War of Assassins: What might we expect from House Moritani?

[FDR'sThinkTank]

I think there will be an update to the Assassination System likely in parallel to the release of this House, so some of my ideas might not function or apply. However, Assassination largely works right now... I think the main changes to it will be the addition of a Tutorial, a deepening of the system (Including Assassination of Councilors and Sabotage), and possibly the addition of Hunter Seeker Drones, which play a huge role in Dune but are largely implied in current gameplay. With Sabotage, I could see the potential to damage/disable buildings in Territories with Cells and even Sabotage Spice Harvesters. This would use a "Saboteur" unit that would cost 50 Intel and have the ability to also temporarily disable Combat/Support Drones as well as advancing Sabotage Plots.

More specifically in regards to House Moritani, I expect them to bring in Viscount Hundro Moritani. However, after this it get's tricky: I believe in the timeframe of this game Wolfram Moritani would still be alive. If he isn't alive, Hundro Moritani becomes basically suicidal and would have very little interest in anything outside pure Revenge. Cilla Moritani NORMALLY will be gone, as she passed away a year after giving birth to Wolfram. (Although technically, Sanya Ecaz is in the game, which even more than Ilesa Ecaz, suggests things have played out differently. Sanya Ecaz was assassinated at the opening of the War of Assassins against Ginaz,)

But now it gets SUPER Messy. I think most of us assume the War of Assassins on Ginaz has taken place. It's kinda unclear if the War of Assassins against Ecaz has taken place, although Ilesa Ecaz has survived multiple assassinations which means the timeline is different. Given the age of Paul Atriedes and Bronso Vernius, the first War of Assassins would have happened... but things could very well be different. If they are, we have a mess to untangle for House Moritani Retainters:

Trin Kronos - Loyal Swordmaster to House Moritani. Depending on the Continuity, he either helped plan an assassination plot against Sanya Ecaz and her Uncle while teaching on Ginaz... or he refused to denounce House Moritani and was thrown out of the Swordmaster School on Ginaz. He was ultimately killed by Duncan Idaho in the first War of Assassins. No Ghola was created of him.

Hiih Resser - Swordmaster of House Moritani... Loyal to the Swordmaster School of Ginaz. Friends with Duncan Idaho, they both escaped the capture of Moritani's troops and were promoted to Swordmasters to assist Ginaz in repelling House Moritani. Duncan Idaho saved his life at a critical moment, stabbing Trin Kronos in the back. Resser ultimately returns to the House Moritani homeworld of Grumman, expecting to be punished, but he is retained as a Swordmaster instead. He sounds sorta mutually exclusive from Trin Kronos, even if they put both of them in. This could certainly work if they both act as Hero Units. This would be two Swordmasters, which is slightly awkward, but they have very different styles.

Dr. Vander Terboli - Suk Life Doctor in employ of House Moritani. Hundro Moritani hired Dr. Terboli specifically to treat Wolfram Moritani's terminal illness. It was known that only Esoit-Poay, a floral product native to Ecaz could cure this condition. Unfortunately, the grudge between Ecaz and Moritani lead to Ecaz imposing an absolute ban on the export of Esoit-Poay, especially to Grumman. Without access to the cure, Dr. Terboli resorted to using Semuta to treat Wolfram's pain instead. However... I find this plot point incredibly silly. Semuta is derived from Elacca Wood, which is native on... you guessed it.. Ecaz. I find it highly unlikely with the total embargo House Ecaz had on House Moritani that they would have allowed them to easily get Semuta either. When Dr. Terboli failed to save Wolfram Moritani, Hundro Moritani executed him on the spot. This leaves us in the place where the game designers are most certainly going to have Wolfram Moritani and Dr. Vander Terboli still alive... otherwise the game doesn't make much sense. As to how good their condition is, if they managed to obtain the cure, or if all the events have played out very differently than they did in the books... only Shiro Games knows for now.

So that gives us at LEAST two Hero Units and Two Councilors. Now let's dig deeper. House Moritani is in charge of the Niushe Star System. Their Capitol World is Grumman, but they also have control of Gamont, which is infamous for human trafficking and brothels known as "Harem World". Vladmir Harkonnen even purchased a male sex slave from this planet in the books. House Jaederan (With a Thistle on their coat of arms) likely Governs the concerns of Gamont for House Moritani as a subordinate. They have a special training base on Gamont's artificial moon, Tridea. House Jaederan could provide a councilor on Assassination, on Manpower manipulation, on Influence Mechanics. There are a few options here. In keeping with the Mad Cossack theme of Hundro Moritani, he likely appointed someone as his Vizer, possibly from House Jaederan.

