Dune: Imperium
Dune Imperium Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Across the Imperium
- Game Components
- Setup
- Game Overview and Major Concepts
- Round Structure
- Icon Guide and Additional Terms
- Board Space Guide
- House Hagal Cards — Solo & Two-Player Games
- Two-Player Games
- Solo Play
Across the Imperium
DUNE: IMPERIUM is a deck-building worker placement game that finds inspiration in elements and characters from the Dune legacy, both the new film from Legendary Pictures and the seminal literary series from Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson.
Note: The game comes with two leaders each from four Great Houses. For the most authentic story experience, two leaders from the same House shouldn’t be used in the same game. But the game is also designed to allow nonstandard leader combinations and “What If?” scenarios.
Shaddam IV of House Corrino is the ruthless Emperor of the Known Universe. Making inroads with him will fill your coffers with Solari, the main currency of the Imperium.
The Spacing Guild has a monopoly on foldspace travel. Their massive heighliners can transport large amounts of troops to Dune for you, if you can afford to pay the high price they ask in spice.
The intrigues and machinations of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood and their generations-long planning are everywhere in the Imperium, seen and unseen.
The Fremen are fierce warriors, and their water discipline gives them a unique advantage in the struggle for control of Dune. Their assistance is essential to harvesting the valuable spice.
The Emperor presides over the Landsraad, the governing body that represents the Great Houses of the Imperium. It’s no coincidence that Solari go a long way here at making connections, earning favors, or gaining a permanent strategic advantage.
In the world of Dune, computers (or thinking machines) have been banned for many millennia, since a great war in which Artificial Intelligence almost destroyed humanity. In that war’s aftermath, some humans devoted themselves to rigorous training to become “human calculators” — these are called Mentats.
The Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles (or simply CHOAM) is a massive commercial organization that spans the Imperium. If you need to make some quick Solari, they’re always willing to cut a deal.
The populated areas of Dune are important sites from which to stage any military campaigns, as you can muster troops at most of these locations.
The colossal sandworms of Dune rule its deserts, a constant threat to those who seek the planet’s spice. But you must brave the desert to earn its rewards. One good harvest can open many doors...
Game Components
- Game board
- 24 Reserve cards
- 8 Arrakis Liaison
- 10 The Spice Must Flow
- 6 Foldspace
- Board Space Guide sheet
- 18 Conflict cards
- 4 Conflict I
- 10 Conflict II
- 4 Conflict III
- 67 Imperium Deck cards
- 15 water tokens
- Solari tokens
- 4 large (worth 5)
- 20 small (worth 1)
- Spice tokens
- 3 large (worth 5)
- 20 small (worth 1)
- 40 Intrigue cards
- Mentat
- 4 Alliance tokens
- 8 Leaders with Turn Sequence guide on their backs
- First Player marker
- 4 Baron Harkonnen tokens Used with the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen Leader
Player Components
- 10-card starting deck
- Convincing Argument (2)
- Dagger (2)
- Diplomacy (1)
- Dune, the Desert Planet (2)
- Reconnaissance (1)
- Seek Allies (1)
- Signet Ring (1)
- 16 cubes
- 2 discs
- 1 Score marker
- 1 Councilor token
- 3 Control markers
- 3 Agents
- Combat marker
Used only in a Solo or Two-Player Game
- 31 House Hagal cards
- House Hagal rules sheet
Setup
A. Place the game board in your play area, and then place the following components on it:
- Place the Mentat on its side in the Mentat space.
- Place the four Alliance tokens on the marked areas of the Faction’s Influence tracks (Emperor, Spacing Guild, Bene Gesserit, and Fremen).
B. Create a Conflict Deck:
Separate the Conflict cards by their backs: Conflict I, Conflict II, and Conflict III.
Shuffle the four Conflict III cards and place all of them face down in the marked area of the game board.
Shuffle the 10 Conflict II cards, then deal five face down on top of the Conflict III cards.
Shuffle the four Conflict I cards, then deal one face down on top of the Conflict II cards.
You should now have a 10-card Conflict Deck on the game board, with one Conflict I card on top, five Conflict II cards below it, then the four Conflict III cards on the bottom. Return the unused Conflict cards to the game box without looking at them.
C. Prepare these cards along the edge of the game board:
- Shuffle the Intrigue Deck and place it face down.
- Shuffle the Imperium Deck and place it face down. From it, deal five cards face up to form an Imperium Row.
- Next to the Imperium Row, place the Reserve cards in three stacks: one for Arrakis Liaison, one for The Spice Must Flow, and one for Foldspace.
D. Each player takes a Leader and places it in front of them. (You may choose or select at random.)
Leaders have from one to three icons after their names. Leaders with more icons are more strategically complex. For your first game, it is recommended that each player chooses a Leader with just one icon: Paul Atreides, Glossu “The Beast” Rabban, Earl Memnon Thorvald, or Count Ilban Richese.
