Origins

[dime_novel_hero]

I decided to splurge and go to Origins Game Fair. I wasn't looking for any gaming supplies in particular but I've been wanting to play some of the games I have and perhaps seeing thousands of people collected in the Columbus Convention Center would help to inspire me a little.

The first issue was parking. The garage I typically park at was available for leaseholders only so they sent me somewhere else. That was even further away from the convention center. I drove around and saw yet another garage, closer, but they wanted $20 for parking. Finally I found a lot behind a restaurant, three blocks from the convention center, that was $5 for the day.

I've heard a story that these lots in Columbus will tow you, whether you have the receipt on the dashboard as directed or not. I have even heard that they will break the window to remove the receipt and then have you towed. A staggering level of collusion and corruption if true. I took pictures of my car and receipt just in case.

Going on a Thursday isn't as crowded as going on a weekend but there were still a lot of people there.

Two years ago I helped Kickstart an airship racing game called “Quicksilver.” I spoke with the guys at Split Second Games and showed them a link to some 3D printed airships I wanted to get to replace the cardboard tokens that came in the game. They shared with me a miniature that someone had made for them of the actual airship design from the game. The problem was that it was too delicate and broke.

They were giving away weather supplement card sets to people who purchased the game at the convention and offered that, if they still had any sets on Sunday, they would give me one for being a Kickstarter supporter and talking to them. I wasn't going to be back on Sunday but I told them that the owner of the hobby shop that went in with me on the Kickstarter was going to be at the con on Sunday and I would have him check back for me.

Free stuff. Maybe.

I've also helped Kickstart the re-release of “Space 1889.” I've gotten the PDF but it may take a few months for the final edit to be printed and shipped. In the meantime I've been reading the rules and found out that it uses the Ubiquity system. Ubiquity is also used by the “Hollow Earth Expedition” RPG (I also have a copy of that) so I stopped by the Studio 2 Publishing booth and picked up some dice.

To explain a little bit about the Ubiquity system, it is a dice pool system, a bit like the Savage Worlds system that I played a lot of “Deadlands” with. Your character will have a level of skill and you will roll a number of dice equal to that skill level to determine the success of your action. Unlike Savage Worlds, the Ubiquity uses all the same die. In fact, it doesn't even matter which kind of die that you use.

For example. Let's say that I am trying to accomplish a certain task. It is considered a tough action and so I need to have 3 successes. A success is determined by rolling an even number on a die. It doesn't matter what kind of die, d4, d6, d8, roll even it's a success, roll odd, it's a failure. 50% for each die.

If I have 3 skill points that means I roll three dice and I would need to roll even on all three of them to succeed. The odds of that are 50% of 50% of 50% or 12.5%. That's one chance in 8.

Now, here's where the special dice come in. The Ubiquity dice are d8. One die is numbered with only 0s and 1s. Four of each so even odds. Another die is numbered 0 through 3. There is one 3 which represents the 1 chance in 8 of getting 3 successes, three 2s, three 1s and one zero. Roll this die and it tells you the number of successes and they are exactly the same odds as if you threw three dice and counted only the evens as successes. Using the custom dice results in the same odds but you can roll two special dice numbered to 3 rather than rolling six dice.

One of the quirks of Savage Worlds and it's “exploding” dice (roll the maximum on a die and get to roll again and add) is that you have better odds of success by having a lower skill level (d4) than having a higher skill (d6). Ubiquity, whether using the special dice or not, has a proper bell curve of probability.

The proof is in the playing and I haven't played it yet but it does seem a better system than Savage Worlds and it also seems not much unlike the original “Space 1889” rules I played in 1988, at least as far as skills and combat. The new rules have a lot more flexibility in its character development and I should be able to easily add even more features from other games.

