Choose Between DUNE Powers

[Shai-Hulud]

A figure in a hooded white robe and a Venetian carnivale mask appears before you. He waves a gloved hand and heals you of all diseases and injuries, and grants you olympic-level physical fitness and conditioning.

“Now that that’s accomplished,” he says, “you must choose from among one of four power-sets.”

• Bene Gesserit Way: You gain all the powers, knowledge and abilities of a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother, except for ancestral memory and memory transference. If you’re male, same deal, as Paul Atreides also mastered the Bene Gesserit Way. No spice addiction, no need for spice to maintain your powers. [Note: This option does not include prescience, just standard BG powers.]
  
  
• Mentat + Swordmaster + Aristocrat: You gain all the powers, knowledge and abilities of the following: 1- Mentat master of assassins on par with Thufir Hawat, 2- Swordmaster of the Ginaz on par with Duncan Idaho, and 3- Planetary Duke on par with Leto I. Included with the last, you can move, speak, lead, command and carry yourself as a born king, among other benefits of such an upbringing.
  
  
• Face Dancer + Tleilaxu Master: You gain the shapeshifting powers of a Face Dancer, but not memory transference or absorption. You have all the knowledge of biology, biochemistry, genetics and genetic engineering of a Tleilaxu Master. You also have special skills and aptitude in espionage, furtiveness, scheming, deceit and deception commensurate with both a Face Dancer and Tleilaxu Master.
  
  
• Guild Navigator: You can see the future on par with a First Class Guild Navigator, although not such great prescience as to be a Kwisatz Haderach. But you can easily navigate the alternate futures of your life, acquiring wealth and staying ahead of enemies, and so forth. You have special knowledge and understanding of the nature of time and space on par with a navigator. You still have your normal human form, and you are not dependent upon spice for your powers.

“You have but to make your choice,” says White Robe, “and it will be so.”

[Pendaran]

"Isn't the one of the massive linchpin thematic points of Frank Herbert's chunk of Dune that prescience is ultimately an inescapable metaphysical trap that required centuries of extended self sacrificing pan galactic maneuvering from Leto II to free his universe from? Don't 2/4 of those options default hook me into that trap?"


"Naaaah, you'll be fine. But if you're that worried about it, take this anti prescience is a trap device! Why, it once killed the very concept of multiversal structure of any kind!"


".... that looks and sounds suspiciously like Stormbringer."


"Well it's totally not."


"Alright, tell me this. Do I need to feed it souls to keep it charged up?"


"No? Maybe? .... Nnnnnnnyyyyyess? ………. Amnesia Dust!"


"I keep telling you that stabbing me with the black sword is not amnesia dust! Ow, my soul!"

[The Chou Lives]

Ahh Pen such a charm to read. I would go Paul route.

Face dancers are cool but sterile. Their masters bed to turn a woman into a axol tank and samples for clones.

[Shai-Hulud]

"Isn't the one of the massive linchpin thematic points of Frank Herbert's chunk of Dune that prescience is ultimately an inescapable metaphysical trap that required centuries of extended pan galactic maneuvering from Leto II to free his universe from? Don't 2/4 of those options default hook me into that trap?"

"Naaaah, you'll be fine. But if you're that worried about it, take this anti prescience is a trap device! Why, it once killed the very concept of multiversal structure of any kind!"

".... that looks and sounds suspiciously like Stormbringer."

"Well it's totally not."

"Alright, tell me this. Do I need to feed it souls to keep it charged up?"

"No? Maybe? .... Nnnnnnnyyyyyess? ………. Amnesia Dust!"

"I keep telling you that stabbing me with the black sword is not amnesia dust! Ow, my soul!"

There are risks and traps to every power-set.

With prescience, we're told by Herbert that the safe path always lead to stagnation. The Guild could have seized galactic power, but essentially, they lacked the cojones. Too comfortable to dare.

So if you choose the Navigator package, you're either going to have to create your own excitement or find your inner Hobbit and enjoy the simple life of food, drink and good-tilled earth.

[Shai-Hulud]

I would go Paul route.

By that do you mean choice #1, Bene Gesserit Way? Or do you mean #4, Guild Navigator?