E. Each player takes a 10-card starting deck, shuffles it, and places it face down in their supply to the left of their Leader.
- Each player takes 1 water and places it in their supply.
- Create a bank next to the game board containing the Solari, spice, and remaining water tokens. These are not meant to be limited; if you run out and need more, make any convenient substitution.
G. Each player chooses a color and takes all of its components.
- Place two of your Agents on your Leader. Place your third Agent (your Swordmaster) next to the game board.
- Place one of your two discs on the Score track. In a 4-player game, place it on the 1 space. Otherwise, place it on the 0 space.
- Place your Combat marker (with the side shown at the right face up) on the 0 space of the Combat track.
- Place four cubes, one each, on the bottom spaces of the Influence tracks of the four Factions.
- The other 12 cubes represent your troops. Place three in one of the four circular garrisons on the game board (each player taking the one closest to them).
- Place your remaining components in your supply, in clear view of all players.
H. Determine a first player randomly. They take the First Player marker.
Game Overview and Major Concepts
Objective
You are a Leader of one of the Great Houses of the Landsraad. Defeat your rivals in Combat, wield political Influence, and form alliances with the four major Factions. Your successes will be measured in Victory Points.
Whenever you gain or lose a Victory Point, move your Score marker up or down one space on the Score track. At the end of a round, if any player has reached 10 or more Victory Points (or if the Conflict Deck is empty), the game ends, and whoever has the most Victory Points wins.
Leaders
Each Leader has two different unique abilities:
The first, on the left, is used during play as described on the Leader.
The second, on the right and marked by the Signet Ring icon, is activated when you play your Signet Ring card on one of your Agent turns.
Deck Building
You start the game with a 10-card deck containing the same cards as the other players. Adding to and changing that deck is the key element of play in a deck-building game. During each round, you may acquire new cards to add to your deck. Because cards do many different things, each player’s deck and strategy will diverge as the game unfolds.
Whenever you acquire a new Imperium or Reserve card, it is first placed in your discard pile. And any time you’re unable to draw a card because your deck is empty, you reshuffle your discard pile to form a new deck, then continue to draw as needed.
There are also ways to “trash” cards, removing them from your deck altogether for the rest of the game. By strategically removing weaker cards from your deck, you increase the chances of drawing your stronger cards more often.
Agents
You start the game with two Agents (and can gain a third during play). You send Agents to spaces on the game board, sometimes gathering resources, sometimes paying resources to advance your strategy. (This is explained fully in Phase 2: Player Turns, while board spaces are described in detail in the separate Board Space Guide sheet.)
In DUNE: IMPERIUM, Agents and cards are tightly linked; you can’t send an Agent to a board space without first playing a card that allows it.
The Mentat Agent
The Mentat is a special freelance Agent that you can temporarily add to your roster of Agents for one round. See the Mentat board space in the separate Board Space Guide sheet for more details.
Factions
In DUNE: IMPERIUM, the four Factions represent powerful forces on Dune and elsewhere in the Imperium. Increasing your Influence and earning an Alliance with one or more of them is one of the key routes to victory in the game. See Across the Imperium for short descriptions of each of the Factions.
Your Faction cubes begin at the bottom of each Faction’s Influence track. Throughout the game, your Influence with a Faction will increase or decrease, depending on the cards you play and the actions you take. When you send an Agent to a Faction’s board space, gain one Influence with that Faction by advancing your cube one space on its Influence track. Other game effects can also move your cube up (and occasionally down) the track.
When you reach 2 Influence with a Faction, you gain a Victory Point. If you drop back below 2 Influence, you lose that Victory Point.
When you reach 4 Influence, you earn the bonus shown on that space of the track. If you drop back below 4 Influence, you do not give back the bonus. (It’s possible—though unusual—to earn the same bonus more than once, if you move back then advance again.)
The first player to reach 4 Influence with a Faction also earns an Alliance with that Faction. They take the Alliance token from the track, put it in their supply and gain the Victory Point shown on the Alliance token. If they are ever passed by an opponent rising to a higher space on the track, they must give the Alliance token to that opponent; they lose that Victory Point and the opponent gains it.
Intrigue Cards
Intrigue cards represent subterfuge, backroom dealings, and surprise twists— they can provide resources like water or spice, increase your Influence with a Faction, or even score Victory Points. Each Intrigue card indicates when it can be played, what effect it has, and whether there are costs or conditions to playing it.
You receive Intrigue cards primarily from three board spaces: Carthag, Conspire, and Secrets. (But look for other opportunities on cards, wherever you see the Intrigue card icon.) They are kept face down, separate from your deck. You may look at them at any time. Reveal them to your opponents only when you play them. Once an Intrigue card is played and resolved, place it face up in a discard pile next to the Intrigue Deck.
There are three types of Intrigue cards: Plot, Combat, and Endgame.
- You may play a Plot Intrigue card any time during one of your Agent or Reveal turns.
- You may play a Combat Intrigue card only during Combat.
