Communication in the Imperium
ToC
Dune Imperium
Communinet
Communinet, CommNet or simply Comm are terms used to describe short- to medium-range electromagnetic communications from ship to ship, or ship to planet. The term is also used as a noun to describe the device used to pick up communication broadcasts, such as a "shortwave comm." Communinet appears to work using frequencies available from a similar electromagnetic spectrum as used on the Earth we live on today. With this similarity, Communinet is limited in range based on other celestial bodies, antenna direction, nuclear and other man-made EM interference, distance (where the time to send or receive a message might be measured in minutes and not fractions of a second), and broadcast reception or transmission limits of the vehicles in communication. A scout shuttle, for instance, may be able to hear transmissions from its support ship, but may be too far away to return a reply as it may not have as strong a wireless transceiver to push the message.Radio
Radios generally refer to devices used on a personal level such as a scout team or the radio on a scout teams vehicle. These would resemble modern day walkie-talkies or basic cell phones for audio communication only. Most citizens have no such devices as they are reserved for wealthy nobles, companies and military troops. Range can be limited by the terrain, environment, thick obstacles, radiation or electromagnetic interference.Dune Communications Scale
Range & Relay
Two-way communication is based on the shorter range of the two devices, while one-way communication is based on the longer range of the the sending device. You can use a another device or larger device as a relay to boost a communications signal if you have authorized access or somehow gain access.
Dune Communication Bands
It is common for noble houses to encrypt their transmission which are easily decoded my their mentats. The first step of breaking an encryption is to determine the House Signature.
Dune Communications Media
Dune FTL Communication
The Dune Imperium does not have FTL (Faster The Light) communication other than messages delivered via the Guild or Messengers traveling aboard a Guild Foldspace ship. A few rumors have circulated regarding the Guild possessing some means of FTL communication, but it has never been verified.Dune: Adventures in the Imperium References
A few snippets from the core rulebook are listed below which help highlight the levels of communication throughout the imperium.
Spice
Their spice-granted limited prescient ability allows Navigators to safely guide an interstellar vessel as it folds space. This allows starships to take near instantaneous journeys between star systems, enabling communication and trade and keeping the Imperium whole and intact.
Language
The common, and official, tongue spoken everywhere in the Imperium is Galach. Regional and planetary variants exist and many, many other languages are spoken within the fiefdoms of the various Houses of the Landsraad, but most official communication is done in Galach. In turn, invented languages are commonplace, from the finger-signs of the Bene Gesserit, battle languages unique to each House, and Chakobsa, the hunting tongue used by the Bene Gesserit and Fremen.
Common Home
Technology beyond simple items is generally reserved for those with wealth. Most households have no means of long-range communication, and their homes are lit by glowglobes or more natural methods.
Personal Assets : Communication & InformationInformation Technology
Communication across distances is handled with either a communinet transceiver or a method called distrans, where a recorded message is stored into the memory of a living being and ‘played back’ when desired, often with a required code to unlock it. Physical media includes filmbooks, shigawire readers, minimic encoders, memocorders, and other media players and projectors.
Guild Penalty
The penalty for disobeying any of these Guild restrictions is inevitably lack of access to the Guild’s services, whether short-term or for longer, depending on the severity of the infraction. Without space travel or interstellar communication, a House is cut off from the Landsraad and the rest of the Imperium, deprived of trade and ultimately, of spice.
Hidden Means of Communications
Additionally, throughout their education, members of the Sisterhood learn a variety of ways to communicate with each other. Key phrases, such as “on that path lies danger,” alerts a Bene Gesserit to look for a secret message from another member of the Sisterhood. They may use hand signals or coded dots (p.208) to give each other information they do not want to provide to outsiders. Communication between Sisters may even be centuries removed from each other as in the unique terms or imagery used in the Panoplia Propheticus (p.55) on different planets.
