Hi! My name is Ben Lehman. I write tabletop role-playing games and sometimes other sorts of games. This is the webpage for my company, These are our Games. You can find detailed information on each game using the links on the right, or news in the posts below.
Despite the name, it’s just me running the show.
More about the games, me, and the company
I’m proud to announce my new game. I’ve been developing this for a while, and I’m really happy to be able to share it with the world. Mud Dragon is a game about stupid little dragons having stupid little adventures, in the spirit of Great Ork Gods and Kobolds Ate My Baby! Marvel as the Mud Dragons struggle to overcome their own incompetence to steal candy from a baby, organize a farting contest, or kidnap a princess! The game is easy to set up, takes only about an hour to play, and is perfect for casual gameplay or when you’re waiting for that one late player to show up.
The book is 38 pages long, beautifully illustrated by Kevin Moore, and available for $15. Please note that it’s presently at the printer’s, so if you order the hardcopy it won’t arrive until early April.
The ebook is available for a sliding scale price: pay what you can afford. If I were to fix a price for it it would probably be $7, but you can pay any amount you want. If you’d rather pay nothing at all (or if you’d pay less than a dollar), please just write to me at taogames@gmail.com and I’ll set you up.
I’m really looking forward to sharing this game with you all.
As an experiment, I’m trying a new pricing model for my eBooks. For right now and at least until the end of the month, Polaris and Bliss Stage are moving to a “pay whatever you like” model. To purchase, click the links on the right-hand side.
As part of this experiment, you can also receive the pdfs at no charge by writing to me at taogames@gmail.com and asking. Please let me know why you’re interested in the games, where you heard about them, and so on.
This is an experiment which will hopefully lead to more exciting things in the future. I hope I can make this work.
Due to some medical problems I’ve been having, I’ve been unable to do Drifter’s fulfillment for an unacceptably long time. I’m getting to a place where it’s easier for me to handle, so I’m going to be both making sure that copies of the book are in the hands of others better able to handle fulfillment and that all already-ordered copies are shipped ASAP.
Nonetheless, orders have been delayed unacceptably, in some cases up to six months.
If you would like a refund, please contact me at taogames@gmail.com. I will still send you a book, probably.
If you would like your book expressed to, also please contact me.
I’m really, really sorry about this.
I was interviewed by the Ninja’s v. Pirates podcast I really enjoyed this interview: the guys there are very technically savvy and asked me some good questions about the games underlying structure. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about the underlying structure of the game or why I made the decisions I did or has never read the game and wants to know a little about how it works.
For the last few days, the paypal links have been horribly broken due to a problem that Paypal had with me. Fortunately, today I was able to work it out, and the links should be working again. Thank you all for your patience.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” — MLK
I’m holding a game design contest.
The contest is: Write me a game about love.
The constraint is: Express your unique creative vision.
The deadline is: next Sunday night, where-ever that is in your timezome.
If you would like additional constraints ask me and I will give them to you. Tell me what kind of constraints you want (mechanical, creative, social, genre, etc.)
I will give detailed feedback on all of the designs and may, if I’m feeling vindictive, declare a winner.
Please repost to your favorite fora mailing lists and social networking sites.
From now until Sunday midnight, I’ll donate all profits from PDF sales (which is basically the amount you paid) to Haitian earthquake recovery organizations. Additionally, I will donate $5 from each copy of Drifter’s Escape. So if you’ve been thinking about buying Polaris or Bliss Stage, now’s a great time.
If you have already donated $10 or more, send me a receipt and I’ll send you a free PDF.
I’d also take suggestions for organizations to donate to.
My friend Sushu made me an excellent piece of fan art.
Left to right: The Drifter, street lugers, two knights of the stars, a remnant, a pilot and anchor, two men with pots on their heads.
Off camera: hot guys making out, the Tripitaka monk.
It adds a certain aura of mystery.
I’ve been working on a revised text for the new version of Bliss Stage. It has been two and a half years since the last text was written, and despite the fact that it’s pretty solid, there’s definitely a few places that things are going to change, in some cases subtly, in some cases less so.
The single most problematic entry on the intimacy building chart is at level 4: “physically fight for real.” What does “for real” mean, anyway? What constitutes a “physical fight?” It’s all very nebulous. This is because it is the only entry on the intimacy building chart which takes into account the intentions of the participants, rather that simply their actions. This is really problematic, and while it’s been good enough thus far, it’s got to go.
What’s my goal with this entry? My idea was that that entry describes physically fighting not just to show social dominance or play around (those are both intimacy 3) but with an intention to seriously hurt the other party. But, as I stated above, intention is inherently problematic for intimacy building scenes. It’s very hard to judge the characters’ intents, it’s very easy to judge their actions. Thus, I want a new entry that takes into account character actions.
What is the rest of level four? The entries are: Kiss, touch sexually, see each other naked, and exchange blood. Basically we’re getting to a level of physical relation that is personal, private, transgressive of personal and social barriers. It’s the last level before “have sex” and it involves things which are almost as intense. Thus, we want some act of physical violence which occupies this level. Additionally, I would like to keep the possibility of real harm that exists in the old form.
Thus the new form is “give serious or lasting physical injury.” This is a much stronger criterion: it’s clearer for the judge whether or not a particular action qualifies. Break someone’s nose or ribs? Sprain a shoulder? That’s 4 intimacy fighting. It even applies if you injure someone in a context other than a fight, which is neat.
This also implies a level 3 criterion, which is “give serious or lasting emotional injury.” Done.
As an additional, related rule, I’m considering “If you murder another character, gain 15 bliss in lieu of the bliss you would normally get for that relationship breaking.” Not that murder is that common in Bliss Stage, but there are rules for it (as I recall you have to be at Trauma 5 to try it) but the new rule does have implications that I like. It’s such an edge case that I’m still considering whether to add it to the text, though.