Origins is one of the oldest gaming conventions. This was the first time I had ever attended. It is very big and a long distance from end to end. I spent a lot of time in open gaming, which was furthest from anything else.

I had toyed with the idea of going the last few years, and this year, I took the plunge last minute and was able to attend Friday and Saturday.

I met up face to face with several people from online. It was good to chat with some, and a quick “Hey!” from others. My last minute plans led to no coordination of meet ups.

I mostly wandered the venue and checked out the vendor hall. I played in two sessions of a Basic D&D game using the module Horror On The Hill. Our DM, Kelly Davis, tweaked it a bit to add some backstory and NPCs. We were too poor back in the day to buy modules, so most of them are new to me. I’m not sure how long they played before I stepped in to play a dwarf. In the two sessions that I played, we did about seven hours. Jason Hobbes kept coming by to harass us. It was fun playing with a lot of OSR grognards. The cool thing about the module is that we didn’t finish, and our DM offered to run it on Roll20, so we are working to coordinate a mutual time. This will be the first time I have played on Roll20 with anyone I have met face to face.

Before the final session I arrived in time to see Jason Hobbes wrap up the DCC game he was playing. I got sidetracked and didn’t make it there in time to join in. It was a lot of fun to watch, and lots of laughs.

The size of the con and the location make a strong argument for getting a hotel room on site, or using a driving service/taxi to get there from a more distant hotel.

I learned something to add to my pre-con checklist. There was a parade on Saturday, and I was forced to enter a parking garage and park other than where I had planned, and had a lot of unexpected walking to do to get to the con. So next time I go to a con, I will research other events on that city’s calendar to verify what might hinder travel to and from the con.

I also suggested to Origins that they let new people know about the parade that happens the same weekend almost every year. I think Google Maps should mention such things. Most cities this size have websites with calendars, and newspapers with events sections.

Origins does have its own app, GAMA, that has partial maps of the venue and the ability to search for the events in the catalog. I found it took a bit of digging to locate the search function. The maps did not clearly list the open gaming area. Overall the app was not as intuitive as I would like. There is a notes feature, but only works for events you attach the notes to, such as those you are interested in or signed up for.

Of the two books they passed out with registration, one mentioned Open Gaming, but the other didn’t. All areas should be mentioned in one book that includes all maps of the venue. Searching for open gaming in the app was no help. Open gaming seemed to be too far out, and the water jugs were dry.

The distance between open gaming and wider food choice was extreme. Snacks and a water bottle are a must.

Overall, I liked the con and will probably attend next year. It’s only a 4 1/2 hour drive from where I live, and is mostly interstate. It’s the first con that I’ve done open gaming that wasn’t the night before the con started.