I little query about Origins past...

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I little query about Origins past...

Postby salamanca » Mon Jun 15, 2020 2:28 pm

Ok, actually a couple questions.

First off, if my math is correct, 2020 should have been Origins #46 and the 25th to take place in Columbus. We all know Charlie has a probable claim to the most attended by a non-employee. He has a good shot at the most consecutive too.

But how many of you have attended all 24 that have been held in Columbus?

Just wondering who else has endured all the remodels, management changes, line hassles and whatnot.

On to topic 2: (something we all can answer)
What was your first year at Origins and do you recall the first game you played?

As I said, for me it is '96. We rolled down on Friday morning (back when it was a 4 day con) and i was in a Feng Shui game around noon. It was not an eventful event.

Topic 3: Who is the oldest friend you still see that you made at Origins?

I met Roger and Connie Bechtel saturday morning of Origins '96. (That was an eventful event. Session was run by the guy that hosted the Smithee awards. It was a chaotic, glorious 4 hours) Megaparanoia followed that night and legends were born.

Topic 4:
Outside of the cliched and buttkissing answer of your friendly HoA GMs, who are the best GMs you have ever encountered at Origins?

I have a short list and they are the ones i have stolen every good technique from. (Hopefully while avoiding their flaws)
Ed Rollins, Jason Haskins, Akira Barnes, Cthulhu Bob, and Big Daddy Thwak.

Topic 5, What is the coolest spot in the complex?
For Temperature, the room down in C hall they stuck the Crimson Valor campaign in where the thermostat was broken at 62 degrees.

For awesomeness: before the last renovation the top floor crow's nest on the elevator next to the big bar. You could look down on the atrium of the hyatt amd see all the gamers milling about. It is still ok, but the new interior of that area really limited the view.
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Re: I little query about Origins past...

Postby kenderleech » Mon Jun 15, 2020 3:45 pm

Ive been to 7 origins, the first game i played at an origins.. was episode 9. It was a great time, dave. ive actually only played 2 games that werent ours there, one was a playtest for Hood: adventures in sherwood, and the other was a demo for Iron and Ale, the dwarven drinking game. The 'coolest' spot ive found was definitely one of the warmer ones, the first year i attended, I wound up parked on the top floor of a parking garage 6 or so blocks away from the convention center. Even for a guy afraid of heights, the view was amazing. It was the building behind the mongolian BBQ, i think.
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Re: I little query about Origins past...

Postby salamanca » Mon Jun 15, 2020 5:16 pm

Wait...THAT episode 9? Yeah, rest of the con sucks and will never live up to that.
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Re: I little query about Origins past...

Postby kenderleech » Mon Jun 15, 2020 5:49 pm

Yes, THAT episode 9. was my first actual game played at origins. I ran a few sessions beforehand, but that was the first one i played.
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Re: I little query about Origins past...

Postby CaitlinCallahan » Mon Jun 15, 2020 6:22 pm

Okay, here goes....

Topic 1: I have definitely not attended all 24 cons held in Columbus.

Topic 2: It was the year we did the first 7th Sea LARP - Villanova's Ball (not sure what year it was). And the first game I played was surprisingly enough not a 7th Sea game. Rather, it was Planescape. It was okay, but not overly memorable.

Topic 3: Oldest friend that I made at Origins? Um, I guess that would be Dave, and probably Charlie (I met both of you that year).

Topic 4: This is a tough one, since I pretty much exclusively play HoA at Origins (and have had some less than ideal GM experiences when I have ventured outside my comfort zone). Two of my favorite non-HoA games were the jailbreak adventure that Dave ran for the ladies on my first trip to Origins, and Caligari's Angels (especially since I got to play a Salamanca).

Topic 5: Coolest spot in the complex? I'd have to say the room in the Hilton where we had the first two 7th Sea LARPs. It really was an ideal spot for the LARPs.
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Re: I little query about Origins past...

Postby Lady Grace » Mon Jun 15, 2020 6:30 pm

and Caligari's Angels (especially since I got to play a Salamanca).


*blushes*
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Re: I little query about Origins past...

Postby salamanca » Mon Jun 15, 2020 9:13 pm

CaitlinCallahan wrote:
Topic 5: Coolest spot in the complex? I'd have to say the room in the Hilton where we had the first two 7th Sea LARPs. It really was an ideal spot for the LARPs.


The legendary and mostly invisible Peppercorn Room. They use it for storage now, real shame.

It does remind me of another cool spot most of you never saw.

The original Batelle Ballroom had a smaller back section below the balcony. It was accesible from a stairway outside the north end of the Big Bar. Stairs are still there but i think the entry has been sealed.
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Re: I little query about Origins past...

Postby Black Jack Rackham » Tue Jun 16, 2020 11:29 am

1) Not even close to all of the ones in Columbus. I'm up over 10 (since we were about to start Year 10 of HoA) but how much more, I'm not positive. Although I can remember a lot of the remodels, management changes, line hassles and whatnot.