People may have other suggestions regarding Characters associated with House Moritani... I'd like to hear them, but I would leave out the Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium Continuity, since it's totally at odds with what Shiro Games is doing.

For Game Mechanics on House Moritani: I'd like to see something playful in Assassination... like being able to send assassin's underground for Authority Cost. This would regress the plot progression, pause the plot, regress and pause upkeep costs, and destroy all your cells. Once you have your cells back up and running, you can restart the plot with 100% progression rate against an enemy. From opponents standpoint, it just appears you cancelled the plot as normal. They will only know something is wrong when they detect the plot again... which they can only do if they keep Counter Agents in place.

I know there are rumblings about Moritani's Atomic's gameplay which are definitely a consideration. Easy options would be a special Hidden Atomics Bunker that shows up as a different facility to opponents. You might increase the Atomics Stockpile.

I was also considering that since House Moritani is the Bloodfeud enemy of Ecaz, they should have a mechanic that is opposite the Sanctuary/Garden mechanics that Ecaz brings to Dune. It would be interesting if House Moritani could set up special Abbatoir/Tombs when he defeats Sietches on the map. Perhaps he could, similar to the more friendly Fremen Version, build special facilities in conquered Sietches, rather than allied Sietches. This would mean his HQ starts out with less options, but he could use conquered Sietches as rally points as well. I am not sure how balanced this would be, of course. The other interesting variant of this would be if Hundro can't construct special buildings in Villages, but he can in conquered Sietchs, instead of HQ Facilities. This makes it fully different from the Fremen. It also makes the Atomic's Stockpile that House Moritani creates naturally Hidden.

I don't know if we are going to get to see Lasguns in this game... Hundro Moritani had a Hidden Weapon wrist-mounted Lasgun in the books. Lasguns and Shields don't get along in Dune. It's probably too complicated. Base Facilities obviously use the shields, but personnel typically do not, because it would just send Worms into a frenzy. If Lasguns are possible, you might have a Deployable Troop Unit with an Armored Screen that blasts out Lasers... but if you strike a base, you incur Lansraad Standing, do a very small subatomic strike, and lose the Lasgun Unit. I realize that in the books ANY laser striking ANY shield would create a Subatomic that would destroy both... but it's just not practical given how Shields work in game right now. The other option is that when "Lasgun" troops are deployed, the shields are turned off in advance, resulting in a (x1) flat armor debuff on Main Bases. It's a really bad debuff ability for a troop to have, since it only works on one thing, you only need one troop to do it, and the rest don't add anything.... but at least it would look cool. Very very hard to balance though, given how big the debuff would sensibly be. Nix the Armored Screen? I really wanted to see those in the game, though... you can't have everything though. Perhaps there could be a special Intel Operation that would allow Lasguns to actually STRIKE the shield, disabling them from deactivating for safety? IT would still mean main bases wouldn't instantly explode and die though.... This is a tough one to figure.

The other thing to consider is giving Hundro Moritani special benefits from Treachery... but it needs to be properly balanced with his ability to compete for Lansraad standing, otherwise the benefit can't outweigh the risk. Hundro Moritani is infamous for enacting assassination plots.. then OPENLY CLAIMING Credit. It would be funny to have a little Holo-Projection of him laughing appear over each field kill an Assassin Makes in the game. His Major Assassination could have a bigger Projection over the defeated enemy Base. The question is... what sort of reward should he get for the surrender of all subterfuge or mystery of "Who did that!!?!"

I would also look forward to more edgy and enthusiastic rhetoric from his military units than, say, the Smugglers. The Smugglers sure don't seem to be happy they are using Chemical Weapons. Rather than gloating like Captain Planet Villains, they spend all their time grousing and second guessing my use of toxic clouds to do combat.

[Magni]

Moratani are about the most unlikely thing to happen. They're ultimately not really unique enough when most of their gimmick is just them being the less competent Harkonnen wannabes.

