Well… that was interesting: Dune RPG Collab Game 1 – Session 0.5 - Planned Character Creation

You have read that Muad’Dib had no playmates his own age on Caladan. The dangers were too great. But Muad’Dib did have wonderful companion-teachers. There was Gurney Halleck, the troubadour-warrior. You will sing some of Gurney’s songs as you read along in this book. There was Thufir Hawat, the old Mentat Master of Assassins, who struck fear even into the heart of the Padishah Emperor. There were Duncan Idaho, the Swordmaster of the Ginaz; Dr. Wellington Yueh, a name black in treachery but bright in knowledge; the Lady Jessica, who guided her son in the Bene Gesserit Way, and—of course—the Duke Leto, whose qualities as a father have long been overlooked.
From “A Child’s History of Maud’Dib” by The Princess Irulan

Session 0.5 – Planned Character Creation

In this fifth part for our session 0, I’ll be creating one of two of my characters using the Planned Character Creation process for our first Collaborative Game of Dune: Adventures in the Imperium. In the next post I’ll be creating the basis of my second character using the Creation In Play process.

Since the Space Cowboy and I will be both controlling one house each, House Maestoso and House Obsidian, he will follow these posts with creating 2 characters as well using both of these processes.

You can read the other posts related to Session 0 by clicking the appropriate link below:

Planned Character Creation is detailed in Chapter 4: Planned Character Creation beginning on page 108 of the core rule book.

Planned Character Creation

This method is designed for players to create their characters before the game begins. It’s recommended that players create characters together, as a group; this will allow the players to discuss their concepts, bounce ideas off one another, and come up with ideas for how the characters know and interact with one another—are they friends, polite colleagues, rivals for their masters’ esteem, or virtual strangers? As the characters all work for the same House, they already have a natural reason to work together, and creating characters together can follow on naturally from House creation.
Dune: Adventures in the Imperium – Chapter 4 – Planned Character Creation – Page 108.

Of course, since the Space Cowboy and I are doing a quasi-collaborative method of solo play, with each of us controlling one house, we have no need to worry about creating the characters together as a group.

The process is broken down to 8 steps via the following summary as follows:

Step One: Concept
Step Two: Archetype
Step Three: Skills
Step Four: Focuses
Step Five: Talents
Step Six: Drives and Drive Statements
Step Seven: Assets
Step Eight: Finishing Touches

Step One: Concept

The first step in creating a player character is to decide what general sort of character to create. You may want to look through the archetypes described later in this chapter,
from one of the concepts mentioned in the introduction, or something else inspired by the universe of Dune. It’s helpful to keep this concept relatively vague at this
stage, as it gives you room to change and adapt. Once you have a concept that you’re happy with, move on to the next step.
Dune: Adventures in the Imperium – Chapter 4 – Step One: Concept – Page 109.

Before reading in detail through the concept step, I had in my mind that I was definitely going to create a Mentat and some type of Warmaster for the idea I have forming in my mind for what the story is going to be. But I’ve changed my mind slightly after reading. I’m still going to create a Mentat, but believe I want to create a Bene Gesserit Sister instead of a Warmaster. Those reasons will become apparent once we begin the actual story. The idea I have in mind really warrants a Bene Gesserit Sister being a primary character in my story. I can always create a quick Supporting Character (As defined on page 100 of the core rulebook) when needed for a warmaster. I also assume, just like I’ve done in my D&D Solo Game Blyris Bledstone’s Menagerie of Curiosities, I could “upgrade” them to a full character much like what is happening for my sidekicks in that game when needed.

The rulebook states that doing so, even though it doesn’t alter character creation very much, and some of the player’s choices will be limited. However, the benefit is that it grants access to further powerful abilities and connections.

Since my main primary character will be a Bene Gesserit Sister, I need to note down the following properties about my character before moving forward.

I get one Additional Trait: Bene Gesserit.
I must select the Mandatory Talent: Prana-bindu Conditioning.

She will be a member of the House Maestoso council.