- You may play an Endgame Intrigue card only at the end of the game.
Round Structure
DUNE: IMPERIUM is played in a series of rounds. Each round consists of five phases, in this order:
- Round Start
- Player Turns
- Agent Turn
- Reveal Turn
- Combat
- Makers
- Recall
Phase 1: Round Start
Each round begins by revealing a new Conflict card from the top of the Conflict Deck. Place it face up in the space next to the Conflict Deck (on top of any Conflict cards from previous rounds).
Next, each player draws five cards from their own deck, forming their hand for the round.
Phase 2: Player Turns
Starting with the player who has the First Player marker and continuing clockwise, players take one turn at a time.
On your turn, you will take either an Agent turn or a Reveal turn. These types of turns are detailed over the next three pages. Generally, you will take Agent turns until you run out of Agents to place, then you will take a Reveal turn. (Note that Agent turns are optional. If you choose to, you can take a Reveal turn while you still have Agents instead of taking an Agent turn.)
Once you’ve taken a Reveal turn, your turns are skipped for the rest of the phase, while other players finish taking their turns. Once all players have taken a Reveal turn, this phase ends.
You may play any Plot Intrigue cards you have during this phase, at any point during one of your own Agent or Reveal turns.
Card Anatomy
The effects of each card in your deck are divided into two parts: an Agent box and a Reveal box. On any given turn, you may use the effects contained in only one of those boxes: the Agent box during an Agent turn, or the Reveal box during a Reveal turn.
- Name
- Faction (Not all cards are part of a Faction.)
- Agent icons
- Agent box
- Reveal box
- Persuasion Cost
- Acquire effect (Not all cards have an Acquire effect.)
Player Turn – Agent Turn
In an Agent turn, you play one card from your hand face up in front of you, using it to send an Agent from your Leader to an unoccupied space on the game board. This board space must have an icon in its upper left corner matching one of the Agent icons on the card.
You must choose only one Agent icon on your card; one card can’t send multiple Agents.
You can’t send an Agent to a board space that already has one.
You must pay any costs or meet any requirements of the board space you choose.
In addition, the Agent box of the card you played may provide an effect when you play it on an Agent turn. (You ignore the Reveal box of the card during Agent turns.)
If a card does not have any Agent icons on it, you may not play it during an Agent turn. It may only be revealed during a Reveal turn.
When you play a card and send an Agent to a board space, you gain the effects of the board space as well as the effects contained in the Agent box of the card. If the board space belongs to one of the Factions, you also move your cube one space up on its Influence track. You may carry out all these effects in any order.
Some card effects are written out, but many are iconized. Refer to the separate Board Space Guide sheet for an explanation of all board spaces, and the back cover of the rulebook for a guide to all game icons and additional game terms.
Arrows on cards and on the board indicate that there is a cost (left of the arrow, or above it) you must pay to get the effect (right of the arrow, or below it). You are never forced to pay such a cost. However, if you don’t, you won’t gain the effect.
The seven different Agent icons are:
- Emperor
- Spacing Guild
- Bene Gesserit
- Fremen
- Landsraad
- City
- Spice Trade
This Sardaukar Legion card has two Agent icons. The Emperor icon allows you to send your Agent to either of the two Emperor board spaces, while the Landsraad icon allows you to send it to one of the five board spaces in the Landsraad instead.
Board Space Costs
To send an Agent to some board spaces, you must pay a cost. If you can’t pay the cost immediately (before resolving any effects of the space or the card you played), you can’t send your Agent there.
Here are the two Emperor spaces on the game board. The top space, “Conspire,” requires that you pay 4 spice to send an Agent there.
The bottom space, “Wealth,” has no additional cost.
Sietch Tabr Influence
The Sietch Tabr board space has a unique requirement. To send an Agent there, you must have 2 or more Influence with the Fremen.
Deploying Troops to the Conflict
At the start of each round, the current Conflict card is revealed, offering rewards for which the players will compete in Combat.
Whenever the cube icon appears on a card or board space, you recruit one troop. Take a troop from your supply and place it in your garrison on the game board. (If you run out of troops in your supply, you can’t recruit more until some return there.)
You can’t earn rewards with troops sitting in your garrison, however. You may deploy them to a Conflict when you send an Agent to a Combat space. Combat spaces are board spaces that feature a desert illustration and crossed swords. While most of these appear on the planet Dune itself, three appear with the Factions: one with the Spacing Guild (Heighliner) and two with the Fremen (Hardy Warriors and Stillsuits).
When you send an Agent to a Combat space, you may deploy troops to the Conflict area—the area of the game board in the center of the garrisons. You may deploy any or all troops recruited during your current turn (from both the board space and the card you played), plus up to two more troops from your garrison. (Any troops you recruit but choose not to deploy to the Conflict are placed in your garrison as usual.)
