Origins Blog 2008! Entry Four

Alert! Blog Entries this week were written one week prior, on Saturday, June 28!

Whew. Origins is winding down, and the Witt-Weggers’ trip out here is about to come to a close. We head out tomorrow morning, to head home and actually get some sleep for once!

After El Willy’s Midnight Madness game, I got only about 4 hours of sleep before waking up (an hour early! Gah!) for my two seminars of the convention. The first was more of an informative session, dealing specifically with the ins and outs of getting a game published with a small-press. Michelle Nephew was particularly informative, and the setting was really casual. I took something like 5 pages of notes, and am slowly realizing that my game needs a ton of revisions—time to get back after the playtesting!

The second seminar, on 4e with Mike Mearls, was really a pleasant indulgence. Mearls really is a receptive guy, who knows his audience in and out. He was eager to ask just about any question we put to him, which was nice, as I was really curious to see his input on the new cosmology. While I still miss my beloved Great Wheel, I can see why the design team went the way they did—the idea being that, if you’re going for a setting-less game, why include a specific setting to muck things up? Again, Mearls was really a stand-up guy, and I was lucky enough to get to thank him for the earlier (near?) encounter over with Amorphous Blob.


A very sleep deprived Andy, with Mike Mearls, creator of D&D 4th Edition

Meeting up with Lionel after the game (and a purchase of Hex Hex, from Smirk and Dagger), we swiftly tried to make it over to North Market to grab some lunch…only to be interrupted by Columbus’s Annual Pride Day Parade. Thwarted by fate, we settled for the overpriced convention center food and relaxed with Jules and Ebbs while playing the aforementioned Hex Hex.


The Columbus Pride Day Parade...keeping us from North Market!

We did manage some time at the dealer-room today, which was fantastic, as I was able to finalize my purchases. More on those in a later entry.

Dinner came swiftly, and along with it came Lionel’s parents and cousin, in from New Jersey. As such, we headed to Buca di Beppo, a homestyle Italian chain.

Let me tell you this. I don’t think the ball of pasta that was my Gnocci de Telefone will ever leave my stomach. The walk back was hard enough. Making it to our final game—“Fallen Angels” done in Dark Heresy—will be just as big a challenge.


Lionel and Ebbs around the table, in the GrimDark of the far future...

With that, I’m out! Our happy next entry will be from the wondrous comfort of our apartment, as I wrap-up my con coverage and this year’s purchases.