Dune: Imperium
259 questions players ask about Dune: Imperium, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-23.
259 questions players ask about Dune: Imperium, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-23.
The rulebook's setup leaves the method open, and players in several threads confirm there is no fixed procedure.
No — setup only says each player takes a Leader, chosen freely or at random, and prescribes no draft. Any method the table agrees on works: free choice, random deal, deal two and keep one, or picking in reverse turn order.
The order follows directly from the rulebook's setup steps and Round Start phase.
The Imperium Row, yes; the first Conflict card, no. Setup deals the Imperium Row (step C) before players take Leaders (step D), while the first Conflict card is only revealed in Phase 1 of round 1, after setup is complete. With Rise of Ix, the face-up Tech tiles are also laid out before Leaders are chosen.
The rulebook's setup says resources are not meant to be limited.
No — the bank is unlimited. If you run out of tokens, track the extra with any substitute (coins, paper, a multiplier token).
The designer answered this directly, and the rulebook's trash rule confirms that Reserve cards return to their stack.
No — you can only acquire the copies in the box (10 The Spice Must Flow, 8 Arrakis Liaison, 6 Foldspace). When a Reserve card is trashed it goes back to its Reserve stack rather than out of the game, so the stacks rarely run dry.
“They are not infinite. However, whenever a player trashes one of them, that card returns to the reserve.”
— Merakon, designer
The rulebook says you can't recruit when your supply is out of troops.
Yes — each player has 12 troop cubes (the other four go on the Influence tracks). If none are left in your supply, you can't recruit more until some return there, for example after Combat.
Setup step G5 states it directly.
Three. Setup puts three of your 12 troop cubes in your garrison, so on your first Combat space you can already deploy two of them.
The rulebook lists the starting deck under player components.
Yes — every player gets the same 10 cards: 2 Convincing Argument, 2 Dagger, 1 Diplomacy, 2 Dune, the Desert Planet, 1 Reconnaissance, 1 Seek Allies and 1 Signet Ring. Starting cards carry a small arrow-like icon to the left of their name, so if one turns up in the Imperium Row it was shuffled into the Imperium Deck by mistake.
Players agree on this; the rulebook only issues a starting deck to each player.
They go back in the box. Starting cards have no cost and are never added to the Imperium Deck.
No — The Great Flat, Hagga Basin and Imperial Basin start empty. Bonus spice first appears in Phase 4 (Makers) of round 1 on any of them left without an Agent.
Setup step D explains the icons.
They rate complexity only: one icon is the most straightforward, three the most demanding. They have no game effect. For a first game the rulebook suggests the one-icon Leaders: Paul Atreides, Glossu Rabban, Earl Memnon Thorvald and Count Ilban Richese.
Players agree; the rulebook lists the components without spelling it out.
One disc is your score marker; the other marks your seat on the High Council when you send an Agent to the High Council space.
Most replies agree both versions are used; one player suggests keeping only one.
No — promos are added to the Imperium Deck alongside the originals, so you can have two versions of the same character in the deck. Leaving one version out is purely a house choice.
Several players describe the same markings; no official statement was found.
By the mark in the card's bottom corner: base game cards have none, Rise of Ix cards have two dots and Immortality cards three. Nothing needs to be removed when you combine the base game with both expansions.
One experienced player's reading of the rules' silence; no official ruling.
No — the rules have no trading mechanic, so Solari, spice, water and cards can't change hands between players except through card or space effects. Trading is only a house rule.
The rulebook's own note says same-House pairings are allowed.
No — it's a story suggestion, not a rule. The rulebook's note says pairing two Leaders from the same House is less authentic, but that the game is also designed to support those combinations and "What If?" scenarios.
The rulebook ties the Signet Ring ability to playing the card on an Agent turn.
No to both — the Signet Ring ability triggers only when you play the Signet Ring card on an Agent turn, and it resolves once for that play. Revealing the card on your Reveal turn gives only its Reveal box.
The official FAQ states that the Baron may reveal his choices and gain Influence only once per game.
No — Masterstroke is a one-time ability. The first time you deploy 4 or more troops to the Conflict in a single turn, you reveal your two face-down Faction tokens and gain one Influence with each; after that the ability is spent.
The official FAQ states the timing, and it matches the rulebook's setup order.
After all of setup is complete and before round 1 begins. You will have seen the Imperium Row (it's dealt before Leaders are chosen) but not the first Conflict card or your opening hand, which come in Phase 1 of round 1.
The rulebook's clarification for the Baron describes the tokens and the choice.
Two of the four Faction tokens: Emperor, Spacing Guild, Bene Gesserit and Fremen. Place the two you choose face down on your Leader and return the other two to the box unseen.
Many players agree across several threads; there is no official ruling on the Baron specifically.
Yes, one turn — four troops spread across a round don't trigger it. Every troop you deploy on that turn counts: troops recruited by the space, the card you played or any other effect that turn, plus up to two from your garrison. Hardy Warriors (2 recruited + 2 from the garrison) or the Heighliner make it easy.
It's not a choice. You recruit one troop with no Alliance, or two if you hold at least one Alliance token with any faction.
The official FAQ says any troop recruited that turn on a Combat space can be deployed, and players agree the two-from-garrison limit still applies.
Only if the Agent you sent that turn went to a Combat space. On a Combat space, any troop recruited that turn, whatever the source, may be deployed; otherwise they go to your garrison. The garrison allowance is still only two extra troops per turn: the Signet troops don't unlock another two (e.g. Carthag + Signet with an Alliance = up to 1 + 2 recruited + 2 from garrison).
The official FAQ limits the ability to the printed cost of a board space.
Only when you pay Solari for the printed cost of a board space (e.g. Mentat, Rally Troops, High Council, Swordmaster). Card abilities that cost Solari don't trigger it, and neither does visiting a space an opponent controls: the controller's bonus comes from the bank, not from you.
The official FAQ states both points, and the designer confirmed the ability is mandatory.
It's mandatory, but it only affects spice she harvests by sending an Agent to a Maker space (The Great Flat, Hagga Basin, Imperial Basin): she gets 1 less and draws a card. Spice from Conflict rewards, The Spice Must Flow, the Imperial Basin control bonus or any other source is unaffected.
The rulebook's clarification for Paul Atreides and Poison Snooper covers this exactly.
No — with an empty deck there is no top card to look at, and you only reshuffle your discard pile when you actually need to draw. The same applies to Poison Snooper. Knowing the top card doesn't let you skip it either; draws always come from the top.
Yes — you still play a card with the Landsraad or City icon to go to those spaces. Her ability only means an opponent's Agent there doesn't block you; a space holding one of your own Agents is still closed to you, and The Voice still blocks her because its marker isn't an Agent.
The official FAQ's Manipulate entry spells this out.
Opponents can't acquire it. If you haven't acquired it by the end of your next Reveal turn, it's removed from the game; it never returns to the Imperium Row. You may also acquire it by other means (e.g. Bypass Protocol, Boundless Ambition), even outside your Reveal turn, but then the 1 Persuasion discount doesn't apply.
It can only take a card from the Imperium Row, so Reserve cards like The Spice Must Flow or Arrakis Liaison are out, because they sit beside the row, not in it. The 1-Persuasion discount can take a 1-cost card down to 0. A set-aside card is out of the row, so effects that hit the row (such as Family Atomics) don't touch it.
The designer confirmed this, and it follows the rulebook's any-order rule for Agent turn effects.
Yes — once the space's cost is paid, the space's effects, its Influence step and your card's Agent box (including the Signet Ring) resolve in any order. Leto can trigger the ring while still behind an opponent, then take the space's Influence and pass them for the Alliance.
No — one opponent with more Influence than Leto on that faction is enough; where the others stand doesn't matter.
Several players agree the ability is limited to board space costs.
No — it only lowers the Solari cost of sending an Agent to a Landsraad board space. Solari costs on cards, Intrigues or expansion purchases (like Tech) aren't reduced.
The rulebook limits the High Council space to once per game.
No — you can send an Agent to High Council only once per game, so his bonus for taking a seat triggers just once.
The rulebook's Factions section states both the gain and the loss.
Yes — every player who reaches 2 Influence on a track gains 1 VP, no matter who got there first. Drop back below 2 and you lose that point; climb back to 2 and you regain it, so there's no net gain from bouncing. Only the Alliance at 4 is exclusive.
The designer confirmed the bonus can be re-triggered, matching the rulebook's Factions section.
Yes to both. Every player who reaches 4 Influence takes that track's bonus, not only the Alliance holder, and you keep it if you later drop. The bonus triggers when you move up from 3 to 4 (even if the same gain carries you on to 5), so dropping below 4 and climbing back earns it again; going 5 → 4 → 5 never crosses that line and earns nothing.
The rulebook says the token moves only when an opponent rises to a higher space.
No — a tie changes nothing. To take an Alliance an opponent must rise to a higher space than the holder; they then take the token and its Victory Point, and the old holder loses that point. Each faction's Alliance is separate, and one player can hold several.
The rulebook's passing rule plus the official FAQ's note that tracks have six spaces settle it; players agree.
Not while you stay there. Each track has six spaces and nothing can go above the top, so nobody can pass you; an opponent can at most tie you. If you lose Influence later (e.g. with Shifting Allegiances), you become passable again. In the base game, no effect lowers an opponent's Influence.
The designer and the official FAQ both rule this way, extending the rulebook's text.
Yes — even if nobody passed you. The rulebook only mentions losing an Alliance by being passed; the official FAQ adds that falling to 3 Influence or lower also costs you the token and its Victory Point. It goes to a player now at 4 or higher on that track, or back on the board if there is none.
“Yes. And if another player was at 4 influence, give the alliance token to them.”
— Merakon, designer
The official FAQ covers this case, and the designer gave the same ruling.
A player they were tied with takes the token and its Victory Point. If the holder was tied with more than one player, the holder chooses which of them gets it. The designer notes this almost never happens in practice.
The rulebook's icon guide ties Alliance effects to holding the token.
No — only the player holding that faction's Alliance token has the Alliance. Card effects marked with an Alliance icon only work if you already hold that token; they don't grant it.
The designer and the official FAQ both allow it.