Control Bonuses
Some Conflict cards (explained more in Phase 3: Combat) reward a player with control over one of three spaces on Dune: Arrakeen, Carthag, or Imperial Basin (based on the card’s title). If you win such a Conflict, take a Control marker from your supply and place it on the flag below the appropriate board space.
While your Control marker is on one of these spaces, you receive the bonus shown whenever any player (yourself included) sends an Agent there. The bonus is 1 Solari for Arrakeen or Carthag, and 1 spice for Imperial Basin.
When a Conflict card is revealed for a space that you already control, you receive a defensive bonus: you may deploy one troop from your supply to the Conflict.
Harvesting Spice
There are three board spaces on Arrakis with a Maker icon, where you may harvest spice: The Great Flat, Hagga Basin, and Imperial Basin. When you send an Agent to one of them, you gain the base value of spice shown on the space, plus any bonus spice that has accumulated there. (See Phase 4: Makers for details.)
When you send an Agent to Hagga Basin, you gain 2 spice from the bank and take any bonus spice that has accumulated there.
Player Turn – Reveal Turn
When a player has no more Agents for Agent turns (or chooses not to use any Agents they have remaining), that player takes a Reveal turn. This consists of the following steps in order: Reveal Cards, Resolve Reveal Effects, Set Strength, and Clean Up.
Reveal Cards
Reveal all cards remaining in your hand, placing them face up in play in front of you. Keep them separate from other cards you played previously on Agent turns.
Resolve Reveal Effects
You now gain the effects in the Reveal boxes of all the cards you just revealed (but not those of any cards you played during Agent turns earlier in the round).
You may resolve Reveal effects in any order you like. In addition, you may use Persuasion that you’ve gained to acquire new cards for your deck before, between, or after your Reveal effects.
Set Strength
Total your strength for the Combat this round.
Each troop you have in the Conflict is worth 2 strength. (Troops in your garrison or supply contribute nothing.)
Each sword you revealed during your Reveal turn is worth 1 strength.
You must have at least one troop in the Conflict to have any strength. If your last troop is ever removed, your strength becomes 0, and can’t be increased by any means, including swords on cards you revealed.
When you’ve totaled your strength, announce it to your opponents and move your Combat marker to the corresponding space on the Combat track. If your strength is over 20, flip the Combat marker to the +20 side and start again from the beginning of the track.
Clean Up
Remove all the cards from in front of you (from your Agent and Reveal turns) and put them in your discard pile.
Acquiring Cards
The Persuasion you gain during a round is used during your Reveal turn to acquire new cards for your deck. You may acquire any of the five cards in the Imperium Row, or Arrakis Liaison or The Spice Must Flow from the Reserve. (Foldspace is acquired at the board space of the same name, as described in the separate Board Space Guide sheet.)
The cost to acquire a card is shown at the top right of that card. You may acquire as many cards as you like, as long as you have enough Persuasion to spend. You may pool Persuasion from multiple sources (cards and board spaces) to acquire one card, and may split Persuasion from a single source to pay for different cards. Persuasion is not represented by any tokens because you can never save it; any Persuasion you don’t use during your Reveal turn is lost.
When you acquire a card, place it in your discard pile (face up to the right of your Leader). You don’t get to use the new card right away; you will shuffle it along with the rest of your discard pile when you run out of cards to draw.
The Imperium Row must always have five cards; whenever it does not, replace missing cards from the top of the Imperium Deck. This means that after you acquire one card, you may then acquire the card that replaces it (if you have enough Persuasion).
Phase 3: Combat
Combat is resolved during this phase, but first, players have the chance to play Combat Intrigue cards.
Combat Intrigue Cards
Starting with the player who has the First Player marker and continuing clockwise, each player with at least one troop in the Conflict may play any number of Combat Intrigue cards, or may pass.
You are not required to pass just because you passed earlier in the Combat phase. Once all players involved in Combat pass consecutively, you then resolve the Combat.
If a card changes the number of troops a player has in the Conflict (or otherwise alters their strength), they adjust their Combat marker accordingly on the Combat track. (Remember: if you have no troops in the Conflict, your strength is 0.)
A few Combat Intrigue cards do something “when you win a Conflict.” You do not play these now, before resolving the Combat. Instead, wait until you’ve won, then play them (before moving on to the next phase).
Resolve Combat
Rewards from the Conflict card are given to players based on their strength, as shown on the Combat track.
The player with the highest strength wins the Conflict and gains the top reward on the Conflict card. The player with the second highest strength gains the second reward. In a 4-player game (only), the player with the third highest strength receives the third reward.
A player with 0 strength does not receive any reward.
Refer to this rulebook’s back cover for a guide to the icons used on Conflict cards.
Once all rewards have been given, each player takes their troops from the Conflict and puts them in their supply (not their garrison). Reset all Combat markers to 0 on the Combat track.
Ties
When players tie for first place, no one wins the Conflict. The tied players each receive the second reward. (In a 4-player game, if two players tie for first place, the other two players still compete for the third reward.)
When players tie for second place, they each receive the third reward.
