Origins Gaming

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

We got back from Origins yesterday, the biggest little gaming convention. Lots of fun, much exhausting. Here's the theory and practice of my schedule, 40 hours of gaming scheduled, 32 actually played. I reckon I earned my green Go Play sticker.

Wednesday: The first time we flew out early enough for me to make a Wednesday game, thanks to the holiday.

7 pm to 11 pm, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Ages: Unsung Saga. Ran as promised. Good, solid scenario. The author, Oscar Rios, watched, and bit his nails, trying not to backseat drive.

Thursday: Much shopping, one gentle spill down the steps. One smart move on my part: Letting go of all the books in my arms as I fell. Gentle spill, no bruises.

6 pm to 10 pm: Hands and Faces. No show GM. Didn't show last year when ebartley had her game with him. Hm. Did some resting and some yiming for a pbem game.

11 pm to 3 am: Call of Cthulhu: Setting Sun, Rising Tide. Japanese soldiers in WWII. Awesome. Written and run by Oscar Rios. I'd wondered just how often one could do the "pretend your characters know absolutely nothing about the mythos". Answer: As long as someone keeps coming up with scenarios like this one. I've played in indie games that ran less edgy than this.

Friday: Felt like crud, and discovered that a spicey Alaska roll works better than a heavy breakfast to perk me up under such circumstances.

10 am to 2 pm: Pendragon, A Knight to Remember. The adventure set before the one I played in last year. Not as jaw-droppingly awesome, but a good, solid adventure, run and written by Tara Lydick.

6 pm to 10 pm: Scheduled: Dogs in the Vineyard: Doga of New Canaan. Upon learning that it was the same GM who didn't show yesterday, I rescheduled for Unknown Armies: Throw a Penny. Good move: DitV GM didn't show. And he had a full table, including one guy who'd bound his copy of DitV in leather, with a tree of life on it. The UA game was run by Lori Piper, who, as she put it, studied at the Todd Furler school of running games. jlighton genericed into this one, and did a good job of playing the delicate psychic. Todd and Lori noted the problem of not knowing the latest status of their games, as Lori had thought her game was sold out, finding out otherwise only because I told her that when I bought my ticket, at 3 pm, there had been 3 open slots and were now 2.

11 pm to 3 am: Call of Cthulhu: The Dean in Yellow. By 3 am, I reckon there were 1-3 hours worth of play left to go. Someone had already gone to crash by then. I was blacking out in my seat, so I bowed out as well. Reasonable CoC game, but I'm not sure how it could run in a 4 hour slot. mnemex listened to my incoherent account of what happened during the parts I played in and said, "Aggressive scene framing." The most powerful scene for me was the one set at the coroner's office, where some, ah, delicate questions needed to be asked. This was part of the Burke University series of adventures. Anyone reading this who played out the adventure? If so, tell me how it ended.

Saturday: And I thought I felt like crud on Friday! Ah, the revivifying power of La Krema's buckeye shakes.

1 pm to 5 pm: Unknown Armies: Thy Will, written and run by Todd Furler. 4 of 6 spots filled, which did some interesting things to the game. One female PC that, in Todd's experience, is best played by a woman. Philosophical, edgy, harrowing, and with simple, but useful guidelines for making this work. I've a minor philosophical nit, but it's not an important one, as it only applies outside the context of this being an rpg scenario.

6 pm to 10 pm: octaNe: Reign of Blood, Parts I and II, written and run by Todd Furler. As comedic as Thy Will was serious, if not more so. I was able to do the thing my character sheet said I should try to do. Interesting object lesson on what just plain isn't important, as we raced at breakneck speed to cover as much ground as possible. Much laughter. And five minutes of wacky parachute hijinks inflicted on the PCs by their own players. When I asked, Todd said that yes, this does seem to happen a lot in octaNe -- the hijinks, not necessarily the parachutes.

10 pm to 2 am: Call of Cthulhu: The Convicts. I sold the ticket back on this one and alerted one of the folks running the Cthulhu room. I'd have liked to make it, but I knew my body was just not up to this. I packed, showered, and slept instead.

Sunday: Got checked out, grabbed food.

1 pm to 5 pm: Cat: Toccata and Fur in A Minor: Lots of fun. On the spot lightning quick character generation. Only sour note: No copies of Cat available for sale at the con.

I'm glad I didn't cancel that one, as our flight got delayed.