Yes — you may lose 1 and gain 2 on the same track, for a net gain of one. Going from 4 down to 3 and back up re-triggers the 4-Influence bonus (and could cost you the Alliance on the way down). You can even put the 2 on a track where you're already at or near the top; the excess is lost.
“Official answer is that you can choose the same faction.”
— Merakon, designer
The official FAQ says you must actually lose the Influence to pay the cost.
No — losing the Influence is a cost, and you can't pay it from a track where you're already at the bottom. If you have no Influence anywhere, you can't play the card.
The rulebook's icon guide forbids splitting two Influence across factions.
You can't split it — both steps go to one faction. You may still choose a track with room for only one step (e.g. 5 to 6 to lock in an Alliance); the extra step is simply lost. This applies to Grand Vision, Shifting Allegiances and similar effects.
The rulebook's Agent turn rules grant the Influence for every faction space.
Yes — sending an Agent to any of the eight faction spaces moves you up one on that faction's track, even though the space doesn't print an Influence icon. You can still use a faction space when you're at the top of its track; you just don't move further.
The rulebook's card anatomy and Fremen Bond entries describe the tag's role, and players agree.
Nothing by itself. You don't need any Influence to play a faction's cards, and a card's faction doesn't decide where it can go (its Agent icons do). The tag matters only when another effect checks it, such as Fremen Bond or Bene Gesserit cards that want another Bene Gesserit card in play.
The designer ruled on this directly, and the official FAQ's troops entry agrees.
Only if you reach that Influence on an Agent turn at a Combat space. Normally you hit the bonus on an Emperor space, which isn't a Combat space, so the troops go to your garrison. But gain the Influence while visiting Carthag or Arrakeen (e.g. via Missionaria Protectiva) and the troops count as recruited that turn, so you may deploy them.
“Whether you can deploy them to the conflict depends on when you gain the bonus!”
— Merakon, designer
The designer answered this by quoting the rulebook's Player Turns section.
They alternate: starting with the First Player and going clockwise, each player takes one turn, either one Agent turn or their Reveal turn. You may take your Reveal turn early while you still have Agents; after it your turns are skipped while the others keep playing, and they can see your revealed strength. The First Player marker only passes in the Recall phase.
The designer ruled on this directly, quoting the Agent turn rules.
No — an Agent turn means playing a card to send an Agent to an unoccupied space matching one of its icons and paying that space's cost. If no card in hand can do that (spaces full, costs unaffordable, no Agents left, or no cards), you can't take an Agent turn and must take your Reveal turn.
Yes — each of your turns starts undeclared, neither Agent nor Reveal, and you may play Plot Intrigues in that window. With no Agents left you can play Urgent Mission to recall one and then send it, or play Kwisatz Haderach. Once you declare a Reveal turn by revealing your hand, it's too late.
“At the start of your turn, your turn type is not immediately established. There is a window before you declare what type of turn you are taking (Agent or Reveal).”
— Merakon, designer
The designer ruled on this, and it matches the rulebook's Board Space Costs box.
No — you must pay a board space's cost when you send the Agent, before resolving anything from the space or the card. So Stilgar's water can't pay for Hardy Warriors, a Signet Ring's water can't pay for Hagga Basin, and Signet Ring spice can't be added to a Sell Melange sale (the spice you sell is that space's cost). Plot Intrigues played beforehand can help pay.
“To send an agent to a board space, you must first pay the cost of that board space.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer confirmed this in several threads, and the rulebook says these effects may be carried out in any order.
In any order you like, once the space's cost is paid. The space's effects, its Influence step, your card's Agent box, a Signet Ring ability and Plot Intrigues can be interleaved, so resources from the space can pay a cost on your card (e.g. water from Sietch Tabr for Duncan Idaho), and you can draw cards before deciding how many troops to deploy.
No — you play the card, choose the space, send the Agent and pay its cost first; only then do card effects resolve. You can't draw with Lady Jessica or Paul Atreides' Signet Ring and then pick the space.
“No, you must send your agent and pay any board space cost before executing effects.”
— Merakon, designer
No — per the designer's 2023 ruling, an activated cost-to-effect ability is one bundled effect: pay the full cost, then take all of its effects before anything else. Unload effects triggered by paying the cost (e.g. by discarding) resolve before the ability's effects. You still choose freely when to activate the ability among your other effects. A 2022 answer from the designer that allowed splitting them was withdrawn.
“An activated ability is different in that the whole ability itself (left side -> right side) is one bundled effect.”
— Merakon, designer
The rulebook's Agent turn and Board Space Costs rules cover both points.
No to both — a board space holds one Agent unless a specific effect says otherwise, and you must be able to pay a space's cost to go there. The limit is per space, not per faction: an Agent on Stillsuits doesn't block Hardy Warriors.
The designer answered this directly.
Yes — you only need a matching card and the space's cost. You still pay (e.g. 4 Solari for Rally Troops), and the parts you can't carry out simply don't happen. The space's effects stay mandatory, though: at Research Station you must draw. Likewise you can play a card with no Agent box effect just for its icon.
The official FAQ's optional effects entry lists the exceptions.
Mandatory, with three exceptions: the effect says "may", it has an arrow cost you can choose not to pay, or it's the trash icon. The trash icon isn't optional when a card tells you to trash itself (e.g. Seek Allies, Foldspace). Swords on revealed cards always count; you can't hold strength back.
The designer ruled it's once per turn, and the official FAQ says the same.
No — each arrow effect can be paid for once per time it resolves. Duncan Idaho lets you pay 1 water to recruit a troop and draw a card, but not 2 water for two of each.
“Up to once per turn is the official answer.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer ruled on this, matching the rulebook's card anatomy.
No to both. The Agent box resolves only on the Agent turn you play the card, and the Reveal box only when you reveal it on your Reveal turn. A conditional Agent box checks only what's already in play when you play the card: playing another Bene Gesserit card later won't retroactively give Gene Manipulation's spice.
“The effects in an agent box only happen during the agent turn when you play that card.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer confirmed this, and the rulebook defines In Play and Fremen Bond the same way.
Yes — cards played on Agent turns stay in play until Clean Up, so they satisfy Fremen Bond on cards you reveal and 'another Bene Gesserit card in play' checks on later Agent turns. They don't give their own Reveal box, and a Fremen Bond printed in a Reveal box only fires when that card is revealed. Fremen Bond has nothing to do with Fremen Influence.
The rulebook's Round Start and Reveal Cards steps cover this.
You draw 5 from the top of your deck at the start of each round, without looking through it; you draw more only when an effect says so. There's no hand limit, but you can't keep cards: your Reveal turn reveals every card left in hand.
The rulebook's Deck Building section and its draw icon both say this.
Only when you need to draw and your deck is empty, not the moment it runs out and not just to peek at the top card. Cards in play stay in play until Clean Up, so they're not part of a mid-round reshuffle. If deck and discard together can't cover a draw, draw what you can.
Discard piles, yes — the designer says they're public information, yours and your opponents'. Your face-down draw deck, no; only an effect that tells you to look lets you see it. How many Intrigue cards a player holds is visible, but not which ones.
“Discard piles are public information.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer stated this directly, and it matches the Mentat space's text in the rulebook.
Use it on a later Agent turn this round: it's an extra Agent, so you still need another card to send it. It isn't usable on the same turn you take it. It returns to its space in the Recall phase whether you used it or not; only a Mentat won as a Conflict reward stays with you into the next round.
“When you take the Mentat, it becomes your Agent until the end of the round (or the end of the subsequent round if you win the Mentat from a Conflict).”
— Merakon, designer
The designer has confirmed in several threads that the Mentat is the controller's Agent for the round.
Yes — while you have it, the Mentat is your Agent and counts as your color for all purposes until the end of the round. For example, The Voice blocks it just like your other Agents.
The designer confirmed you can still visit the space just to draw, and the rulebook's Mentat icon forbids taking it from another player.
Yes — the space isn't blocked by the Mentat's absence. You pay 2 Solari and draw a card; you just don't get the Mentat. You can never take the Mentat from another player, and you can even send the Mentat itself to its own space for the draw.
The official FAQ's Sort Through the Chaos entry and the designer both rule this way.
You still get it. The winner of Sort Through the Chaos takes the Mentat at the start of the next round, wherever it was this round, and doesn't return it during that Recall. Gaining the Mentat this way (or with Calculated Hire) gives only the Mentat, not the Mentat space's card draw.
The designer confirmed it, and the rulebook's Swordmaster text says "including this round".
Yes, on a later Agent turn that round: from then on you have three Agents, including this round. Until you've gained it, the Swordmaster isn't your Agent, so Kwisatz Haderach can't bring it in early.
The rulebook's High Council entry says so.
Yes — once you've placed your Councilor, you gain 2 Persuasion on every Reveal turn for the rest of the game. You can only send an Agent to High Council once per game.
The rulebook's Hall of Oratory text decides this; players agree on the edge cases.
You gain 1 Persuasion on your Reveal turn if you have an Agent there at that moment, so if you recall that Agent and don't send it back, you lose the bonus. Its troop goes to your garrison, since it isn't a Combat space.
The rulebook's Sell Melange and Board Space Costs entries cover this.
No to all three. The spice you sell is the space's cost, so it must be one of the printed amounts (2 to 5) and must already be in your supply when you send the Agent; spice from your card or Signet Ring that turn can't be added. You make one exchange per visit.
The rulebook's Secrets entry states this.
Only opponents holding four or more Intrigue cards; each of them gives you one chosen at random (e.g. they shuffle and you draw blind). Keeping three or fewer makes you safe.
The rulebook singles out Sietch Tabr as the one space with this requirement.
No — Sietch Tabr is the only base-game space with an Influence requirement (2 Fremen Influence). Every other space only needs a card with the matching Agent icon and its cost paid; the faction icon on a space isn't a cost.
The official FAQ's Foldspace entry and the rulebook's acquiring rules cover this.
Yes, the space's effects are mandatory, and like any acquired card it goes to your discard pile, not your hand. Foldspace can only be acquired through a Foldspace icon, such as the Foldspace space, never with Persuasion. Because it has no cost, effects like "acquire a card costing 3 or less" can't take it.
The designer's 2023 ruling replaced his 2022 one; the self-trash follows the rulebook's trash rule.