Players tying for third place receive nothing.
Phase 4: Makers
In this phase, spice can accumulate on certain board spaces. Check each of the three board spaces with a Maker icon: The Great Flat, Hagga Basin, and Imperial Basin. If the space does not have an Agent, place 1 spice from the bank on that space (in the spot designated for bonus spice). This spice is added to any bonus spice that may already be there from previous rounds.
Phase 5: Recall
If any player is at 10 or more Victory Points on the Score track, or if the Conflict Deck is empty, the Endgame is triggered.
If no one has won, prepare the next round:
- Return the Mentat to its designated space in the Landsraad (if it’s not already there).
- Players recall their Agents, returning them to their Leaders.
- Pass the First Player marker clockwise to the next player, then begin a new round with Phase 1.
Endgame
First, you may play and resolve any Endgame Intrigue cards you have. Then whoever has the most Victory Points is declared the winner.
If the case of a tie, tiebreakers are, in order: amount of spice, Solari, water, and garrisoned troops.
Clarifications
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen — To use the Masterstroke ability, choose two of the four Baron Harkonnen tokens and place them on your Leader with the Faction side face down. (Return the other two to the box without letting any opponents see them.) Later, reveal your choices as described to gain your reward.
Bindu Suspension — You must play this Intrigue card at the start of your Agent turn, before doing anything else. When you do, draw a card, then immediately end your turn.
Calculated Hire — This Intrigue card can only take the Mentat from its starting position in the Landsraad.
Demand Respect — If you win a Conflict that rewards you with spice, you may take that spice first, then use it to play this Intrigue card. (You may also play To the Victor... to gain the spice to then play Demand Respect.)
Kwisatz Haderach — You may play this card to take an Agent turn even if you have no Agents left in your supply, as it lets you send an Agent that is already on a board space. You may send an Agent back to the space that it was just on.
If a board space can be used only once per game (High Council, Swordmaster), you can’t use Kwisatz Haderach to send an Agent there more than once. You can’t overcome The Voice and send an Agent to a board space where you can’t send an Agent.
If you move an agent away from a space with a Maker icon, and that space remains empty until Phase 4, bonus spice does accumulate there.
Paul Atreides / Poison Snooper — You can’t look at the top card of your deck if it is empty. (You can’t reshuffle your discard pile and form a new deck until you need to draw a card.)
Test of Humanity — Opponents make their choices starting from your left and proceeding clockwise. Each opponent must choose something they can do; they can’t discard if their hand is empty, or lose a deployed troop if they have none. An opponent who decides to discard chooses which card; it is not random.
The Voice — Use one of your available Control markers to mark the board space you choose, then remove it on your next turn. (The Voice only stops opponents from sending Agents to that board space for one turn.)
This does prevent Kwisatz Haderach from sending an Agent to the board space you chose.
Strategy Tips
Water is rare and precious on Dune, and vital to harvesting the valuable spice. Look to the Fremen, if you find yourself in need.
Spice is a versatile substance and there are many ways to use it. Of course, any surplus will always find a buyer. The CHOAM Company or the Emperor would be happy to take it off your hands in exchange for Solari. The Spacing Guild only deals in very large quantities of spice, but if you meet their needs, you’ll find their heighliner ships make it easy to move large numbers of troops to Dune.
Solari is the currency of the Imperium and greases the workings of the Landsraad Council. Whether you’re looking to make upgrades in the form of a Swordmaster or High Council seat, or just need immediate assistance from some extra troops or a Mentat, don’t come empty-handed.
Remember, when you’re acquiring cards for your deck, part of what you’re paying for is access to the various Factions. Take care not to leave yourself without the right tools to send Agents to key board spaces.
Each of the Factions has one board space with a cost and one without. The ones without a cost will still help you gain Influence with a Faction even as you’re gathering the resources you need for the other spaces.
When it comes to winning Conflicts, position is everything. The longer you can wait to commit your troops, the more information you’ll have when you do so and the less opportunity your opponents will have to react.
Sometimes in a Conflict, a lesser victory achieved at a lower cost can be more valuable than a greater victory dearly bought.
Intrigue cards mean you can never be too certain which way a Conflict is going to break.
Gaining an Alliance with one of the Factions can be a powerful asset on your path to victory. Watch out for other players trying to race past you, and don’t miss an opportunity to do the same to them!
The secretive Bene Gesserit are a good source of Intrigue cards, which allow you to surprise your opponents. They also have the ability to trash cards in your deck, which can improve it and help you find your strongest cards faster and more often.
Icon Guide and Additional Terms
Acquire. Some cards have a special acquire box, shown underneath their cost. You gain the effect here one time, at the moment you acquire the card (and not later, when you play it from your hand).
Acquire a Foldspace card from the Reserve.
Agent. From the Swordmaster space, you can gain your third Agent (that was placed next to the board during setup of the game), then use it for the rest of the game.
