
A #tableselfie for every game I played in or ran.
So that happened.
Origins 2016 has come and gone and I’m still coming down off my gaming high. From Wednesday to Sunday, my life revolved around roleplaying games, general geekery, and the many, many friends I’ve made over the years through gaming.While Gen Con is the gorilla of gaming conventions, Origins is still a pretty big deal. Run by GAMA (Game Manufacturer’s Association) since 1975, it’s been in Columbus, Ohio since the mid 90’s. Attendance for the last couple of years has hit around 15,000 people, so the event finds a pleasant balance between big convention and friendly reunion of like-minded nerds. This was my tenth Origins since I’ve been attending since 2007. While Gen Con is an amazing affair, I find I often get a better game experience at Origins.
For the most part, the games I got to play this year were fantastic. There was only one that had any problems, but they were relatively minor and the rest of my games were great. I got to play Hollow Earth Expeditions, Savage Worlds, Mutants & masterminds, Night’s Black Agents, Bubblegumshoe, and Masks. Saturday night was dedicated to the Farscape Invitational, which is a private recurring game I’ve been in for the last four years with the same group of awesome players. For that one, we use a modified version of Cortex Plus. I also jumped in to help Gnome Emeritus Walt and the Cubicle 7 crew by running a Lone Wolf game. Finally, on Sunday I ran a pick-up game of Monster of the Week.
Despite some logistical hiccups that happen every year with the con, Origins is one of my favorites and one I highly recommend to anyone that asks me about gaming conventions. Have you had a chance to get down there? Let’s hear about what you got to play.
An album of the full sized version of these images can be found on the Gnome Stew’s Facebook page, HERE.Â
I’ve never been to Origins, which is really odd because I’m about 90 minutes south of Columbus. I meant to check with a buddy in Portsmouth if he was going to Origins, since he went a couple of years ago. But it passed my mind until it was too late. 🙁 Maybe I’ll remember it next year. lol
I believe there’s a mailing list you can get on for Origins that will give reminders about registration and such. It’s honestly one of my favorite cons. I’ve amassed a large number of friends I only get to see there and I generally have really good games. I hope you do get a chance to attend next year. 🙂
I definitely should look into making it up there at some point. I have another good friend living in Columbus and he asked me my thoughts about him opening a gaming store up there. I just told him to focus on a community demand and try to fill it. Never did hear any more about it from him. But he should be very interested in Origins as well. It might be off his radar for now with two small sons though. lol
I’m slightly jealous of all the great games you got to play in. The Savage Supers one looks very cool, especially as I’ve just started watching Supergirl and really dig it. The Masks game looks really cool as well!
I actually didn’t realize the Savage Worlds game was supers. I chose it because I knew the GM was a good one and it was going to be a crossover game between two tables. As always, that GM (Dave Russo running for Amorphous Blob) was awesome.
Also, I think I need to start doing #tableselfie for my games. Awesome idea!
Origins is my home convention, so I’m glad to hear you had a good time. I recognize 2 people from your HEX table. Despite missing them, I got to meet & greet many once-a-year friends. Maybe there will be tableselfies next year.
Years ago, I found a large group of 40-somethings nostalgic for Twilight:2000, and joined a team to run that. I ran 2.5 tables this year, while the others ran 7.5 tables (I played in 1 of these). Then I went out to play: 3 boardgames (all ended early somehow), 1 long minis game, and 2 War College lectures. No Savage Space:1889 this year, maybe next year.
I tend to miss out on the boardgames, but then I have plenty of friends are far more into that than I am. I know they’ll eventually bring around the new hotness for us to play. 🙂
Love the table selfies! Great idea. I always wanna get pics of the gamers at my table, but I usually feel weird about asking.
I’ve always felt the same, so I was really nervous about the tableselfies, but thanks to Senda’s enthusiasm, I decided to get into it. The key is to always ask everyone at the table to see if they’re okay with it. I had a few people look uncomfortable, but no one protested and quite a few folks got into it. 🙂