Dune
At a glance
Rules overview
English version of our rules overview, translated from the Chinese original (cunlema). The Chinese page is the source of record.
Game Overview
In Frank Herbert's Dune universe, players assume the roles of leaders of great houses under the Landsraad Council, dispatched by the High Emperor to the desert planet Arrakis to vie for its most precious resource: spice. By sending envoys across seven regions to gather resources, recruiting and deploying troops to contest control, and forming alliances with the four major factions—the Emperor, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit, and the Fremen—players accumulate prestige points. Each round unfolds in a fixed sequence of five steps; the game ends when a player first reaches 10 points or when the conflict deck is exhausted, with the highest-scoring player declared the winner.
Core Mechanisms: Hand management, worker placement, area control, influence tracks, and deck-building.
1. Game Components
| Component | Quantity / Description |
|---|---|
| Game Board | 1 piece |
| Supply Cards | 67 cards (used in the Imperial Public Deck) |
| Secret Cards | 40 cards (divided into Conspiracy, Combat, and End of Game categories) |
| Leader Cards | 8 cards (with round‑flow instructions on the back) |
| Conflict Cards | 18 cards (4 × Level 1, 10 × Level 2, 4 × Level 3) |
| Imperial Token Markers | 4 large (value 5) + 20 small (value 1) |
| Mentat Token Markers | 3 large (value 5) + 20 small (value 1) |
| Spice Mine Tokens | 3 large + an unlimited supply of small ones |
| Water Resource Tokens | 15 tokens |
| Alliance Tokens | 4 tokens (one each for the Emperor, the Spacing Guild, the Sisterhood, and the Fremen) |
| Occupation Tokens | 3 tokens (for Arrakis, Giedi Prime, and the Imperial Basin) |
| First Player Token | 1 token |
| Combat Power Marker | 1 marker (double‑sided, 0 ↔ 20) |
| Points Marker | 1 marker |
| Council Seat Marker | 1 marker (for the High Council only) |
| Harkonnen Baron Tokens | 4 tokens (for exclusive character use) |
| Player Cubes | 16 cubes per player (3 placed in the Barracks + 13 placed in the Supply Pile) |
| Disc Markers | 2 markers per player |
| Envoy Tokens | 2 tokens per player (the Swordmaster unlocks a third one) |
| House Harkonnen Cards | 31 cards (available only in Solo/Two‑Player modes) |
| Backup Arrakis Liaison Officer Cards | 8 cards |
| Backup Spice Forever Cards | 10 cards |
| Backup Fold Space Cards | 6 cards |
2. Setup
2.1 Board Preparation
- Place the game board.
- Position the Mentat token next to the "Mentat" space on the board.
- Place the four faction tokens on their respective positions along the influence tracks (Emperor, Spacing Guild, Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, Fremen).
2.2 Conflict Deck Construction
After sorting the conflict cards by level, stack them as follows:
- Shuffle the four Level 3 conflict cards and place them face down.
- Shuffle the ten Level 2 conflict cards, then randomly draw five and place them on top.
- Shuffle the four Level 1 conflict cards, then randomly draw one and place it on top.
The final deck contains a total of ten cards: one Level 1, five Level 2, and four Level 3. Return any remaining conflict cards to the box.
2.3 Public Card Pools
- Imperial Public Pool: Shuffle the 67 Imperial public cards, reveal five to form the starting pool, and keep the rest face down as the deck.
- Secret Cards: Shuffle the 40 secret cards and place them face down.
- Reserve Cards: Set aside three separate reserve decks: the Arrakis Liaison Officer, Spice Forever, and Folded Space.
2.4 Player Setup
Each player receives:
- A set of player components in their color (cube, disc, envoy, prestige point marker, combat strength marker, occupation token).
- One leader card (for first-time players, it's recommended to choose a simple leader with only one small icon: Paul Atreides, "Beast" Glossu Rabban, Count Manoon Tovard, or Count Irben Richesse).
- Ten starting cards (two Persuasion, two Dagger, one Diplomacy, two Dune – Desert Planet, one Land Survey, one Seek Allies, one Seal Ring), shuffled and placed face down.
- One water resource token placed in their supply pile.
