Dune Scenario Ideas

The Spice Must Flow

Set during the initial Atreides Arrival on Arrakis and before the Attack on Arrakeen, so you might
need to extend this period beyond the 11 days it seems to take in the original book.

There has been a small but steady reduction in yield from recent Spice Blows in the Western Erg
Region. The PCs are tasked by Thufir Hawat with working out why.

It's set during the initial Atreides Arrival on Arrakis and before the Attack on Arrakeen, so you might
need to extend this period beyond the 11 days it seems to take in the original book. I'm probably
going to have a few months pass, to allow players to get familiar with the system and setting before
running the Attack and then sending them either into Guerrilla Warfare or off-planet (or starting
new characters).
Introduction…
There has been a small but steady reduction in yield from recent Spice Blows in one sector, out
past Sihaya Ridge to the South-west. The PCs are tasked by Thufir Hawat with working out why.
There are three teams of Spice Miners in that region, each consisting of a Carryall and two
Harvesters and two short-range 4-seater Ornithopters (each with a pilot and a spotter).
• Carryall crew of 3 (Pilot, Co-Pilot, Mechanic - one of which would be the owner - "Spice
Master")
• plus 2 x Harvester crews of 3 (Driver & two Spice-scoopers)
• plus 2 x Ornithopter crews (Pilot & Spotter)

Total of 13 people per Carryall Team.

I'll probably detail one crew and something about each of the Carryall Spice Masters, then whichever
Team becomes the focus of Player attention, the Team members would be the prepared set. The
hexes on the map are 50km across.
It's about 500km (approx. 250 miles) out from Arrakeen to Sihaya Ridge. I'm going to assume that
the hunting range for the teams is 4 hexes out from the main ridge (to the right). Their camp is the
black dot on the north tip of the main ridge. The ridge itself is about 200km long and up to 20 miles
wide, rising 243 metres from the desert floor.

Because of storms and the amount of dust in the atmosphere, I'll assume that top speed for a
Carryall is only about 100kph so it takes 5 hours to get there. They probably have a camp on the
Ridge so they can stay out for a few days hunting and enough fuel and provisions for 5 days.

Simulating a Spice Hunt….. Spotting a Spice Blow in a Hex.

At 100kph = 5% chance +5% per Spotter Ornithopter = 15%
At 50kph = 10% chance + 10% per Spotter Ornithopter = 30%
Hexes that have recently bloomed (reduce the chance by 25% the next day, then 20%, 15%, 10%, 5%
each day)
Searching in the same hex in a day reduce the chance by 5% each time.

The scene above is a map page from my Roll20 game, showing the Carryall, hovering 100m up. The
two Ornithopters, on Worm Watch about 1,000m up. Two Harvesters, trundling slowly through the
Spice Bloom.
The vehicles are from Gabriel Pickard's "Transportation Sensations: SciFi Vehicles 1"
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/set/1565/transportation-sensations-scifi-vehicles-1
The "Bloom" is just some type of Trees, dropped as a token and Tinted purple, before switching it to
the Map layer. then copy and paste as desired.

What's really going on?

The figures for all three Carryalls are down a steady 10% over the last three months. This ties in with
when the Change of Fief was announced.
Team 1 experienced the reduction first, then Team 2 and 3 the following month.
Team 1 also lost a Harvester and an Ornithopter in month 1. Then Team 2 lost a Harvester in Month
2, then Team 3 lost a Harvester and an Ornithopter last month. They lost 3 crew from each of the
Harvesters and 2 crew from each of the Ornithopters.
The Spice harvest reduction is greater than would be explained by the loss of 1 harvester.

For a team of 3 Spice Masters, typical Equipment Losses might be 2 Harvesters and 2 Ornithopters
every 6 months, so the numbers aren't too suspicious, but show a run of bad luck, as they've lost 3
Harvesters and 2 Ornithopters in 3 months.

They have claimed more rapid and more aggressive Worm activity in the area explains the Harvester
losses and the reduction. The Ornithopters probably went down due to Dust Storms or faulty parts.
The Spice Masters have been able to claim on Insurance for lost equipment and Death-Benefits for
the lost personnel.

