Concepts 7 and 8 have Areas Of Expertise erroneously listed as primary domains.

I personally like Concept 1 the best.

Of those, 2 sounds the most interesting to me.

Tough choices.

1 and 2 are both nice, but many seem interesting.

I have my own bias towards my top two of course (naturally, heh), but one thing I noted is that this is for our initial House that gets promoted. The other ideas we don't pick could end up being Minor Houses under us (much as some of these examples are referencing being a Minor House under the Atreides). I could easily see one or two of these ideas being implemented as existing Minor Houses on Caladan for us to interact with as time goes on - depending on if that's in the GM's plans at least.

I "vote" for 3 and 8.

I also vote for 1 and 2, in that order.

Fixed. Thanks for catching that.

Love the discussion! I think we have enough high-level concepts that we can move forward with the vote. Please each Player send me a Private Message with a rank-order vote of your first, second, and third preferred concepts.

Spot on. The plan was to use the concepts that weren't selected to flesh out other Minor Houses that were your competition for Great House status and/or current retainers of yours.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:16, Tue 20 July 2021.

Awesome. Sent my votes in the Concept proposal PM (to keep it consolidated).


edit: Thought I'd add in a more public mention of my own votes; going for 1 and then 2 in that order - and give a quick 'why'.


I saw the first concept as very fitting with the setting right now from the description. The Atreides have been wiped out on Arrakis and the Emperor is now raising a House to control Caladan. We know (unless the meta in this universe is different) that he had concerns about the Atreides and was partially behind why they were eliminated. They were also very popular among the Landsraad. He can't merely give Caladan to someone unliked (ie. the Harkonnens) but he also fears potential reprisal or a continued sense of concern from Caladan. So he needs to make sure its effectively neutralized while also appearing 'neutral'.


Concept 1 fits that bill quite nicely as it promotes a local House into the roll, one that is respected and liked among the other Houses, but its specialties are benign. Farming? That's no threat. Sure, they have some political savvy to them, but it would take them quite some time to formulate any sort of real opposition to him. More than likely at least. Some of the other concepts fit this bill as well to a certain extent. Off-World Houses to come in would similarly neutralize Caladan as a threat, but depending on the nature of that House it could receive lack-luster reception by the locals (if not be viewed as a mere tool/puppet of the Emperor by the other Houses). Those concepts would fit well and likely have the Emperor's favor, but at the cost of the local population.

Concept 2 is also a good 'raised from the locals' idea, but would likely be one more heavily 'watched' by the Emperor. They're good at training armies, but lacked the social and political graces that Duke Leto held with the other Houses. The subtle workings of politics. Its more the combination of political and military strength that really worried the Emperor before, as it would take both to ultimately overthrow him. And with the weakened forces of the Atreides (the bulk of which likely went to Arrakis), this House would have a LOT of recruiting and training to conduct before its a real threat on that front. This would be a good pick for the Emperor to sort of proclaim to all the other Houses "I'm not worried. See? I'm promoting a military House to control Caladan. Watch your asses."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:21, Thu 22 July 2021.

I'll vote 2, then 1 in that order please.

We have one vote uncast, but it is mathematically impossible now for any concept but one to win. Drum roll please… the winner is House Concept 2!

Concept 2 - Native House on Western Continent

Primary Domain: Military (Workers)
Secondary Domain: Espionage (Workers)

This House was located close to the holdings of the Atreides and earned its wealth and influence by training and providing the Caladanian military forces with specialist soldiers, engineers, pilots, and supply and logistics personnel. As the respect for the competency of the Atreides forces grew, so too did the demand for the services of this House and they have an extensive network across the Imperium. Those of promise were also trained in the arts of spying and infiltration and could be embedded in the forces of a House seeking their services.

The next steps are to: develop a name, banner, and arms for our House; select a House Trait; and develop a history for the House. This thread is open for that discussion.

Thought I'd throw out a few ideas for consideration:


Name: (Undecided - no real preference on that here. Offhand, I'd think something of a Greek origin would be ideal given that's the source of the Atreides name as well - going back to Atreus).


Banner & Arms: While the Atreides (who have led Caladan for centuries) maintained the hawk as their symbol with red, green and black as the color, I thought it would be a good touch (if not established prior to their rise) for the House to have a similar (ish) styling. Rather than a full hawk, I was thinking a bird's talon. That would denote their focus on more military strength than the bird as a whole. Color wise, they could maybe do Red, Black and Blue? Red and Black for the military backing and history and blue rather than green for the seas of Caladan. Similar, recognizable, but distinct enough that it would be distinguished from the former Atreides banner but still close enough to inspire the connection.

House Trait: With our primary Domain being Military with a Workers focus, I think Battle or Discipline would be the best route for the trait. Perhaps Battle (Strategy) or Discipline (Command, Composure or Precision). Any of those could convey a good positive quality towards the House and its main Domain focus, though which is probably a matter of the specific direction we'd want to go with the House. Strategy? They'd be viewed as Strategic masterminds in the Empire, so someone who could step into the shoes of the Atreides quite easily in whatever aims they held before their demise. Discipline (all three) could convey the House as extremely level headed and deliberate. They won't act hastily, so provoking them would be hard - but when they strike, it'd be with laser focus. Two options at least!