- The prestige point marker positioned at the 0-point mark on the prestige track (in a four-player game, place it at the 1-point mark).
- The combat strength marker placed face up at the 0 mark on the combat strength track.
- Four faction cubes placed at the bottom of each faction's influence track.
- Three cubes placed in the conflict zone corresponding to the barracks; the remaining thirteen cubes go into the supply pile.
- Two envoys placed next to the leader card, with the third envoy (Swordmaster) positioned next to the "High Council" space on the board.
Randomly distribute the first-player token.
3. Round Flow
Each round consists of the following five steps:
Step 1: Round Start
- Draw 1 conflict card from the top of the conflict deck and place it face-up next to the conflict deck. If there are any leftover conflict cards from previous rounds, stack them on top.
- Each player draws 5 cards from their deck to form their hand for the current round.
Step 2: Player Actions
Players take actions in clockwise order according to the first-player marker. Each player chooses to perform one action: either enter the Envoy Phase or the Showdown Phase.
- Players may choose the Envoy Phase for multiple consecutive rounds as long as they have unplayed envoys and wish to use them.
- Once a player selects the Showdown Phase, they cannot return to the Envoy Phase during that round.
- This step ends once all players have completed the Showdown Phase.
- Note: At any point during the Envoy or Showdown phases, players may play any number of intrigue-type secret cards.
Step 3: Combat
Resolve conflicts for the current round (see Section 6 for details).
Step 4: Spice Production
Check the three regions marked with spice production tokens—the Great Plains, the Haga Basin, and the Imperial Basin. If no envoy has been dispatched to a region this round, draw 1 spice token from the resource pool and place it on that region's spice production marker. Any previously accumulated extra spices remain stacked.
Step 5: Recall
- Return the Mentat token to the area next to the "Mentat" region (if someone hired it this round).
- Each player recalls all their envoys and places them back beside their leader card.
- Pass the first-player marker clockwise to the next player.
- Proceed to Step 1 of the next round.
4. Game Rules Explained
4.1 Leader Abilities
Each leader has two abilities:
- Left-hand ability: Activated proactively during the game when conditions are met.
- Right-hand ability (marked with a seal ring icon): Can only be activated after playing the "seal ring" card during the envoy phase of the current round.
4.2 Deck Construction
- Newly acquired Imperial public cards enter the discard pile and are not immediately available. Only when the deck is exhausted and needs to be reshuffled do the cards from the discard pile get shuffled back into the new deck.
- The "destroy" effect permanently removes cards from the game (without going to the discard pile), reducing the likelihood of weak cards appearing while increasing the draw rate of key cards. Cards that are destroyed cannot be used again in this round.
4.3 Faction Influence
There are four factions: the Emperor, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, and the Fremen.
- Sending an envoy to a region controlled by a specific faction grants 1 point of influence for that faction (moving the influence marker up one space). Certain card effects can also directly increase or decrease influence.
- When influence reaches 2: Gain 1 victory point. If it later drops below 2, lose 1 point.
- When influence reaches 4: Receive the reward indicated on the corresponding space of the board (retained once, not returned). Even if influence later decreases, the reward remains.
- First to reach alliance: The first player to achieve 4 points of influence for a particular faction takes the alliance token and gains the score marked on it. If another player later surpasses their influence, they must hand over the alliance token and forfeit the associated score.
4.4 Secret Cards
Three types, each with its own timing:
| Type | Timing |
|---|---|
| Conspiracy | Any time during your own envoy phase or reveal phase |
| Combat | During the combat step (before combat resolution, played clockwise) |
| Endgame | At the end of the game |
Secret cards are drawn face-down and visible only to the player; when played, they are revealed to other players. After activation, they are placed in the secret discard pile.
4.5 Envoy System
- Each player starts with 2 envoys. The Swordmaster region unlocks a third envoy.
- The Mentat is a freely hired envoy, usable only during the current envoy phase (but can be kept for the next round if obtained through conflict rewards).
- An envoy can only be dispatched after playing a card—the type icon on the card determines which regions are eligible.
- Only one envoy per player may enter any given region in a single round (cannot send to places already occupied by others).