You must trash it ("trash this card" isn't the optional trash icon), and it returns to the Reserve. The draw became effectively optional with the designer's 2023 ruling that you can't receive effects from a card that's already trashed: trash Foldspace before drawing and you don't draw. His 2022 ruling that Foldspace always draws was reversed. A Foldspace you reveal instead does nothing and is simply discarded.
Yes — after paying the 2 spice you resolve effects in any order, so you can take the played card's other effects first (Foldspace's draw, Power Play's extra Influence), then trash it to Selective Breeding to draw 2; its own self-trash then has nothing left to do. One trash can't pay two costs: an Imperial Spy trashed for Selective Breeding can't also pay for its own Intrigue card. Skipping Selective Breeding's trash is allowed, but the spice is still paid.
The designer confirmed the reading, which is the rulebook's own deployment rule.
Any or all of the troops you recruited that turn, plus up to two more from your garrison. That's zero or more, never forced, and it applies even on Combat spaces that recruit nothing (Hagga Basin, Stillsuits, Research Station). Each Agent turn on a Combat space gets its own two, so three such visits in a round can move up to six garrison troops. Troops you don't deploy go to your garrison.
The official FAQ's troops entry says any troop recruited that turn, from any source, can be deployed.
Yes — on an Agent turn at a Combat space, every troop you recruit that turn can be deployed, whatever the source: the space, the card you played (e.g. all 3 from Fremen Camp), a Plot Intrigue, a Signet Ring, or a faction's 4-Influence bonus. On a non-Combat space they all go to your garrison.
The designer and the official FAQ both rule this way.
No — each Agent turn is its own turn. Troops recruited earlier are simply garrison troops and come out of the same two-troop allowance, and you can't "re-recruit" garrison troops to get around the limit.
“Nope. Those are three separate turns.”
— Merakon, designer
The official FAQ's troops entry and the rulebook's recruit rule both say this.
Only what you actually recruit plus up to two from your garrison. Recruiting takes troops from your supply, so with none there you recruit nothing and can deploy just the two garrison troops; with one left in supply, Hardy Warriors gets you three in. Troops you couldn't recruit don't let you take extra from the garrison.
Players agree this is against the rules; the rulebook ties deployment to sending the Agent.
No — you decide on the Agent turn when you visit the Combat space. Delaying it gives you information the rules deny and undercuts turn order, the Mentat and troop-moving cards. Once deployed, troops stay in the Conflict unless a card retreats or removes them.
The designer gave these definitions, consistent with the rulebook's icon guide.
Recruit: supply → garrison. Deploy: garrison (or freshly recruited) → Conflict. Retreat: Conflict → garrison. Lose: back to your supply, from the Conflict or your garrison unless the card says which. "Deployed troops" means troops in the Conflict.
The designer confirmed the "up to" choices and how Reinforcements' Reveal deployment works.
Yes — an effect that explicitly lets you deploy troops, such as Reinforcements played on your Reveal turn, can put you into the Conflict without an Agent on a Combat space, and once a troop is in, your revealed swords count. Such effects deploy only the troops they name; they don't add the two-from-garrison allowance, and "up to" means you may deploy zero.
The rulebook's Resolve Reveal Effects and Acquiring Cards sections say this.
No — only the cards you reveal from your hand give their Reveal box (Persuasion, swords and so on). Agent-turn cards stay in play for "in play" checks but give nothing more. Add 2 Persuasion for a High Council seat and 1 for an Agent on Hall of Oratory. Unspent Persuasion is lost at the end of the turn.
The rulebook's Resolve Reveal Effects and Acquiring Cards sections cover this.
During your own Reveal turn, not after everyone has revealed. You may acquire before, between or after resolving Reveal effects, pooling or splitting Persuasion freely. The Imperium Row refills immediately, so you can buy the card that replaces one you just took. Buying a card mid-turn can even power up another revealed card, e.g. a Fremen card acquired before resolving Worm Riders.
The rulebook's Acquiring Cards section and Acquire icon entry say this.
No — acquired cards go straight to your discard pile and were never revealed, so their Reveal box (swords, Persuasion) does nothing this round. The only immediate benefit is a card's Acquire box, gained once at the moment you acquire it.
The rulebook explicitly allows Reveal effects in any order.
Yes — Reveal effects, card purchases and Plot Intrigues can be done in any order during your Reveal turn. Gain Fremen Influence from Crysknife or an Intrigue first, take the Alliance, then resolve Worm Riders' Alliance swords. Moving your Combat marker as you go is just bookkeeping; your final strength is what counts.
The designer and the official FAQ's Reveal turn entry both rule this way.
Yes — a card you draw during your Reveal turn must be revealed immediately and used that turn, including its Persuasion and swords.
“You must reveal it if you're taking your reveal turn.”
— Merakon, designer
Yes — Persuasion and swords go into your pool as you gain them and stay there even if the card is later trashed. Swords in the pool only help if you have a troop in the Conflict, but they don't vanish while you have none.
“Persuasion and swords go into a pool and don't go away even if the card that supplied them is trashed.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer and the official FAQ both rule this way.
No — the VP is an Acquire bonus, gained when you acquire the card, so you keep it after trashing; buying then trashing it is an intended play. A trashed copy returns to the Reserve and no longer counts for endgame cards like Corner the Market.
“You keep the point even if you trash the card”
— Merakon, designer
No, not in the base game: cards leave the Row only when acquired. The designer says he plays solo with no market churn, and the app's refresh is an optional feature. The Immortality expansion adds Family Atomics, letting each player clear the Row once per game.
The designer confirmed the solo and two-player case, and the rest is the rulebook's Resolve Combat text.
First and second place get rewards in every game; third place is rewarded only in a 4-player game. The count goes by players in the game, not players in the fight. A player with 0 strength gets nothing, and empty ranks aren't filled, so the only player in a Conflict takes just the first reward. Solo and two-player games, with two Rivals or House Hagal, follow the 3-player rules.
Tied players each take the reward one rank below the place they tied for, and nobody wins a tie for first. Two tied for first each get the second reward; in a 4-player game the other two then compete for third. Three or four tied for first each get the second reward and everyone else gets nothing. Tied for second, each gets the third reward; tied for third, nothing.
“When players are tied for a ranked prize, they both receive a prize, but they take the prize one rank lower.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer confirmed it by quoting the rulebook's Ties rule.
Yes — even though third place isn't otherwise rewarded below four players, players tied for second each receive the third reward at any player count. This applies to solo and two-player games too.
“When players tie for second place, they each receive the third reward.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer ruled on this, and the rulebook's Set Strength section says the same.
No — you need at least one troop (unit) in the Conflict to have any strength. If your last troop leaves (e.g. Staged Incident, Test of Humanity, a retreat), your strength drops to 0, you're out of the combat and you get no reward, whatever your swords. Troops in your garrison never count.
“You must have at least 1 troop in the conflict zone to remain active in the combat.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer ruled on both halves, and the rulebook says to adjust the Combat marker when troops change.
Troop strength, yes; swords, no. Swords you generated on your Reveal turn are locked in: losing the Fremen Alliance after revealing Worm Riders doesn't remove its swords. But each troop added to or removed from the Conflict afterwards changes your strength by 2, and dropping to zero troops sets it to 0. Adjust your Combat marker whenever that happens.
“Swords you make in your Reveal turn are "locked in" and can't be taken away later”
— Merakon, designer
The designer explained the passing rule and confirmed multiple plays, matching the rulebook.
Starting with the First Player and going clockwise, each player with a troop in the Conflict plays any number of Combat Intrigues or passes. Passing doesn't lock you out: if someone plays a card, you get another chance when it comes back to you. Combat resolves only when everyone involved passes consecutively. You can't play a Combat Intrigue if you have no units in the Conflict.
“It is legal to play multiple Combat Intrigue cards at a time.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer and the official FAQ's 'When you win a Conflict' entry both rule this way.
Yes to both. "When you win" effectively means "while collecting rewards for a Conflict you won," so a card received as the reward can be played at once, and spice won can power Demand Respect. Rewards and these cards resolve in any order. They can't be played if you tied for first (nobody won), and second place is never a win.
“Yes, you can use it right away.”
— Merakon, designer
No — "choose two" means two different options, and Machinations needs two different factions. Grand Vision's 2 Influence goes to a single faction. You may take your rewards in any order, e.g. draw the Intrigue card before choosing a faction.
The rulebook's Control Bonuses section and Control icon entry describe this.
Win a Conflict whose card names one of these spaces and you put your Control marker on its flag, replacing any opponent's. From then on, whenever any player, you and Rivals included, sends an Agent there, you take the bonus (1 Solari, or 1 spice for Imperial Basin) from the bank; the visitor pays nothing. Only one player controls a space, and the marker stays until someone wins a Conflict for that same space; a tie for first changes nothing, since nobody won.
The rulebook's Control Bonuses section describes the bonus.
Only a Conflict card naming that exact space triggers it. When it's revealed, you may deploy one troop from your supply straight into the Conflict; it goes to the Conflict or nowhere. It doesn't let you bring any garrison troops along; those only move when you send an Agent to a Combat space.
The rulebook's Resolve Combat section covers this.
All troops in the Conflict return to your supply, not your garrison, and every Combat marker resets to 0; garrison troops stay put. Troops gained as a Conflict reward are recruited into your garrison; next round they're ordinary garrison troops, not "recruited this turn". A new Conflict card is revealed every round whether or not anyone fought for the last one.
The designer ruled out the Clean Up step; the rest is the rulebook's Intrigue timing rule.
Any number, at any point during your own Agent or Reveal turns: at the start of a turn before you declare it, between effects, right after drawing the card from a space, or after revealing and buying cards. Not during Combat, not during Clean Up, and not after the last Conflict. Playing one isn't a turn by itself: you still take an Agent or Reveal turn.
The designer clarified that discard refers to the main hand, consistent with the rulebook's Intrigue rules.
No — Intrigue cards are kept face down, separate from your deck and hand, and stay with you across rounds until you play them. Effects that make you discard or that refer to your hand mean your Imperium, starting and Reserve cards, never Intrigues. Opponents can see how many Intrigue cards you hold, but not which.
The official FAQ's Intrigue cards entry states the rule, and the designer gave the examples.