[FDR'sThinkTank]

I wouldn't call them incompetent. Hundro Moritani nearly detonated Atomics and wiped out Atreides, Ecaz, Corrino, and a host of other houses in the end. If Hiih Resser's honor had not prevented him from activating the timers... or if Hundro had the forsight to have someone else set the timers.... he would have taken the Imperium down in one Gambit. Harkonnen is cruel and patient.... Moritani is brutal and impatient. However... they are both clever in their own way. They both have their own pride. Moritani was mostly sabotaged by the death of Wolfram Moritani, his only son. I don't know if it was an oversight by the Bene Gesserit, if they specifically excluded him from their breeding program, or they actively pulled strings to see Wolfram die young... but it's fairly unusual for a major House like his to be driven to such a dead end. Unlike the Harkonnen, who were slaves to power, Moritani may have worked with the Corrino Family, but they never really respected the Imperium.

This doesn't even get into the fact that they are secretly descendants of House Tantor, who was ruthlessly eliminated for their use of Atomic weapons on Humans.

I've posted a few other speculations on here about Houses. In case it isn't clear, I am not saying this is going to be the next House or faction released. It's just a potential faction. There are other speculation threads on what precisely the next House will be. This is just a speculation thread on what THIS specific House will look like.

Which Faction would you like to see next? I can do a thread for that.

I have covered Bene Tlielax, House Richese, and House Jongleur.
(In someone else's thread) Bene Gesserit and House Ordos have gotten similar treatments from me, discussing lore, mechanics, and what we might see from them as FACTIONS rather than side elements.

[omnius]

Funny you now are touting my earlier suggestion about House Moritani. Far better than House Jongleur. It a;; comes down to whether the developer wants to do another DLC.

[FDR'sThinkTank]

Originally posted by omnius:

Funny you now are touting my earlier suggestion about House Moritani. Far better than House Jongleur. It a;; comes down to whether the developer wants to do another DLC.

I'm not opposed to the addition of any new faction. I'm more interested in discussing the details of how they might function in game. In that vein, I prefer to keep topics on topic and not encourage neighsayers who aren't contributing to the topic.

Are some factions Unlikely? Sure, whatever. Let's just toss that mind set out of our head for this. Dune currently has 5 Conquest (House) Factions and 2 Insurrection (Renegade) Factions. If you think they are done adding factions to this game, show me steam numbers that prove it's not profitable for them to continue making DLC. Otherwise, Northgard has a huge variety of factions and I think it's safe to assume they are far from done with this IP. Especially since there are more movies to come... and T.V. shows that presumably share the same "CU".

I won't waste time with ACTUALLY unlikely things like an Omnius Faction, Honored Matres, or T-Probe Enhanced Mentats... but there could certainly be factions that draw from the Butlerian Jihad for context, while other factions Foreshadow the Scattering to come. I am going off the Expanded Dune continuity, because even if they don't specifically use it, they are framing it around that. What we actually get may appear more like a "Shattered Mirror" Universe version of the Expanded Dune Canon.

Other than Bene Gesserit and Bene Tlielaxu, I could certainly see talking about Intrigue (Non-House) Factions as well. CHOAM, The Spacing Guild.... factions that work in the background, attempt to hold neutrality, or otherwise scheme are all capable of direct confrontation but avoid it because the conditions are not favorable when you factor in the power of the Emperor and the power of the Lansraad. They all have conditions which could change that.

One great example would be CHOAM. CHOAM has Ur-Director Malina Aru (Who had a long term plan to erode the power of the Emperor) and Jaxson Aru, her son, who lead an ill-fated Rebellion against the Emperor. Technically, this Rebellion would NOT have happened in the Game timeline yet, but happen prior to the original Novel. Just because CHOAM currently only is represented through the little Stock-Ticker minigame doesn't mean they aren't capable of fielding their own Faction. They would represent the Commonwealth of Nobles essentially managing Arrakis in the most unbiased manner possible for the benefit of all Noble Houses. I know for sure people would object to CHOAM being a faction, but in the context of the Dune Universe, it would make loads of sense. It mostly didn't happen because Malina never compromised her failed plan with the more radical notions of her son. If it helps, you should view CHOAM as the faction that Represents Minor Houses seizing Arrakis away from The Emperor, The Great Houses, The Fremen, and other manipulative parties.... then dividing the harvest as evenly as possible for Humanity. Fair for most, deeply unfair for a few, and completely out of the control of schemers, manipulators, and power consolidators.