Alliance — You may use this effect only if you have the Alliance token of the Faction shown. (Here, an Alliance with the Spacing Guild.)
Control — If you win a Conflict with a Control reward (of Arrakeen, Carthag, or Imperial Basin), place your Control marker on the flag below that space (replacing any opponent’s marker there). When a Conflict card is revealed for a space that you already control, you may deploy one troop from your supply to the Conflict.
Draw a card from your deck. If your deck is empty, reshuffle the discard pile in your supply to form a new deck, then continue to draw.
Draw an Intrigue card from the Intrigue Deck. Keep it face down until you play it. You may look at it at any time.
Fremen Bond — You may use this effect if you have one or more other Fremen cards in play. Two cards with Fremen Bond can activate one another, regardless of order played.
In Play — Cards you play on Agent turns and reveal during your Reveal turn remain face up and “in play” until you clean up at the end of your Reveal turn (unless they are trashed first).
Influence — You may use this effect only if you have at least the amount of Influence indicated with the given Faction. (Here, 2 or more Influence with the Fremen.)
Gain Influence with the Faction shown: Emperor, Spacing Guild, Bene Gesserit, or Fremen.
Gain one, gain two, lose one Influence. Choose any one of the four Factions. (When gaining two Influence, you can’t choose two different Factions.)
Lose a troop — When you lose a troop, return it to your supply (not your garrison).
Maker. The three board spaces with the Maker icon each gain 1 bonus spice during Phase 4: Makers if no Agent is present. When you send an Agent to one of these board spaces, you also gain all bonus spice there.
Mentat. Take the Mentat from its space on the board (if it’s there; you can’t take it from another player or another space). Place it on your Leader; you may use it as one of your Agents to take an Agent turn. When you take the Mentat as a Conflict reward, keep it as an Agent for next round and don’t return it to the board at the end of this one.
Paying a cost. An arrow indicates a cost (left of the arrow, or above it) and an effect (right of the arrow, or below it). If you don’t pay the cost, you don’t get the effect. You are never forced to pay such a cost on a card.
Persuasion (in the amount shown). You receive Persuasion mainly from the Reveal boxes on your cards. You use it to acquire Imperium or Reserve cards, paying the cost shown in the top right corner of a card.
Recall — When you recall one of your Agents, put it back on your Leader. You may use it again on another Agent turn in the same round.
Resources: Solari, Spice, Water. When you gain a resource or pay one as a cost, it’s taken from or returned to the bank. (For Solari and Spice, gain or pay the amount shown.)
Retreat — When you retreat a troop, move it from the Conflict back to your garrison.
Signet Ring. When you play your Signet Ring card on an Agent turn, you use the Signet Ring ability (with the corresponding icon) on your Leader.
Steal Intrigue. Each opponent who has four or more Intrigue cards must give you one of them (selected at random).
Sword. Each sword adds 1 strength to your strength total in a Conflict.
Trash one card from your hand, discard pile, or in play. Return it to the game box; it won’t be used for the rest of the game. (Reserve cards are returned to their stack in the Reserve instead.) Trashing is optional unless it’s paying a cost, or if a card directs you to trash itself.
Troop. Recruit one troop; take it from your supply and put it in your garrison on the game board. (If you recruited the troop while sending an Agent to a Combat space, you may deploy it to the Conflict.)
Victory Point. When you gain a Victory Point, move your Score marker one space up on the Score track. When you lose one, move your Score marker one space down.
Board Space Guide
Each board space is explained here, in alphabetical order.
Combat spaces are labeled. (Remember: on the game board, they are the spaces that feature desert illustrations and crossed swords.) When you send an Agent to a Combat space, you may deploy to the Conflict any number of troops you recruit this turn (including troops recruited by the card you played). In addition, you may deploy up to two more troops from your garrison.
Arrakeen
Agent icon: City
Combat space
Recruit a troop and draw a card. Arrakeen’s controller gains 1 Solari.
Carthag
Agent icon: City
Combat space
Recruit a troop and draw an Intrigue card. Carthag’s controller gains 1 Solari.
Conspire
Agent icon: Emperor
Cost: 4 spice
Gain one Influence with the Emperor. Gain 5 Solari, recruit two troops, and draw an Intrigue card.
Foldspace
Agent icon: Spacing Guild
Gain one Influence with the Spacing Guild.
Acquire a Foldspace card from the Reserve.
The Great Flat
Agent icon: Spice Trade
Combat space
Cost: 2 water
Gain 3 spice, plus any bonus spice accumulated here on the Maker icon.
Hagga Basin
Agent icon: Spice Trade
Combat space
Cost: 1 water
Gain 2 spice, plus any bonus spice accumulated here on the Maker icon.
Hall of Oratory
Agent icon: Landsraad
Recruit a troop.
During your Reveal turn, gain 1 Persuasion if you have an Agent here.
Hardy Warriors
Agent icon: Fremen
Combat space
Cost: 1 water
Gain one Influence with the Fremen. Recruit two troops.
