Origins 2024

[salamanca]

If there is an issue, I am sure we can arrange something.


And because it needs said.

OOOOORRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGIIIIIIIIIIINNNNSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[salamanca]

Psst...

Ooorrriggiiiiiiiinnnnnsssss!!!!!!!!!!

[salamanca]

Ooorrrrrriiiiii...



Aw, heck. You know where this is going.

[Lady Grace]

ORI-JENI'S~!

[salamanca]

OOOO Jeni's with optional E Coli!!!

[Black Jack Rackham]

Car is packed. Will get up at 4am and meet Charlie for the first part of our ORIGINS TREK!!! Can't wait to see you all!

[salamanca]

You boys stay out of trouble!

Meanwhile, some folks are already checked in.

Meanwhile, I am still at work.

[salamanca]

Well, it's that time of year again.

You all have fun down there.

(Still at work)

[kenderleech]

its 6pm. Im home.

See you all either at gencon or next year.


I'm not crying, you're crying.

[salamanca]

Been home long enough to unpack the game bags.

There will be no duck count until the laundry is dealt with.

Thanks to everyone for great sessions, big laughs, support and all that.

I meamt what I said at the LARP. You all have expanded my friendship circles during a time when many of us found valid reasons to retreat into smaller social circles. The time I get at tables with each and every one of you is a valued gift to me. (Some in rather odd ways, quack)

I'm actually not sad to see Origins end because it puts us on track for Canguine. We are now 7+ hours closer to next meeting.

[Black Jack Rackham]

In case you only come here and are not on the Discord server, Jeremy and Dave turned up positive for COVID just after returning. Thus far Cate is also positive (though that just came about today) so everyone GET TESTED! MASK UP even if you aren't showing positive and still feel crappy. Hell just MASK UP anyway. I was still negative as of last night, but I will continue to test periodically. Most of all, TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES!

[salamanca]

For the record, mine is pretty mild at this point. No fever, just a runny nose that is now dropping into my chest like every cold I have ever had did.

But, yeah. Cover yourselves up.


This is normally the time when I post a "I wanna go back" thing but ya'll won't want that.

So I'm just gonna hang out with my ducks.

[Lady Grace]

Have the ducks been tested yet?

[salamanca]

The ducks are fine but it was tough cramming that swab up their beaks.

[CaitlinCallahan]

I'm still waiting for the final duck count.

[Black Jack Rackham]

Ok recovered enough to do this!

Mark's After-Origins report!

Good
Final Year of HoA! – I have been waiting for this for 14 years! 14 years worth of not telling you all how this was going to end. Do you know how hard it is to keep that a secret for 14 years?!?! Of course now it’s over and I have wait another 12 years to reveal the secret to RoC…

Our new volunteers! – I cannot overstate how much I was touched by you volunteering to run things. I mean that honestly. We really have the best players, just the absolute best. Thank you all so much!

Speaking of… PLAYERS… You all stuck through this for 14 years, a mass pandemic and my terrible terrible jokes. I sincerely hope it was worth it, because it sure was for me. EDIT, nope this is all wrong. You’re not players. Just like Dave said. You’re friends. And I miss you.

My fellow GMs – Every year I add this to my good report and every year it’s just as true now as it was the year before. Hell, even more so. You give of your time, effort, and friendship. Sometimes I wonder why or worry you might just call it quits one day. But that never seems to be true. Thank you all.

Mike’s Late Night Slice – your gluten free pizza really is the best I’ve ever eaten. Now I have to wait another year to eat more (PS next year Hawaiian pizza? Is that too much to ask?)

The comic book store - just went in on a lark and came out with a great deal??? What the heck? So awesome!

Bad
Got sick on the first day and worried it was COVID only to wake up 3 hours later feeling just fine. And then…

COVID. Just COVID damn you virus…

Honestly, that’s really it. The gaming room was just fine. When there were others in there, they were either Tim et.al. and having them there is always awesome! (NOTE TO SELF, make sure we get rooms together next year)

Mix of Both
Hotel room. Nice placement easy to get into/out of but like always water pressure sucked!

LARP – Heard from several of you that you had a nice time, but I still feel like I let you down. Need to do more work for the next one. Plus we theorize that’s where we got the COVID from.

My secret bathroom was available again this year (yay!) but the one time I went to use it it was being restocked (boo!) they told me I could wait (yay!), but that it was going to be half an hour or so (DOUBLE BOO!)

[salamanca]

Final duck count is 5. 4 pirates and a dog.

[CaitlinCallahan]

Deb's After Origins Report:

Good: Actually ventured outside of 7th Sea a bit, and had a lot of fun playing Torg (thanks, Craig!) and Serenity. Probably goes without saying, but I'm saying it anyway, it was SOOOOO GOOD to see everyone!!!! 7th Sea has always been one of my favorite game systems, and to have found a bunch of like-minded folks who love it just as much (not to mention a fantastic team of GMs who dedicate so much time and effort into making the events memorable), I simply don't have the words....

Gonna have to echo Mark about Late Nite Slice. There pizza is pretty fantastic, and I currently have mixed feelings about being on their email list.

Liked the hotel - will likely be staying there again next year, despite the disappointing water pressure.

Bad: I'm somewhat reluctantly placing the Deadlands game from Saturday night into this category.
Some fun was had, but the GM was definitely inexperienced, and the Chat-GPT generated characters left a LOT to be desired. The only really bad thing for me was testing positive for Covid Wednesday after returning home. Meant I had to cancel on my Dad for Wednesday night, which was a bit of a bummer, but I always wondered what it would be like to be a baritone, and now I know.

