Interview with Ben Lehman at MiniEnt

Just read an interesting interview with Bliss Stage creator Ben Lehman over at MiniEnt. Bliss Stage-related tidbits are fairly slim, but I was very interested in his comments about some other games in the pipeline, including

Clover - heartwarming slice-of-life

Hot Guys Making Out - steamy yaoi romance

As-yet untitled - psychological survival horror in the Silent Hill vein

Go read!

Stage Management?

Getting ready to play the current version of my Bliss Stage one-shot with some friends next Tuesday. They've never played anything quite like it, and are skeptical but intrigued enough to give it a try in a one-evening format.

I'm planning to experiment with something new as far as how I play the game in this session, and it's something I haven't seen discussed much for any game, let alone Bliss Stage. I am breaking the usual pattern of sitting around a table or in comfy chairs, all facing each other.

I'm setting up the play space such that for mission scenes, there is a Pilot seat (facing away from the rest of the group and a bit apart), and an Anchor seat that is BEHIND the Pilot facing to the side. I always stand up to GM anyhow, so I'll be moving around as needed to facilitate.

The Pilot player gets a Mission Control sheet and a dice box, and that's it. The Anchor will hand over dice as requested, and also do the record-keeping on the Pilot's relationship map sheet.

I am hoping that this will punch up the experience of missions, and in particular the isolation and uncertainty of them. Anybody else ever try anything like this?

I'll report back next week after I see how it works!