Heighliner
Agent icon: Spacing Guild
Combat space
Cost: 6 spice
Gain one Influence with the Spacing Guild. Recruit five troops and gain 2 water.
High Council
Agent icon: Landsraad
Cost: 5 Solari
You may send an Agent here only once per game. Place your Councilor token on an unoccupied Council seat (to the right of the space). For the rest of the game, during each of your Reveal turns, gain 2 Persuasion.
Imperial Basin
Agent icon: Spice Trade
Combat space
Gain 1 spice, plus any bonus spice accumulated here on the Maker icon. Imperial Basin’s controller gains 1 spice.
Mentat
Agent icon: Landsraad
Cost: 2 Solari
Draw a card. If the Mentat is here, take it and place it on your Leader; this round, you may use it as one of your Agents to take an Agent turn. During Phase 5: Recall, return it here.
Rally Troops
Agent icon: Landsraad
Cost: 4 Solari
Recruit four troops.
Research Station
Agent icon: City
Combat space
Cost: 2 water
Draw three cards.
Secrets
Agent icon: Bene Gesserit
Gain one Influence with the Bene Gesserit.
Draw an Intrigue card. Each opponent who has four or more Intrigue cards must give you one of them (selected at random).
Secure Contract
Agent icon: Spice Trade
Gain 3 Solari.
Selective Breeding
Agent icon: Bene Gesserit
Cost: 2 spice
Gain one Influence with the Bene Gesserit. Trash one card to draw two cards.
Sell Melange
Agent icon: Spice Trade
Cost: 2 to 5 spice.
Gain the amount of Solari shown based on the cost you paid. You can’t make multiple exchanges on a single turn.
Sietch Tabr
Agent icon: City
Combat space
Requirement: You must have 2 or more Influence with the Fremen. Recruit a troop and gain 1 water.
Stillsuits
Agent icon: Fremen
Combat space
Gain one Influence with the Fremen. Gain 1 water.
Swordmaster
Agent icon: Landsraad
Cost: 8 Solari
You may send an Agent here only once per game. Gain your Swordmaster (your third Agent that was placed next to the board during setup). Place it on your Leader. For the rest of the game (including this round) you have three Agents.
Wealth
Agent icon: Emperor
Gain one Influence with the Emperor. Gain 2 Solari.
House Hagal Cards — Solo & Two-Player Games
House Hagal cards are used to control automated opponents (hereafter referred to as “Rivals”) who compete against you in solo and two-player games. These opponents send Agents to occupy board spaces and contest Conflicts by recruiting and deploying troops.
Rivals are affected by cards and board spaces that affect opponents (or “players”), if they have the specified resources.
Agents
During Phase 2: Player Turns, a Rival will take Agent turns but it will not take Reveal turns.
When a Rival takes an Agent turn, reveal the top card of the House Hagal deck. That card will send an Agent to the revealed board space, as long as that space is unoccupied. If the space is occupied, ignore the card and continue revealing cards until you reveal an unoccupied space.
If the House Hagal deck is ever empty (or if the Reshuffle card is revealed), immediately reshuffle the House Hagal cards to form a new deck.
When a Rival sends an Agent to a board space, ignore all normal costs and effects of that space. Instead, it gets only the effects indicated on its revealed card:
- The Rival advances on the indicated Influence track. It earns no bonuses from an Influence track, but it will take a Faction Alliance if able.
- The Rival uses the Signet Ring ability on its Leader. (Solo Play only)
- The Rival recruits one troop from its supply for each such icon. If the revealed card is a Combat space, deploy them to the Conflict. Otherwise, put the troops in its garrison.
Any time a Rival sends an Agent to a Combat space, it also deploys up to two troops from its garrison (if available) to the Conflict. Do this even if the card itself recruited no troops (for example: a Harvest Spice card).
Combat
When Phase 3: Combat begins, each Rival that has at least one troop in the Conflict gets a Combat bonus. In turn order, reveal the top card of the House Hagal deck. (If you reveal the Reshuffle card, follow the instructions to reshuffle the deck and reveal again.) Ignore everything on the revealed card except for the sword icons at the bottom. Advance the opponent’s Combat marker on the Combat track by the number of swords revealed. Players may then play Combat Intrigue cards before resolving Combat.
Harvest Spice cards
If the revealed card is a Harvest Spice card, follow the instructions on the card. If the card sends a Rival’s Agent to harvest spice, remove any bonus spice on the space. (In a two-player game, return it to the bank. When playing Solo, follow the Solo Play rules for Harvesting Spice.)
Two-Player Games
In a two-player game, a third, Rival player, House Hagal, competes against you and your opponent, serving a spoiler role. It operates by its own set of rules. It doesn’t collect resources, build a deck, earn rewards, or score Victory Points. It does, however, use the House Hagal cards as described earlier, sending Agents to occupy board spaces and competing in Conflicts by recruiting and deploying troops.