Bit o' Both So, I had a bit of drama on Sunday. I had brought my luggage down to the valet stand mid-morning, and asked them to pull my car up so I could load the luggage. One of the valets asked if that was all of my luggage - I said yes. He offered to take my luggage to the car, rather than pull it up. I was fine with that, and made my way back over to Clark. After emotional goodbyes, I went to claim my car. They pulled it up, and when I opened the hatch to deposit my backpack, there was no luggage. After the initial momentary panic, I went in to talk to the valet manager, who remembered me from earlier, and had helped the valet carry my luggage to the car. Turns out, ticket 901 (mine was 801) was also a white SUV, and they had put my luggage in that car. Fortunately, they had not left and my luggage was safely delivered to the correct car, and only caused about a 20 minute delay in my departure. I think the manager was a bit surprised (pleasantly, I hope) by the fact that I was not pitching a fit. All's well that ends well....

[salamanca]

Deb, that Deadlands game easily falls into the bad category.

We had nice folks playing the game but aside from the company, nothing about that game was good. I could write a paper on what not to do based on that session.

For those of you who have been around with us, you know I love running these sessions. Somebody always steps up and has a great couple of sessions at me table that makes it all work.

This year, I wasn't sure if it was Russ, Cate or Trent that was going to be the player that really found the moment i was going to appreciate because they were both a blast this year. Turns out it was a new guy on Saturday named Dana. He dove into the campaign head first and was just as immersed as the rest of you.

That's why Mark and I keep pushing chances to get started in these canpaigns. It would be easier to cut off the older sessions and focus on the recent but we still draw great new bodies to the table.

[salamanca]

Good Finished with Altamira. I still have some sessions to run there but it is complete.

Playing Deb's wingman in 3 games... always fun to game when I know there are great players at my table.

Celebrating 15 years of Matinee Adventures. Those guys rock, play their games. And somebody drag Ed and Jason back.

You, and you, and you and that guy over there. I meant what I said about friends at this con. Even the handful that irritate me with their refusal to call raises and bog down the fights. I enjoy spending time with you.

Bad the mentioned Deadlands game. That was ugly. Might crack my top 10 worst con games ever.

Shopping in the dealer room was weak. I bought one game and that was because an acquaintance wrote it. You could have handed me 5 grand and said "go spend this" and I would have returned 4,950 and a couple sets of dice i thought you'd like.

Covid. Not a fan. Do not want to do this again.

WTF Somehow, due to letting others pick, I ate at Bareburger 4 nights in a row. It's good but I think i need a change up in there.

Daily frappuccinos saved me from no coffee at all.

Why are all the breakfast options not open until after 8?

5 ducks.

[CaitlinCallahan]

This year, I wasn't sure if it was Russ, Cate or Trent that was going to be the player that really found the moment i was going to appreciate because they were both a blast this year. Turns out it was a new guy on Saturday named Dana. He dove into the campaign head first and was just as immersed as the rest of you.

Oh my gosh - Dana was fantastic!!!! Hopefully, he'll be back next year!

[salamanca]

For those that missed it...

There is a link on the Origins follow up e-mail for a survey. But there is a second link on that survey for a GAMA survey.

That is an important one to fill out because it puts you in a drawing for 2 Premier Tickets for next year. (That includes priority Hotel registration and event access)

[Lady Grace]

GOOD: Getting much needed catharsis for Annie's personal agenda. I regret nothing about using my Actor Voice there.

The LARP. Muffin totally could have been a murderer! Not to mention the "honour" we bestowed upon Jeremy's rock...

Playing "Bears In Refrigerators: The Kidnapping of Gail Simone". I got to yeet a grizzly bear into Peacemaker. 'Nuff said.

Finally getting to play "Return to Dark Tower". I kickstarted it before it came out and I have a physical copy of it, so it was nice to see how the mechanics worked. Plus, I made our lightning arbalaster's day when I gave him the go ahead to blow up the tower.

NEW BABY OWLBEAR CUB!

I won mystery dice!

Indulging in the momos at Momo Ghar. Y'all can stan Late Night Slices (and for good reason), but I needs me my momos!

BAD: The Hyatt. Staying at the Drury has spoiled me. No water pressure in the shower, no frelling microwave, pillows with no support (though, you could smother someone pretty well with them), that weird light at the foot of the beds that automatically turns on when you need to hit the bathroom, poor lighting in the aforementioned bathroom, having to beg for free hot water at the cafe for tea...

The oppressive heat outside.

Like a lot of folks here, didn't really feel the need to hit the dealer room for anything.

Lack of AC when we were in line for our badges.

I wanted to do a Deadlands game, but I'm now relieved I didn't make it.

[salamanca]

I never know which Savage Worlds setting he is running but keep Ron Ringenbach's name in mind next year for a great Savage Worlds game.

I've known him longer than any of you and he learned to game at my table. He's probably better than me by now. (And is smart enough to schedule in my time slots)

[daundelyon]

The Good: getting to run a table unexpectedly and they were super into it, SO MANY HUGS, hearing a rousing speech from another table and getting up to hand Jan a drama die, PA shenanigans, learning how to make resin dice, Jonathan Coulton concert, baby owlbear plushy, introducing Mark to a new gluten free snack option, using all my reputation dice for the first and probably last time.

The Bad: the level of exhaustion due to treatment meaning I missed seeing some people, the lack of anything really interesting in the dealer's hall, noticing missing vendors, dealing with a massive plumbing issue at home at the same time.

Looking forward to GenCon.