I am here for Day 2 of Origins Game Fair 2026 here in Columbus, Ohio. With Day 1 being more low key because of it being the start of the convention and the vendor hall was not yet open, I started the day off excited to see the vendors, more attendees, and a flurry of activity kicking into high gear.

So here’s my recap of Day 2 of Origins Game Fair 2026.

Building Baldur’s Gate In A Boardgame

It’s no secret that one of my favorite TTRPGs is Dungeons & Dragons and I am a huge fan of the video game Baldur’s Gate 3. For Christmas last year, my wife and son got me the board game Builders of Baldur’s Gate from Wiz Kids. Like many board gamers, it still has yet to be played (although I did open the box!), so when I saw that there was a learn to play event for this board game, I jumped on board immediately to try it out.

Builders of Baldur’s Gate is a hand and resource management game, where you accrue income such as gold, resources, and influence, then you spend it to build parts of the city. The map is split into different areas and each time something is built, that area is at risk of getting attacked. If that area doesn’t have enough Keeps and Towers to protect it from the attack, then everyone who built something in that area loses it. The goal is to score as many Victory Points as possible.

Resource management games tend to overwhelm me with the amount of things you need to track and be familiar with to create strategies to play. This game started out feeling that way but after a few rounds, I actually got the hang of it and was starting to enjoy it. I think if you like those types of games and the Forgotten Realms, you’ll like this one.

Exploring The Vendor Hall

One of the many reasons why we go to conventions is to check out what people are selling in the vendor hall. Maybe we will discover a new game or find that accessory we’ve been looking for, or maybe there’s a vendor that we just enjoy visiting because we can’t get over their products.

Today as I wandered around the vendor hall, I met with the wonderful people at Band Of Idiots, who have a great product called Blackstone Blocks that are great for terrain for any fantasy RPG. They’re very creative and extremely friendly.

I also learned more about the Cosmere RPG, which I initially did not have any interest in, but I heard a representative explained the game more and now it’s on my list to try it out. They also have a starter set for $25 as well which is a good deal.

The White Feather IV: A Dragonbane Game

One of my favorite TTRPGs to play of all time is Free League’s Dragonbane. This was the very first TTRPG campaign I was in, and is also where I’ve made some lifelong friends as well. In our first campaign, I played the pregenerated character Bastonn Bloodjaw, a Wolfkin Fighter who is gluttonous but always makes sure his clothes are well maintained. Though I usually love making my own characters, Bastonn has always had a place in my heart and it’s the only character I really love playing in Dragonbane.

This was only a two hour game but it was an adventure from the newest book “Arkand,” an adventure book that takes place in the city of Arkand. As always, I had a blast playing this game. I was running a few minutes late and hate it when people are wanting on me so I picked a character that I was mildly familiar with. It was a pregen they made of a Wolfkin Fighter, with some slight differences. I did wish it went longer but the table was a lot of fun to play with. The DM from Lurking Fears was fantastic.

Being Trapped In The Tropics

So confession time. I have never been a fan of the pirate genre. There are exceptions, like Pirates of the Caribbean, but by and large, I never found them that interesting. However, Pirate Borg piqued my interest after I checked out the starter set and adventure books that were sent to me as a review copy by its publisher, Limithron. There were so many great things about the products that I really loved that I had to try it out. What better place to do that than here at Origins?

I had so much fun playing this game. We made our characters in the first 20 minutes and it was a great experience trying it out from Limithron. The DM, Bob, was fantastic as our DM, and it was exciting to play from the starter set.

It uses a d20 system but a unique aspect of this is that the Difficulty Rating is usually set to 12 for most things. This is a game where you are expected for your character to die somewhat easily. We did pretty well, all things considering. We went up against Zombies and a French Naval Ship, so we got to experience a lot of formats for the game.

Day 3 Preview

Day 3 should continue to be exciting, albeit I’ll have less games I’m playing in due to one of the events being cancelled. I’ll start off my morning playing in the Dungeons & Dragons’ organized play of Legends Of Greyhawk by Baldman Games (which I’m surprised I am enjoying playing in the Greyhawk setting!). Then later on I play to venture around the vendor hall some more to interview more vendors and attendees. Then in the evening, I’ll be attending a private event that my friend invited me to that should be a lot of fun!

Here’s to another adventure! Go reckless or go home.