No — to play an Intrigue you must meet its conditions and pay its costs (e.g. CHOAM Shares needs 7 Solari, Councilor's Dispensation a High Council seat, Calculated Hire the Mentat on its space). But once you can, it's fine if the effect does little or nothing: Influence on a maxed track, Water of Life with no cards to draw, or an "up to"/"any number" effect where you choose zero.
The designer ruled that discard means your main hand; players agree Intrigues can't be trashed or refused.
No to all three in the base game. Gaining an Intrigue card from a space or reward is mandatory, there's no discard action, and discard and trash effects apply to your deck cards, not Intrigues. The only way to shed one is to play it legally (or have it stolen at Secrets).
The official FAQ's Intrigue cards entry covers it.
Shuffle the Intrigue discard pile to form a new deck.
The official FAQ's Intrigue cards entry says to keep such cards face up until the Reveal turn.
Its effect waits for your Reveal turn. Keep the card face up in front of you until your next Reveal turn, then use and discard it; Persuasion can't be spent on an Agent turn.
The official FAQ limits the card to your Reveal turn, and the designer ruled out retroactive use.
Only cards you acquire on your Reveal turn this round after playing it, choosing card by card. It doesn't affect cards acquired on Agent turns (like a Foldspace from the board), and it doesn't reach back to a card you already bought earlier in that Reveal turn.
The designer corrected the rulebook's clarification in two separate threads.
No — despite the rulebook's clarification saying to immediately end your turn, the designer says passing is optional, as the card's "may" indicates. Play it at the very start of your turn, draw a card (mandatory), then choose whether to pass. If you pass, your next turn is normal and can still be an Agent turn.
“The clarification should not have have implied a mandatory end of your turn.”
— Merakon, designer
You need an Agent on the board to recall, so not before your first placement. Its best use is at the start of a turn, before you declare it: recall an Agent, including the Mentat, then send it on a fresh Agent turn even if you had none left. Played during a Reveal turn it still recalls, but you can't take another Agent turn, so it's wasted.
The designer answered directly, matching the rulebook's clarification.
No — it can only take the Mentat from its starting space in the Landsraad, and the designer ruled you can't play it when the Mentat is gone. If the Mentat is there, you can play it at the start of a turn and then send the Mentat even with no other Agents left. It gives only the Mentat, not the Mentat space's card draw.
The designer ruled on the edge cases, refining the rulebook's clarification.
It stops each opponent's next Agent this round from going to the chosen space. The rulebook's "remove the marker on your next turn" is a tracking aid; the card text decides edge cases. An opponent who passes with Bindu Suspension is still blocked for the Agent they place later, while one who already used their next Agent (e.g. Weirding Way) can send another there. It never carries into the next round.
“Ultimately, go with what's written on the cards.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer cited the rulebook's clarification that The Voice stops Kwisatz Haderach; players agree on the rest.
It blocks opponents' Agents of every kind: Kwisatz Haderach can't go there (the rulebook says so explicitly), and neither can Helena Richese, an opponent's Mentat or an Infiltrate. You may name any board space, including one already holding an Agent (useful against Infiltrate effects) or one another player already blocked; a second Voice can lock out the first player too. Mark it with a Control marker or any token.
The designer confirmed the strength loss and defined the troop loss; the official FAQ covers adjusting the marker.
During Combat, before it resolves, you return three of your troops from the Conflict to your supply as the cost, lower your strength by 6, and gain 1 VP. You need three actual troops there; swords don't help, and troops lost for other reasons don't count. Opponents can still respond with their own Combat Intrigues, and if this removes your last troop you're out of the fight.
The rulebook's clarification for Test of Humanity covers this, and the official FAQ defines discard.
Opponents choose in turn from your left, clockwise, and each must pick an option they can actually do. Discarding means a card of their choice from their hand (never an Intrigue or a card in play), so with an empty hand they must lose a deployed troop; with no troop in the Conflict they must discard. Solo Rivals have no hand, so they lose a deployed troop if they have one.
The official FAQ's Double Cross entry states this.
You need at least one opponent with a troop in the Conflict to play it; you don't need any troops in your supply. The opponent's lost troop goes back to their supply.
The designer gave an official answer, repeated in the official FAQ.
It adds the Emperor, Spacing Guild, Bene Gesserit and Fremen icons to the card you play that turn, keeping its own icons (no duplicates), so even a card with no Agent icons, like Convincing Argument, can go to any faction space. You're not forced to use the new icons. Played after your Agent is already placed, or on a Reveal turn, it's legal but does nothing; with Kwisatz Haderach it adds nothing.
“Dispatch an Envoy adds Emperor, Spacing Guild, Bene Gesserit, and Fremen icons to a card without removing its former icons.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer and the official FAQ's Refocus entry both say to reshuffle.
Yes — reshuffle your deck anyway; any top card you knew about (e.g. via Paul Atreides) is randomized again. Cards Refocus draws on your Reveal turn are revealed and used.
“Yes, you should shuffle your deck even if the discard pile had no cards.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer explained the card using the rulebook's troop icon definition.
They're recruited from your supply to your garrison. Played on your Reveal turn, you may deploy any of those recruited troops; played on an Agent turn at a Combat space, they deploy like any troop recruited that turn. It never lets you deploy other garrison troops, so with an empty supply it does nothing.
The designer confirmed the condition, and the rulebook's clarification allows paying with the reward.
Yes to both. The "when you win a Conflict" condition covers both options, and you may take the Conflict's spice reward first and spend it on the card (or gain it from To the Victor...).
Several players agree; there's no official ruling.
No — the name is flavor. Its Combat half gives +2 strength in any Combat, tie or not. Its Endgame half only pays off if you're tied on VP at the end.
The official FAQ's Corner the Market entry defines the count, and the rulebook's solo rules cover Rivals.
The two halves score separately: 1 VP for having at least two The Spice Must Flow, and 1 VP for having more than each opponent individually. A tie with any opponent fails the second half. Count only copies in your deck and discard pile at game end, so trashed ones don't count. In solo, each Rival counts as having two.
The official FAQ's Plans Within Plans entry defines 3 Influence, and players agree on the scoring.
1 VP if you have at least 3 Influence on three of the four tracks, 2 VP if on all four; a total of 3 spread around doesn't count. Each track has six spaces, and "3 Influence" is the space just above the one where you scored a Victory Point.
Players agree on the card's wording; no official ruling.
From the Imperium Row or Reserve, never your deck: acquiring always means the market. It goes to your discard pile, unless you pay the extra 2 spice option for a card costing up to 5, which goes on top of your deck.
The designer ruled on costs and reusing spaces, matching the rulebook's clarification.
It sends one of your Agents, either still on your Leader or already on the board (Mentat included), to any board space, ignoring icons and occupancy. You still pay the space's cost and meet its requirements (6 spice for the Heighliner, 2 Fremen Influence for Sietch Tabr). You may send an Agent back to the space it just left, but not to a once-per-game space you've used or one blocked by The Voice. It works even with no Agents left on your Leader, and as your first Agent turn.
“Yep. Unless that space is a once per game space, or if it is currently affected by The Voice.”
— Merakon, designer
The rulebook's Kwisatz Haderach clarification covers moving Agents and Maker spaces.
The move is a full new Agent turn on the destination: pay its cost and take all its effects, including the faction Influence, even if it's the same space again. The space the Agent left is simply empty; if it's a Maker space and stays empty until Phase 4, it gains bonus spice. You can end up with two of your Agents on one space.
The official FAQ lists this as errata.
Yes — it's errata. First English printings are missing the Bene Gesserit line under the title; later printings and the Deluxe Upgrade Pack fixed it. Its Bene Gesserit bonus, like any "another Bene Gesserit card in play" check, looks only at cards already in play when you play it.
The designer corrected the rulebook's wording in 2025 and explained activation in 2020.
It's mandatory. The rulebook's icon guide says you "may" use it, but the designer has ruled that wording an error. It lives in Reveal boxes and activates on your Reveal turn if at least one other Fremen card is in play: one you played on an Agent turn this round, or one revealed alongside it (two Fremen Bond cards revealed together activate each other). A Fremen card used on an Agent turn never fires its own Reveal box.
“In the writing of the back page of the rulebook, the phrase "you may" was used in error, which has caused some confusion.”
— Merakon, designer
Yes — the Alliance swords add on top of the swords for 2+ Fremen Influence. Once revealed, those swords stay even if you later lose the Alliance.
The designer ruled on each part of the card.
No — the trash icon is optional and isn't a cost; the spice depends only on having another Bene Gesserit card already in play when you play it. You can always play Gene Manipulation just to send an Agent, and resolve its parts in any order with the space's effects.
Send it to a faction space and gain 2 Influence there instead of 1; nothing else is doubled (not other Influence that turn or later). "Trash this card" is a separate mandatory line, so you can't use it and keep it. Because the lines are separate, you may take the Influence first and then trash Power Play to Selective Breeding's draw-2 instead.
“Its Agent text has two separate lines: Gain two Influence instead of one. Trash this card.”
— Merakon, designer
The official FAQ's Imperial Spy entry and the designer both rule this way.
No — trashing it to draw an Intrigue card is an optional arrow cost; skip it and the card goes to your discard as normal. You only get the Intrigue if Imperial Spy trashes itself through its own ability, so trashing it by any other means (e.g. Selective Breeding) gives no Intrigue card.
The designer and the official FAQ both rule this way.
Trash it with some other effect, such as Selective Breeding or a trash icon; it can't trash itself. It pays out wherever the card is: you can buy it and trash it straight from your discard pile before ever drawing it.
“You gain 4 Solari whenever you trash Assassination Mission, regardless of where the card is.”
— Merakon, designer
The official FAQ's Liet Kynes entry states what counts.
She works only when revealed, and gives 2 Persuasion for each Fremen card in play, herself included: cards from your Agent turns this round plus everything you reveal. Alone, she gives 2.
The official FAQ's entries for Reverend Mother Mohiam and discard cover this.
It triggers only if another Bene Gesserit card is already in play when you play her. Each opponent then discards from their hand, choosing the cards themselves. Intrigue cards and cards in play can't be discarded, and Rivals have no hand, so they're unaffected.
You gain 2 Persuasion, and separately you may pay 3 Solari to recruit 2 troops from your supply, deploying 0, 1 or 2 of them; the rest go to your garrison. It never moves troops that were already in your garrison.
