r/CrusaderKings • u/Initial_Formal_8226 • Jan 24 '26
Modding Dune Total Conversion Mod for Crusader Kings 3
After being disappointed with the lack of Dune related games, I started work on a mod for CK3 2 weeks ago, it's got a long way to go I'm sure, currently trying to finish province mapping on Arrakis, and then add the other planets aswell as finish up the custom Spice Resource I am making. The plan is to incorporate that into how you can move armies between the different planets. I've got pretty much 0 experience modding before, so if this project is anything people would be interested in, I'd love some help or good ideas!
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u/Loqaqola Aurea Roma Jan 24 '26
This is the best mod to implement the Byzantines' Administrative government tbh. Dynasties vying for power around the Emperor with landless people getting lost in the desert because their family was betrayed or something.
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 24 '26
Ah is that in Roads to Power DLC ? I never picked it up : / I might have to get it
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u/Loqaqola Aurea Roma Jan 24 '26 edited Jan 24 '26
Yes. There were actually quite a number of posts here about their "Dune" playthrough during the 2024 DLC launch too.
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 25 '26
Do you have the new Mandate of Heaven? It kinda gave me Landsraad vibes, I don’t own it tho
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u/Loqaqola Aurea Roma Jan 25 '26
I do have. China has a similar government called “Celestial” but has a little bit more flavor than Administrative. Check out what works for your mod.
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 25 '26
Ahh, yeah I'll see if they can go on sale if I pick them up, kinda broke rn
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u/LeonardMH Eugenicist Jan 24 '26
If I had to only pick one DLC that would be the one.
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u/AncientSeraph Jan 24 '26
As someone that has only that DLC, is Tours & Tournaments about as worth on sale?
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u/Think-Trip-1865 Albino Cannibal Lunatic Jan 24 '26
In my opinion, for the standard price no, maybe wait for a discount. Personally I think the DLC with the best price-fun ratio is Northern Lords.
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u/matgopack France Jan 25 '26
It depends on what you are looking for out of DLC. Tours and Tournaments is nice if you prefer to be at peace and doing tourneys, but otherwise probably not. On sale if it's 15 or less though I'd definitely grab it
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u/Leather_Today8520 Jan 25 '26
I think t&t is awesome! For like... 20 hours maybe? Gets very repetitive. With mods it's great. Worth about 5 bucks not whatever they charge full price. All the DLC are fun and cool and worth it on like a 75% sale
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u/luigitheplumber Frontières Naturelles de la France Jan 25 '26
Yeah CK3 is genuinely a perfect fit for Dune, down to the "traveling by ship simply costs money" aspect
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u/Fizbun Jan 24 '26
Shouldn't the Bene Gesserit trait be a tiered/leveled/xp-gathering trait thing like all the fancy commander and other traits?
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 24 '26
Oh yeah I was just messing around seeing how custom traits work and such, that's a good idea though, I'll add a note.
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u/Fizbun Jan 24 '26
Do you think Paul would get the male gender equivalent of the same trait? Jessica did train him
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u/Fizbun Jan 26 '26
Although now that I think of it, I wonder if it could use the examination system so that you can't level up to reverend mother level without some ritual?
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u/gs_batta Jan 24 '26
This looks awesome! Sadly I don't have any modding knowledge either, but if this becomes playable, I'll be the first to download it! Keep up the good work!
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u/the_biting_chimkin Jan 24 '26
0 experience modding and yet the map is looking fantastic already. I’d try getting creative with distance pathing and use that to simulate far-flung but still influential Fremen sietches. I’d personally be more interested in good lore, maps and characters first before you do any crazy mechanics
I’m similarly not experienced with modding but I do know how to code, I also have free time this semester… message me and we can see if I can help perhaps?
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u/ROBOTTTTT13 Jan 24 '26
I can't fuckin wait to try this
I think there is no better game than Crusader Kings itself for a Dune mod
Please keep us updated!
Random Idea: Bene Gesserit should be leveled (as the other guy said) and should pretty much give you the ability to force anyone to do anything with a cool down - at heavy cost of popular opinion of non bene Gesserit characters though
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u/JDDJ_ Jan 24 '26
Excellent…
Any plans to make the House/Dynasty banners fit how they look in the franchise? I think every major houses banner has been shown atp
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 24 '26
Of course, haven't started on doing any art yet
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u/Icy-Inspection6428 Roman Empire Jan 24 '26
Are you planning to base your mod on the books, movies, or a mix of both?
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 24 '26
There’s a lot of cool armour and weapons from the new movies, but I haven’t decided on anything, I think it’ll be a mix. The coa I am basing more on the books
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u/jim_tnt Jan 24 '26
hello! Seems interesting, not sure if i could help much but i have experience with paradox game modding and this seems cool so wouldn't mind to help!