- Some regions have additional entry requirements (fees or prerequisites) that must be met before deployment.
4.6 Region Types
The game board features seven region types, with each card's icon determining which regions are eligible for dispatch:
Emperor · Spacing Guild · Bene Gesserit Sisterhood · Fremen · Landsraad Legislative Assembly · City · Spice Trade
A single card may bear multiple region icons, but only one type can be chosen for each dispatch (no multitasking).
4.7 Entry Requirements
Certain regions have special thresholds:
- Conspiracy (Emperor exclusive): Pay 4 spices.
- Tebu Caverns (City): Must have at least 2 points of influence within the Fremen faction.
- Longshot (Spacing Guild exclusive): Pay 6 spices. Only one envoy may be sent to this location per game.
- High Council (Landsraad Legislative Assembly): Pay 5 Imperial Saux coins. Only one envoy may be sent per game. Upon occupation, place the council seat marker in the designated space; thereafter, gain an extra 2 persuasion points during the reveal phase each turn.
- Swordmaster (Landsraad Legislative Assembly): Pay 8 Imperial Saux coins. Only one envoy may be sent per game. Successfully completing this task grants a third envoy.
4.8 Envoy Phase Action Sequence
- Play 1 card from your hand, placing it face-up in front of you.
- Based on the region type icon on the card, choose an unoccupied region of the corresponding type and send 1 envoy there.
- Pay the required fee or meet the prerequisite for that region.
- Simultaneously resolve both the card's envoy effect and the region's inherent effect. If the region belongs to a faction, gain an additional 1 point of influence for that faction.
- Fee → Reward arrow: left/top indicates fees, right/bottom indicates rewards. Fees may be waived (in which case no corresponding reward is granted).
4.9 Combat Deployment and Conflict Zones
Recruiting Troops
Block icons on cards or region effects indicate troop recruitment—take 1 block from the supply pile and place it in your barracks. If the supply pile runs out, further recruitment is impossible.
Deploying to Conflict Zones
- Prerequisite: Your current action includes sending an envoy to a combat region (desert areas marked with crossed swords on the board).
- All troops gained from this action (from region effects and card effects) can be deployed to the conflict zone.
- Additionally, you may take up to 2 extra troops from your barracks to join the conflict zone.
- Troops not deployed to the conflict zone automatically return to the barracks.
- Troops outside the conflict zone do not contribute to combat strength.
Regional Control
Three regions can be occupied: Arrakis, Giedi Prime, and the Imperial Basin.
- Winning the corresponding rank in a battle grants you 1 occupation token from the supply pile, which you place beneath the relevant region.
- Once occupied: Whenever an envoy enters your controlled region, you receive an additional reward—1 Imperial Saux for Arrakis and Giedi Prime, and 1 spice for the Imperial Basin.
- If the conflict card reveals a region you already control, you can immediately deploy 1 troop directly from the supply pile into the conflict zone (providing defensive bonuses).
- If your control is defeated, your opponent takes over.
4.10 Spice Harvesting
Three spice-producing regions: the Great Plains, the Harkonnen Basin, and the Imperial Basin.
… (condensed here; full text on the cunleme Chinese page)
(5 later sections are omitted here; see the Chinese page for the rest.)
Rules Q&A
Questions below are real questions players asked cunlema about this game; answers are ours, translated into English.
Dune Bloodline Sardokka rules?
Conclusion
In the board game Dune, the Sardaukar are a special elite unit of the Emperor faction, consisting of five starred forces tokens. Their basic rules are as follows:
- Each Sardaukar token has a strength of 2 points when facing all opponents except the Fremen;
- When facing the Fremen, each Sardaukar token is worth only 1 point;
- During the revival phase, Sardaukars are treated as a single force token, and only one Sardaukar can be revived per round.
Detailed Rules and Scoring
- The Strength Value of Sardaukars
Rulebook text (basic rules, Battle Phase):
> "Sardaukar Troop tokens each have a Troop token Strength of two; and Sardaukar Troop tokens each have a Troop token Strength of one against the Fremen."
> (Each Sardaukar token has 2 points of strength; but against the Fremen, it's only 1 point.)
