Ben Goldman
he/him
5.0
(28)
Timezone
Identity
About Ben Goldman
First and foremost, my table is a place of kindness and inclusion. There is absolutely no room for bigotry of any kind at my table. Zero tolerance. I am a professional board game designer with a love for TTRPGs. I use my experience in board game design to craft unique experiences, both in combat design, but also in adventure design itself. Aside from d&d, I play lots of board games, do illustrations, and write. I've recently been getting into illustrating battlemaps, so my games will be featuring lots of hand drawn maps.
At a glance
2 years on StartPlaying
487 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Storytelling, Inclusive
Average response time: 5 hours
Response rate: 100%
Featured Prompts
My 3 systems I'd bring to a desert island would be
5e (because it is the one we will inevitably play) Eclipse Phase 2e (my fav) Moonshine (I wrote it, so I like it lol)
My favorite system of all Time is
Eclipse Phase 2e
When I'm not running games I'm...
Writing my own TTRPG system, Moonshine, or drawing
How Ben Goldman runs games
As a GM I want the players to be part story that they will remember for the rest of their lives. My trademark is completely homebrew worlds which force a recontextualization of the trends and tropes of fantasy. I am a professional board game designer, and I use that experience for crafting my games, both to make monsters and combats that bring extra layers of excitement to the battlefield, and for the arc of a campaign as a whole. My games tend to be rooted in philosophy, and often the first thing I write for a campaign is the philosophical backbone, what themes will be explored, and how the players will directly engage with those themes. I see ttrpgs as one of, if not the best medium for exploring ideas of these kinds in a safe, creative space. I like to have a balance of Combat Encounters, Social Encounters, and Environmental Encounters.
Featured Prompts
If my games were Movies they'd be directed by...
David Lynch
My favorite trope is...
The weird little guy
Rules are...
The structure of the world that orients our story. They serve the story primarily.
Ben Goldman's ideal table
Players at my tables should be looking to tell a thrilling story together. They are respectful to each other, and celebrate each other. 'Winning' is not the goal.
Featured Prompts
I love it when a player
celebrates another player's victories
I think it's a red flag when players...
Insult another player's character in a way that is clearly directed at the player. Like, 'that plan is stupid, you are such an idiot'
I think min/maxing...
is totally fine. min/maxing doesn't mean you can't also care about the story and roleplay an exciting story.