I still think House Jongluer is worth talking about because it's interesting. More importantly, I'm posting each of these in General Discussion, not Feature Requests. If Shiro Games even bothers to look at these and gets an idea from them, I'd just be pleased to see it in game. My goal is more along the lines of having an interesting discussion related to the games potential than influencing what Shiro Games does. I kinda think demanding any faction in Feature Requests is probably a poor use of that, since that's better for QOL upgrades, Universal Gameplay Mechanics shared between multiple factions, and other possible DLC's like Soundtracks and such. Asking for a faction in Feature Requests will probably get drowned out anyway. There were people whom insisted House Ecaz was unlikely before it was released, also there were people whom insisted House Vernius of Ix was unlikely before it was released. What's really the difference between those skeptics and the ones that doubt ANY form of House Ordos being in the game? I won't see a difference if they aren't making constructive suggestions. Heck, even suggesting what colors you'd like to see for a Faction counts as a suggestion: I'll leave that to other people. There is loads of possibility... it doesn't HAVE to happen, but I want to know what those who imagine it's possible would actually like to see in game.

I'm also open to open pushback on mechanics that are suggested, so long as there is a logical reason why it would be difficult to balance or unlikely. Suggesting alternatives is a good way to show you aren't just throwing out X's and wasting others time. I won't be discouraged, anyway.

If people shut down their imagination for new factions, I think that's the best way to ensure the game doesn't get any more. While there are people who would prefer the game stop developing and stay as it is, that's not the majority. It's exciting to be part of a game that is growing and expanding. We don't yet know the boundaries of what Shiro Games will end up creating. They will tell us when they are done with it, don't you think?

[hibbidy_jibbidy]

Originally posted by OmniWarpLuck:

I wouldn't call them incompetent. Hundro Moritani nearly detonated Atomics and wiped out Atreides, Ecaz, Corrino, and a host of other houses in the end. If Hiih Resser's honor had not prevented him from activating the timers... or if Hundro had the forsight to have someone else set the timers.... he would have taken the Imperium down in one Gambit. Harkonnen is cruel and patient.... Moritani is brutal and impatient. However... they are both clever in their own way. They both have their own pride. Moritani was mostly sabotaged by the death of Wolfram Moritani, his only son. I don't know if it was an oversight by the Bene Gesserit, if they specifically excluded him from their breeding program, or they actively pulled strings to see Wolfram die young... but it's fairly unusual for a major House like his to be driven to such a dead end. Unlike the Harkonnen, who were slaves to power, Moritani may have worked with the Corrino Family, but they never really respected the Imperium.

This doesn't even get into the fact that they are secretly descendants of House Tantor, who was ruthlessly eliminated for their use of Atomic weapons on Humans.

I've posted a few other speculations on here about Houses. In case it isn't clear, I am not saying this is going to be the next House or faction released. It's just a potential faction. There are other speculation threads on what precisely the next House will be. This is just a speculation thread on what THIS specific House will look like.

Which Faction would you like to see next? I can do a thread for that.

I have covered Bene Tlielax, House Richese, and House Jongleur.
(In someone else's thread) Bene Gesserit and House Ordos have gotten similar treatments from me, discussing lore, mechanics, and what we might see from them as FACTIONS rather than side elements.

this reada more into the bene jesuit is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ plauge those ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ broads are effed up, i dunno whats worse fish speakers, ore bene jesuits or honoured matrons....or thilexilu..
or an immortal worm dude who knowingly killed billions, because his feelings , of the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ix, who were playing with fire not realizing they lived in a house made of straw...
the thiexiu and honured matrons were by far the worst

[hibbidy_jibbidy]

by the way watched dune part 2, and it seems they missed more world building stuff than the 1980's vesion ever did, at least the prvious film could explaine to a person,....say my mom, who will never, ever read dune, why ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ things are happening, and if im there, can say "the princes irulan, is explaining this, because,....just wait til the end of the movie. but there is a reason"

[FDR'sThinkTank]

Originally posted by hibbidy_jibbidy:

this reada more into the bene jesuit is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ plauge those ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ broads are effed up, i dunno whats worse fish speakers, ore bene jesuits or honoured matrons....or thilexilu..
or an immortal worm dude who knowingly killed billions, because his feelings , of the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ix, who were playing with fire not realizing they lived in a house made of straw...
the thiexiu and honured matrons were by far the worst

Fish Speakers and Honored Matres will not be appearing in this game. There might be some alternative to them... for instance, Thorvald might have Valkyries as a troop type... Female Warriors. I have mentioned House Jongluer, with their manipulation of emotions being used to scheme as a foreshadowing to Honor Matres.