- Calculating Total Force Strength in Battles
When computing the total available force strength during combat:
- Regular troops = 1 point of strength;
- Sardaukars = 2 points of strength;
- Against the Fremen, Sardaukars count as 1 point.
Players secretly adjust their values on the battle wheel, ensuring they do not exceed their total available force strength in that territory.
- How Sardaukars Are Counted When Taking Damage
The basic rules do not explicitly state that Sardaukars have a different value when absorbing losses. However, an example in the advanced combat rules clarifies this:
> An Emperor player has 1 Sardaukar (equivalent to 2 forces) and 5 regular forces. If he wins a battle with a strength of 3 and spends 1 spice, he may choose to lose 1 Sardaukar (counting as its full strength of 2) plus 2 regular forces (each counting as half strength, ½), or he could lose all 5 regular forces (each counted as half strength, ½).
This demonstrates that, in certain combat scenarios, Sardaukars can serve as loss-absorbing units, affecting both the actual number of forces lost and the scoring outcome.
- Revival Restrictions
Quoting the rulebook:
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List all leader abilities?
Conclusion: The rulebook does not list the specific effects of all leaders.
The rules manual for the base game of "Dune: Imperium" only explains how the leader‑skill mechanism works and provides no comprehensive "list of all leader skills." The exact wording of each leader's skill is printed on their respective leader card; the rulebook does not repeat it.
What the rulebook does confirm:
1. Structure of Leader Skills
- Each leader has two unique abilities.
- The left‑hand ability can be activated during gameplay when its conditions are met.
- The right‑hand ability, marked with a seal‑ring icon, requires you to play the "Seal Ring" card during your action phase in the Ambassador Phase to activate it.
2. Additional Information on Leader Cards
- Next to each leader's name, there may be up to three small icons, with the number indicating the leader's complexity (not strength).
- There are a total of eight leader cards in the game, with round‑flow instructions printed on the back.
- The starting deck of ten cards always includes one "Seal Ring" (along with two Persuasion cards, two Daggers, one Diplomacy card, two Desert Planet cards, one Land Survey card, and one Seek Allies card), so you have a chance to trigger the right‑hand ability every round.
3. The Only Two Instances in the Rulebook That Mention Specific Leader Skills
- Baron Vladimir Harkonnen — "The Art of Intrigue": When activated, choose two of the four faction tokens exclusive to Baron Harkonnen, place them face down on your leader card, and return the other two to the box (do not let others see what you chose). Later, at an appropriate moment, you may reveal your choices and receive rewards.
- Paul Atreides (related to the secret card "Poison Test"): If your deck is empty, you cannot activate this effect—meaning you cannot use "look‑at‑cards" type effects to shuffle your deck; shuffling can only be triggered by "draw‑cards" type effects.
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The reward for occupying a region?
Conclusion
"Occupying a region" is referred to as controlling an area in the rules. You gain control of an area by winning a conflict that awards a control bonus, which then provides two distinct types of benefits: an additional reward when an envoy enters, and a garrison bonus (free deployment of one unit).
I. Which areas can be controlled?
There are three in total: Erachin, Ghatig, and the Imperial Basin. The specific area is indicated on the conflict card.
II. How do you gain control?
If you finish in the corresponding position on the conflict card during that battle, you may take one area control token from the supply pile and place it on the flag icon at the lower-left corner of that area. If the area was already under someone else's control, you replace them.
III. Rewards for control
1) Additional reward when an envoy enters
As long as you have a control token placed in this area, whenever any envoy (including your own) enters this area, you receive an extra reward:
- Erachin: 1 Imperial Sow coin
- Ghatig: 1 Imperial Sow coin
- Imperial Basin: 1 spice
2) Garrison bonus (free deployment of one unit)
When a conflict card for an area you already control is revealed and displayed, you earn a garrison bonus: you may place one of your units directly into the conflict zone from the supply pile.
Conditions and Exceptions
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Does the Flapping Machine directly grant two prestige points?
Conclusion: The Rulebook Text does not contain the statement that "the Flapping Wing Aircraft directly grants two prestige points."
In the original text, the "Flapping Wing Aircraft" does not appear as an effect that generates prestige; therefore, it cannot be said to "directly grant two points."
