Having recently returned from Origins and heading off next month to Gen Con, I’m reminded of the 3-2-1 gaming convention advice: “Every day, get at least 3 hours of sleep, 2 meals, and 1 shower.” Now the folks at Geeky Clean are providing some added incentive in the form of RPG-inspired soaps.

Just because you play a 12th lvl barbarian, doesn’t mean you need to smell like one!

Varieties include Barbarian Scrub, Magic Missile and Fireball, Mana, Health, and Druid’s Balance. Many come with an embeded d20.

[Hat Tip]

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Orchard Toys will produce at least 500 copies of the board game Norfolk Fine Foods, designed by junior school kids (9-11) in Norfolk.

The game was created to show that Norfolk can produce everything needed to eat and drink for a healthy balanced diet.

Huh. Protectionism rears its ugly head.

(source)

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Brighton, UK: Eight men at illegal card game get robbed by two men with guns, and then call the police. (source)

Ho Che Min City, Vietnam: 50 police officers and two police dogs track down and arrest 19 people gambling in a forest. (source)

Iowa City, IO: Man shot and killed at a dice game. (source)

Bridgeport, PA: One man kills another over a beer pong game. Dead man’s last words: “Shoot me, shoot me, you guys ain’t got the (expletive)!” (source)

Dunn, NC: Robbers hit a private card game, kidnap a boy, and try to rob the boy’s grandparent’s house. (source)

Meihekou, China: Man burns down house because his wife wouldn’t give him money to play mahjong. (source)

Not criminal, but worth mentioning, both in China: A 40 year old woman foamed at the mouth, fainted, and fell off her chair from excitement at winning a game of mahjong. (source) And a 68 year old man slapped the table, fell off his chair, and broke his leg from excitement at winning a game of mahjong. (source)

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After blogging about roleplaying games for about a year, as well as publishing in print Open Game Table: The Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs, Jonathan Jacobs is moving on to other projects. Rather than bemoan the change, however, Jonathan has chosen to celebrate his experience with an audio collection reminiscent of the This I Believe series on NPR.

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GOLD, our favorite internet drama about competitive roleplaying, concludes its first season with Episode 6: And the Gods Will Have Their Way. From the American team captain to the British captain:

This sentence right here is the longest I’ve thought about your training. You could be training with [expletive] St. Cuthbert himself and it wouldn’t stop my guys from crushing you like a glass golem at a stone elemental convention!

And because a series of self-referential satirical videos isn’t enough, we should soon be seeing the release of a GOLD CCG!

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Sorry for the delay on this one – my Internet connectivity was a bit spotty! Day 3 was my last day due to other obligations, but Origins really busts wide open on Friday – the crowds come out in force and nearly all of the events are in full swing. If you could only make one day of Origins, Friday is definitely the day – the crowds are large, but still manageable, there are still good deals in the exhibition hall and if you can’t find a game, you’re just not keeping your eyes open. So what was new on Friday?

• Live Auction – Troll & Toad ran the auction at Origins this year and they seem to have been taken aback by the sheer number of entries into the auction (we caught the line extending the length of two exhibition halls at one point), but they managed to get things up and running after a three hour delay
• Consignment Store – The consignment store also opened late this year and seemed to suffer from a lack of material when compared to the massive auction
• The Spiel Dinner – Steve Conway of the Spiel podcast held a dinner on Friday and then brought folks back to demo the Spiel des Jahres nominee, Fauna (which is actually pretty cool – can we get this one in the US? Please?)
• The Dice Tower Memoir ‘44 Challenge – Several stalwarts from the Dice Tower podcast took on all-comers in an overlord game of Memoir ‘44 – including our own David! Needless to say, David and his companions soundly routed their Dice Tower opponents 13-9 (seriously, it was a really close game that was well played by all – sometimes those dice just don’t like you!)
• The Smithee Awards – Like B-grade, camp movies? Then check out the Smithee Awards for all of the “pun”ishment you can handle…

Overall, I had a blast at Origins this year and my wife and I are already making plans to attend next year. Thanks to all of the new people I met (special shout outs to Sydney, Nate, Nick and Mike!) and we’ll see you next year!