Step Two: Archetype

This step, which begins on page 113 of the core rulebook, details the selection process of an Archetype for a character. An Archetype provides the following:

Trait: An archetype provides a single trait, representing the character’s role or status.
Skills: One skill is marked as primary, and one is marked as secondary.
Focuses: The character receives two focuses for their primary or secondary skill.
Talents: The character receives a single talent.

Since my primary character will be a Bene Gesserit, I also get the bonus trait of Bene Gesserit. I also MUST select the Prana-bindu Conditioning talent.

After reviewing the various Archetypes, I decide I do want my character to be a spy. This archetype has the following description:

SPY
Espionage is an integral part of the politics between the Houses, the Landsraad, the Spacing Guild, CHOAM, and the other factions in the Imperium, and spies are the ones who perform this work. Some spies involve themselves directly and personally in this work, building elaborate aliases that allow them to move undetected across the
Imperium to uncover the secrets their masters need, but this is a dangerous way to do things. Others cultivate networks of informants, gathering information from far and wide… but this has the potential to see misinformation spread if those informants are compromised.

Trait: Spy

Primary Skill: Understand

Secondary Skill: Move

Focuses: Deductive Reasoning, Kanly

Talents: Hidden Motives

Drives: Spies are often driven by a need to know, or

control what is seen as, the Truth. Others are instead

determined to serve

Dune: Adventures in the Imperium – Chapter 4 – Understand Archetypes – Academics – Page 118.

Step Three: Skills

Skills cover the character’s broad aptitudes and capabilities, forming a major part of skill tests the character attempts to play. These skills are rated between 4 and 8.

The primary skill listed for your archetype is rated at 6. Since I chose the Spy Archetype, I mark down 6 for Understand. The secondary skill listed for your archetype is rated at 5, so I put down 5 for Move on my character sheet.

The other skills are initially rated at 4, so I place 4 in Battle, Communicate and Discipline. However, you get five extra points to distribute as you see fit, but no skill can be set above 8.

I decide to use 3 skill points to bring up Battle, Communicate and Discipline to a rating of 5. I use 1 skill point to bring up Move to 6, and add the other one to Communicate to bring it up to 6 as well.

Step Four: Focuses

A starting player character has four focuses, representing areas of expertise and specialization beyond their broad skills. These focuses will each be associated with a single skill, which represents the skill which will use that focus most often.
Dune: Adventures in the Imperium – Chapter 4 – Step Four: Focuses – Page 119.

The core rulebook goes on to say that any focus can be used with any skill if it applies appropriately to the action in question.

Since your archetype provides two focuses its suggested that you use them for your primary and secondary skills, but you don’t HAVE to.

I definitely want the Deductive Reasoning associated with my Primary Skill of Understand, so I note that focus on my character sheet.

It also makes sense to use Stealth as my Move focus.

I have two more focuses to select.

I choose Persuasion as her Communicate focus. I want her to use “the voice” with expertise.

Lastly, I choose Command as her Discipline focus.

Step Five: Talents

A starting player character has three talents, representing special abilities, advanced techniques, and other significant benefits. These are abilities which define a character, helping them to stand out and feel special.
Dune: Adventures in the Imperium – Chapter 4 – Step Five: Talents – Page 120.

The core rulebook notes that your chosen archetype provides a single talent, and it suggests several options which are appropriately thematic for that archetype, however you may choose a different talent if you wish. It goes on to say that at least one of your talents should relate to your chosen archetypes in some way. However IMHO, this is a little confusing. Is it a mandatory talent or is it? As in the example provided on this page it states the following:

Example: For her first pick, Claire must take Pranabindu Conditioning as she has Bene Gesserit training. But her other two picks can be anything she likes.
Dune: Adventures in the Imperium – Chapter 4 – Step Five: Talents – Page 120.

So, since the example states “must” I interpret that as Mandatory. Looking at the errata PDF I don’t see anything listed that clarifies this, however I do plan to review the errata before I publish this post. If my choices need to be adjusted based on the errata, I’ll note it here in this post. Regardless, I’ve already listed Prana-bindu Conditioning on my character sheet in the Talents section, and now I need to pick two more.