Here are the key points confirmed by the Rulebook:
1. "Smuggler's Flapping Wing Aircraft" is merely a card name in the rules.
It appears only once, and that is in the example of the Show Phase procedure—illustrating that a player has revealed three cards from their hand, one of which is the "Smuggler's Flapping Wing Aircraft." The text only lists the card name, without specifying any effects. The rulebook does not include a list of card effects; the specific effects of each card are printed on the card itself.
2. When the "Flapping Wing Aircraft" appears elsewhere, it is not a source of prestige either.
It shows up as a Fortress Reward (alongside rewards for controlling Erachyin and Catharg, namely the Flapping Wing Aircraft, Reaper, and Transporter), awarded at the end of the Storm Round to the player who controls the corresponding fortress. This falls under the category of regional/fortress rewards and is unrelated to prestige.
3. Only four factions can earn prestige in the original text.
They are the Emperor, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, and the Fremen, with the prestige track on the left side of the board aligned accordingly. The original text does not list the CHOAM (Corporation for Household and Advanced Materials) as a faction eligible to earn prestige—the CHOAM is mentioned only in the section explaining spice trading ("CHOAM and the Emperor are happy to trade spices with you via Imperial courier").
4. If you're referring to the "Guild" as the Spacing Guild,
the two exclusive regions granted by the Spacing Guild provide the following prestige:
- Folded Space: Grants 1 point of Spacing Guild prestige (and draws 1 Folded Space card from the reserve deck);
- Long‑Range Craft: Costs 6 spices, grants 1 point of Spacing Guild prestige, recruits 5 troops, and awards 2 water resources.
… (condensed here; full text on the cunleme Chinese page)
Isn't it the envoy? Why are there soldiers then?
Conclusion: My previous answer mixed two different sets of rules together—agents are the actual action units in this game.
You're right—in this game, it's the agents, not the troops, who perform actions. The "harvesting spices" sequence I mentioned earlier—"spice‑gathering round, each troop token takes 2 spices from a tile, storm blocks harvesting, reaper/transporter/smuggler bonuses"—is part of another rule set (a separate mechanism where troop tokens harvest spices and there are storm rounds and spice‑burst rounds). That's not how spices are obtained in the base game. I shouldn't have treated it as part of this game's rules; I'm correcting that here.
Here's what the original text actually says:
1) Spices are tied to agents, not troops
In the original text, spices appear specifically through the mechanism of agents entering regions. For example, the rewards for controlling a region make this clear: once you control a region, whenever any agent—including your own—enters that region, you receive an additional reward—Erachin gives 1 imperial sol, Carthag gives 1 imperial sol, and the Imperial Basin gives 1 spice. Clearly, spices/resources follow the path of "an agent entering a region."
2) Troops are a separate matter
Troops are pieces deployed during the conflict phase to engage in combat. In the original text, there is no mention of troops collecting spices from tiles, so the idea of "soldiers going to collect spices" has no basis in this game's rules.
3) "Harvesting spices" isn't listed separately in the original text
In the version of the rulebook I've read, there is no section titled "harvesting spices/spice‑gathering round." Spices in this game come from agents performing regional actions and from card effects. Exactly how much spice a particular tile yields is stated on the tile or card itself; the rulebook doesn't repeat these details.
Conditions and exceptions:
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In Dune, does gaining a conflict card count as harvesting spice?
Conclusion: No, it doesn't count. "Collecting spices" has a specific definition in this game—it does not refer to the spices granted by conflict cards.
"Collecting spices" is defined as a distinct action.
In the rules, "collecting spices" is listed under its own dedicated entry, which means: sending envoys to three regions marked with spice-producing icons—the Great Plains, the Haga Basin, and the Imperial Basin. When you perform this action, you receive two portions of spices:
- The amount of spices specified by the region's effect (Great Plains: pay 2 water to gain 3 spices; Haga Basin: gain 2 spices; Imperial Basin: gain 1 spice);
- All additional spice production that has accumulated in that region up to that point.
Thus, "collecting spices" = sending envoys into these three spice-producing regions, and it works in conjunction with "Step 4: Spice Production" (if a region hasn't had an envoy sent there this round, place 1 extra spice there).
