Get in the Zone: The Adventure Zone!
No matter how hard I try, I have never managed to be a part of a truly epic D&D campaign—or any other tabletop system. I’ve been playing various tabletop games since I was around 15, so nearly half my life, but they all seem to peter out for various reasons. Now, I haven’t given up and am actually scoping out a new game right now, but in the meantime, thank goodness, there’s The Adventure Zone, a biweekly D&D comedy podcast that dazzles my dice.
The Adventure Zone features three brothers, Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy, along with their dad, Clint. The brothers are well-known in the podcast sphere thanks to their hilarious and successful comedy advice show My Brother, My Brother, and Me from the Maximum Fun network. Griffin is our Dungeon Master, since at the beginning of the podcast he had the most D&D experience, and so the trio of player characters is made up of Justin as Taako, an elf wizard; Travis as Magnus Burnsides, a human fighter; and Clint as Merle, a dwarf cleric.
The official Adventure Zone banner.
Just as most of the cast of The Adventure Zone had no background in D&D, neither do any listeners. There isn’t a lot of rule talk, and when it is there, it’s quick and to the point. The McElroys are there to entertain both themselves and their listeners and would rather fight gerblins or bugbears than argue about rules and statistics.
The show first started just over a year ago, with a basic campaign setting plucked out of the D&D 5th Edition Starter Set called The Lost Mines of Phandelver. But even from the get-go nothing seems particularly rote with this set of adventurers: Taako’s main mission in life, for example, is to ultimately discover the magic of tacos. The McElroy brothers are witty and quick, and with their dad in the mix, it’s easy to see where they got that from–plus, it means there’s more chance for good Dad puns. Clint sometimes gets confounded by rules and what an 8-sided die looks like, but his enthusiasm is nevertheless contagious and, honestly, it’s rather sweet listening to three adult men have such a great time with their dad.
As described on the podcast’s tumblr, “A rendering of Taako, from Sara Goetter. I think she nailed it, particularly how super, super dumb he is.”
Once Taako, Merle, and Magnus solved Griffin’s mine puzzle, that’s when things began to get interesting in the podcast’s storyline. I don’t want to spoil anything for new listeners, but suffice to say there’s some moon travel, more elevators than you’d expect, and even a high-speed chase or three.
There is one obvious issue with The Adventure Zone: it’s a podcast made up of just men. I was first exposed to the McElroy brothers through another podcast one of them does with his wife: Sawbones, which is billed as “a marital tour through misguided medicine.” I love Dr. Sydnee McElroy’s explanations of weird medical history and her groans at Justin’s awful puns and dumb jokes. I definitely wish there was a spot for her, or even an unrelated female player.
But, that said, Griffin is an amazing storyteller and that extends to his NPC creations. There are plenty of great female characters on the sidelines of the story, from the director of the organization the adventurers join up with to a bewitched, power-mad thief with wicked nature powers to a dwarf wrestler known mostly by her nickname “The Beheader.” The first important recurring NPC is a super badass young orc woman named Killian, who always seems to be stepping in to save Taako, Merle, and Magnus’s butts. Nevertheless, I’m hoping there’s at least one player-swap episode where the McElroy women step in and play an adventure.
Clint cosplaying his own character Merle at one of the McElroy’s live events.
There’s a decent-sized fandom for the show, thanks to the McElroys taking pains to include listeners. If you tweet about the show and Griffin likes your name, there’s a chance you’ll be immortalized as an NPC, for one, and listeners can also submit item descriptions for the trio to purchase at The Fantasy Costco™. The Adventure Zone even has a TV Tropes page and a tumblr, where you’ll find the amazing fanart I’ve showcased throughout this review as well as many more goodies.
I think, above all, what sets The Adventure Zone apart from other similar podcasts is the players themselves. The McElroy brothers have perfected their jabber on their other podcasts and might have stumbled on their perfect niche with this one. There are currently 30 episodes available for stream or download, so there’s your weekend planned—you’re welcome.