The list of talents begins on page 127 of the core rulebook.

Talents normally take the form of a mechanical bonus —re-rolls, bonus Momentum, the ability to succeed automatically on certain tests, or unique ways to use Momentum, Threat, or Determination. No talent may be selected more than once, unless otherwise noted.
Dune: Adventures in the Imperium – Chapter 4 – Talents – Page 127.

Since my skills list Persuasion as my Communicate Skill, and Command as my Discipline Skill, I think it makes sense to choose Voice (Bene Gesserit Talent) as one of my other talents.

VOICE (BENE GESSERIT TALENT)
You have been trained to modulate your voice to influence the subconscious minds of others. With this skill you can subtly manipulate others, alter motivations and moods, or even compel action from the unwilling.

You may use Voice whenever you speak to someone else, though you must be able to observe them for a short while beforehand, and they must be able to hear you speak. When you use Voice, you may add one, two, or three points to Threat to score the same number of automatic successes on any Communicate test made to influence your chosen target. The greater the number of automatic successes, the more overt your use of Voice, which others may notice. Your training also allows you to buy those automatic successes on any test made to resist the effects of Voice.
Dune: Adventures in the Imperium – Chapter 4 – Talents – Page 131.

I’m also going to take Hyperawareness (Bene Gesserit Talent) as my third Talent. House Maestoso has a secondary domain of Political Workers, and I want this character to be an important spy for House Maestoso.

HYPERAWARENESS (BENE GESSERIT TALENT)
Your training has honed your awareness to an incredible degree, allowing you to notice details too small for others to perceive. Armed with these insights, you can uncover secrets and truths that others may be oblivious to.

Whenever you spend Momentum to Obtain Information about the current situation, your current location, or a person you can currently observe, you may ask two questions for the first point of Momentum spent. Further, the limits of what others would be able to notice do not apply to you for any questions.
Dune: Adventures in the Imperium – Chapter 4 – Talents – Page 128.

At first, I wanted to choose Other Memory (Bene Gesserit Talent) as I wanted her to be a Reverend Mother, but I think I want that to become a personal goal of this character in the story.

I add both of these Talents to my Talents section on my character sheet.

Step Six: Drives & Drive Statements

Weve worked on “What does this character do?” and now we work on “What does this character believe?” and that’s where Drives come into play. Each character has five drives as listed below:

Duty
Faith
Justice
Power
Truth

Like Skills, these are rated between 4 and 8 representing how important that drive is to the character, with 8 the most important thing and 4 is something the character cares little about.

The first part of this step is to rank the five drives according to their importance for the character. Then, in order, assign the associated rating. Your archetype lists suggested drives, but you shouldn’t limit that to what you want yourself.

I decide the following order for my character and mark their appropriate rating on my character sheet.

Faith – 8
Duty – 7
Truth – 6
Justice – 5
Power – 4

She strongly believes in the teachings and trainings of the sisterhood, however, has no thirst for power.

Now we need to define Drive Statements for the three most important drives. Drive statements are listed on pages 105-106 in the core rulebook with numerous example statements.

There is additional guidance for the creation of these drive statements in the core rulebook, and I think they are important to reference here so that we can refer to them immediately as we define them for my character:

A drive statement is one of the driving forces of the character’s worldview and personality, shaping how they interact with the worlds around them and providing motivation for the things they do.

Drive statements should be easy to understand, so that you and the gamemaster can both understand when they’re helpful, when they’re a hindrance, and when they don’t apply at all. If you don’t know if a drive statement applies to a situation, you’re not able to use it.

You will want to have at least one drive statement that poses a problem for your character, because that’s how you can gain more Determination to spend (see p.157).

Similarly, you’ll want at least one drive statement which is helpful to your character, because that gives you more opportunities to use a higher drive score, and more opportunities to spend Determination.

Drive statements do not have to be positive about the drive they’re attached to. Someone with a strong drive in Truth doesn’t have to be honest, and someone who believes strongly in Faith may believe that faith and religion are dangerous or harmful.