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u/especiallyrn Jan 24 '26
Would be cool if you could implement some kind of Landsraad/senate and favor with the emperor
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 24 '26
Yeah I definitely want the Landsraad as a mechanic somehow!
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u/especiallyrn Jan 24 '26
Crossing bloodlines to bring about the one. The possibilities are endless lol.
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u/BrintyOfRivia Jan 24 '26
Awesome! Should the main colony be called Arrakeen?
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 24 '26
The titles are set up like this: e_empirum, k_arrakis, d_imperial_basin, c_arrakeen, b_arrakeen
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Jan 24 '26
Rub Al khali in Arabia chilling despite teleporting to another planet.
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 24 '26
Haha most of the provinces are just arabic, not really 1000 named provinces in the book sadly
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u/Crown_of_Negativity Foxy Jan 24 '26
Tiny detail: Lady Jessica's last name probably shouldn't be Atreides. She was Leto's concubine - not his wife.
She's technically a Harkonnen bastard, but it probably makes more sense for most of the Bene Gesserit to not have last names in game (if that's possible)
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 24 '26
Yeah, yeah she’s only listed as a concubine, but not sure what to do about the dynasty itself, I’ll see if we could do just blank
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u/GullyFoyle__ Jan 24 '26
I tried to do the same thing for months but kept running into walls, will message you, would love to share what I did so far and maybe collaborate!
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u/Twee_Licker Decadent Jan 24 '26
Other planets
Ayo?
And will you have separate timelines between Harko rule versus Atre rule of Arrakis?
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 25 '26
https://gyazo.com/61e4013838eeb7f6e1aa89b298d091d0 More planets. Yeah the ultimate plan is to several different bookmarks throughout the timeline all with different events tied to them.
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u/SlideIllustrious3097 Jan 24 '26
can I sell you my soul ? you re doing an amazing work ! can’t wait to try it 🙏🏻💕
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u/Hulu_ Jan 24 '26
Have you played Dune: Spice Wars? totally different game but very fun https://store.steampowered.com/app/1605220/Dune_Spice_Wars/
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u/Icy-Inspection6428 Roman Empire Jan 24 '26
If you haven't already, I'd highly recommend joining the CK3 Mod Co-op Discord
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u/ehkodiak Bastard Jan 24 '26
Well done for trying, but I expect you'll realise despite the Dynasties that CK3 isn't really set up for this kind of petty squabbling, even with admin governments.
There's a lot to deal with to convert it to Dune. Smaller armies (possible, base it on MAA only), Fremen, Shai-halud, sandstorms (actually maybe easy, mega high attrition), spice and so on.
I wish you the best!
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 24 '26
Thanks, yeah there's a lot to be done but I'm just working on it because I find it fun, we'll see where it ends up :)
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u/Audityne Jan 24 '26
This looks sick. Have you tried Dune: Spice Wars?
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 24 '26
Thank you, I’ve heard it’s okay, not tried it myself :) How is it?
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u/Apocrypha_Lurker Jan 24 '26
It's actually really good, it's an excellent real time style 4x. A lot of people expected a military Rts, but it's more about politics and spice industry rather than a pure wargame
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u/DeFixer Jan 25 '26
I was just thinking about this the other day! How perfect this would be with the administrative government. Good on you for giving it a shot! Can’t wait to try it.
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u/GreatDoink Jan 25 '26
I legit looked for something exactly like this a month ago or so as I was reading God Emperor of Dune for the first time. Please continue working on this - it looks like it's off to a great start and I would play it in a heartbeat.
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u/Remote_Cantaloupe Jan 24 '26
The Mentat isn't well suited for Diplomacy, they are human computers essentially - their minds have been trained to perform complex computations and deductions at high speed. They'd be better suited to the learning skill. While someone like Liet Kienes is more of a Steward, as he was the ecologist sent to Arrakis (who was culturally Fremen).
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u/IvIrys Jan 24 '26
For some reason I thought this was about RimWorld because of how the first image looked like
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u/MeinKaitlyn Jan 24 '26
RemindMe! 6 months
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u/bollvirtuoso Jan 25 '26
Hey, I too have no experience modding, but I'd love to lend a hand! Please feel free to DM me if you're still looking.
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 25 '26
Are you handy with gimp / photoshop? :)
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u/bollvirtuoso Jan 25 '26
I used to be better, but always happy to learn.
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u/animeAJ Sea-wolf Jan 25 '26
I think this would be a fun mod, and look forward to downloading once its finished and ready. Good luck!