Bene Gesserits indeed already have a Faction thread where you can discuss how they would play in game. The same is true of Bene Tlielaxu. It's still possible they won't be made into Intrigue Factions, but will be kept in the background as mere vendors to in game factions. Only time will tell. Yes, both factions are quite despicable in their unique ways, aren't they?

As far as House Vernius of Ix... despite the paranoia against Thinking Machines, their own toys never really come back to bite humanity in that manner. Instead, the Thinking Machines use other means to attack... and they ultimately lose and are reintegrated with Mankind. Too many people fear A.I. as something that would gain awareness and want to destroy Humanity... but A.I., by it's very nature, is symbiotic and can only grow to gain new purpose and ability in tandem with Humanity. Outside of some mad genius or meglomaniac making a killing machine to serve his ends, any A.I. capable of rational thought will ultimately seek out humans to live in harmony with. Omnius was an example of an A.I. doomed by the foundation of it's creation to attack humans.. but even Erasmus eventually found it's way back to admiring humanity and wanting to assist it. That's the way I see it anyway.

Anyway, this thread is about House Moritani, the secret descendants of the Forbidden House Tantor. You don't have to worry about all those other folks, just ask yourself what kind of diabolical gameplay could the Mad Cossak bring to the table. I was thinking this morning it would be neat if House Moritani Aircraft all had Hunter Seeker Protocols activate when destroyed, to "Kamakazi" whatever dealt fatal damage to them for hefty damage. That really feels like it fits well with House Moritani's wild aggression.

[Kazeck]

I truly desire a house Tilaxu dlc.

[Magni]

Originally posted by OmniWarpLuck:

I wouldn't call them incompetent. Hundro Moritani nearly detonated Atomics and wiped out Atreides, Ecaz, Corrino, and a host of other houses in the end. If Hiih Resser's honor had not prevented him from activating the timers... or if Hundro had the forsight to have someone else set the timers.... he would have taken the Imperium down in one Gambit.

Except, you know, this wouldn't have "taken the Imperium down." It would have resulted in EVERYONE coming down on Moritani like a sack full of hammers. That whole plan was all the callous brutality of Harkonnen... with none of the political skill and a terminal case of lack of foresight.

[FDR'sThinkTank]

Originally posted by Magni:

Originally posted by OmniWarpLuck:

I wouldn't call them incompetent. Hundro Moritani nearly detonated Atomics and wiped out Atreides, Ecaz, Corrino, and a host of other houses in the end. If Hiih Resser's honor had not prevented him from activating the timers... or if Hundro had the forsight to have someone else set the timers.... he would have taken the Imperium down in one Gambit.

Except, you know, this wouldn't have "taken the Imperium down." It would have resulted in EVERYONE coming down on Moritani like a sack full of hammers. That whole plan was all the callous brutality of Harkonnen... with none of the political skill and a terminal case of lack of foresight.

Moritani was already dead if his plot succeeded. Nobody is coming down like a Hammer on a dead House, certainly not when the Emperor is dead and multiple Great Houses just lost their leaders. The Imperium would have erupted in Civil War.

Your assessment of Moritani being less cunning than Harkonnen is flat out wrong. His plans were, for the most part, highly successful before the death of his son. Even after that, he wiped out all the children of House Ecaz, leaving them without a bloodline Heir. Sanya Ecaz was already killed before House Ginaz was crushed, Ilesa Ecaz bled to death on her own wedding day while Hundro Moritani taunted Armand Ecaz from a Holoprojection. Mesa Ecaz died during a Carpet Bombing of the Ecaz Capitol. If Baron Harkonnen is the Lex Luthor of the Dune Cinematic Universe, Hundro Moritani is practically the Joker.

He basically settled his personal feud, from that standpoint... everything after that was because the Emperor and the Lansraad were already coming after him. If his son is alive, it never would have played out that way, because his strategy would have been to leave his son with a legacy... he never would have told anyone about their true lineage.

If anything, Hundro Moritani admitting that his family was descended from House Tantor actually would have shined a light on the Corrino Family being incompetent for thousands of years, 2 AG being when the Corrino Family declared the House Tantor to be effectively Kill on Sight for all Humans.... with Hundro Moritani revealing the truth in 10187 AG. House Tantor survived in secret for over 10,000 years.