Your drive statements can and should change over time. The game allows for a character to challenge their beliefs, changing the order of priority and the attached statements, to reflect how people’s feelings and opinions can shift over time. Because they can change, you don’t need to worry too much about choosing the perfect statements right away; simple statements might be a better way to start, becoming
more complex as you play the character and their feelings grow more nuanced.

It doesn’t matter if your drive statements contradict one another. A person can hold conflicting beliefs, and the situations when those conflicting beliefs clash is often a source of interesting roleplay and tension in play.

A broad range is also good so you have the option to use a statement on any test. With this in mind, you may want to pick one that reflects how you respond physically, one that reflects how you tend to respond mentally, and one that reflects how you respond socially.

Dune: Adventures in the Imperium – Chapter 4 – Step 6: Drives & Drive Statements – Pages 120-121.

So, two things that jump out at me immediate are :

You will want to have at least one drive statement that poses a problem for your character, because that’s how you can gain more Determination.
Similarly, you’ll want at least one drive statement which is helpful to your character, because that gives you more opportunities to use a higher drive score, and more opportunities to spend Determination.

Since I need to come up with 3 drive statements, let’s work on the statement that poses a problem for our character.

My 3 most important drives are Faith being most important, followed by Duty, then Truth.

Referring back to the drive statements section and look at what is provided as examples. I decide that for Faith, I’m going to use the example they have and mark on my character sheet that “My faith gives me certainty where others might doubt“. I see how this could be a problem for my character for relying too much on certainty.

For Duty, i also select the example provide as “I serve at the pleasure of the House.” She is loyal to her house, but secretly more loyal to the sisterhood. She has the backing of her house and the sisterhood for her endeavors.

Finally for Truth, “I aspire to become a reverend mother so that I can draw upon the wisdom of all of my ancestors.“

I note these drive statements on my character sheet appropriately.

Step Seven: Assets

Assets represent the tools and resources available to a character, which they can use to achieve their goals. Chapter 7: Assets contains a list of the kinds of assets available.

Each asset is a special kind of trait (see p. 143-144), which describes a tool, resource, or something else useful which a character possesses. These assets are used during a conflict (as described in Chapter 6: Conflict) to overcome opponents and obstacles. Some of these assets are tangible—representing physical things, from weapons and other small possessions, to vehicles such as groundcars and ornithopters, to squads of troops and the services of agents and other subordinates. Others are intangible, representing contacts, favors, the ability to call upon friends, and similar useful things which have no physical presence in their own right.

A starting character should have three assets, one of which must be tangible.
Dune: Adventures in the Imperium – Chapter 4 – Step 7: Assets – Page 122.

So, one of my characters assets should be Tangible, so I need to keep that in mind.

The Assets Listing starts on page 193 in the core rulebook.

To help you create and understand the array of available assets, we offer the following examples of items and technology to be found throughout the Imperium. We have divided them along the same lines as the types of conflict, to make it easier to see how they might apply. But any asset can be used for any purpose in the right situation. It is up to each player to try and consider how best to use the assets at their command.

Personal assets are items that can be carried by individual characters. They apply most often in agent level play. Weapons of this type might be used in a personal duel or a skirmish conflict.

Warfare assets are items too large for one person and turn a skirmish into a battlefifield. They are usually heavy ordnance, soldiers, or vehicles.

Espionage assets are used for assassination, stealth, and information gathering. They come in a variety of forms: some may be personal items, other may be intangible ones, some are agents, spies and even Face Dancers. These assets often suit both agent and architect level play.

Intrigue assets are used in social occasions and are often intangible assets. They are based on favor, debts, and reputation, but also include informers and servants.

Dune: Adventures in the Imperium – Chapter 7 – Assets Listing – Page 193.

I want my character to have a Crysknife, the sacred blade of the Fremen crafted from the tooth of a dead sandworm. As to how she obtained it, it will be a mystery to others that we’ll discover in gameplay. Perhaps she has been to Arrakis before? Perhaps she was given it from her mother passed down through her lineage?