Setup
Choose a color for House Hagal. Place one of its cubes on each of the bottom spaces beneath the Influence tracks of the four Factions. Put the rest of its cubes in its supply. It starts with no troops in its garrison.
Remove from the House Hagal deck the three Arrakeen cards marked “1P” in the upper right corner. Shuffle the remaining cards and place them and House Hagal’s three Agents near its supply.
During the Game
After each of the First Player’s Agent turns, House Hagal acts, as long as it has an Agent remaining in its supply. (Use the method described earlier) The number of turns that House Hagal takes each round will vary because it acts after the First Player. For example, if one player has a Swordmaster and the other does not, it might take three turns in one round, then two in the next.
Because House Hagal can’t collect rewards from a Conflict, it can never claim control of a board space. However, if it wins a Conflict for a board space currently controlled by another player, remove that player’s Control marker.
Solo Play
In a Solo game, you face off against two Rivals who (again) don’t use the normal rules of play. Neither builds a deck, but they have other powerful advantages and share your goal: gain favor with the most powerful factions of the Imperium and control the spice trade on Arrakis! If either reaches 10 or more Victory Points, they will trigger the end of the game—and they may defeat you!
Setup
Select a difficulty level from the chart at the right.
Choose two Leaders, one for each Rival. During the game, these Rivals will use only the Signet ability on their Leaders, ignoring the ability on the left. Your opponents can’t play Paul Atreides or Helena Richese. (For your first solo game, Earl Memnon Thorvald and Glossu “The Beast” Rabban are recommended.)
For each Rival, choose a color. Place one of their cubes on each of the bottom spaces beneath the Influence tracks of the four Factions. Put the number of troops in their garrison for your chosen difficulty, and the rest in their supply. Place two of their Agents in their supply, and insert the Swordmasters (third Agents) for both Rivals into the Conflict deck, putting exactly the number of cards on top of them as indicated for your difficulty.
Remove from the House Hagal deck all cards marked “2P” in the upper right corner (the Reshuffle card and three Arrakeen cards). Shuffle the remaining cards and place the deck near your Rivals.
If your difficulty calls for it, place a 5 Solari token on the Mentat space. It means that for this game, this board space costs 5 Solari instead of 2!
You and your Rivals each start with 1 water, plus the extra resources indicated for your chosen difficulty.
The Rival on your left takes the First Player marker.
Difficulty
Setup changes based on your chosen difficulty level:
| Mercenary (Novice) | Sardaukar (Veteran) | Mentat (Expert) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your Extra Starting Resources | 1 Solari 1 Spice | — | — |
| 5 Solari Token on Mentat Space | No | Yes | Yes |
| Rival Starting Garrisoned Troops | — | 3 | 3 |
| Conflict Cards Above Rival Swordmasters | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Rival Extra Starting Resources | — | 1 Intrigue card | 1 Intrigue card |
Kwisatz Haderach (Expert+): You also can’t gain a Swordmaster.
Rivals’ Turns
During Phase 2: Player Turns, your Rivals each take Agent turns in sequence with you, as long as they have an Agent remaining in their supply. (Use the method described earlier.)
When a Rival uses Harvest Spice to send an Agent to a board space, it gains all spice there (base and bonus). Place any accumulated resources in the Rival’s supply.
Combat
Rivals gain first- and second-place rewards from Conflicts, even things they otherwise don’t take from board spaces:
- They gain Victory Points, and Influence with Factions.
- They gain Solari, Spice, Water, and Intrigue cards. Keep these in the Rival’s supply (to be spent as indicated below).
- They win Control of board spaces, placing a Control marker on the flag below it. On future turns, they get the Control bonus whenever you or a Rival sends an Agent there. They also receive the defensive bonus of one troop if a Conflict over that board space is later revealed.
- They gain the Mentat, and use it as an Agent during the next round.
Additional Rules for Rivals
Swordmasters — When you reveal the Conflict card above the Rival Swordmasters, your Rivals each immediately receive their third Agents; they will use them in the current round and for the rest of the game.
Choices — Whenever a Rival has a choice about gaining Influence, they choose the Faction in which they have the least. In the case of a tie (or when there is a choice not involving Influence), you decide for the Rival.
Corner the Market — For the purposes of this Intrigue card, treat each Rival as though they have two The Spice Must Flow cards. (You’ll need three yourself to get 2 Victory Points.)
Expert Troop Deployment — When playing at Expert difficulty, your Rivals are more selective about deploying troops to a Conflict. When fighting for a Conflict I or II card, a Rival won’t deploy troops if it is already leading by two or more troops (saving them in its garrison instead). For a critical Conflict III card, a Rival will resume deploying all the troops it can at every opportunity
Spending Resources
At any time, when a Rival has the indicated resources, they’ll spend them to earn a Victory Point.
- 3 Intrigue cards => 1 VP
- 3 Water => 1 VP
- 7 Solari => 1 VP
- 7 Spice => 1 VP