History: As for the history of the House... the primary vote gives a good bit I think. The House is located close to Castle Caladan and the seat of the Atreides' power. They were in charge (most recently at least) of training its military forces and logistics personnel. Something like that doesn't happen overnight, so it'd make sense that they've been present and slowly mastering their skills for a couple centuries at least. The Dukes had entrusted this House with the training and equipment necessary to recruit and educate their armies, so they stood in some favor. They'd have had dealings with others around the Imperium to a point, likely training select people (by contract and most likely with the Atreides permission).

Lot of potential there for miscellaneous historical events that could have denoted the recruitment or rise of any of our players along the way too as advisors, counselors, envoys, Masters, etc.

My suggestion is that we were the military engineers who designed and constructed the Atreides fortifications in and around the capital: the castle, the city, the spaceport, et cetera. House personnel would be similarly adept at infiltrating and compromising fortifications. That pairs our primary and secondary domains pretty well.

Drawing from great dynasties not derived from classical Greece, how about Maccabees ('hammer' in Aramaic) for our House name? A related alternative would be Ha-Simeon or Hashmonai.

 ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maccabees
 ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasmonean_dynasty

Here: https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/House#Known_Houses there are quite a lot of names of great houses and a few of minor houses: we can take some inspiration from them.

In alternative, we can start by considering that the Atreides considered themselves to be descendants from Agamemnon (https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/House_Atreides) and take some name associated with Agamemnon, such as Palamedes, for example, that in the Odyssey was an envoy for Agamemnon.

In reply to Player 9 (msg # 20):

Why limit ourselves to classical Greek mythological references? It has been tens of thousands of years since Agamemnon.

I'd say for the same reasons that the Imperium is structured on more ancient government types: tradition and standing. It would follow that the minor Houses on Caladan would want to imitate their sponsor House as much as possible while retaining their own identity. The more beloved their patron is, the more they'd want to be a reflection of them. Standing out as unique would, of course, be a good way to identify themselves as different from the other minor Houses, but some universal aspects could be expected. if the origin of the Atreides House was from a more Greek oriented background, I could more easily see the minor houses founded under them adopting the same philosophy. Of course, it needn't be strictly from the time frame as the Atreides origin. While the Odyssey in relation to Agamemnon is a great reference (and I do like the Palamedes play - something turned from that perhaps. Plamend or Lamendes?), we could always go forward a bit as well. A more Aramaic influence to the name could work as well. I wouldn't use one directly though, but do a word play from that base even then. Macaben? Or Hasnean? Something just a little different from a direct repeat.

It has been a few years since I have read the original, although now this is an excellent reason to do so again.

I seem to recall that the Atreides troops in particular are loyal to the Duke at the time, more than mere professionals, that they are invested in their House and believers in the nobility of their rule.

I also seem to recall there were a fair number of Ornithoper pilots even among the ranks of the nobility? Could this be extrapolated to include the House as a whole in the production and piloting of the various Ornithopters?

It would certainly make sense to me given their native terrain.

In reply to Player 1 (msg # 22):

Maccabee is derived from the original Aramaic maqqaba (makebet in modern Hebrew). Less-Anglicized names perfectly suit the familiar-yet-foreign aspect of Dune.

With Atreides fallen and us standing in as a replacement, I'd suggest that being too closely tied to them would likely have resulted in our downfall along with them.

I like the idea of us being strategists = which plays into us having had a 'backup plan' that ensured that we didn't get painted with the Atreides colours, but at the same time our Espionage/Strategy ensured that we weren't simply seen as traitors anyway (even if some might still see us that way).

I'd probably look to the house bonus applying to the Espionage rather than the primary skill set if only to highlight that we pulled that ace out of the bag when we really needed it most!

As for the name... probably go with something suitably militaristic so that we 'say what's in the box' as its a good distraction from the espionage. :-)   I like Maccabee.

Name is fine by me. As for our house bonus - I 'think' it has to be from our Primary Domain? So while it'd be nice to have it from the Espionage, I think we're sort of stuck with it as the Military instead. But I do like the modest distancing of the House from the Atreides so we're not lumped in with their own fall. Nor seen as traitors. There would be a reason we got left behind when they went to Arrakis. Perhaps we were left behind to 'continue the regular training'.

A sort of default minor House left behind to see to the governing of Caladan (temporarily) as they got things on Arrakis settled. Eventually they'd appoint someone more permanent, but that fell through when they were destroyed. The Emperor stepping in to sort of make our "assuming rule" permanent was his way to honoring the apparent wishes of the former Duke. Our House was selected to watch over Caladan in their absence, so he let us assume full and permanent command. A 'benevolent gesture'.

I can see there is kind of a choice to be made between Maccabeans and Palamedes (I like them both, to be honest) and, if you are OK with this, we can cut the decision short and make a poll between them.

Works for me?

That would just leave the other big factors involved to decide:

House Name: Maccabeans or Palamedes (or whatever iteration of the two is desired)

Banner & Arms: Alternative to the talon crest? Different colors than Red, Black & Blue?

House Trait: Assuming it must be from the primary domain, that means some sort of Military based trait. Lots of options here.


History: Brief (general) blurb above on some of the general House history, though if we want to flesh out a detailed one we can work on that. Not sure how detailed we need to have it at this point.