[The Chou Lives]

1. Limit dance party.

[Shai-Hulud]

Don't 2/4 of those options default hook me into that trap?"

No prescience in the Bene Gesserit option.

By mentioning Paul I meant simply to illustrate that you can have full Bene Gesserit powers and be male. Did not mean to imply prescience went with that option.

Sorry, my bad.

Prescience only in option #4, Guild Navigator.

[Pendaran]

There are risks and traps to every power-set.

Maybe I just wanted that to be admitted vis a vis this particular overall scenario and its choices ;p

Listen man, I did but build you a pedestal. It just so happened to be narrow and tall.

Anyway...

With prescience, we're told by Herbert that the safe path always lead to stagnation. The Guild could have seized galactic power, but essentially, they lacked the cojones. Too comfortable to dare.

But that's the thing. Galactic power is itself just one of prescience's traps. It's why Leto II basically had to kill himself to break its hold.

[The Arbiter]

I can't breathe hahaha

Very nice Pen.

As for the scenario, I'm too uninformed on the universe to choose. The genetic one perhaps? Maybe I can do the sciences a favor?

[Shai-Hulud]

The genetic one perhaps? Maybe I can do the sciences a favor?

As a Tleilaxu Master?

You'd be thousands of years ahead in the relevant fields.

Recreating the dead from cell samples, for example, complete with full memories of their former lives.

[The Arbiter]

As a Tleilaxu Master?

You'd be thousands of years ahead in the relevant fields.

Recreating the dead from cell samples, for example, complete with full memories of their former lives.

I would recreate Tolkien. Then force him to watch the Peter Jackson movies.

...with Sharpandpointies. :P

[Shai-Hulud]

I would recreate Tolkien. Then force him to watch the Peter Jackson movies.

...with Sharpandpointies. :P

You could do that. Here's what's required:

First, you need a highly advanced laboratory. That means you'll probably also need a small fortune to buy the lab. And the lab will need to be secret because Theilaxu science, well, let's just say it balls nasty.

Second, you'd need to get ahold of Tolkien's DNA. Probably by exhuming him, unless you can be sure those cell samples in his old house are really his.

Third, after growing him as a living ghola (a clone from a corpse, and no, you mustn't ask how it's done...), you've now got a baby Tolkien to raise.

Ultimately, when the Tolkien ghola is old enough to withstand the psychic trauma of regaining all the memories of his past life, you get the J.R.R. Tolkien back. I'm guessing you'll want to wait until he's around eighteen years old, although gholas have been awakened at a younger age, Miles Teg at around eleven, IIRC. No, you can't ask exactly how that was done. As a Tleilaxu Master you'll know anyway.

[Pendaran]

"Well, that sounds hard, but not impossible, the ghola thing."

"Yeap! You can deal with those challenges! also there is a teensy chance he may develop superpowers and kill you."

"... what was that last part?"

"You can deal with those challenges!"

"No. No. The other part. The part after that. The part that sounded like I'm going to get murdered by rebellious super clones."

"You heard that part? That was the quiet part! Um. I mean... you'll be fine! Listen, I'll throw in this self defense from ghola mishap package for free to put your mind at ease."

".... is your self defense package a sword?"

"Ye- I mean.. maybe?"

"...… it's Stormbringer again, isn't it."

"I swear to you it totally isn't."

"...… really?"

"By the multiverse itself!"

"Well I suppose.. wait, is it Mournblade instead? The sword's identical twin?"

"Nnnoooooo…? Crap. Amnesia dust!"

"Stop stabbing my soul with evil swords damnit!"

[The Chou Lives]

Arbiter, your waaaaaaay too nice to do what is required to make the clone things. : Read the Dune books, including prequels and sequels.:

[Hiromi]

typically have been advised to follow this infograph as far as which Dune books to bother reading



basically can be summed up as don't touch anything written after Frank died cause his son is a hack

personally have finished option 2 and will be going back to finish option 3 after a break for more discworld books

With that as for this scenario easily option 1 or 2, since option 3 is a just no, and option 4 Paul made it very clear that prescience was a hellish curse after a while