“Yes. It’s indeed 0, 1, or 2.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer confirmed it, and the rulebook's trash entry lists where cards can come from.
Only when an effect lets you (a trash icon, Selective Breeding); there's no free trash action. The card can come from your hand, your discard pile or from play, never your draw deck. Cards in play include the one you just played, so the card that took you to Selective Breeding can trash itself. The plain trash icon is always optional.
“Yep, you can indeed trash the card itself.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer answered directly.
You choose any Bene Gesserit card in your discard pile and put it into your hand.
“You choose a Bene Gesserit card in your discard pile. Draw it into your hand.”
— Merakon, designer
The official FAQ's Gun Thopter entry covers opponents without garrison troops.
Every opponent with a garrisoned troop loses one back to their supply, whether or not they're in the Conflict. An opponent with no garrisoned troops is unaffected.
Several players agree; no official ruling was found.
Its Agent box is an OR: choose exactly one of the two effects. Its Reveal VP needs you to hold the Spacing Guild Alliance and pay the spice, and it buys at most one VP per reveal.
The official FAQ's Retreat entry allows retreating zero.
It's a Reveal effect, so it happens on your Reveal turn, before you know how the Conflict will end. When a card lets you retreat "any number" of troops, you may choose zero; retreated troops go back to your garrison.
The designer ruled on this, matching the rulebook's Makers phase and Kwisatz Haderach clarification.
In Phase 4 (Makers), each of The Great Flat, Hagga Basin and Imperial Basin with no Agent on it gains 1 spice, on top of any already there. Only whether an Agent is there at that moment matters: a space harvested earlier in the round still gains spice if its Agent was moved away (Kwisatz Haderach) or recalled.
“The only thing that matters is: if there is no Agent there during the Makers phase, add 1 spice.”
— Merakon, designer
No — the round always finishes, Conflict included. The end is checked in Phase 5 (Recall): if anyone has 10+ VP at that moment, or the Conflict Deck is empty, the game ends. Reaching 10 mid-round and dropping back below doesn't trigger it, and a Rival reaching 10 in solo works the same way.
The rulebook lists an empty Conflict Deck as an end trigger.
The game ends after the round that used the last Conflict card, the tenth, and the player with the most VP wins even if nobody reached 10. There are no extra rounds.
The rulebook's Endgame section sets this timing.
Only after the end has been triggered, before the winner is declared, so their points can't count toward reaching 10. You hold them until then. Plot Intrigues can't be played at that point at all, since there are no more Agent or Reveal turns.
The rulebook lists the tiebreakers, and the designer confirmed ties are settled by them rather than by playing on.
In order: most spice, then Solari, then water, then garrisoned troops. No extra round is played to break a tie. Solo uses the same tiebreakers.
The official FAQ's Victory Points entry says so.
Yes — the Score track stops at 12, but scores aren't capped; keep counting past it.
Right after each of the First Player's Agent turns, Mentat turns included, as long as it has an Agent left in its supply: First Player, Hagal, second player. The second player's turns don't trigger it. It has only its three Agents, so never a fourth turn; if the First Player reveals early, Hagal takes no more turns that round, possibly none.
“The Rival in a 2p game is limited to its 3 wooden Agents and can never take a fourth Agent turn in a round.”
— Merakon, designer
The rulebook's two-player setup says so, and the designer explained why.
No — it starts with an empty garrison. That's deliberate: the Rival's card deck starts out stronger than the players' starter decks, and an empty garrison lets players contest the early Conflicts.
The designer ruled on rewards and VP, matching the rulebook's two-player section.
No. It only blocks spaces and fights. It still advances on Influence tracks and takes an Alliance when it passes the holder, which can take an Alliance's VP from you, but it never scores. If it wins a Conflict for a space a player controls, that player's Control marker is removed. Only solo Rivals collect rewards and VP.
“House Hagal doesn't collect rewards from a Conflict.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer confirmed two-player games follow the 3-player rules, and the rulebook's Ties rule does the rest.
House Hagal fights and holds its rank but takes no reward. The game follows the 3-player rules: first and second place are rewarded, and if you tie with Hagal or your opponent for second you get the third reward. You still need at least 1 strength to receive anything.
The rulebook's House Hagal section says Rivals ignore normal costs and effects.
No — it ignores the space's cost and effects and does only what its House Hagal card shows. A faction card's Influence is the space's single step, not an extra one; Hagal's Heighliner gives the troops printed on its card, not 5; and at Secrets it steals nothing. At the top of a track it still takes the space but gains nothing.
The rulebook's House Hagal Agents section covers occupied spaces; players agree The Voice works the same way.
Ignore it and keep revealing cards until one shows a space the Rival can use; a Voice-blocked space counts as unavailable. For a Harvest Spice card, the Rival goes to the next eligible spice space and only redraws if none is left.
The rulebook's House Hagal Agents section states the deployment rule.
On a Combat space it deploys all the troops its card recruits plus up to two from its garrison, as many as it can, even when the card recruited none (e.g. Harvest Spice). With an empty garrison it adds nothing from there. On a non-Combat space its recruits go to its garrison. Only Expert difficulty's optional rule makes it hold troops back.
The designer clarified the card count, and the rulebook's House Hagal Combat section gives the timing.
Two strength per troop in the Conflict, plus the swords on one House Hagal card revealed when Phase 3 begins, after every Reveal turn and before anyone plays Combat Intrigues. Only a Rival with a troop in the Conflict reveals a card. In a two-player game that's one card at most; in solo the Rivals reveal in turn order. Swords on cards drawn during Agent turns don't count.
“Thus, “for each rival” in a 2p game can only result in zero or one.”
— Merakon, designer
The rulebook says Rivals are affected by effects on opponents if they have the resources.
Yes, as long as the Rival has what the effect needs. Duke Leto's Signet Ring can target it, and you collect your Control bonus when it visits your space. Discard effects like Reverend Mother Mohiam do nothing, since a Rival has no hand.
The rulebook's Choices rule covers this, and the designer added the two-player tiebreak.
The one where it has the least Influence. If several are tied, you decide (in a two-player game, the player holding the First Player marker), and you also decide any choice that doesn't involve Influence.
The designer summarized the rule, consistent with the rulebook's Rival rules.
Rivals never get the 4-Influence bonuses (troops, Solari, water, Intrigue). They do take Alliance tokens, just as a player would. Solo Rivals also score VP, for 2 Influence and for each Alliance; House Hagal in a two-player game never scores.
“Automated opponents never earn bonuses on Influence Tracks”
— Merakon, designer
Players are split and there is no official ruling; this reading follows the two-player rule's wording.
Most likely no: Hagal acts after each of the First Player's Agent turns, and a Bindu pass isn't an Agent turn, so Hagal waits until the First Player actually sends an Agent. Some players argue Hagal should still act. There's no official ruling.
The designer walked through solo turn order and confirmed Rivals keep acting.
The Rival "on your left" (you pick which) starts with the First Player marker, so round 1 goes Rival, Rival, you, repeating. The marker passes clockwise each round, so you go first every third round. Rivals keep taking Agent turns until they run out of Agents, even after you've revealed.
“They keep taking turns until they have no agents left.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer ruled on this, matching the rulebook's solo setup.
Only the Signet Ring ability, triggered by House Hagal cards that show it; they ignore the Leader's other ability, including starting bonuses such as Glossu Rabban's extra spice and Solari (you still get those when you play Rabban yourself). Paul Atreides and Helena Richese can't be Rivals. In two-player games House Hagal has no Leader at all.
“The Beast should not start out with extra resources when he is a Rival, because Rivals only use Signet abilities and ignore their other ability.”
— Merakon, designer
Yes — a Rival must have the resource and spend it: Duke Leto needs 1 spice and to be behind someone on a track, the Baron 1 Solari for an Intrigue card. If it can't pay, the ability is skipped. When a Rival Leto picks a faction, he takes the valid one where he has the least Influence. Rabban's Signet troops are deployed, since those cards are Combat spaces (unless Expert deployment holds them back).
“If he uses the signet ring, he does spend 1 spice for it.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer explained the rule, which is the rulebook's Choices rule.
For Influence, the Rival takes the faction where it has the least (you break ties). For any other choice you decide, and you're not required to pick what's best for the Rival; the designer kept this simple on purpose.
The designer confirmed the 3-player treatment, and the rulebook's solo Combat section lists the rewards.
Yes — unlike House Hagal in two-player games, solo Rivals take first- and second-place rewards: VP, Influence, resources, Intrigue cards, Control and the Mentat (used as an Agent next round). Rewards follow the 3-player rules, so players tied for second, Rivals included, each get the third reward.
“A solo game should work like a 3-player game with regard to the way conflict rewards are parceled out.”
— Merakon, designer
The rulebook's Spending Resources rule for Rivals covers this.
They never play Intrigue cards or spend resources any other way. Whenever a Rival has 3 Intrigue cards, 3 water, 7 Solari or 7 spice, it immediately trades them for 1 VP. That's also why the Secrets steal never hits a Rival: it never holds four Intrigue cards. And a Rival visiting Secrets steals nothing from you.
The rulebook's solo setup and Swordmasters rule state this.
At setup the Rivals' Swordmasters are inserted into the Conflict Deck under the number of cards your difficulty sets (5, 4 or 3). As soon as the Conflict card above them is revealed, both Rivals gain their third Agent and use it that round, e.g. round 4 at Veteran. You gain yours normally at the Swordmaster space; at Kwisatz Haderach difficulty you can't.
The rulebook's solo setup and difficulty table give these values.
Everyone starts with 1 water. You also start with the normal 3 garrisoned troops at every difficulty; on Mercenary you get +1 Solari and +1 spice, and the Rivals get nothing extra. On Sardaukar and Mentat each Rival starts with 3 garrisoned troops and 1 Intrigue card, and the Mentat space costs 5 Solari.
The designer confirmed the troop-by-troop reading, and the official FAQ restates the threshold in strength.
Check troop by troop. In a Conflict I or II, a Rival stops deploying once it leads by two troops (the official FAQ says 4 strength, which matters once Rise of Ix dreadnoughts count) and keeps the rest in its garrison. In Conflict III it deploys everything it can. It's meant to make Rivals save troops for the big late Conflicts.
