Technology
It wasn't until I sat down to write these rules that I fully appreciated how
much the science of the Dune universe is all about negative effects and putting
limits on technology; something that with hindsight should have been obvious. The
Holtzman effect, which gives rise to both shields and suspensors, limits the
available weaponry and negates (but cannot increase) gravity. Nullentropy bins
(unsurprisingly) nullify entropy. When technology cannot be limited through its
own means, Herbert resorts to law, in the words of the Corrino motto, "the
ultimate science". The tenets of the Butlerian Jihad and the Great
Convention ban computers and nuclear weapons. And of course there are no aliens.
All of the above throw the emphasis back on the human, as exemplified in the
disciplines of the Great Schools. Even interstellar travel is described as a
human accomplishment: Guild Steersman at least started out as human. The
mechanism by which the light barrier is circumvented (with which so much science
fiction is preoccupied) is ignored, in favour of emphasising the difficulties of
navigation at supralight speeds. The implication is that it may be the Steersmen
themselves that make the ships move.
The technology of the Dune universe is for the most part meticulously
thought out, but when writing the TWURPS Dune rules I was forced to make a
number of extrapolations in order to make the game playable. I've described
those areas were I've gone further that straight interpretation of the books
below, partly to justify what I've done, and partly so that you can identify
which parts of my extrapolations you don't like, and may wish to change when
running your own games.
Gravity
Control
Suspensors are mentioned numerous times in the Dune books, and they appear to be the only type of gravity control technology in
common use, although the terminology sometimes varies slightly. For example in Dune Messiah a Steerman's tank is described as using a "field-force generator" to recreate the weightlessness of
space. In both Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse Dune the effects of
acceleration in vehicles can be cancelled, although this does not appear to be
common and transfers between ships in space is still done in free-fall.
Gravity technology
is limited to canceling its effects, rather than full control. Gravity cannot be
created artificially, but its effects (and the similar effects of acceleration) can be reduced. The ships at the time of the original books appear to be of a traditional rocket design, albeit very large, which
also implies the control of gravity is not complete. Gravity on board such a
ship must be generated by accelerating or spinning the ship.
Heighliners
This use of spin gravity also dictated the description of a heighliner, something that is only vaguely described in the original books and which has widely varying designs in the Dune Encyclopaedia, David Lynch's film version and the TV miniseries. Of course it is probable that heighliner design would actually vary considerably, so all three descriptions may be valid. The one I ended up with
owes more to the TV version that the others, but with independently moving sections that can be spun up to provide gravity or down to allow docking.
Carryalls
The technical specification of a carryall lists it as using a combination of suspensors and jets. This contradicts the books, which describe them as being ornithopters. This was partly because I had difficulty imagining an ornithopter of that size ever being able to get off the ground, and partly because I rather liked the design from the TV miniseries.
Spice
Harvester
The
technical specification of a spice harvester lists it as having wheels, whereas
the description in the original books mentions tracks. The same argument as with
heighliners could be applied; designs vary. However the main reason I used wheels
was because I liked the design in the David Lynch film version.
Spacesuits
There is little or no reference in the books to the use of spacesuits. For a while I toyed with the idea that shields would be able to prevent decompression by trapping air around the body, but it seems a rather precarious system to trust your life to. In the end I just came up with my own design, the aim being to have a suit that was elegant enough for a Reverend Mother to wear. The use of masks is partly for recognition, as a sort of heraldry, and partly to avoid the high-tech feel of a more conventional helmet.
BioHazard
Suits
The idea that Harkonnen troops wear biohazard suits for most military
operations is inherited from the David Lynch film version rather than the
original books.
Translation
Machines
There is often an assumption that the Spacing Guild has its own
language, but I don't believe there is much evidence to support this in the
original books. The assumption may arise from the use of the floating devices used by
Steersman to communicate when they are in their tanks. This device is more likely to be a simple loudspeaker. It would be impossible for Edric to
partake in the subtleties of the conversation at the start of Dune Messiah if he was using a translation machine, even assuming such a machine would be possible without a computer.
Holtzmann Communicators
The Dune Encyclopaedia describes faster than light communication based on "Holtzmann waves".
Aside from the question of whether the Encyclopaedia should be considered as
canon, faster than light communication does not appear to be in widespread use in the Imperium at the time of the original
trilogy (although it is definitely in use by the time of Heretics of Dune). For that matter, ordinary radio communication is often mistrusted and personal couriers are preferred. Faster than light communication may have relied on the use of thinking machines, or the technology may
not have existed at that point in history. In the end I preferred a combination of distrust and dependence on computers as the reasons the technology was not in use, and left it off the state of the art table.
Flame Throwers
The search for weapons that might be appropriate for use on shielded vehicles was a bit of a headache. Obviously projectile weapons would be largely pointless. Lasguns were the obvious choice but one stray shot and that would be game over, literally. I wanted to be able to restrict the players access to lasers.
The technology described in the books is well thought out. By and large there are good reasons for things being the way they are, and if there were any possible weapons that could exploit weaknesses in the existing technology then somebody would be using them. Certainly players would want to.
Flame throwers are not widely used in the books. There is one mention of
Sardaukar fighting off Freman using the flames from the attitude jets of their landed transport, but that is an improvised weapon.
Heretics of Dune mentions "fire-lances" and the Harkonnen's use of
"wide-bore burners" to control mobs. Would a flame thrower penetrate a shield? If the target was doused in the flame, it seemed probable. If this was allowed, then flame throwers provided a way of arming vehicles without making each one a potential fusion bomb. This is why two of the vehicle designs include flame throwers.
Guided Missiles
The original books are vague on the details of how space battles are fought, but they obviously happen, as events such as the Battle of Corrin are mentioned. The use of operator-guided missiles came from a similar sort of logic as the use of flame throwers on vehicles, only is this case the train of thought was rather easier. When I worked through the possibilities, it seemed to be the only sort of weapon that made
sense, and the tactics of short and long-range combat followed from that
premise.