I note down Crysknife in the Assets section of my character sheet.

I also add Bene Gesserit Coded Dots to my character sheet. I think it’s important that my character to be able to hide and read these Bene Gesserit coded dots to gather information not meant for them.

Lastly, I decide to choose Cibus Hood and put that in my Assets section. I like the idea of her being able to easily escape notice and blend into crowds. This will be useful for her Move skill with a Stealth focus.

Step Eight: Finishing Touches

Just a few more options to choose here and we’ll have completed the eight steps of Planned Character Creation.

Trait

We need to select one additional trait reflecting the character’s reputation and how they are regarded by others.

I’d like to think House Maestoso sees this character as highly reliable, or in other words trusted. So, her reputation trait will be Trusted.

Ambition

Each player character has an ambition, which guides their long-term actions. A character who takes steps to achieve their ambitions will become more capable, more influential, and generally more effective.
Dune: Adventures in the Imperium – Chapter 7 – Ambition – Page 123.

If you remember from earlier, I wanted to choose the Other Memory talent for her talents, Therefore I think it makes sense that her Ambition is to become a Reverend Mother in order to gain this talent. The rulebook also explains here that during character creation, your character’s ambition should be based on their highest-rated drive. In this case, that’s Faith. Having this as her ambition makes a lot of sense here. So that’s going to be her ambition. To become a Reverend Mother.

Personal Details

And lastly, we’re down to the personal details for my character.

Name

I decide that I’m going to let ChatGPT come up with her first name, but she has taken on the name of the House as her last name.

Personality

I come up with the following aspects of her personality.

People can literally see her confidence in the way she carries herself and the way she speaks. Not known to become quick to anger.
To most, she can appear to be very introverted, but is open with her most trusted friends.
A very stoic individual.
It’s been years since she last cried when a deep love of hers passed away.

Appearance

I’ve thought about this one quite a bit. Here’s what I came up with for her appearance.

She will have thick and long red hair, and a small scar on her left cheek. As to WHY she has this scar, this will come out in game play.
Her voice is silky and mature although she is young, in her early twenties.
She dresses well, but also loose clothing that allows her to move swiftly.

Relationships

And here are the key details about her Relationships I have come up with.

Although Lady Valentina Firebrand is the primary house Envoy, she will be a secretive Envoy for Lord Octavius Maestoso who carries out missions even hidden from most of his closest council.
She was to be married to someone from House Maestoso at some point, but their unfortunate death prevented that.
She gives Lord Octavius Maestoso the greatest of respect and Trust.
Her trusted friend is the Mentat character who we will create during the Creation In Play post coming up next. He is currently unnamed.
As long as it doesn’t go against her Bene Gesserit training, she is exceptionally loyal to House Maestoso.

Step 9: AI Details

This isn’t an official step. But it’s my custom step where I’m going to take everything we’ve come up with and feed it into ChatGPT and see what the results are, and possibly tweak it if I see something I don’t like, or it makes sense.

Also, I’m going to come up with Visuals for her using Midjourney.

ChatGPT

I use the following information and feed it into ChatGPT in my Dune RPG chat session I’ve established that contains everything we’ve done in this post series:

