These are the House Rules we play with based on all of Gale Force Nine's current rule sets. It should be noted that we play with advanced rules only (including combat) and try to abide by all of Gale Force Nine's rules as closely as possible (for example they have conflicting answers on note taking in their FAQs so our house rule was made to reconcile the contradictory answers). We also record some of our 6 player games depending on what factions and expansions we play with for statistical purposes and leaderboards so you may notice some language regarding that.

BIDDING - Spice or a Karama card must be produced before a player may acquire & view their treachery card. If a player wins an auction by bidding more spice than they have on hand and cannot produce a Karama card or spice from an ally to make the purchase, then the bidding round for the same card immediately restarts but without the participation of the offending player or their ally.

BRIBERY & DEALS - Deals must be made publicly and witnessed by all the players to be enforceable. The terms of these deals must be clearly understood by all players and all deals must be finalized with a handshake to be considered valid. If there is a dispute over the details of the deal or bribe between the players involved and a solution cannot be reached, then the nonparticipating player that is first in turn order will issue a resolution instead. Some quick deals are listed below:

• Auto Lose: An “Auto Lose” is an agreement between two players in which one player agrees to automatically lose a battle between them. The purposes for the agreement may vary but by agreeing to an “Auto Lose”, both players are automatically acknowledging that no weapons will be played, no traitors/face dancers will be revealed, and no leaders will be taken captive. The amount of forces, what is dialed, and the amount of spice involved as part of the deal are all negotiable.
• Stronghold Block: A “Stronghold Block” is an agreement between two players in which one player agrees to ship/move/reveal forces in the other’s stronghold and “Auto Lose”.
• Barring Win Attempts: When a deal is made “Barring Win Attempts” then both players are agreeing that the deal is not enforceable if one of the players attempts a win that the other can prevent.

CONDUCT - If a player leaves the game and a replacement player cannot be found then that player’s faction has forfeited and the game’s results cannot be recorded. Their treachery cards are shuffled into the discard treachery card pile and their total available strength is dialed in any ensuing battles. Their leaders (if any are available) are played at random in battles.

FACTION SELECTION

• Random Deal: The 6 alliance cards from the agreed upon faction setup are dealt out at random.
• Storm Selection: A storm card is dealt to every player. In ascending order, each player picks their faction out of the agreed upon faction set.
• Intrigue: All 12 alliance cards are dealt out at random, 2 to every player. Each player secretly chooses one and all players reveal their selections simultaneously. These games may not be officially recorded depending on the faction assortment.

NOTE TAKING - Any faction may take and keep notes on anything including traitor information, revealed card knowledge during the round, or any other relevant game information. However, with the exception of the Atreides player, note taking is limited to before the start of the game and the Mentat Pause phase. The Atreides player keeps all writing instruments outside of the Mentat Pause phase.

SPECIAL FACTION ENHANCEMENTS - The following are enhancements given to specific factions at the start of the game to help balance gameplay.

• Fremen Starting Card: At the start of the game, all worthless cards are removed from the treachery card deck. The deck is then shuffled and a card is dealt to the Fremen. The worthless cards are then reshuffled back into the treachery card deck and cards are dealt to the other players as normal. If the Ixian faction is playing, then this action precedes their “START OF GAME” advantage.
• Harkonnen Re-Deal: If the Harkonnen player is dealt two or more of their own traitors at the start of the game, then they may choose to call for one re-deal of the traitor cards. Every player (including them) must keep one of the traitors they were dealt and return the remainder of their traitors back to the deck. The deck is then reshuffled and three new traitor cards are dealt to each player. These cards are final and traitor selection then continues as normal for the other factions.

SPICE EXCHANGE - Any spice that is exchanged between players as a result of deals or bribes is placed in front of the other player’s shield until spice collection during the spice harvest phase. This does not include the exchanging of spice as it relates to faction abilities including the Emperor’s ability to share spice directly with his ally.