Day Three…

So… blogging the con is a bit harder than I thought it would be. Here’s a brief rundown of yesterday:

10:00 — I play in the first round of the Mage: The Awakening demo tournament. The game does virtually nothing to expose the mechanics of the new Mage, it is actually a “prelude” style game; one of the characters is awakened at the end (the only surviving character — and it wasn’t mine). It was fun, though, and I got the chance to meet Matt McFarland (aka “BlackHatMatt” from the RPGnet forums), one of the writers for the new Mage. I am voted to go on to the next round, but a scheduling conflict with my Saturday Earthdawn game prevents me from actually attending.

12:00 — I cruise the dealer’s room. I see (to my amazement) copies of the new Mind’s Eye Theatre books from White Wolf. They weren’t supposed to be out until the 17th of this month. I learn that they had a limited run (about 200 copies) printed and shipped specifically for Origins. Since I have pre-ordered my copies already, I do not pick them up. I do pick up Exalted: The Authocthonians, Werewolf: The Forsaken, the Mage: The Awakening Demo pack, and “Issue 0” of the new Exalted comic book.

I also pick up a huge stack of swag from the Atlas Games booth — the new Ars Magica supplements, Unknown Armies Second Edition, and two supplements for that.

I make plans to return the next day to pick up packs of dice for Mary, and fill out our Dork Tower, Nodwick, and KoDT collections.

13:00 — I run into James, who says he is about to call the hotel to find out if the books were delivered.

14:00 — Just as we’re about to get under way with the seminar… James arrives with a CafePress box with the books! Huzzah! The seminar goes smoothly, and we actually spend a couple of hours afterward talking about various things with the attendees. Sadly, there was no sign of Andrew & Tiffany Ragland (who planned to be there for the seminar).

19:00 — I run session #2 of Journey to Lang. I get three players, all of whom are familiar with Earthdawn. The game goes pretty quickly, and we’re out of there by 21:15. I take the opportunity to hike down the road…

21:45 — I arrive at the Renaissance and manage to get involved with the second night of the Requiem LARP. My character gets on the Prince’s bad side pretty early when he is found making out with somebody else on the table in the Prince’s boardroom.

00:45 — I get back to the hotel after the LARP and give Carlton a call. They’ve managed to hook up with Andrew & Tiffany, and are at a bar just down the street. I hoof it over, only to find that last call has already gone. We head back to the Doubletree, and find the bar there just closed. Andrew gives a wonderfully persuasive speech to the lady at the front desk (they had travel troubles getting to the Con), and she convinces the bartender to get a round of beers. We then sit up for the next several hours talking shop.

04:00 — Finally turn in.

I am now getting ready to head out for the next day. I need to hit the dealer’s room, run my third session of Journey to Lang, and get ready for the last night of the LARP. In the middle of this, I will probably have to catch up with Andrew and Tiffany, and meet one or two of the other people who are coming in for tonight.

I have a whole bunch of pictures, but they’ll have to wait until later. Stay tuned!