I’ve designed my first primary character for House Maestoso. She is a Bene Gesserit and even though Lady Valentina Firebrand is the primary house Envoy, she will be a secretive Envoy for Lord Octavius Maestoso who carries out missions even hidden from most of his closest council. I want you to come up with her first name, but she takes on the surname of Maestoso.
Here are some other facts about this character.
Her personality traits are Bene Gesserit, Spy and Trusted.
Her talents are Prana-bindu Conditioning, Voice and Hyperawareness.
Her Understand skill has a score of 6 with a focus of Deduction Reasoning.
Her Move Skill is 6 with a Stealth Focus
Her Discipline Skill is 6 with a Command Focus
Her Communicate Skill is 6 with a Persuasion Focus
Her Battle Skill is 5.
She strongly believes in the teachings and trainings of the sisterhood, however, has no thirst for power.
Her highest drive is Faith with score of 8 and her Faith drive statement is “My faith gives me certainty where others might doubt”
Her next highest drive is Duty with a score of 7 and her Duty drive statement is “I serve at the pleasure of the House”
Her next highest drive is Truth with a score of 6, and her Truth drive statement is “I aspire to become a reverend mother so that I can draw upon the wisdom of all of my ancestors.”
Her Justice Drive is a score of 5 and her Power Drive is a score of 4.
Her Archetype is a Spy.
As for her Assets, she has a Crysknife, as to how she obtained it, it will be a mystery to others that we’ll discover in gameplay. Perhaps she has been to Arrakis before? Perhaps she was given it from her mother passed down through her lineage?
She also possesses Bene Gesserit Coded Dots. I think it’s important that my character to be able to hide and read these Bene Gesserit coded dots to gather information not meant for them.
And her remaining asset is a a Cibus Hood. I like the idea of her being able to easily escape notice and blend into crowds. This will be useful for her Move skill with a Stealth focus.
For an additional trait, I’d like to think House Maestoso sees this character as highly reliable, or in other words trusted. So, her reputation trait will be Trusted.
Her Ambition is to become a Reverend Mother.
For her Personality, People can literally see herself confidence in the way she carries herself and the way she speaks. Not known to become quick to anger. To most, she can appear to be very introverted, but is open with her most trusted friends. A very stoic individual. It’s been years since she last cried when a deep love of hers passed away.
For her appearance, she will have thick and long red hair, and a small scar on her left cheek. The reason for the scar will come out in game play. Her voice silky and mature although she is young, in her early twenties. She dresses well, but also loose clothing that allows her to move swiftly.
And for her Relationships, Although Lady Valentina Firebrand is the primary house Envoy, she will be a secretive Envoy for Lord Octavius Maestoso who carries out missions even hidden from most of his closest council. She was to be married to someone from House Maestoso at some point, but their unfortunate death prevented that. She gives Lord Octavius Maestoso the greatest of respect and Trust. Her trusted friend is the Mentat character who we will create during the Creation In Play post coming up next. Currently unnamed.

As long as it doesn’t go against her Bene Gesserit training, she is exceptionally loyal to House Maestoso.

Come up with the first name and a character description and background from all the above facts.

The first response I got back from ChatGPT was fine, but I wanted to describe her more so I added the following into the chat:

Embellish this more. Consider her skills and drive statements more

There was ONE thing that I don’t want to reveal just yet that came back in her character description, as it pulled something from earlier when I was coming up with an initial story plot hook. I don’t want that revealed just yet, but only once we get into gameplay, so I asked ChatGPT to remove that small element.

And the result we get is:

Name: Alessandra Maestoso

Character Description: Alessandra Maestoso, a secretive envoy for Lord Octavius Maestoso, embodies an aura of captivating elegance and unwavering confidence. With her fiery red hair flowing in thick waves down her back and a small scar etched upon her left cheek, her striking appearance mirrors the enigmatic nature that lies within. Despite her youth, in her early twenties, Alessandra possesses a voice that carries a silkiness and maturity beyond her years. Her every movement exudes a sense of purpose and grace, amplified by the loose yet impeccably tailored clothing that allows her swift and fluid motion.

Alessandra’s stoic countenance belies the depths of her emotions. Behind her confident exterior lies a complex individual, tempered by the teachings of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. Though she carries herself with unwavering poise, her cool demeanor masks a deep well of introspection and unwavering loyalty to House Maestoso.

As a skilled Bene Gesserit adept, Alessandra possesses an exceptional command over her talents. Through rigorous Prana-bindu Conditioning, she has honed her body and mind to achieve peak physical and mental prowess. Her keen Hyperawareness allows her to perceive subtle nuances in her surroundings, while the artful application of the Bene Gesserit Voice enables her to influence others with subtlety and precision.

