My friend Jason Hite asked me if I wanted to come along with him to Origins this year. He’s getting ready to Kickstart a unique and beautiful dungeon terrain set with an accompanying Old School Essentials adventure.

I had a good (but exhausting) weekend helping Jason get some attention for his Dungeon Skull project and hanging out at Origins.

Dungeon Skull showed well

I spent much of my time at Origins in Jason’s booth showing off his creation. A lot of people stopped to see it even if they weren’t into terrain or 3D printing. I got addicted to watching people’s face as one of us revealed the skull cathedral was multilayered stackable dungeon terrain. “That’s so cool,” was a common response!

In addition to convention visitors, other exhibitors, GAMA board members, and special guests stopped to check out the Dungeon Skull. It was really nice to see Jason’s work get such a positive response.

Games!

Origins has a lot of gaming events, thousands of them. Every kind of table top game is offered at the convention.

I was able to get four events submitted just in time to get them on the schedule. I ran Hogwater twice and Dungeon Skull twice. Jason was able to sit in on my Dungeon Skull sessions and take notes to clean up a few errors in the text of the adventure.

Origins is a convention where the current trends and fashions in gaming are at the fore. While there are some old school games played and sold at Origins, it’s an event where the newest and biggest games are the main focus.

Though every session I ran was filled, most of my players were not familiar with the old school games I was running. That wasn’t a problem since I was running retro-clones that assume the DM is the only person who needs to know the rules. There were several instances where I had to give some guidance to players about how modern RPGs and the classic adventure game style of play differed. Everyone had a good time as far as I could tell. Some were creeped out by the monsters of Dungeon Skull but that’s what we were going for.

First time as an exhibitor

This was my first time working a booth at a game convention. I had a good time and it was exhausting.

We left Wednesday morning so we could get to Columbus early so we wouldn’t have to spend hours waiting in the the marshalling yard for our turn to load into the convention center. We were able to go straight from the check in to the loading dock, get set up, have a leisurely lunch nearby and visit one of my favorite record stores in Columbus.

Accommodations

We stayed in an AirBnB in the German Village neighborhood.

It was roughly a 10 minute drive from the convention center. Though parking and driving to and from the event is a little inconvenient, we had a whole house in a quiet neighborhood to ourselves.

It was nice to have a peaceful place away from the bustle of High Street to unwind.

Food

Food during a convention is a big deal to me. Food issues can make a convention a lot less enjoyable. Convention food can be hit and miss. I’ve been to a few conventions with very poor food choices. Origins was very positive in the food category.

There were plenty of food options in the convention center and nearby. Even though the heat was obscene, it wasn’t too terrible to walk 10 minutes for a meal away from the convention center. The convention center is close to many locally owned restaurants. Finding a good meal wasn’t hard at all.

My overall impression of Origins

Origins is a big convention. It’s only 1/3 the size of Gen Con but still, for me, overwhelming.

Even if I was there for the full four days purely as a participant, it would be far more than I could see or experience.

There are musicians, comedians, hundreds of vendors, thousands of events, authors, seminars, a short film festival, demos, cosplay, and much more. There are many good restaurants, shops, and other attractions within walking distance of the convention center.

Despite the overwhelm, it was well run, organized and very enjoyable. The convention organizers, and volunteers kept the whole thing going. An event that big is always going to have minor issues and problems behind the scenes but I didn’t see any of them. The facility staff did a good job of keeping the place clean and functioning.

Origins is run by the Game Manufacturers Association. The event is primarily for selling table top games. The exhibitor hall is the biggest space and the axis around which the whole event spins. If you want to immerse yourself in new and different games then Origins is the place to be.

I did buy a few things. I’ve gotten very selective over the last few years and limit my purchases to things I feel I’m definitely going to play or have played recently.

Origins was fun but if I could only go to one convention a year, it wouldn’t be Origins.

The hugeness of it makes it hard to make a real connection with anyone. Everybody is hustling around trying to see and do as much as they can.

I talked to some folks I knew from around Cleveland and other conventions but those conversations never lasted more than 15 minutes. I met some nice people who were interested in some of the same things I like. We traded mail addresses and contact information so we could stay in touch but again, very short conversations.

We did spend a fair bit of time getting to know some of the neighboring vendors in the morning before the exhibit hall opened. They were very generous with their knowledge and experience of running booths at past events.

My preferred convention experiences are small conventions where gaming and making connections with other people who love and share the hobby is the primary purpose of the event.

Origins definitely has a lot of gaming and you can meet a lot of people who love games but the event itself is not set up to facilitate that as much as it is set up for publishers and vendors to sell their wares.

Lessons Learned

Plan ahead.

If you think you want to go to Origins, start thinking about 2026 right now. Seriously.

You don’t have to plan every aspect of it right now but I would definitely get on the email list and follow the relevant social media accounts. Badge and event registrations and discounted hotel room blocks are released on specific times and dates. Staying on top of those and getting them into your calendar can save you a lot of frustration.

If you want to run games, start thinking about what games you want to run. Start writing adventures, refamiliarizing yourself with the board game, or painting miniatures for your army.

Accept that there is way more than you can do or see

I think my main advice for anyone who is coming to Origins is to set some priorities. Decide what sort of thing you want to do the most and then two or three activities after that.

There will be events, booths, games that you won’t even know are there let alone participate in. That’s OK. It’s a huge event and you are one person. Focus on the things that most excite you and fill in with whatever comes along as you go.

Pace yourself and don’t over do it

As much as I enjoyed the convention, by Saturday I felt rough. I never sleep well while traveling. I eat a little more crap food than normal. Standing in the booth and running 16 hours worth of games over the four days had me feeling beat down.

If I go again, I’ll have a far less ambitious schedule.

Origins is a good event

Even though I was “working” the convention I still had a great time. I took time to walk the exhibitor hall, check out some of the events, and talk to people I knew.

The games I ran were enjoyable and I think everyone had a good time playing them.

Even though Origins is largely an event for game manufacturers and retailers to sell their products and make contacts with other people in the industry, it is also about having fun and celebrating the tabletop gaming hobby.