Dune: Imperium – Bloodlines Design Diary 4: Inspiring Command

November 26, 2024

Dune: Imperium – Bloodlines is the latest expansion for both Dune: Imperium and Dune: Imperium – Uprising. It’s available for pre-order now, and will hit your Friendly Local Game Store in early 2025.

Not Everyone is a Swordmaster

Dune: Imperium players know the value of a Swordmaster, and with good reason. Unlocking an extra action in a worker placement game is incredibly powerful. More Agents means more spice, more water, more troops, more Dune!

But not all players are chasing the same dreams.

You see, some of us (myself included) are Persuasion enthusiasts. Of all the members of the Dire Wolf design team, I’m probably the most likely to grab a High Council seat before getting a third Agent. While others are gearing up for extra actions, I’m looking for bigger and better effects on my cards. And although I might not be getting an extra Agent turn, I’m the kind of player who really likes getting the most out of my Reveal boxes.

It was through this lens that I experimented with a few different reveal mechanics for Bloodlines. Ultimately, we landed on something that merged this desire for an early High Council seat with a little something extra for your Reveal turns: a new ability called Command.

At Your Command

Command is simple — if you generate 6 or more Persuasion during your Reveal Turn, you gain all of the bonuses of your revealed cards with Command. So with a card like I Believe, it will always generate a Persuasion for you. If you happen to have 5 more Persuasion among your other cards (for 6 total), you’ll also get two troops!

From the Screen to the Tabletop

Thematically, the Command mechanic helped us capture the magnetism of the incredible performances in Dune: Part Two.

I remember leaving the theater and being struck by the powerful presence of so many of these characters. Between Lady Jessica, Stilgar, Chani, the Emperor, and Reverend Mother Mohiam, there was so much charisma on display. These were strong characters, and I could see why they had the ability to make people follow them — to command loyalty.

The scene that stuck with me the most was Paul Muad’dib Atreides, Duke of Arrakis, giving an impassioned speech to the Fremen elders. That is command — it is a magnitude of character that can inspire people to follow you to the ends of the Known Universe.

Engineering Miracles

While a lot of the Command cards deliver pretty straightforward value, I wanted one card that you could chase dreams with. We tried a lot of versions of a card like this, that would let you do something out of the ordinary when you hit the Command threshold. We tried letting you copy the reveal box of a card from the Imperium Row, which sounded cool, but in practice was usually just a little more Persuasion. We tried letting you put a card you revealed back on top of your deck, but that was too frustrating to play against. Ultimately, we landed on Engineered Miracle:

This can be tough to pull off early, when it’s most impactful, but when you do, it feels like you engineered yourself a little miracle.

Heading Off-World

When we started officially working on Bloodlines, at the top of our list of goals was diversifying the play experience of going to Landsraad spaces. Not only did we want to shake up the board a bit, but we also felt that an expansion drawing players off-world would serve as an interesting foil to the combat-centric focus of Uprising.

This is reflected in each of Bloodlines’ major mechanics: Landsraad spaces host Sardaukar Commanders, and they also allow you to purchase Tech — and your High Council seat not only gets you a discount on those Techs, but it also helps enable your cards with Command.

This wasn’t just a mechanical decision though. As Bloodlines turns its attention away from Arrakis, so too do the Fremen. Eager to be led to paradise, their eyes are now fixed on the stars, and their hearts are ready for war.

In the coming conflict, where will your bloodline stand?

Pre-orders for Dune: Imperium – Bloodlines will be available through December 9th – get yours in today and secure your legacy!

-Phil Amylon

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