“The intention of the rule was for the Rivals to save some troops for the higher stakes Conflict III rounds.”
— Merakon, designer
The rulebook's House Hagal Combat section has no exception for unopposed Rivals.
Yes — each Rival with a troop in the Conflict reveals one House Hagal card for its swords at the start of Combat, in turn order, contested or not. Both Rivals draw from the same shared House Hagal deck.
The rulebook's Harvest Spice and solo Rivals' Turns rules cover this.
The Rival goes to the Maker space with the most bonus spice and takes all the spice there, base and bonus; if no Maker space has bonus spice, reveal another card. These are Combat spaces, so it also deploys up to two garrison troops. (In two-player games House Hagal's harvested bonus spice goes back to the bank.)
The rulebook's solo rules address this card specifically.
Treat each Rival as owning two The Spice Must Flow, so you need three to score both points.
Players agree; the rulebook gives Rivals no interaction with the Imperium Row.
Not in the physical rules: the Row only changes when you acquire. The companion app adds an optional churn where the new card replaces the removed one, so the Row stays at five; other churn methods are fan variants.
The designer answered this directly.
After the game ends normally: check the end conditions and play Endgame Intrigue cards first, then reveal and award Shadow Backer points, which can still change the winner.
“First, end the game like you normally would. Then, Shadow Backer points are awarded and may change the result of the game.”
— Merakon, designer
Experienced players agree; no official ruling was found.
Nothing is truly simultaneous: resolve the Influence gains in turn order starting with the current First Player, so whoever reaches the threshold first in that order takes the Alliance.
From the bank (the common supply), not your own Solari. The designer's first reply just said "Supply" before he corrected the wording.
“Common supply aka bank, sorry, I goofed up with the word choice.”
— Merakon, designer
No to both, as with exchange-style Plot Intrigues: you can't take an exchange Subcommittee just to deny it if you can't pay, and you can't join one and decline its exchange.
The designer corrected the Rise of Ix rulebook, and the official FAQ lists the same errata.
Activated Tech abilities (flip or trash) work at Plot Intrigue speed: any time during your own Agent or Reveal turns, but not during Combat or on other players' turns. The first English Rise of Ix rulebook limited flip abilities to Agent turns; that was an error. A tile with no stated timing follows the same rule, and you can use a tile on the turn you acquire it unless it names a timing (Holtzman Engine works at round start). Tech effects last for the rest of the game.
“The word “Agent” should be struck from the instructions for when you can use a flip tech.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer and the official FAQ's Tech tiles entry describe both uses.
It has two mutually exclusive uses. On one of your turns you may pay 3 spice and trash it for 1 VP, once only. Or keep it, and it scores its Endgame effect instead. Once the game has ended it's too late to pay and trash. A solo Rival that gets the 3 spice only from the final Conflict never takes another turn, so it scores the Endgame option if it qualifies.
The designer worked through this example, and the official FAQ's Chaumurky entry agrees.
Yes — if you're tied on VP at the end, you win; the spice, Solari, water and troop tiebreakers aren't even compared, so spice an opponent gained from an Endgame Intrigue doesn't matter.
“Player A has more spice, but Player B has an effect that wins tiebreakers. Player B wins.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer said the expansion did not amend the tiebreakers.
No — Rise of Ix didn't amend the tiebreakers, so only garrisoned troops count.
The designer endorsed this reading in the thread.
No — you pay the space's 3 Solari, and then commissioning and buying Tech are each optional. You can do one, both or even neither; buying Tech is never forced, so the game doesn't make you spend spice on Tech you don't want.
Per the designer, yes: buying the Tech is optional, but if you don't buy one you must place a troop from your supply as a Negotiator on Ix, unless your supply is empty. One player points out that the rulebook words the Negotiator option with "may".
“But if you don't, then you must place a negotiator.”
— Merakon, designer
The official FAQ's troops entry rules out recruiting Negotiators, and players agree on the rest.
Negotiators come back only when you spend them for a Tech discount. You can't recall them at will or "recruit" them back when your supply is empty; that's unlike Immortality's specimens, which you can. Each Negotiator lowers a Tech's cost whether you pay in spice or Solari. The Negotiator area is a banner, not an Agent space, so any number of players can have Negotiators there.
The official FAQ's dreadnoughts entry states this.
A Dreadnought in the Conflict is a unit worth 3 strength. Like a troop, it lets you have strength, count your swords and play Combat Intrigues even with no troops there. A Dreadnought in your garrison does none of these and adds nothing.
The designer pointed to Advanced Weaponry, and players quote the Rise of Ix deployment rule.
Commissioning puts it in your garrison; troop recruits never give one. From there it deploys like a troop: on a Combat-space Agent turn it can be one of the up-to-two garrison units. To commission and deploy on the same turn you must be on a Combat space and commission through another effect, e.g. Advanced Weaponry, since the Dreadnought space isn't a Combat space. One gained while acquiring a card on your Reveal turn just goes to your garrison.
Several players quote the Rise of Ix rulebook's Dreadnought section word for word and agree on the edge cases.
You must put one of your Dreadnoughts from that Conflict on Arrakeen, Carthag or Imperial Basin, any one without a Dreadnought already, even a space you control or one unrelated to the Conflict, covering any Control marker there. Any second Dreadnought returns to your garrison. It controls that space, defensive-bonus troop included, until the end of the next Combat phase, so it sits that Conflict out. A tie for first or second place isn't a win, so all Dreadnoughts go home.
Several players quote the Rise of Ix rulebook's definition of units.
No — Rise of Ix only changes the Combat-space deployment rule to "units". Every base-game card or ability that says troop means troops only, so Double Cross can't touch a Dreadnought and Baron Harkonnen's Masterstroke doesn't count them. Cards that say "unit" cover both.
Several players agree on the tile's wording; no official ruling.
Detonating replaces sending that Dreadnought to a space: it goes to your supply and you gain the VP, and any other Dreadnought from the Conflict returns to your garrison as usual. You can't both detonate and take control with the same one, and reaching 10 VP doesn't stop you, since the end is checked later.
The designer ruled on In the Shadows, and many players agree on how Unload triggers.
An Unload card gives you its Reveal box when it's revealed as normal, and also whenever it's discarded or trashed. That includes an opponent forcing you to discard it, and getting it twice in one turn (reveal, then trash). Unload doesn't let a card discard or trash itself; you need another effect for that. In the Shadows can't discard itself, because it has left your hand once played. Cleaning up cards at the end of the round isn't discarding, and playing an Unload card on an Agent turn doesn't trigger it.
“When you play In the Shadows, it ceases to be a card in your hand.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer clarified this in line with the Rise of Ix rulebook's example.
Immediately, while paying: pay the cost, resolve the Unload in full, then take the effect on the right of the arrow. This matches the Rise of Ix rulebook's example of discarding Esmar Tuek to Guild Chief Administrator. The view that Unload effects wait in a pool to resolve later is incorrect.
Yes — trashing itself counts, so you also recruit 2 troops and deploy them to the Conflict, even from a non-Combat space; that deployment isn't optional. The card's "gain 2 Influence instead of 1" (like Power Play's) is a single effect: you can't split it to slip another effect in between the two steps.
“"Gain 2 influence instead of 1" is an effect that can be taken at any point in the turn but it is one atomic effect.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer and the official FAQ's infiltration entry both allow normal placement.
Unoccupied, yes; you're never required to infiltrate. Your own Agent, no: Infiltration only ignores enemy Agents. It applies only to the printed icon it's on, not to icons added by Dispatch an Envoy. Bounty Hunter's 2 Solari come only when you actually infiltrate an occupied space.
“They can send to unoccupied spaces, also.”
— Merakon, designer
Yes — a Combat-space visit lets you deploy every troop recruited during that turn, before or after the Agent was placed, plus up to two from your garrison. Invasion Ships only stops enemy Agents from blocking you; you can still go to an empty space, but not join your own Agent.
“Yes, as several posters have concluded.”
— Merakon, designer
The official FAQ's Yuna Moritani entry and the designer both say each gain is boosted.
Once for each separate Solari gain during her own Agent or Reveal turns, not once per turn: if the card she plays and the space she visits each give Solari, that's two gains and +2. Solari gained outside her turns (round start, Combat rewards, other players' turns) gets nothing extra.
The official FAQ and several designer answers cover each part.
On your Reveal turn, if you have at least two Agents on spaces with any of the three listed Agent icons (same or different icons; the Mentat counts), you may trash one of your cards in play. That means a card you played on an Agent turn or revealed this turn, after taking its Reveal effects if you like. Not cards in your discard pile, and not cards you just acquired, since those went to your discard pile.
“Cards you just acquired during the same reveal step do not enter play; they go to your discard pile.”
— Merakon, designer
The official FAQ's Foldspace entry rules out Foldspace; players agree on the rest.
Like any acquired card it goes straight to your discard pile, and the Imperium Row refills immediately. It can't be a Foldspace: Foldspace has no cost and is only gained through a Foldspace icon.
The designer ruled on the timing, and the official FAQ's Ilesa Ecaz entry defines "otherwise".
Only if you use the set-aside card to send an Agent, and only after that Agent has been placed with the space's cost paid: 1 spice if the card has exactly one Agent icon, otherwise 1 Solari. If you never use the card to send an Agent, you get nothing. So it can't help pay the space (no Swordmaster with 7 Solari), but it can pay a cost in the card's Agent box or her Signet Ring.
“Only after successfully sending the agent to a board space would you resolve One Step Ahead.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer ruled on discarding and trashing; players agree on the rest.
Setting aside is mandatory each round, and you look at your hand and choose the card. While set aside it's not in your hand, discard pile or play, so it can't be discarded (e.g. to Reverend Mother Mohiam) or trashed. A grafted pair that includes it still counts as using it to send the Agent.
“You can't discard it because it's not in your hand.”
— Merakon, designer
Several players agree on how the leader card reads; no official ruling.
A snooper starts on each faction's 2-Influence space. When you reach one, take it and place it on the topmost uncovered space of Tessia's Leader, taking that one-time reward; you still score the normal 2-Influence VP. If a reward asks for a discard and your hand is empty, you get nothing. Her Signet Ring trades exactly 1 Influence lost for 1 gained with a faction whose snooper is still on its track, so it does nothing once all four are collected. You can't lose Influence on a track where you're at the bottom.