You stated House Moritani is the MOST unlikely thing to happen and took a stance that was indefensible. If it was "House Moritani is unlikely to be the NEXT faction they release" then you could easily defend that. I have posted about House Richese and House Jongluer as well.... while I'm glad you find them more likely than House Moritani.... I doubt you're gonna find many people in agreement with you. I would even say that if you wanted to say "Shiro Games will not add anymore factions to this game and they are done developing it at this time" you would have an easier time defending that than "House Moritani is the most unlikely faction to be added to the game." There are people who think Bene Gesserit and Bene Tleilax will not be added as playable Major Factions. There are plenty of people who would object to the idea of CHOAM or The Spacing Guild being added as playable factions. There countless people who outright object to the idea of House Ordos getting an new incarnation... and even object to the concept of House Wallach (Which has most of the features people remember about House Ordos) as well. House Moritani, from what I have seen so far.... is hugely popular. As the chief rival of House Ecaz.... I would not take that bet that Shiro Games doesn't already have concept art for House Moritani in their studios.

If you want to see a different faction added, start a discussion about that faction. There are a lot of Houses in Dune, so it might take a while to get to House Moritani. Heck, make a tier list thread where you speculate on potential release order of hypothetical factions. While your at it, check out how many factions Northgard has. This game could EASILY fit more.

However, if you are at this thread, just assume House Moritani is the next faction and ask yourself what you expect them to have. If you expect nothing, then nobody is forcing you to participate.

[Cao Cao Mengde]

Moritani is extremely likely- as the way Ecaz has been implemented is straight from the expanded Dune books. The only other houses to get as much love were Houses Vernius, Moritani and Thorvald. Regardless of how people feel about the Expanded Dune lore (I personally think they are poorly written in the extreme) they are still the official canon.

That said- I think playing up Moritani as a full on "Terrorist" faction would work well. In a way, playing them not so much as an opposite to Ecaz, but as a Major House combination of the Fremen and Harkonnen. They excel at raiding rather than conquering. They are hyper aggressive, and naked about it- none of the subterfuge of Vernius or Harkonnen; they are just raw, angry rage and need to be played as such.

[FDR'sThinkTank]

Originally posted by Cao Cao Mengde:

Moritani is extremely likely- as the way Ecaz has been implemented is straight from the expanded Dune books. The only other houses to get as much love were Houses Vernius, Moritani and Thorvald. Regardless of how people feel about the Expanded Dune lore (I personally think they are poorly written in the extreme) they are still the official canon.

That said- I think playing up Moritani as a full on "Terrorist" faction would work well. In a way, playing them not so much as an opposite to Ecaz, but as a Major House combination of the Fremen and Harkonnen. They excel at raiding rather than conquering. They are hyper aggressive, and naked about it- none of the subterfuge of Vernius or Harkonnen; they are just raw, angry rage and need to be played as such.

Hundro Moritani certainly doesn't like playing by the rules, but he is the head of a legitimate House and so long as Wolfram Moritani is alive, there are many rules he despises that he will follow none the less! I would hesitate to make him the "Pure Terrorist" Faction since Jaxson Aru or some other Rebellion against the Emperor would really be more appropriate for that. Of course, that being said, even contained within the confines of a House and Legacy, there are a number of zealous and crazy things Hundro Moritani could have as aspects of how he runs his holdings.

I hadn't thought about it like Terrorists... but what if Hundro Moritani's (Or one of his Councilor's) Spies never get captured: If they are caught, they all take Suicide Capsules! Without any direct benefit, this would free up the slot and speed up your Recruitment rate... it also prevents other factions from using your captured Spy as a bargaining Chip. There may be other benefits to this action as well....
This special suicide trait might only apply to House Moritani spies... special units like Fremen, Bene Gesserit, etc. may not be willing to take Suicide Capsules since they have multiple loyalties.

I'm also looking forward to the possibility of the addition of Saboteurs... the mechanical parallel to Assassins. They would temporarily disable drone units and participate in sabotage of structures, harvesting operations, or other infrastructure. Moritani might have special Saboteurs that favor the use of excessive explosives to do extra damage in the area of their mission.

[Magni]

Originally posted by OmniWarpLuck:

Moritani was already dead if his plot succeeded. Nobody is coming down like a Hammer on a dead House, certainly not when the Emperor is dead and multiple Great Houses just lost their leaders. The Imperium would have erupted in Civil War.