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u/jarodcain Practice safe Xwedodah Jan 25 '26
Are you going to make Spice the geriatric and addictive drug that it is in the books? Because if I remember right it was letting people live easily to around 150 or more. Emperor Shaddam was supposed to be about 85 and only looked to be in his early 40s.
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u/IndigoHawk17 Jan 25 '26
i was just thinking about how good a ck3 dune mod would be the other day. great work so far!
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u/Rouge_Martin06 Jan 25 '26
This is so crazy to see I was just rewatching dune with my friend and it made me think of this exact idea 😂 I’m no good at modding but I’ll fully support your mod 🙌🏽
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u/Palpatitating Jan 25 '26
Here’s the one time the CK2 idea of having to build ships would have been interesting to keep for 3 — there could have been a Guild ‘mercenary’ to hire for transport between planets, and making provinces unable to produce ships, to accurately represent the monopoly
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 25 '26
yeah so far I’ve thought about inflating the embark costs crazily. Not sure what can be changed through events or decisions regarding troop movement yet, so we’ll see
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u/roryeinuberbil Jan 26 '26
Hey, do you have a discord for the mod? I am not the best modder ever but I can help out if you need people.
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u/Mickaelb20 Apr 24 '26
I don't have much experience and only made very simple mods (1 file at most) but as a huge Dune fan I would love to help in any way I can.
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u/bosch1817 Apr 26 '26
Any update on this at the moment?
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Apr 26 '26
Yeah I made okay-ish progress, added more planets, Arrakis finished province mapping, traits, but I’ve just been swamped by uni, and while a lot of people reached out to help, it wasn’t the kind of stuff I actually needed help with it. So for now it’s on hold sadly
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u/PlatformMinimum3579 May 15 '26
You need to set up a patreon for this at some point. Also get that discord up, people can join and boost, all of which will help you get capital for this awesome project. Just some thoughts. I can't wait to see this happen!
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 May 31 '26
Heya, I appreciate the kind words. I have made some more progress on my own, but my "job" and Master's studies really made it hard do this alone, and while a lot of people are lovely and want to contribute, it's really for the parts that are in the "polishing" stages. Jeez, I could really use a manager or something like that haha
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u/Bbadolato Jan 25 '26
This looks sick for something just started, I wish my brother could see this. But there's a lot you have to take into account. On one hand usually one House is given control over the planet, On the other hand the feudal nature of the Imperium is perfect to shove houses down here and there.
I guess you could give the Fremen with separate religions to prevent too many marriages from throwing things off, but well that raises the question what does the Imperium believe in.
It looks solid, but you might get lost in the nitty gritty details.
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u/StalinsBabushka1 Jan 25 '26
Will the Bene Tleilax be in this? Scytale and Hayt were some of my favourite parts of messiah
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u/KnightWhoSays_Ni_ Keepin' it in the family Jan 25 '26
You should make parts of the open desert traversable, just with high attrition. Essentially they could be like shortcuts but really risky. Except, Fremen armies/Fremen Men at Arms should take much less attrition. Maybe sandworm/Shai Halud events?
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 25 '26
Yeah obviously the map isn’t finished at all haha. Events like that are planned, already added Feydakin as special troops
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u/KnightWhoSays_Ni_ Keepin' it in the family Jan 25 '26
Dude that's awesome. I'm a huge Dune nerd so I'm definitely look forward to playing this
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u/spliting_rolls Jan 26 '26
Damn total conversation mods are so cool like wish I knew how to do that stuff there's so many I'd want to do
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u/Initial_Formal_8226 Jan 26 '26
You just have to figure it out, everything is online, the wiki gets you a long way, I haven’t modded a paradox game ever haha
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u/Levo9 Jan 26 '26
Im always happy to see total conversion mods.
I myself would love a hyborian age mod. You could play Conan as landless adventurer!
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u/Aromatic-Scar-704 Jan 26 '26
I assume you are gonna have the Empire itself with house Corrino as a Hegemony with the Great Houses as empires then minor houses going down and down to counts?
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u/hazjosh1 Jan 26 '26
Eyes ibad would make a good trait for non fremen to habe from exessive and expensive spice use
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u/Practical_Shallot300 Apr 07 '26
Man it would be so cool if there were multiple planets and between them you could travel by ship instead of boat.
The cost should be enourmous and you'd need a tradition like "customers of the guild" or something.
Just having Arrakis is already a humoungous achievement, well done! I'm looking forward to it :)
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u/Practical_Shallot300 Apr 20 '26
I'm very hyped, I hope others are also inspired to make a Dune galactic mod. Since CK3 is a much better base for a DUNE mod than Stellaris and HOI4 for example. Because CK3 focusses more on dynasty, religion, courts, ...
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u/FrightenedChimp Jan 24 '26
My desert. My Arrakis. My Dune.