Spices awarded by conflict cards belong to a separate category—conflict rewards.
The spices on conflict cards are rewards distributed according to ranking during conflict resolution; the rules refer to them as conflict rewards, which are entirely separate from the act of collecting spices:
- After resolving combat power, claim rewards from the conflict cards based on your rank; spices are one type of reward icon.
- Players with a combat power of 0 receive no rewards whatsoever; in case of a tie, rewards are distributed according to descending tiers as stipulated by the rules.
- Once the reward distribution is complete, the participating troops return to their supply piles.
When the rules mention spices among conflict rewards, they state: "If the conflict rewards include spices, you may take those spices first"—using the term conflict rewards, but never referring to them as "collecting spices."
Points for you to confirm:
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Where are the Creator tokens placed on the board in Dune?
According to the rulebook you provided, "Dune Uprising" is not a specific term or rule mentioned in the book. I understand you're likely referring to the mechanism governing the placement of the Shai-Hulud (Sandworm) on the board in the Dune tabletop game. The rulebook does not stipulate that the Shai-Hulud always appears in a fixed location; instead, its position is determined by several mechanisms:
- The "Shai-Hulud" card drawn from the deck (Nexus Round)
During the Spice Blow Round, if a Shai-Hulud card is drawn from the Spice Deck, it triggers the Nexus Round. The rulebook explicitly states:
> 2a. Nexus Round
> • This round only occurs when a Shai-Hulud card is drawn from the Spice Deck.
> • Form and/or break Alliances.
> • Shai-Hulud attack: Remove all Troop and Spice tokens from the Territory shown.
> (Section 10)
More specifically:
> If the Shai-Hulud Spice Card was drawn and discarded over a Territory Spice Card, then a Worm appears in the Territory listed and attacks its inhabitants.
> (Section 20)
In other words, the Shai-Hulud's location is dictated by the specific territory indicated on the Shai-Hulud card itself, rather than being fixed.
- Fremen "Thumpers" (Karama Cards)
During the Spice Blow Round or the Movement Round, Fremen players can play Karama cards (Thumpers abilities), allowing them to place the Shai-Hulud in any territory they choose, subject to strict limitations:
> Thumpers
> The Fremen Player may play a Karama Treachery Card during the Spice Blow Round to cause a Shai-Hulud to appear in any Territory they wish.
> A Shai-Hulud can only devour Troop tokens in a desert Territory.
> (Sections 21, 34)
This means that while the Shai-Hulud can technically appear anywhere, it will only consume troops located in desert (Sand) territories—rocks, fortresses, and other non-desert terrain types remain unaffected.
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How is the destruction of a card resolved?
Conclusion: Destroying = permanently removing 1 card from the current game; it does not go into the discard pile.
Specific Resolution Procedure
- Select an Object: Choose 1 card from your hand, or from the cards you have already played this round.
- Processing: Place that card back into the game box.
- Result: The card cannot be used again in this round; it is completely removed from your deck, does not enter the discard pile, so you will never draw or encounter it again during this game. Its purpose is to let you remove weak or unwanted cards, increasing the likelihood of drawing key cards.
Conditions and Exceptions
- Backup Cards Are an Exception: If you destroy a backup card (such as the Arrakis Liaison Officer, Spice Forever, or Fold Space), it returns to the backup pile instead of being permanently removed—meaning it may still be obtained later.
- Usually Optional: Destroying a card is generally optional. It becomes mandatory only in two situations: ① when you need to destroy a card to pay a cost; ② when a card's own effect requires it to be destroyed.
- Relationship with "Played" Status: After a card is played face-up during the Envoy Phase or the Showdown Phase, it remains in the "played" state until the cleanup step—unless it is destroyed beforehand (in which case it does not go into the discard pile).
- Examples of Triggering Effects: The Sisterhood Route allows you to destroy one card from your deck (improving your deck); the "Bloodline System" region's effect states: "Gain 1 point of Bene Gesserit Sisterhood influence. Destroy 1 card and draw 2 cards"—here, the destruction occurs as part of resolving that regional effect.
