Sunday, January 15, 2023

Dune 2d20: The Spice Melange

I ran a few sessions of Dune 2d20 and found it to be basically a serviceable tabletop version of the Dune setting. The big omission from the game's voluminous gear list is the Spice Melange. This is an absurd omission, Spice is the entire reason everyone is on Arrakis in the first place.
 
 
Spice can't be acquired via momentum spend to create an asset. It can be bought from legitimate sources on worlds where the ruling House doesn't restrict the supply, or from smugglers at a markup on the already high market price. Either way, the cost is prohibitive to all but the wealthiest Imperial families. Spice can be looted from the treasuries of Great Houses, or stolen from Nobles who have it on their person for private use. Diluted Spice is easier to acquire, by the time of the Regent Alia Atreides "even the vast middle class of the Imperium ate diluted melange in small sprinklings with at least one meal a day." Spice of any kind is much cheaper and easier to acquire on Arrakis, without the Guild monopoly on shipping and Imperial tithes driving up the price.

Consuming a dose of the spice Melange restores a point of Determination.

Consuming even a single dose grants the complication: Spice Addiction. This is permanent, although it only becomes relevant after the character has gone without Spice for an extended period. Severe withdrawal is fatal. Diluted spice staves of withdrawal but provides no other mechanical benefit. Spice addiction is a great way to control someone, if they can't afford a fix or live somewhere the supply is tightly controlled.

Prolonged, excessive spice consumption grants the trait Eyes of Ibad, tinting the iris and sclera a total blue so dark as to be almost black. This is an unattractive trait anywhere except Arrakis, and most people wear contacts to make their eyes look "normal" in polite society. Fremen consider the Eyes of Ibad a desirable trait, though this alone is not enough to overcome their distrust of offworlders.

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