major industry, or a moon controlled by the House Major. However, they must constantly jockey for power among the other Minor Houses that also serve their House Major, which are rivals for its favor.
2. Domains and Areas of Expertise
Domains
As most Houses rely on mercantile power and CHOAM shares for their fortune, each House has developed a specialty in an area of business or produce that is important to the Imperium. These areas of acumen are called Domains. Your House may have several of these classified as either primary or secondary.
A primary domain is the area your House is most famous for because it is something they are one of the best in the universe at. This could be a unique product like spice or a common product your House is an unrivaled expert on. A primary domain need not be especially glamorous, but its power is unmistakable. While many of the Imperium’s elite sneer at the pundi rice of the Atreides, it is a staple food on hundreds of planets.
A secondary domain is an area that the House is known for, but it is not their main source of income. However, it is still lucrative, and the House is considered a serious contender in this arena of business but is far from holding a controlling monopoly. They vie with several other Houses in their attempts to make it a primary domain and the competition may be exceptionally fierce.
It is important to note that a House’s domains are not the only areas of business they are part of, but they can only excel at a few things given the powerful competition among the Houses. So, for most Houses, it makes business sense to play to your strengths and corner a particular area of the universal free market.
The Player House will start with one primary domain and one secondary domain.
Areas of Expertise
The various domains are grouped into areas of expertise for the sake of simplicity. They are further subdivided to help offer ideas for what precise domains might be found within each area of expertise. In some cases, you may choose domains from the same subsection. For example, a farming House might take three different types of crops produce for their primary and two secondary domains. This is also not a comprehensive list and there is nothing wrong with creating a new area of expertise if what you want to excel at is not listed below.
Each area of expertise is divided into the following sections:
- Machinery: any large-scale machinery or devices that might be created, either by the area of expertise or to help craft or maintain the area of expertise.
- Produce: something the area of expertise actually produces. Many areas of expertise offer several different types of produce.
- Expertise: your House excels at training or managing the people who lead the area of expertise.
- Workers: your House either trains or produces dedicated staff who are responsible for doing the actual work that makes the area of expertise flourish and are usually required in large numbers.
- Understanding: this is the theoretical part of the area of expertise and allows a House to develop secret new techniques or strategies they might share with others, for a price.
Domains and Areas of Expertise
Artistic Domain
Artistic domains may not be very powerful, but they grant the House both fame and respect across the universe. Those famed for their performers might also use the opportunity to put spies within a traveling company. The famous Face Dancer spies of the Bene Tleilax were originally designed as performers (officially at least).
Machinery: stage effects, scenery pieces, scenic art, lighting and sound systems
Produce: plays, poems, novels, comedy sketches, musical pieces
Expertise: playwrights, poets, composers, directors
Workers: actors, stage crews, musicians, speakers, traveling companies
Understanding: philosophy, literary criticism, theatrical performance style
Espionage Domain
Intelligence operations and secrets are the meat and drink of most Houses. As such, there are several who are renowned for supplying the mechanisms of the spy trade. A few even infiltrate other organizations to learn their secrets for themselves or to sell to others.
Machinery: surveillance devices, sensors, jamming technology
Produce: information and secrets from other Houses, likely from a particular specialty such as military secrets or blackmail
Expertise: spymasters and agent handlers
Workers: agents, spies, infiltrators
Understanding: particular forms of espionage and counterintelligence techniques
Farming Domain
Houses that rely on farming then to be pastoral and peaceful places. However, their power lies in creating something basic the other Houses may not realize how much they rely upon.
Machinery: tractors, harvesters, large-scale farming equipment
Produce: crops and animal products
Expertise: stewards, land managers
Workers: farm laborers, shepherds, herders
Understanding: new farming techniques to increase productivity
Industrial Domain
Industrial Houses tend to control planets full of factories and production facilities, but most do not let productivity destroy their home. Industrial items can range from filmbook readers to Guild Heighliners, although ay technical House must take care to follow Butlerian prescriptions on what they can develop.
Machinery: factory machines, spacecraft, large vehicles
Produce: mass-produced goods, refined alloys, toys
Expertise: supervisors, business managers
Workers: factory workers, craftsmen, mechanics
Understanding: new techniques for business management and factory operations
Kanly Domain
The next step forward from espionage is assassination. To avoid chaos, the Great Houses agreed on a set of rules for assassination to prevent a slaughter. These “forms of kanly” are designed to limit both assassinations and the inevitable responses and are ruthlessly enforced by all the Houses. As such, they are also a lucrative area of business.
Machinery: assassination weapons and traps such as hunter-seekers, mines, bombs, etc.