Content Not Found in the Rulebook
The above provides the general definition and examples of "destroy" as described in the rulebook. If you are referring to the specific destruction effect written on a particular card (e.g., destroying a certain number of cards, destroying an opponent's card, etc.), its individual resolution details should follow that card's specific wording, as the rulebook does not list every card's unique effects individually.
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Shaddam's ability?
Conclusion: There is no separate skill entry in the rulebook named "Shaddam." In the Dune base rules, Shaddam IV is merely introduced as the representative figure of the Emperor faction ("Shaddam IV of House Corrino is the supreme emperor of the entire known universe today"), and the original text does not assign him a standalone "Shaddam's Skill." In the Chinese rulebook, this introductory sentence itself is incomplete, lacking any subsequent skill description.
If you're actually asking about the faction ability of the Emperor faction (represented by Shaddam IV), the Emperor has three abilities in the base rules:
-
Elite Legion
- You have five specially marked Sardaukar units.
- Each Sardaukar unit has an intensity of 2.
- Against Fremen, each Sardaukar unit has an intensity of 1. -
Great Wealth
- At any time, you can freely give spice to your allies; they do not need to wait until your control phase to receive it.
- Giving spice to allies during the bidding phase does not exempt them from auction rules; since players cannot bid more than the amount of spice they hold, you may need to give the spice to your ally before they place their bid. -
Combat Medics
- You can play a Karama Betrayal card at any time to revive up to 3 unit markers or any single leader (with no limit) for free.
- Revived units go directly into your reserve and do not count toward your per-round revival cap (including the Sardaukar revival cap).
- However, a leader revived this way cannot participate in combat during the same round it was killed.
Additionally, when the Emperor acts as an ally, his alliance ability is: the Emperor can give spice to allies at any time.
Shaddam himself is not listed among the Emperor leaders in the leader reference table; the available leaders for the Emperor faction are Count Hasimir Fenring 6, Captain Aramsham 5, Burseg 3, Caid 3, and Bashar 2. If you're referring to Shaddam's skills in "Dune: Uprising," those are outside the scope of the current Dune base rules and require switching to that specific game first.
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Sisters' Guild worker reward?
Conclusion: The Sisterhood (Bene Gesserit) has two exclusive regions—one free and one paid.
In "Dune: Imperium," a "worker" is essentially an emissary. Sending an emissary to the Sisterhood's exclusive region grants you the following placement rewards:
1. Free Sisterhood Exclusive Region (corresponding to the Sisterhood's secret card source)
- Emissary Type: Bene Gesserit Sisterhood
- Cost: None
- Placement Rewards: Gain 1 prestige point; draw 1 secret card; each opponent with 4 or more secret cards must randomly give you one card.
2. Bloodline System (paid region)
- Emissary Type: Bene Gesserit Sisterhood
- Cost: 2 spices
- Placement Rewards: Gain 1 prestige point; discard 1 card; draw 2 cards.
Conditions & Exceptions
- Like other factions, the Sisterhood has one free exclusive region and one paid exclusive region. You can use only the free region to gain prestige.
- When the region itself belongs to another faction, sending an emissary there also grants you 1 prestige point for that faction (moving your marker up one space on the prestige track)—this benefit is already included in the two rewards above.
- The Sisterhood's alliance (reaching 4 prestige points) allows you to use secret cards as a key tactical tool, which is the main value of the Sisterhood path.
- The drawn "secret card" is placed face-down next to your deck; you can view it at any time, but it only needs to be revealed to opponents when played.
Notes
- The exact name of the free Sisterhood exclusive region is not explicitly listed in the current rulebook text (this section is formatted together with the "Research Station" content); moreover, the passage about secret card sources refers to the Sisterhood's corresponding secret cards as "secrets." If you wish to confirm the official name of this region, please refer to the physical board panel.
This content is for reference only; in case of conflict, please follow the rulebook and advice from experienced players.
Rules, cards and Q&A (Chinese)
The rules, card data and player questions for this game are written in Chinese. Open the Chinese page to read them.
Where to find full rules
Full rules and card lookup are available in the cunlema app at cunlema.cn — pick this game and ask about any rule, card or turn you are unsure about.