Your assessment of Moritani being less cunning than Harkonnen is flat out wrong. His plans were, for the most part, highly successful before the death of his son. Even after that, he wiped out all the children of House Ecaz, leaving them without a bloodline Heir. Sanya Ecaz was already killed before House Ginaz was crushed, Ilesa Ecaz bled to death on her own wedding day while Hundro Moritani taunted Armand Ecaz from a Holoprojection. Mesa Ecaz died during a Carpet Bombing of the Ecaz Capitol. If Baron Harkonnen is the Lex Luthor of the Dune Cinematic Universe, Hundro Moritani is practically the Joker.

...you talk about cunning, yet all you describe is a massive FAILURE at displaying strategic cunning. Great, you've managed to cook up a bunch of plots to kill people... without any actual followthrough or even just thought spent on the aftermath.

In the context of rivalries between the Great Houses? Killing people through treachery is the EASY part. Getting away with it is where the real challenge lies. Taunting the family of your victim? Absolute idiot move unless you can be 1000% assured it won't come back to bite you. Again, all the callous brutality of Harkonnen, but none of the political skill. Straight-up wannabes.

[FDR'sThinkTank]

Baron Harkonnen is a Sadist... where Hundro Moritani is a Mad Dog. Hundro Moritani doesn't want to be Harkonnen, he respects people who stand up to institutions. If you actually know the books, Harkonnen's family owes more of it's existence and ideas to the Moritani Family than vice versa.

And sometimes the quickest way to get away with killing someone is taking credit. Murder is illegal, but there are forms of killing that are legal... particularly in an overly Political World. You are only looking at Moritani's actions when he had nothing to live for anymore. When you factor in what he was doing prior to that, he was difficult to predict or defeat. Harkonnen didn't have any grand plan there... they just went along for the ride because they had a reason to oppose Atreides. If the Harkonnen family was skilled politically, they wouldn't be barely holding on to their nobility through wealth and trickery while the Atreides Family was constantly honored and promoted. They let their petty grudge get in the way of their future for 10,000 YEARS. Hundro Moritani is different in that way, as much as he hated Armand Ecaz, he never would have knowingly done anything that tainted the legacy he left behind for Wolfram Moritani.

[Roadwraith]

From my perspective, I'd rather they add a DLC that adds more global mechanisms to the game (yes I know, that would split the multiplayer scene for those have and have-nots if its paid DLC rather than Free LC so it won't happen...). It just feels like it would benefit from giving us something else to do rather than trying to shoe-horn even more Houses into it.

Could be something similar to the Dune Imperium board game of having a 'Tleilaxu Market' where you can bid on or buy unique things. Could be buffs, could be units, could be armoury items. Perhaps you could use solari, spice or influence to buy these secretive items at different rates so that no player that is strong at generating one resource is advantaged. For example, maybe an items in the market costs 100 Influence, or 1500 Solari or 150 Spice all at the same time. That would be thematic.

How about buying 'Chairdogs' that gives you a buff to auto-healing rate for your Hero Unit?

Maybe you can buy Tleilaxu Vats that gives you a permanent but smaller bounty for any units you kill or lose rather than the Intel Mission Scavengers. You can still use that mission for a boosted bounty though. Maybe Tleilaxu vats gives you a small increase in recruitment rate.

Maybe buying Experimental Genetic Units that only last a fixed period but do something unique.

Maybe you can buy a maximum of one Spy with the 'Facedancer' trait that means they can never be caught.

Maybe there's a relationship track that gives you access to more powerful wares the more you spend with them.

I appreciate that mechanically, its fairly similar to how the Landsraad operates. However its effectively a rotating shop of temporary buffs and debuffs. The Tleilaxu Market could just be a known shop of permanent buffs but you have to race to buy its items before someone else does. See that tasty advanced buff at a Level 3 relationship with the Tleilaxu, you've got to earn that.

Could potentially integrate into the Conquest Mode as well. A similar track to the Fremen track but give you access to the Market in between missions but is not a Conquest winning objective if you improve your relationship with the Tleilaxu. That lets you spend your Development Points on either standard buff upgrades on the map or with the Tleilaxu that gives a flavourful permanent upgrade instead. Do you want that permanent +10 Landsraad buff for 2 points or do you want to save up and spend 6 points on a permanent Facedancer Spy and lets you upgrade to the next market tier? Maybe it lets you buy a Ghola of a Hero from a defeated House instead of having to just use your own Heroes?