Produce: poisons
Expertise: assassin masters, operation planners, trainers
Workers: assassins, thugs, infiltration specialists
Understanding: means of assassination, infiltration techniques, deadly combat strikes
Military Domain
While war is rarer than assassination, no House wants another to see they have a weak military, as that may be considered an invitation to attack. Military actions are costly and logistically difficult, often requiring expensive Guild payments to move troops to another planet. But if you want to take land or facilities from another House, you may need soldiers to claim and occupy it.
Machinery: battlefield weapons, artillery, large-scale shields, tanks
Produce: ammunition, personal weapons, small arms
Expertise: tacticians, officers, strategists
Workers: soldiers, engineers, pilots, logistics personnel
Understanding: military strategies and new tactics
Political Domain
To some Houses, politics is their meat and drink. These social gadflies do not just play the complex games of the Landsraad for extra power they make these games their business. Such Houses are the ultimate courtiers and leaders in popular styles and etiquette. They know who is doing what to whom and how to get the ear of the most powerful figures. They also make good mediators, understanding the complexities of House politics.
Machinery: couture fashion, expensive trinkets, message services
Produce: information, secrets, favors
Expertise: political analysts, mediators, diplomats, fashionistas, social planners
Workers: courtiers, spies, administrators, servants, entourage
Understanding: diplomacy techniques, forms of etiquette
Religion Domain
Faith still plays a large part in the society of the Imperium and remains a force powerful enough to create leverage in business ventures and is even a service that can be sold. The trapping of religion are popular, and some Houses have found ways to monetize religion and package it for sale.
Machinery: churches, statues, prayer beads, religious symbols, religious books
Produce: prayers, hymns, religious and inspirational writings
Expertise: clergy, philosophers
Workers: choristers, altar servants, community managers
Understanding: new religious philosophies, new forms of faith
Science Domain
While the tenets of the Butlerian Jihad remain in force, it does not mean that humanity cannot research and develop new scientific ideas. Many Houses have a research and development department to advance their domains and keep ahead of the competition. This domain often couples with Industrial domains where a House might take full advantage of what they discover, rather than pass it along to others to exploit.
Machinery: laboratory equipment, quarantine areas, entire scientific facilities
Produce: chemical compounds, drugs, genetically-adapted humans and animals
Expertise: scientists and researchers
Workers: lab assistants and managers
Understanding: new scientific research
3. Name, Banners, and Arms
In addition to choosing a name for the House, the Players will create the coat of arms that they proudly emblazon on all their holdings to remind everyone of what is theirs. Most Houses have a banner made up of one or two colors and a crest, which might be an animal, object, or something relevant to the location or industry of the Houses' domains. Examples from the books are the green and black hawk crest of the Atreides, the gold and scarlet lion of the Corrino, etc.
4. House Traits
Traits are aspects that can be used by Player Characters that are recognized as members of the House and imply the reputation the House has within the Imperium. The Player House will begin with a trait for its primary domain that is the same as the areas of expertise for that domain, as well as a descriptive trait based on its reputation such as 'Honorable' for the Atreides or 'Brutal' for the Harkonnen. This Trait details the way the rest of the Imperium sees your House and expects its agents to behave. Other Traits may be gained or lost by the House during play, usually after an important event that changes their reputation in the Imperium.
5. House History
The history of the House can be as elaborate or simple as the Players decide and can be fleshed out through the course of Play, but there are some basic aspects that should be determined as they will be supporting materials for much of the other decisions that are made such as its origins of ennoblement, how it came to control the lands or industries that comprise its domains, what its relationship with its patron and enemies were/are, how did it earn its traits and reputation, and what are some key events and developments that the current generation have experienced (note: this will likely influence and be influenced by player character concepts and backstories.
6. Enemies
Even the most pleasant and honorable House will have someone that hates them. Luckily, such enemies need not be engaged in a multi-generational deadly kanly vendetta such as between that of the Atreides and Harkonnen. In fact, enemies and allies can change as the politics of the Imperium are fluid. A situation that makes two Houses enemies one year might see them making an alliance for mutual benefit when the situation changes the next year.
The Player House will start with at least 1 Minor House as an enemy and roll and define the nature and reason for their enemy's hatred.
7. Player Character Roles
Below is a list of high-level examples of roles that is not intended to be comprehensive that are available to the Player Characters that will be fleshed out as part of creation (note: the starting Ruler of the House will be an NPC):
- The Spouse of the Ruler
- The Consort of the Ruler
- The Heir to the Ruler
- Advisors
- Councilors
- Treasurer
- Physicians
- Envoys
- Marshal
- Scholar
- Spymaster
- Swordmaster
- Warmaster
- Etc.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:48, Sat 17 July 2021.