Once I get the published rules, I intend to run a campaign. Ultimately, it won't be exactly “Space 1889” because I happen not to like the Mars as a stand in for British colonial India portrayed in the game as much as I like the Mars of H. G. Wells with tripod war machines, heat rays and “intellects, vast, cool, and unsympathetic.” I also want to run things earlier, perhaps around 1875 before airships, spaceships and technological marvels are commonplace. I want the characters to be on the cutting edge. Perhaps they are the first to discover the secret mineral that allows for space travel. I want to throw elements from just about every steampunk RPG in there as well; “Deadlands”, “The Kerberos Club”, “Stars of Empire”, “Rippers”, and “Castle Falkenstein”. I've got shelves full of steampunk novels and comics to draw from as well. Hopefully, I can run a good game.

Anyway, after that digression, back to the convention floor.

One of the dealers had a number of Denix firearm replicas at retail cost, which is about a third over what you can find online.

I ran into Steampunk Santa. He was helping out with Mayfair Games.

The Flying Buffalo booth had hardcover copies of “Ace of Aces.” “Aces” came out in 1980 and was one of my favorites. It's a simple WWI air combat game where you both start on the same page, which gives views from the two combatant aircraft. You choose a maneuver and send your opponent to look at the page your book says and vice versa. On that page, they reference the maneuver which sends you both to the same final page that shows the result of your maneuver.

When I was in Boy Scouts, the troop would go hiking or camping and I would take “Ace of Aces”. My fellow scouts would play the game and the winner would challenge me. I would shoot him down and they would go off again, hoping to learn how to best me.

It was a simple yet elegant game that won awards and Flying Buffalo got the rights to reprint in in a hardcover edition. Too bad I can't afford it but it does inspire me to pull out my well worn copy again.

Jolly Roger Games has re-released and updated another of my favorite games from the 1980s; “Kremlin”. Originally published by Fata Morgana (the version I played) and later re-released by Avalon Hill, Kremlin was a fun game of political intrigue and backstabbing in the Soviet Union. Jolly Roger has updated the game to modern times as well as keeping all the rules and characters from the original.

Last year, one of the best miniatures setups was from Gettysburg Solders. Their miniature terrain was immediately identifiable as the fields of Gettysburg, the figures were well painted and the rules seemed pretty straightforward. This year, they set up the battle of the Alamo. Seeing it laid out to scale with the number of defenders makes it very clear that it was not a winnable battle for the Americans. I put in a slip to win the Alamo miniature itself, not that I need it but free is free.

Someone else featuring a different game system had the Battle of Isandlwana. Another scenerio that didn't go well for the defenders. But to then think about it further, the subsequent Battle of Rorke's Drift would look very similar except that they had a defensible position. In that context, the Alamo would look like a defensible position if you ignore most of the mission and instead concentrated your forces. Of course, being attacked by artillery would change that dynamic.

More so than just the play, this is what I find interesting about war games. They get to play out different scenarios to find out if things really could have turned out differently.  I remember playing "Axis and Allies" and having the Japanese rolling armor into Moscow. Yea, well, if you abstract the game too much the plausibility of alternative history is diminished.

Ares Games, the makers of the “Wings of War” WWI air combat game, have released a Napoleonic naval combat game called “Sails of Glory”. It uses a somewhat similar game mechanic in that you choose maneuver cards and then the cards are used to maneuver the miniatures. I liked the game but I have “Wings of War” that I don't play.

I have too many games that I don't play. I need to fix that.

Last year there was a dealer with a lot of used and discount games. Too bad he wasn't around this year or I might have bought more games that I won't play.

I've heard complaints online about a number of dealers that weren't there. The general consensus was that Origins went through a lean time and is now appearing to recover somewhat though it is being held back by where it sits on the calendar. I'll admit to not being in the gaming scene or the con circuit to formulate an informed opinion.

In the end, Origins was a lot more expensive than I could really afford. The day pass was $20, which isn't bad, but I spent $60 filling the gas tank. I spent maybe $50 on gaming stuff (including an RPG plot hook supplement that I will use in my “Space 1889” campaign), $40 on gourmet ice cream and ate out for lunch and dinner. A lot of money to spend in a day when you don't have a job.

My car was unmolested when I returned.