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Gamers can be an odd bunch – let’s face it: most of us are a wee-bit quirky. It is with this in mind (and with the admission that we totally could be guilty of nearly any of these comments), that we present to you our favorite overheard conversations at Origins 2009:

• “If I had the budget, I would totally have an augmented LED eye”
• “There are a ton of girls at Subway who want me”
• “See – here are the other two paragraphs of rules they couldn’t fit on the card”
• “He’s definitely 50% human” (in all fairness, this was during a game of Battlestar Galactica: the Board Game by FFG)
• “And by chicks, you mean dudes in drag”
• “Eight is part of twenty-two <squeal>!”
• “Because I will kill you. And then you will be dead.”
• “He’s been waiting since puberty for someone to acknowledge that beard”
• “I’m not sandbagging – I don’t even know what sandbagging is!”
• “The rest of them are here – they’re just hiding from you and asked me not to say anything”
• “Protesting causes hair loss! And bad breath!” – claims from a group of protestors…

What were the best lines you heard?

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Day two of Origins opened with a bang on Thursday, with the show starting up in full steam (word to GAMA – I like having the conference open a day longer, but make Wed. more worth our while!). All of the major events started today, including the TerrorWerks event (check out our coverage later for an overview of this Origins staple). With the exhibition hall open, Origins has a ton going on today, including:

• Medieval combat tutorials (using bopper LARP weapons of course)
• The Exhibit Hall itself – home to move vendors than you can shake a stick at, selling everything from new releases to old classics (I tool a pretty serious look at some early 80’s Games Workshop games I’d never heard of before…)
• New game releases, including
• • Dominion: Intrique – the standalone expansion to last year’s hit release (and current Spiel de Jahres nominee
  • Race for the Galaxy: Rebel vs. Imperium – the long awaited expansion to to RtfG that brings direct player conflict to the game
  • Formula D: Map Pack 2 – Bringing the streets of Valencia and the famed Hockenheim Ring tracks to the game
  • Steam – Martin Wallace’s sequel to Age of Steam
  • Starblazers the RPG – the massive epic RPG from Mongoose based on the classic British scifi property [edit for my own Japanimation bias!]
  • Tales of the Arabian Nights – Z Man Games’ massive storytelling game
  • Battletech Strategic Operations – the newest extension of the retooled Battletech rules
• The Dice Tower Dinner – Tom Vasel’s annual trip to Max & Erma’s open to boardgamers near and far
• The Board Room Wits & Wagers Tournament – a massive team game of Wits & Wagers held in the Board Room

All of this is of course in addition to open gaming with board games, miniature games, CCGs, CMGs, RPGs and LARPs!

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I personally started off this second day of Origins with my first trip through a TerrorWerks event. For those not familiar with it, TerrorWerks is a special event run by PST Productions, a group that runs scenario-based LARPs across the country, but is probably best known for their yearly event at Origins. This year’s event is set in a small town, where Humanatek (a Unatek company) has had a slight problem with one of their genetic experiments – apparently its turned the test subjects into marauding zombies – armed marauding zombies… Its your task as a group of up to 15 researchers, security guards and convicts (hoping for early release because of good behavior and their willingness to be test subjects) to figure out what has happened and escape the facility.   

Essentially, the event is a LARP using airsoft weapons and a 45 minute time limit. I was part of the first group to go through the new Homecoming event, so realize that there were a few bugs they were still working out. Our group was 13 strong, with 5 of guards, 4 convicts and 4 researchers (I played the role of biochemist). The event starts off fairly slowly as you enter the research facility with little to guide you as to the best route. Fortunately, you’re rapidly beset upon by zombies (who really did have nice costumes) who help to quickly establish roles – convicts are brutes who scavenge, security guards defend and researchers cower…I mean use their skills and wits. The puzzles are interesting without being too difficult for the situation and time involved, but some of them are based on finding items – not easy to do when you’ve got zombies constantly attacking and the lights set to 20%… Its worth noting that only one of the actors has a significant role, the synthetic main computer and the young lady handling our session did an outstanding job. I won’t spoil the ending, but the game’s ending seems overly scripted and time dependent, making for some very awkward moments in the last 10 minutes as the party just isn’t sure what they need to be doing.

Overall, TerrorWerks is an interesting experience. I found myself running for cover, being genuinely scared by the zombie who snuck up behind me and delivered one of my two points of damage during the session and having no problem getting into character and suspending disbelief. Some of the set work could be better and I’m nearly positive that latter sessions of the game will be better than the one I was in as the team will have the opportunity to work out some of the kinks and bugs that always a plague a first event. The entry price of $20 is a bit steep for a 45 minute play time, but its a unique experience that you’re not likely to get anywhere else.

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If Hasbro can do it with Monopoly, why not with D&D?

Head over to RYZ to design sneakers with D&D themes for your chance to win $1000 and some autographed D&D material. And, of course, to have literally ones of people around the world wear them on their feet.

Competition starts on June 30.

(source)

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