Alessandra’s astute mind is further demonstrated by her remarkable Understanding skill, where her sharp deduction and reasoning abilities shine. Her disciplined Move skill, combined with her Stealth focus, allows her to blend seamlessly into crowds and navigate with remarkable agility. With her commanding Discipline skill and a focus on Command, she possesses the inherent ability to lead and inspire loyalty. Her persuasive Communicate skill, paired with a Persuasion focus, enables her to sway hearts and minds in service to House Maestoso.

Driven by her unwavering faith, Alessandra’s highest drive is a profound sense of certainty that her beliefs grant her. Her faith drive statement, “My faith gives me certainty where others might doubt,” fuels her unwavering dedication to the Bene Gesserit path and her aspirations to become a Reverend Mother. Guided by her sense of duty, she serves House Maestoso with unwavering loyalty, encapsulated in her duty drive statement, “I serve at the pleasure of the House.”

Alessandra’s thirst for truth fuels her ambitions. She aspires to become a Reverend Mother to draw upon the wisdom of her ancestors and embrace the vast knowledge and insights bestowed upon those who have walked the path before her. Her pursuit of justice is a testament to her commitment to the cause, striving to ensure fairness and balance within House Maestoso. Though her power drive is not her primary motivation, she understands the significance and influence that comes with it, wielding it judiciously to protect the interests of her House.

Within House Maestoso, Alessandra’s reputation as a trusted operative is well-deserved. Her ability to operate in secrecy and her deep understanding of the intricacies of espionage make her an invaluable asset. Equipped with a Crysknife, a weapon whose origins remain shrouded in mystery, she demonstrates her mastery and connection to the mysterious world of Arrakis. Her possession of Bene Gesserit Coded Dots allows her to decipher hidden information and gather secrets meant solely for her eyes.

Amidst the complexities of House Maestoso’s political landscape, Alessandra faces the profound challenge of navigating the longstanding tension and animosity that exists between her House and House Obsidian. Their bitter rivalry, fueled by a history of conflict and a shared thirst for power, hangs heavy in the air, casting a palpable shadow over any potential cooperation. As an envoy shrouded in secrecy for Lord Octavius Maestoso, she treads carefully, guarding her true intentions while remaining loyal to her House’s cause.

Though her heart carries the weight of a lost love, Alessandra’s unwavering dedication to Lord Octavius Maestoso remains steadfast. The profound respect and trust she places in him serve as the foundation of her loyalty. Alongside her unnamed Mentat confidant, Alessandra finds solace in their shared commitment to House Maestoso, relying on their diverse talents to navigate the treacherous path that lies ahead.

As events unfold and the threat to House Maestoso escalates, Alessandra’s journey will test not only her resolve but also her ability to transcend the deeply ingrained animosity between her House and House Obsidian. The path she treads remains uncertain, and the potential for unforeseen alliances or unexpected betrayals lurks in the shadows.

I LIKE IT!

Midjourney

And now that we have a fantastic description for Alessandra Maestoso, let’s generate what she may look like.

There were two different prompts I used to generate the following images:

a character in the Dune Universe, wearing regal attire. Ultra Realistic. --aspect 2:1

and


a Bene Gesserit character in the Dune Universe. A scar on her left cheek. Long Fiery Red Hair. Stoic. Holding a Crysknife. wearing regal attire. Ultra Realistic. --aspect 2:1

And here are the results.

Initial Character Description & Sheet

I created a full character page for Alessandra Maestoso that you can view by clicking here with her description and details.

And below is her initial character sheet:

Bookkeeping

I need to take all this information, and the information I’ve jotted down on a scratch character sheet and put it into official form. I’ll do that more than likely after I finish the next post which is about creating a character using the Character In Play process for her Mentat counterpart. Once that is complete, I’ll also officialize the House Sheets and update their posts with those.

I’m really digging where things are going, and I’m excited to actually start playing this character.

Till next time!

Resources Used

Dune: Adventures in the Imperium Core Rulebook.
Mythic Game Master Emulator Second Edition (MGME2E)
ChatGPT for generating a description of various elements as noted.
Midjourney for creating imagery the enemy homeworld, banner etc.

Well… that was interesting: Dune RPG Collab Game 1 – Session 0.5 – Planned Character Creation