They have recruited replacements from the Towns (for training) - these recruits don't get onto the
Insurance roster until they are considered fully trained. They have reported a couple "went missing
from camp - probably the Lure of the Desert, or kidnapped by the Fremen who live along the Ridge".
So the House doesn't have accurate records of who is working on these Independent Teams.

In reality, House Harkonnen has bought the "lost" harvesters and then sells them back to House
Atreides. The "lost" trained workers just stayed out in the Camp for a few weeks. The un-named
recruits didn't really exist and the trained workers re-joined the team and pocketed the Pension
Payout (where team members have no families, their death-benefits are typically shared with their
team).

House Harkonnen are also taking a slice of each cargo. As they have proof of the Spice Masters'
crimes, they are now blackmailing them to provide 10% of each haul. They stash it at a hidden
location along the Ridge and a Harkonnen Carryall comes out to collect once week. The Harkonnens
are able to claim they didn't know the Harvesters and Ornithopters were "stolen", just assumed they
were Leased equipment being brought back late by Spice Masters who had been out a few
weeks/months. They didn't "buy" the vehicles, just paid the usual deposit back to the Leasors.

Other Possible Reasons if you don't like the above (could be more than one of these)…
➢ Spice Miners are siphoning off some of the Spice, hoping it won't get noticed during the
confusion of the Change – selling it to Smugglers
➢ Spice Miners are leaving the Blows earlier than usual
o reductions in pay and increases in hours have made them less willing to risk their
lives
o Bribed Spice Miners are pretending to spot Worm Sign earlier so the Harvesters
leave some Spice behind for Fremen or Smugglers to collect.
➢ Knowing they will soon be leaving, Spice Miners are taking more risks to stay longer and
gather more, resulting in more Harvesters lost to Worms!
➢ Spice Harvesters are breaking down more
o Parts are being provided with poor quality
o All the best mechanics left with the Harkonnens
o Harkonnen Agents are sabotaging the equipment
➢ Fremen volunteer helpers are tricking the Harvesters into leaving early and then sneaking in
to manually harvest the Blow themselves
➢ Spice Blows are less productive
➢ Spice Blows are less frequent
o Some disease? Parasite?
 o Some sort of cycle of fertility and soon will bounce back
o Worms have been killed or kidnapped by Harkonnen/Imperial/Guild scientists?
▪ Smugglers have been paid a fortune to take a Worm off-planet
o Worms taken by Fremen for some ritual
▪ Perhaps a gathering of clans to discuss the Atreides?
▪ Fremen have been luring the larger Worms out into the Deep Desert so only
the smaller ones are left in the regions within easy reach of the Cities.

Ways to investigate…
➢ Analysis of the Data looking for patterns
➢ Interviewing Managers of the process
➢ Interviewing the Spice Miners (officially or informally)
➢ Ride-along Inspection on a Carryall
➢ Ride-along Inspection on a Harvester
➢ Bugging/remote surveillance
➢ Joining an operation - covertly
➢ Investigating Smugglers
➢ Investigating Fremen

Arvio’s Bad Habits

As a follow-on from the Desertfall Beta Scenario, if Arvio’s gambling debts didn’t get explored,
Harkonnen agents could apply pressure on him (with a bit of cheating at cards) to help them bug or
infiltrate or sabotage the Residency.

This would have to happen in the couple of weeks after the arrival of House Atreides and before the
Great Betrayal (I think this happens about 2 weeks after arrival, so it isn’t much of a window. I might
decide to stretch this period to last a few months or even a year instead in my campaign, just to give
time for a few adventures before House Atreides is overrun).

See Reddit article that works out they only have about 11 days on Arrakis!
https://www.reddit.com/r/dune/comments/d7n46x/how_long_did_duke_leto_rule_arrakis/

An informant in the town (one of the PC’s Contacts?) spots Arvio talking to an Outworlder and it
looks VERY suspicious so reports it to the PCs. Arvio comes away shaking and pale.

