Origins 2008

[exile]

In addition to sampling 4E (opinions held to prevent any sort of armed conflict), I too mostly played games that I do not play on a routine basis.

1.) Heirs to Olympia- This ruleset is not available yet, but it is a dice pool type game that utilizes the D12, nothing revolutionary, but functional enough. The story was entertaining at least. We (meaning me and two female players) were peasant heroes out to seek vengeance for the murder of our lord, his family, and their house staff. The fun (probably for everyone) was a little compromised by me being sick from ahving spent the day drinking with my wife at ComFest.

2.) Shadowrun- The Shadowrunwich Horror. This fun little game introduced the Cthulhu Mythos to the world of Shadowrun. It was fun while it lasted, but I had to bail out early.

3.) Dread- This was the star of the show for me. I had read the rules before, but had never actually played. We (the players) were all henchmen who woke to the realization of just how evil our new boss was, then tried to stop him. I'm particularly curious which group Crothian played in, because I thought our table was overall pretty good- special kudos going to the ST.

Chad

 

[Crothian]

I'm particularly curious which group Crothian played in, because I thought our table was overall pretty good- special kudos going to the ST.

Chad

Friday night 6pm. We were Astronauts going to the moon for the first time since Armstrong and company. Dread for me is a more serious game, and we had 4 people (all friends of each other) that had made a small stop to the bar before heading over. They played it more light hearted and that just basically kills any type of suspense the game may have had. It was still fun, but not up to previous Dread experiences. My dread game game of Origins 2007 is the single greatest con game I've ever played in. I also gamed is a awesome Dread game at Gen Con that Piratecat ran. So, my standards for Dread are pretty high.

 

[davethegame]

Here's a link to my Origins coverage:
http://www.critical-hits.com/2008/06/26/origins-2008-coverage/

And my flickr set of the con:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davethegame/sets/72157605837306541/

The highlight of the con for me wasn't really related to the con: I got to play in a reunion game of my college gaming group. Of course, I had to bite my tongue since it was done in 3.5, but we all agreed that RPGs aren't made by the system, but by the group.

 

[exile]

Our Dread game (Saturday at 8pm) was actually fairly light-hearted, but still tremendous fun. I was totally shaking as my poor clubfooted, hunchbacked henchwoman frantically tried to squirm through air ducts, jump chasms, and scale a cliffside (where she ultimately died).

Chad

 

[Bayonet_Chris]

Origins

I didn't get a chance to actually play in a 4E game until Sunday morning (I'm always the DM back home), but I managed to get into a Shaintar session Thursday through Saturday, which was a blast.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

Me and the rest of the FDG crew had a blast at Origins again this year. The only hiccup was we had two games canceled because the GMs failed to show. I think attendance was definitely down this year, and I miss seeing Wizkids and WOTC in the dealer hall.

 

[Mr. Wilson]

WoTC hasn't been there for a few years now, and the change has been noticeable, IMO.

I was hoping with Gen Con's issues, WoTC might switch over to Origins this year, but it was not to be.

As an aside, that Star Wars game I was in was the worst game I've ever played period. Not because of the players, we were cool and tried to muddle through it, but anytime you run into a GM that hands you a character sheet and tells you to make characters in a Con Game, you know it's not going to be good.

 

[Mark Plemmons]

I'd love to see more Origins photos, if anyone has links to post.

Here's a link to some of the Kenzer and Company photos taken in and (mostly around) the con:

http://gallery.mac.com/jollybgood#100265

 

[Eridanis]

My brother went to Origins this year, and reported that attendance seemed to be way down. One seminar he signed up for simply didn't happen, and a panel discussion he went to ended up being one woman talking, since the other participants didn't show up.

My first and only Origins was three years ago, and we had a great time. It sounds like it was still fun, but it also sounds like the organizers need to get a little more... organized.

 

[Crothian]

WoTC hasn't been there for a few years now, and the change has been noticeable, IMO.

I think it has been better since Wizards left. Their booth was a traffic jam and really interrupted the flow of the dealer room. It was hard to get around in and over crowded. Origins had a good feel to it this year.