Players agree, quoting the Rise of Ix rules; no designer ruling was needed.
You collect rewards only when you recall your Freighter, not while advancing. Each freighter icon is a separate move, so with two you can recall (collecting rewards) and then advance again. Troops from a recall go to your garrison unless you sent an Agent to a Combat space that turn; the CHOAM shipping spaces aren't Combat spaces. Troop Transports lets you deploy only troops recruited from the Shipping track, without the two-from-garrison allowance.
The designer answered directly, and the official FAQ's Reveal turn entry uses this example.
Yes — keep them for next round, then draw your normal five on top, starting that round with seven cards.
Any you own wherever they are: deck, hand, in play or discard pile. Trashed copies no longer count.
The designer answered the first question directly.
No — Full-Scale Assault's swords were locked in when you revealed it; you only lose the removed Dreadnought's own 3 strength.
For each troop you deploy that turn (Dreadnoughts don't count), you force one enemy unit to retreat to its owner's garrison. You choose which units, Dreadnoughts included, and they can belong to different opponents. It applies only on the turn you play it, so with no troops deployed it does nothing.
“You choose the units. Any unit you choose retreats.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer answered this exact case.
No — you need at least one unit in the Conflict to play any Combat Intrigue, so you can't use one to re-enter. (Second Wave otherwise gives both its swords and up to 2 units from your garrison.)
“You must have at least one unit in combat to play a combat intrigue.”
— Merakon, designer
Many players agree across several threads; no official ruling.
No — each exchange can be made once, so the most is 3 VP (the base point plus one Solari trade and one spice trade). You may take rewards in any order, so Solari from Strategic Push or To the Victor... can help pay.
The designer confirmed the acquire bonus and quoted the Rise of Ix solo rule on Tech purchases.
Rivals hoard spice for Tech until a Conflict III card is face up; from then on they trade every 7 spice for 1 VP immediately. They buy only Tech tiles with the House Hagal symbol: the most expensive they can afford counting Negotiator discounts, ties to the topmost stack. With nothing affordable, they buy nothing. They pay spice for Tech but nothing for Dreadnoughts, and they do get a tile's acquire bonus.
The official FAQ's Solo Play entry replaces the designer's earlier rules-as-written answer.
By strength. For a Conflict I or II, a Rival won't deploy more once it already leads by 4 or more strength, so Dreadnoughts count. In 2021 the designer said the rules as written compared troops only, though he preferred playing by strength; the official FAQ now settles it in favor of strength. On a Combat space a Rival deploys up to 2 units from its garrison, Dreadnoughts first.
The official FAQ lists this as errata to the Rise of Ix rulebook.
Remove the two Hall of Oratory and two Rally Troops House Hagal cards, since the Ix board covers those spaces, and add the new Rise of Ix House Hagal cards. The first English printing of the Rise of Ix rulebook left the removal step out; it's in the official errata.
The designer gave this ruling and the official FAQ's Rivals entry now includes it.
A Rival advances its Freighter to the second space (two troops and one Influence), then recalls, always taking dividends rather than spice. When the recall gives Influence and the Rival is tied for least on several tracks, the player with the First Player marker chooses (or the player acting next after a Rival that has it). In two-player games House Hagal gathers no resources, so it never buys Tech or takes resource-only rewards.
“In that case, the player with the first player token should choose.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer ruled on both, and the official FAQ's Rivals entry agrees on two-option cards.
On a two-option card, use only the side matching the Rival's current situation. If that space is blocked, reveal a new card rather than using the other side (e.g. a Rival with 2+ Guild Influence never takes the Foldspace side). A Rival with Training Drones uses it on its first turn each round; the troop deploys if that turn went to a Combat space, otherwise it goes to the garrison.
“Definitely draw another Hagal card.”
— Merakon, designer
Only Prince Rhombur Vernius and Viscount Hundro Moritani; the others (e.g. Armand or Ilesa Ecaz) are for human players only. Rhombur acquires Tech if he can, and Hundro spends 1 spice for his Freighter if he has it.
The designer settled Leader timing; players agree on the rest of the setup.
Leaders are chosen first, before the rest of the setup. Each player starts with 5 garrisoned troops instead of 3, the Conflict Deck is 5 Conflict II and 5 Conflict III cards, and the game ends at the end of the round in which someone reaches 12 VP (or when the Conflict Deck runs out, still at most 10 rounds). It works at any player count, two-player included.
“FWIW, the intention was to choose leaders first.”
— Merakon, designer
Most Ix Leaders work in the base game; only a couple use the Shipping track or Dreadnoughts in their abilities. Most Ix Imperium and Intrigue cards, and the Dreadnoughts, depend on the new board spaces and mechanics, so use them with the full expansion.
Several players agree on the reading; no official ruling.
Yes — it has no "may" or cost arrow, so when it resolves (revealed or via Unload) you must acquire a card costing 5 or less if one is available. The Unload icon only adds extra triggers; it doesn't make the effect optional.
The designer covered the Voice interaction; players agree on the rest.
You take one more turn immediately, an Agent turn or your Reveal turn, before the next player. You don't draw a new hand; you just act twice in a row. Against The Voice, that extra turn counts as your next Agent, so a second Agent can go to the blocked space.
Players agree across several threads; no official ruling.
CHOAM Directorship's acquire bonus gives one Influence on each of the four faction tracks, not one track. On a Reveal turn you resolve revealed cards in any order, so Solari from CHOAM Directorship can pay for Opulence's VP. Opulence's exchange works once per reveal, for 1 VP.
Players agree that the card changes the cost itself; no official ruling.
Yes — Guild Accord lowers the Heighliner's cost, so you pay 4 spice up front; you don't pay 6 and get 2 back.
The official FAQ's troops entry names Tech tiles as a valid source; players agree on the rest.
Only on a turn when you sent an Agent to a Combat space: then they're troops recruited that turn and can deploy, even on top of the two from your garrison. Otherwise they go to your garrison. You may use the tile at any point in that turn, so resources gained there can pay for Flagship first.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No — trashing is the cost of their own Reveal effects, so they must be revealed and trash themselves; trashed by Selective Breeding or a trash icon, they give nothing. Only Unload cards pay off when trashed by other effects. Since Reveal effects resolve in any order, you can acquire your third Tech first and then trash Ixian Engineer for its VP.
Players quote the Rise of Ix rule on acquiring Tech tiles.
Yes — flip the next tile in that stack immediately, so it's available at once; the stacks don't reset each round.
Players agree across many threads, describing the Immortality rulebook's grafting rules the same way.
On an Agent turn you play exactly two cards together as one. Your Agent may go to a space matching either card's icons, so a card with no icons, like Convincing Argument, can be grafted, and you resolve both Agent boxes; that's your whole turn. A graft card you draw later in the turn can't be grafted onto a card already played. Grafts are always a pair, and the two stay separate cards for trashing and discarding.
Each icon is a separate effect, and after paying the space's cost you can jump between both cards and the space in any order. A cost arrow binds its two sides into one effect, as do sentences that depend on each other: Imperium Ceremony's look-at-two-keep-one is a single effect. Stand-alone sentences, like Power Play's "Trash this card," are separate.
“Imperium Ceremony's text block ("Look at the top two cards of the Intrigue deck. Keep one and put the other back on top.") is one effect.”
— Merakon, designer
The official FAQ's Ghola entry covers Carryall and Kwisatz Haderach, and the designer addressed Power Play.
Ghola copies the grafted card's Agent box, so you get its effects twice, but not things that only apply once. With Carryall the doubling doubles again: four times the base spice. With Kwisatz Haderach you draw two cards but still send only one Agent. With Power Play, "two instead of one" twice is still two Influence. With Imperium Ceremony, resolve its look-two-keep-one twice in a row.
The designer confirmed the intended reading.
No — "gain two Influence instead of one" only replaces the 1 Influence for visiting a faction board space with that Agent. It doesn't double Influence from Intrigue cards, the Shipping track or anything else.
“Your guess is correct.”
— Merakon, designer
Not ones you haven't used yet: per the designer's 2023 ruling, you can't receive or activate an effect from a card that's already trashed. So two grafted cards that each trash the other as a cost can't both pay off, and trashing Esmar Tuek for its Unload spice can't then fund his own Agent box. Effects a card already installed keep working: Chairdog's return, Usurp's end-of-turn trash, Weirding Way's extra turn.
“The new rule is that you can’t receive or activate an effect from a card that is already trashed.”
— Merakon, designer
The official FAQ's Beguiling Pheromones entry and several designer answers cover this.
It trashes either itself or the card it's grafted to, nothing else, and you gain the extra Influence. If you trash the other card, you can't also use that card's own effect that needs trashing it as a cost (no Intrigue card from a trashed Imperial Spy). You can trash a card that would be trashed anyway: take Power Play's two Influence first, then trash it with Beguiling Pheromones for a third, and Power Play's own trash has nothing left to do.
The designer ruled on the installed effect, and the official FAQ's Chairdog entry rules out switching turns.
Chairdog installs an effect on the card it's grafted with when you play it. Even if Chairdog is trashed later, the other card returns to your hand at the start of your Reveal turn and is revealed. If that other card already trashed itself (e.g. Foldspace), it isn't in play, so nothing returns. Once returned you must finish your Reveal turn; a returned Kwisatz Haderach can't switch you back to an Agent turn.
“Even if you trash Chairdog before the Reveal turn, that effect remains installed on the other card.”
— Merakon, designer
Graft it onto one of the five cards in the Imperium Row (Reserve cards and the Tleilaxu row don't count) and use that card's Agent icons and Agent box only; you aren't acquiring it, so there's no Acquire bonus. At the end of your turn the usurped card is trashed, wherever it ended up, which also triggers its Unload. While in the Row it isn't "in play", so effects that return a card from play (e.g. Stillsuit Manufacturer) can't take it. The Row refills right away when it's trashed.
“If Usurped, Stillsuit Manufacturer is an eligible trash target regardless of what zone it's in at the end of your turn.”
— Merakon, designer
The official FAQ's Tleilaxu track entry and the designer both say so.
