The Adventure Zone

The Adventure Zone
Presentation
Hosted by	Griffin, Justin, Travis, and Clint McElroy
Genre	Comedy, adventure
Language	English
Updates	Bi-weekly
Length	About one hour, thirty minutes
Production
No. of episodes	68 (plus 5 bonus episodes)
Publication
Original release	August 18, 2014 – present
Provider	Maximum Fun
Website	The Adventure Zone

The Adventure Zone is a bi-weekly comedy and adventure podcast based loosely upon the popular Dungeons & Dragons game series. The show is distributed by the Maximum Fun network and hosted by brothers Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy, and father Clint McElroy. Regular episodes of the podcast feature the family solving puzzles, fighting enemies, and leveling up their characters in a series of cinematic and humorous encounters.

Format

Griffin McElroy serves as the show's primary host and Dungeon Master.

Advertisements from corporate sponsors and paid messages from listeners, "Jumbotrons", are read by Griffin in the center segment of the program. Fans tweeting about the show using "#thezonecast" may be selected to become the namesakes for various non-player characters in the story lines. Fans can also suggest items to stock a "Fantasy Costco" for the characters to buy between quests.

A special episode of the McElroy's flagship podcast, My Brother, My Brother and Me called "The Adventure Zone", was released on August 18, 2014, shortly after Justin and his wife had a baby. It featured the brothers playing a game of Dungeons & Dragons with their father, Clint.^[1] "The Adventure Zone" was later developed into its own podcast on the Maximum Fun network.^[2]

"Déjà Vu" by Mort Garson (from the album Ataraxia: The Unexplained) serves as the primary theme song for The Adventure Zone as well as various interstitials and backing tracks. Griffin McElroy also creates original compositions to enhance the show's production.^[3] These compositions are available for listening and purchase on the websites SoundCloud and Bandcamp.

A graphic novel series adapting the first story arc, The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins, is currently set for release in 2018. The book will be written by the McElroys, illustrated by Carey Pietsch, and published by First Second Books.^[4]

Quests

The primary quests in The Adventure Zone challenge the characters to retrieve a magical artifact, one of seven Grand Relics, each a mastery of one of the schools of magic, each of which compels those who find it to use it, almost always in a chaotic, destructive manner. In addition, interlude episodes exist which allow the characters to regroup, purchase new equipment and prepare for the next quest. Griffin McElroy has confirmed that the ideas for some episodes occur when watching a film or a TV show. The overall plot of the arcs involve a war catalyzed by the Grand Relics, now erased from everyone's minds but the Bureau of Balance; the secrets of the Red Robes, the magical faction who purportedly created the Grand Relics; and the lost histories of the main characters that involve a shadowy, cosmic threat to the universe.

• Here There Be Gerblins – The introductory quest is loosely based off the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set adventure Lost Mine of Phandelver, but quickly diverges into the primary plot of the adventure. The Party help Merle's cousin Gundren to find and reclaim his family's lost treasures, but instead are dragged into a conspiracy involving powerful magical weapons of mass-destruction, a war no one seems to remember, and the mysterious Bureau of Balance which seeks to keep it all hidden. It centers on the discovery of the Phoenix-Fire Gauntlet, the Grand Relic of evocation.
• Murder on the Rockport Limited – The Party goes to reclaim a relic found by a Bureau operative killed after placing it in an unbreachable vault on the Rockport Limited train. Finding a Rockport staff member murdered on the trip, the party must solve who the murderer is before the train arrives at Neverwinter. During their mission they meet and are aided by the World's Greatest (boy) Detective, Angus McDonald. The party discovers the Oculus the Grand Relic of of illusion.
• Petals to the Metal – The Party is sent to retrieve the Gaia Sash, the Grand Relic of conjuration. This relic is currently being used by a master thief known only as the Raven. Through a series of events, the party find themselves allied with Hurley, a law enforcer and former lover of Raven, and taking part in a mostly-illegal death race to claim the relic. The plot for the arc occurred to Griffin while watching Fast Five.^[5]
• The Crystal Kingdom – A science-fantasy adventure arc focused on the Philosopher's Stone, the Grand Relic aligned around the school of transmutation. The Philosopher's Stone has began transforming a floating base into crystal, with lethal consequences for the world below if it is not kept from crashing. The party must navigate the dangers of the crystallizing laboratory, track down rogue Bureau scientist Lucas, and battle with mysterious enemies including crystal golems and undead bounty hunter Kravitiz. The plot for the arc occurred to Griffin while watching Alien.^[6]
• The Eleventh Hour – An arc based around a time-loop mechanic. The Party is sent to retrieve the Temporal Chalice, the Grand Relic of Divination, only to find themselves cycling repeatedly through the final hour of a wild-west inspired town beset with a mystery.
• The Suffering Game – A darker arc, where the party must go after the Necromancy Grand relic: the Animus Bell. This relic was discovered by the Director before the Bureau was created. Inspired by the Zero Escape video game series,^[7] the group delves into Wonderland, a lethal, mentally taxing, and endless deathtrap which promises whatever participants desire as a prize for surviving, but is quickly revealed to be a trap created by a pair of liches who feed on suffering.
• The Stolen Century – A prequel arc in which the party must rediscover their true memories long forgotten and gain better insight into the Hunger, the ultimate foe of all reality.
• Story and Song – The finale arc of the first campaign, where the party must fight to stop the Hunger for good.

Characters

• Magnus Burnsides (portrayed by Travis) – A human fighter/rogue armed with a battleaxe. He often rushes into situations recklessly.
• Merle Highchurch (portrayed by Clint) - A dwarven cleric armed with a warhammer. Originally designed as a cleric of Marthammor Duin, Clint later switched his allegiance to Pan, the god of nature.
• Taako Taaco (portrayed by Justin) - An elven wizard with a focus on transmutation. Taako is a thief, canonically gay,^[8] and usually acts in an aloof manner.

As Dungeon Master, Griffin portrays all the story's NPCs. Notable characters include Lucretia, the Bureau's stony Director; Killian, a crossbow-wielding orc woman who becomes an early ally of the protagonists in Here There Be Gerblins; Carey Fangbattle, Killian's girlfriend and a dragonborn rogue who later trains Magnus; Angus, the boy detective; Garfield, The Deals Warlock and sinister owner of the Fantasy Costco; Roswell, an armoured golem who serves as deputy of Refuge; and Lucas Miller, a Bureau-affiliated scientist conducting research into the workings of the planar multiverse.

Hosts

Justin, the oldest brother, lives in Huntington, West Virginia,^[9] and works as the editor-at-large of Polygon, a video game website.^[10] Travis, the "middlest" brother, lives in Cincinnati, Ohio,^[11] and worked as a master carpenter for the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.^[12] Griffin, the "sweet baby brother" and "Forbes 30 under 30 media luminary" lives in Austin, Texas, and is the senior video producer for Polygon.^[13] Together with their father, a radio personality himself,^[14] the brothers produce the show.

Collectively, the McElroy brothers currently host eleven podcasts and produce several video series on Youtube.^[15]

All three were raised in Huntington by Clint and Leslie McElroy.^[9]

References

External links

• The Adventure Zone at MaximumFun.org
• The Adventure Zone Podcast on iTunes
• The Adventure Zone subreddit