Origins 2010 Friday Report!

Before I give the report, let me comment on this whole blog/photo gallery thing. So since I have some time on my hands, I decided to use my laptop and Google to update my friends and family about my trip and to start writing some more. It has certainly taught me much about Google, Picasa, Blogger, and my iPhone. I don't quite have the hang of it so let me know if you get this.

In the meantime, I THINK I am posting a daily blog and using Picasa's sync function to keep the slideshow on this page updated with new photos from the convention. I am also putting caption with each picture.

On with today's report!

Today was a quiet one for me. Basically, I'm exhausted from work so I used this opportunity to sleep uninterrupted for seven hours and take it easy. Since I did so much on Thursday, that was fine with me! Mark and I swung through the Exhibition Hall for awhile. We saw a pretty cool piece of software called d20Pro (http://www.d20pro.com/) and walked through the RPGA Hall. I plan on visiting Saturday and try and play. Did I mention Battletech Video Game Pods are back? They are here and the graphics look great. I almost jumped in a pod tonight! I tried to play a demo of Settlers of Catan but it was packed. I picked up a CD of background music and sound effects - I heard a podcast review of it before so I'm glad I spotted the booth and was able to meet the owners. I also picked up some gifts for the girls.

OH! I also went to Krema Candy and got myself a homemade chocolate shake and a gourmet peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. I headed outside to get some fresh air and get out of the AC. This was the same place Hayes and I went to five year ago and was featured on Food Network. It was as good as I remembered. I made sure to email Hayes to rub it in.

At this point, I think I'm done with my purchases but am tempted by a few things I may pick up at GenCon. Well, I'm disappointed that Alea Games is not here since I really wanted to buy some metal bases for my miniatures. I am VERY tempted by the deal at Reaper. Half of my paints are dried up and Reaper has a great convention deal that would include 45 paints of my choosing, a plastic organizer and carrying case. I almost bought a little wooden laser-cut sloop. I think they sold the last one today. I really like a couple of games from Atlas games and I almost bought Munchkin. One of these days...

Mark had to work Aerodrome at 11 am and then had to run a game on his own at 7 pm so I did some school work in the room and figured this blog thing out till 6 pm and then I helped Mark get all the planes and gear down to the gaming hall, which is where all my photos have come from so far. I waited around to see if Mark had any open seats and he was packed so I zipped over to this game I wanted to try out and found lots of open seats. So I gave them my $2 game token and sat down.

This game session was called "Monster Mash" and is a modified version of the 3.5 Miniatures game updated to 4E. The group running it is called Red Shirt Games. Each of us got three random monster cards and minis and our goal was to beat the crap out of each other till there was one monster standing. I got a Thrask, a Marileth, and Drizz't and Guenhwyvar. We each put our monsters in separate rooms and started moving. Luckily, I rolled pretty well and made a few good choices by going after a newbie's monsters. In the end, I was the last person standing against one of the guys who designed the game mod. Before we entered the final melee, the GM gave me a prize token for winning the game. Well, the other guy actually beat me by one point in the end but he couldn't with any prizes. I got a free pack of dice from GameScience. Cool.

Well, it's 11 pm and Mark isn't back yet. I think I'll head down and help him carry the stuff back. Tomorrow, I plan on playing a few more games. I also want to go to the Ennies at 7 pm.