No — there are still only four Factions. Effects that gain or lose Influence with "any Faction" (Shifting Allegiances, Duke Leto's Signet Ring, "advance on any Faction track") can't move the Tleilaxu track, which advances only with its own beetle icon.
Players agree across many threads, citing the Immortality rulebook.
Only from troops in your supply. With an empty supply you gain none, and you can't move troops from your garrison, the Conflict or Negotiator spots into the tanks. You're still limited to 12 cubes, and you can't hold troops back from a mandatory recruit to save them as specimens. Specimens can return to your supply to be recruited, but not the reverse. Spend them on your Reveal turn unless a card says otherwise; new specimens must be placed in the tanks before you can spend them.
Players agree, quoting the Immortality rulebook.
On your Reveal turn, paying specimens instead of Persuasion; they go to your discard pile. You can buy from both the Imperium and Tleilaxu rows in one turn, and as many Tleilaxu cards as your specimens allow, Reclaimed Forces included. Tleilaxu Master can only acquire cards with a Persuasion cost (6 or less), never specimen-cost Tleilaxu cards.
Players agree across several threads, citing the Immortality rulebook.
Any number of players can share a space. Each research step resolves the space you enter, and a space's own research icon moves you again, so one card can carry you several spaces. Each step past the end of the track draws a card, revealed and used if drawn on your Reveal turn. Tleilaxu track gains past its end are simply lost. The track's trash-a-card bonus is optional like any trash icon.
The designer answered the timing, ordering and Reclaimed Forces questions.
You play it at the end of a Conflict if at least three of your troops left the Conflict then, win or lose. If it's your reward for that Conflict, you can play it right away. When several players play one, resolve them in turn order, and you can play two copies. Its Tleilaxu acquisition can take Reclaimed Forces.
The designer clarified the choice; players agree on the deployment.
It lets you deploy as though you'd visited a Combat space: the troops recruited that turn plus up to two from your garrison (e.g. Rally Troops' four plus two). On a space that's already a Combat space it adds nothing, but you may still choose it.
“You can choose the combat effect, even if that effect would do nothing.”
— Merakon, designer
The designer gave the Dispatch an Envoy example directly, and players agree on Foldspace and gated icons.
One per Agent icon on the grafted card: grafted to Foldspace, all seven. Icons added by Dispatch an Envoy count too, without duplicates: Spice Hunter (Fremen and Spice Trade) plus Dispatch an Envoy gives 5. Gated icons that aren't active, like Long Reach's without another Bene Gesserit card, count as none.
“Dispatch an Envoy adds Emperor, Spacing Guild, Bene Gesserit, and Fremen icons to a card without removing its former icons.”
— Merakon, designer
Players agree on these cards; no official ruling.
No — their grey Agent icons are active only when the condition is met (another Bene Gesserit card in play, or more deployed troops than each opponent). Otherwise the card has no icons, so you can only use it on an Agent turn by grafting it or adding icons with Dispatch an Envoy. The condition gates only the icons; their other Agent effects work normally once played.
Players quote the Immortality rule across several threads.
Each player gets one token. Once per game, at any point during your own turn (even mid-Reveal turn, after buying), discard the whole Imperium Row and deal five new cards. There's no other cost. Players use the rule with the base game alone too, and a card Helena Richese has set aside isn't in the Row, so it's safe.
Players agree, citing both expansions' rulebooks.
Two Experimentation cards replace both Dune, the Desert Planet in each starting deck. The expansion's optional longer game plays to 11 VP (or a 4-player game starts at 0 VP). If you also use Rise of Ix Epic mode, Control the Spice starts as an 11th card in your discard pile.
The original ones. The new Immortality Carthag cards are marked 1P and replace the old ones only in solo play.
Yes — unlike Faction tracks, where they skip the bonuses, Rivals collect the Tleilaxu track's rewards (spice, Intrigue cards and VP).
Players agree on the card's wording; no official ruling.
Only the Agent you sent on this Agent turn. If you recall it from a space that rewards having an Agent there on your Reveal turn (e.g. Rise of Ix's Tech Negotiation Persuasion), you lose that reward.
The designer ruled on the Usurp case, and players agree on repeated returns.
Yes — nothing limits how often you return it from play to your hand. It can't be pulled back from the Imperium Row via Usurp, though, since a grafted Row card isn't in play.
Most of it. The Bloodlines rulebook has a setup note for placing the Sardaukar Commanders on the original board. It also has you leave out content that needs Uprising systems (spies, battle icons, contracts, the Shield Wall): 5 of 18 Tech tiles, 1 of 7 Commander skills, the new Conflict cards and contract tiles, 5 of 18 Intrigues, 7 of 32 Imperium cards and 3 of 9 Leaders. The Tech module is optional, and Bloodlines also combines with Rise of Ix.
The designer quoted the Bloodlines rulebook's Rise of Ix setup note.
Put one Commander on Dreadnought. In a 4-player game put the other on Tech Negotiation; otherwise return it to the box.
“Instead, place one Sardaukar Commander on Dreadnought.”
— Merakon, designer
Yes — effects that affect troops (losing, retreating, deploying) affect them too, and the owner chooses which troop to lose. But you can't gain them as ordinary recruits, e.g. from a Control bonus: the only way out of your supply is paying 2 Solari once per turn, or a card that grants one. For effects that count unit types, like Piter's Calculating, they're a type of their own.
Players agree, quoting the Bloodlines rules; no official ruling.
On your turn, on any space, pay 2 Solari to recruit one Commander from your supply to your garrison, once per turn; it isn't a cost of the space, so Solari gained at that space can pay. On a Combat-space turn it counts as recruited that turn, so it can deploy on top of your two garrison units. A Commander already in your garrison uses one of those two. After Combat it returns to your supply like any troop.
Players agree on the cards' wording; no official ruling.
No — the card's effect grants the Commander, so there's no payment; the 2 Solari is only for the normal once-per-turn recruit. Stacked discounts (e.g. Sardaukar High Command and Honor Guard) can make that normal recruit free, but it's still one per turn.
Skills work only while at least one of your Commanders is in the Conflict; one there activates all your skills, each once per round. Skills marked Reveal Turn (e.g. Desperate) give their bonus during your Reveal turn and keep it if the Commanders later leave. Strength skills like Canny, Loyal or Fierce need a Commander still in the Conflict when Combat resolves. Desperate's trash is an optional cost.
No — Command effects are mandatory once the condition is met, just like Fremen Bond; the rulebook's "you may" wording is an error. Command checks the Persuasion you generated this Reveal turn, not what's left after buying, so buy first if you like. You may still trash a Command card some other way first (e.g. Calculus of Power on Bombast), giving up its Command effect.
“Fremen Bond and Command share the same official ruling which is that they are mandatory.”
— Merakon, designer
Yes — troops returned to supply during Conflict resolution are lost, for winners and losers alike, so her token advances one space per troop. Sandworms and Dreadnoughts aren't troops and don't count. When the token reaches the end you take the water and reset, and any remaining steps from that same loss are wasted.
“Troops returned to your supply during Conflict Resolution are indeed considered "lost."”
— Merakon, designer
Players agree across several threads; no official ruling.
It can move the Agent into the Conflict even from a space without the combat icon, but it brings no other troops with it. There it's a unit, not a troop, so troop-counting effects ignore it. Its 3 strength applies whenever you have your Swordmaster, regardless of which happened first. Moving it off a space loses that space's Reveal-turn bonus, and an emptied Maker space gains spice as usual.
The designer answered this directly.
Not by default: you don't send an Agent to a Combat space on a Reveal turn, so it goes to your garrison. It can deploy only if another effect gives you a combat icon or deployment that turn.
“Not by default, no, because you don’t visit a combat space with an agent during your reveal turn.”
— Merakon, designer
He draws one only at the start of each round through his ability; other Intrigue draws come from the normal deck. They stay in his Intrigue hand until played and can pile up, and he has enough of them that the deck never needs reshuffling. A Withdrawal-style pass must be played at the very start of the turn, like Bindu Suspension. They're gained before any turn, so they don't trigger Suspensor Suits.
You order them at the start of the game, before anyone draws a hand. Each gives its reward once when revealed, unless it says it repeats. A card drawn from his 3+ spice ability on a Reveal turn joins your reveal; Combat isn't a turn, so spice gained there doesn't count. Navigation isn't tied to a phase, so reaching 2 Influence during the Endgame (e.g. via Panopticon) still triggers one. Once all four are used, nothing more happens.
Players quote the Bloodlines clarifications; no designer ruling.
Tuek's Sietch is a Maker space: it gives all its accumulated bonus spice plus your choice of 1 spice or a card, and gains bonus spice in each Makers phase when empty. His Signet Ring either places 1 bonus spice on Tuek's Sietch or takes 1 bonus spice from a Maker space, and the Bloodlines clarifications let him place it there and collect it with the same Agent that turn. Spice added after that Agent turn waits for the next visitor.
The cards you've played this round, on Agent turns and your Reveal turn, that haven't gone to your discard pile yet. It doesn't include your discard pile or other players' cards.
Tech discounts like the High Council seat's and Rapid Engineering stack, down to 0 spice. A repeat High Council visit's 2 spice plus the seat discount is an intended deal. Navigation Chamber lowers a board space's cost (including the option you choose at variable-cost spaces), not Tech, Commanders or other purchases. Two separate "acquire Tech with -1" icons are two discounted purchases, not one at -2.
Yes — acquiring Tech is one of your space's effects, so its acquire bonus can be resolved in any order with the others, and its ability is active at once. A card drawn by Planetary Array after you win a Conflict is kept for next round, when you still draw five. Servo-Receivers adds the four faction icons to your Signet Ring without removing its own, and its acquire icon resolves your Signet ability once.
Rivals don't use Commander skills; a Rival gets a Sardaukar for a single Conflict, where it counts as 4 strength. They deploy Dreadnoughts before any troops, Commanders included. They use only the Tech tiles they can, are assumed to meet Command conditions, and take some Reveal-turn Tech effects right after their last Agent turn. Before their Swordmaster they save spice for it, then spend on Tech until Conflict III, when every 7 spice becomes a VP.
“I think it still works because Sardaukar Commanders are troops and therefore the rival still prefers a dreadnought.”
— Merakon, designer