2) As I mentioned above, I am not sure what year I started going, but I seem to recall that Laura told me it was the year after she started going. I am also unsure what my first game was, but I am relatively certain it was a Crimson Valor event.

EDIT: Laura called to have pointed words with me regarding my inaccurate memories. What follows is a FAR more accurate retelling (thanks to Laura) 2006 was my first year (which means this year would have been 14, wow!) and Laura did not go. (PS her first year was 2004 the year of Villanova's Ball, so there you go Deb), she did not come back until 07 and that's when she knocked on my door. BUT I had already met Dave by that point.


3) That I still see? Hmm take your pick among Dave, Charlie, Jeremy, Katie, or Mike (there were more like, Bill, Steph, Casey, Casey's Son, etc., but I barely ever see them anymore) I think it's technically Dave since Laura brought him to my room within minutes of my arrival but I was exhausted and sent them both away without opening the door (so does that really count?)

4) I haven't ever actually played with Ed or Thwack so I can't say either of them. But Cthulhu Bob, Jason, and the guy who ran that wild west Cthulhu game were up there.

Though there is one other who's skill I admire and who's acting/improv skill is second to none. I watched him bring a table to tears over the death of one of the players. Am I jealous, yes, yes I am. Am I glad he lets me watch and learn, yes, yes I am. Anyone who says I am sucking up is just dead wrong. Dave is the bomb.

5) Well there are so many cool spots all for different reasons. The bathroom down C hall where I know it'll be a Great Day is one of them (though now that I think about it, this might fall better under, coolest stories). The crows nest is also very very neat. I also love the spot just at the top of the escalators where we ran that one year we had non-existent tables has a neat view of the eating area. And you know I love the bathrooms outside Battelle Hall. But If I have to point out the coolest spots, I have two picks.

The first is the escalators at the south end of the convention center. Its there, every year, that I stop to bask in the geekness around me. It's not until I arrive there until I feel like I am truly home. In front of me are the dozens of hanging signs from various groups announcing their wares and the big WELCOME TO ORIGINS sign.

The second is our home. That little hallway where we've spend nearly a decade playing games together the names roll out in order every time, Clark, Champaign, Knox, Marion, Morrow. When they moved us to the Union hall, I was bummed. That's not our home, the other hallway is.
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Re: I little query about Origins past...

Postby Sister Sonya » Tue Jun 16, 2020 4:13 pm

My first Origins was 1979 in Chester, PA.

Having attended local Cons and GenCon for years before that, and not liking most of the typical D&D events that one might find, I mostly went to Origins to attend seminars, free demonstrations about new games (how better to appreciate an unfamiliar game than to have someone who knows it teach it to you?) and the dealers area.

I don't think I've missed any, in Baltimore et.al., and Columbus is only a 6 hour drive. But, I could have.

I used to play in a lot of PBM games, so PBM friends were first choice to visit.

to be continued...
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Re: I little query about Origins past...

Postby cpugs » Tue Jun 16, 2020 4:45 pm

1) All but 1 of the Columbus Origins, the year my oldest graduated. All of the rest.
2) 1975, Blitzkreig tournament.
3) Oldest friends, outside of all of you? Lee McCormick from Delaware who I met in 1979.
4) I agree with Dave’s list, but also Dave (The Late, Late, Show), Floyd, and Mark. I don’t believe I have been in an event Ken has run.
5) Where ever we are. After that the C wing bathroom…..
Last edited by cpugs on Tue Jun 16, 2020 8:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: I little query about Origins past...

Postby salamanca » Tue Jun 16, 2020 5:56 pm

Well, the truth is i am a better Late, Late Show GM than 7th sea. (That will come up in a different thread)

Mark mentioned that moment at the top of the stairs of the convention hall and i think i taught him that trick.

You see, that is when and where the week gets weird for me. I have been suspecting for several years that i am leeching life off of the gamers at Origins. There is a scent in the air on Thursday morning that is part commercial cleaner, part kicked up carpet dust and part still clean gamers. And then i get the sense of excitement and energy off of them.

For the next 4 and a half days i will be just fine with no sleep. I will not get hungry. (every night we all go to dinner and i catch myself thinking, why are we stopping the gaming just for food? Do i need food?) I will not notice time pass. I am surviving on the energy and enthusiasm of the con. And that 5 day span keeps me functional for a year.

Now we shall find out how much of that enthusiasm is left over...hope it lasts the winter.
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Re: I little query about Origins past...

Postby cpugs » Tue Jun 16, 2020 6:26 pm

Agreed. Origins has always been my coping method for the day to day crap I go through. Nothing is happening this summer. I imagine I will find a way to survive, but I will always dream of what might have been...
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Re: I little query about Origins past...

Postby Lady Grace » Tue Jun 16, 2020 6:58 pm

My cats are giving me extra snuggles (this is usually the time of year I have a break from cat dander) this week.

2. I wanna say we started going in '03.

3. Mark, Dave & Jeremy

4. The GMs over at Kettle of Fish
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