Other Reference Sections
Expanse Radio & TightbeamExpanse
The actual communications connections between devices are often simple radio, though feeds broadcast this way are open to anyone with an antenna listening at the proper frequency.Private communications require laser arrays for tightbeam transmissions only receivable where the laser is aimed. The greater the distance between sender and receiver, the harder it is to keep the broadcast laser focused. To keep the broadcast laser as tight as possible across enormous distances, equally enormous and powerful comm lasers like the one aboard Tycho Station must be used. Tightbeam transmissions also require knowledge of the target’s position, speed, and trajectory. To help tightbeams maintain coherence, relays are set up across the solar system to receive a transmission laser, then rebroadcast it toward the intended recipient. Though these relay services work hard to maintain the trust of those who use them, corporations and intelligence agencies maintain private relays with onboard drop-sites, moving in orbits unknown to anyone but their owners and requiring not just the encryption keys necessary for communication but knowledge of the relay’s exactly position in order to beam a message at it.
Expanse RPG pg70
Battlestar Galatica
Wireless is a Colonial term used to describe short- to medium-range electromagnetic communications from ship to ship, or ship to planet. The term is also used as a noun to describe the device used to pick up wireless broadcasts, such as a "shortwave wireless." Wireless appears to work using frequencies available from a similar electromagnetic spectrum as used on the Earth we live on today. Shortwave transmissions exist in the Colonial wireless spectrum (Miniseries). With this similarity, wireless is limited in range based on other celestial bodies, antenna direction, nuclear and other man-made EM interference, distance (where the time to send or receive a message might be measured in minutes and not fractions of a second), and broadcast reception or transmission limits of the vehicles in communication. A Raptor, for instance, may be able to hear transmissions from its mother ship, Galactica, but may be too far away to return a reply as it may not have as strong a wireless transceiver than Galactica to push the message. A passenger on Colonial Heavy 798 picks up information from their shortwave wireless about the nuclear bombing of Caprica (Miniseries). Sharon Valerii uses a communication drone to extend her Raptor's transmission range in principle after her ship leaves Caprica with several refugees during the Cylon Attack (Miniseries). The drone contains an automated distress call with its own wireless transmitter. She uses to the probe in hopes of transmitting her call for help outside of the Cylon fleet, which were jamming many Colonial communication channels. Emergency wireless handsets are included with a Viper pilot's emergency ejection survival kit. Unfortunately for Starbuck, her handset is smashed on her parachute landing on a desolate moon, forcing her to seek alternate means to return to the Fleet (You Can't Go Home Again). On advanced battlestars, wireless communication between CIC and other departments of the ship may likely be the standard mode of communication. On ships such as Galactica, however, communication is done through hardwired phones and public-address systems per Commander Adama's orders that no networked computers (including communication computers) be used on board to avoid Cylon infiltration. Wireless is also used for civilian communication, such as the Talk Wireless network for public Fleet entertainment and programming.Radio
SG teams maintain radio contact with each other while off-world using radios which fit into the upper left breast pocket of the SG vest. The radios can also be fitted with earpieces that are worn in the left ear, used most frequently during the third year of SG missions. The radios can have a significant range on a planet's surface and can maintain contact between a planet and a ship in orbit, although they do not reliably transmit from deep underground. While off-world, a team can maintain radio contact with the SGC by using the relay antenna of the MALP or UAV to relay the radio signal through an open wormhole for live two-way audio communication. The radios are also equipped with an RDF (radio direction finding) signal that can be used to determine the location of another radio transmission. In radio transmissions, the designation "niner," for example "SG-1 niner," refers to the commanding officer of the given SG unit.
Tech Level
The technology level of communication is intended to be slightly ahead of our modern day world yet restrained by the ever-present fear of technology and the thinking machines. A good comparison would be slightly better than Stargate SG1 and Battlestar Galactica.
Expanse
Firefly
Stargate SG1
A warm thank you to Count Thalim for his discussion and game notes on how he handles communication in the Dune Imperium.
And a very excited thank you to Modiphius and Modiphius Andrew for their open and active communication in the Dune gaming community.
And a very excited thank you to Modiphius and Modiphius Andrew for their open and active communication in the Dune gaming community.
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