Optional Situations…
➢ to force him to disable the Security Field by activating an EMP device inside the perimeter.
(to give an opportunity for additional devices to be smuggled-in over the walls)...
o His Wife/Child have been kidnapped (makes him desperate but sympathetic)
o His debts will be paid off (purely mercenary)
o He is being threatened with the revealing of his earlier transgressions (mainly
stealing cutlery/linen/art works/info) (grey area)
o He is a Harkonnen Agent and that was his handler, pushing him for more urgent
action (out-and-out bad guy)
Optional Approaches
➢ Interrogate Arvio
➢ Tail Arvio to the Gambling Den
o Run into Harkonnen Agent(s) (Combat or Misinformation/Intrigue)
o Run into common criminals (if you used my earlier idea of having the “Water
Bandits” be thugs working for an old Smuggler rival of Corbin’s, it could be them).
 o Playing/Cheating at card games (extended Contest or Communicate/Understand)
o Sneaking around?

Harkonnen Observation Outpost

You learn of an Outpost, in caves in the Shield Wall. The enemy are using hidden scanning dishes in
the mountains and a few hidden bugs in The Residency to keep tabs on the Atreides.

Locate the Base – info gathering in Arrakeen or a trip to Carthag? Flying out in Ornithopters to do a
manual search? Asking for help from Fremen?
Combat – Some agents disguised as Fremen coming to the base
The Base
Combat? Room-to-room.
Destruction by bombing?
Sneaky Infiltration?
Super-Sneaky Mis-information?

The Raid on Giedi Prime

A few days before the Battle of Arrakeen, Thufir Hawat sends the PCs on a raid to Giedi Prime to
destroy the Baron’s secret stockpile of Spice. Because stockpiling Spice has been made illegal by the
Emperor, this is an acceptable bit of industrial espionage the Harkonnens could not report.

Nb. If you send the Pre-gen PCs on this mission, you will need to extend the timescale so there is
longer between the arrival on Arrakis and the Attack on Arrakeen. You may also need to consider
travel times.

Atreides agents on GP have been preparing bombs for months but now need some specialists to get
them into the Harkonnen Base. The PCs can be sent as part of a Project Team liaising with the
Harkonnens about the Handover or Power on Arrakis. So they get transport by Spacing Guild ship.

The planet is meant to be heavily industrialised and over-populated, with factories and arenas for
gladiatorial combat similar to the Roman Empire. I’m going to envision this to be like Blade Runner
with an even more oppressive planetary government – the Harkonnens.

High-tech security. Heavily shielded and armed security guards. Armoured Attack Dogs (Minor
Supporting Characters). Ornithopters (flying cars).
Possible Approaches…
➢ As enemy agents, they will be under surveillance so will have to find a way to evade their
watchers.
➢ Electronic Security Passes? Retinal Scans?
➢ Sneak on-board some Truck?
➢ Frontal Assault (need to source heavy weapons) – possibly from an Arena?
➢ High-tech hackery?
➢ Parachute Drop from high up? HALO jump!
Possible Twists…
➢ Harkonnens have a captured Sandworm!
➢ Clone Banks (creating their own Sardaukar!)
➢ Failed medical experiments – trying to create their own artificial Spice
➢ Learn about the Attack on Arrakeen (but too late to get back with a warning)
The Attack on Arrakeen
Harkonnen Carryall Wings hover over the Residential wing of the Residency, dropping troops to the
roof. These are Sardaukar (disguised as Harkonnens). Meanwhile the Wall is destroyed by bombs
and Harkonnen troops and Arrakis mercenaries swarm in through the holes.

The Atreides Family are clearly beyond help and it looks clear that Dr Yueh was part of the betrayal.

Perhaps the mission would be to escort Thufir Hawat to safety? Then maybe learn that it was Lady
Jessica who betrayed the House!

Combats exiting the Residency

Perhaps sneaking about in Arrakeen underworld trying to arrange a lift to a Smuggler Base in the
Desert? maybe trying to steal an Ornithopter or Carryall?
Perhaps a land journey (stolen truck?) through the Shield Wall