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The Adventure Zone (podcast)

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Name: The Adventure Zone
Abbreviation(s): TAZ
Creator: the McElroy Brothers
Date(s): Campaign 1: Balance (December 2014–August 2017)

Campaign 2: Amnesty (January 2018–September 2019)

Campaign 3: Graduation (October 2019–April 2021

Campaign 4: Ethersea (May 2021–July 2022)

Campaign 5: Steeple Chase (September 2022–October 2023)

Campaign 6: The Adventure Zone Versus Dracula (January-August 2024)

Campaign 7: Abnimals (September 2024-Present)
Medium: podcast, Actual-play
Country of Origin: USA
External Links: http://theadventurezone.tumblr.com
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

This is the page about the podcast. For the related graphic novel, see The Adventure Zone (graphic novels).

The Adventure Zone (TAZ) is a bi-weekly actual-play podcast of the McElroy brothers and their father Clint McElroy playing tabletop RPGs. The first campaign, titled Balance and played using the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, was completed in August 2017. It spanned 69 episodes[1] And 8 arcs.

The podcast then continued with a series of shorter games using different role-playing game systems. After three separate mini-games using three different systems, the McElroys decided to resume Amnesty, which was played using the Powered by the Apocalypse system Monster of the Week, for the full season two. Season two aired from 2017 to 2019 and in October 2019 TAZ returned to D&D and entered its third season, Graduation.

The Adventure Zone: Balance

Balance is the first campaign of the podcast, and is what most of the fandom is centered around. Originally, all TAZ live shows were set in the world of the Balance Arc. As of 2020, many are now one-shots set in other universes and often played in different systems.

See The Adventure Zone: Balance for more detail.

The Adventure Zone: Amnesty

Originally one of the shorter campaigns during the experimental phase after the end of Balance, Amnesty ended up becoming Season 2. It was played using the PbtA game system Monster of the Week.

See The Adventure Zone: Amnesty for more detail.

The Adventure Zone: Graduation

Graduation is the third full-length campaign of The Adventure Zone, It was played using Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition with Travis McElroy as DM, and centered around three students named Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt, Argo Keene, and a Firbolg, all of whom were newly enrolled in the annex sidekick program at a school named "Hieronymous Wiggenstaff's School for Heroism and Villainy"

See The Adventure Zone: Graduation for more detail.

The Adventure Zone: Ethersea

Ethersea is the 4th full-length Campaign of The Adventure Zone, it was played using Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition with Griffin McElroy as the DM, and centered around Travelers from four war-torn kingdoms called the Hominine, the Einarr, the Southern Archipelago, and the Delmer congregating at the edge of a fearsome storm, following a divine invitation emanating from deep within the Ethersea.

Steeplechase

Steeplechase is the 5th full-length campaign of The Adventure Zone, it was run using the Blades in the Dark system with Justin McElroy as the GM, and centered around a crew of park employees (played by Griffin, Travis, and Clint) as they run an underground operation using Hardlight (a kind of holographic technology) to provide other workers with a luxury experience.

The Adventure Zone Versus Dracula

Versus Dracula is the 6th full-length campaign of The Adventure Zone, it was run using Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition with Griffin as the DM, and centered around a team of vampire hunters trying to kill Dracula.

Abnimals

Abnimals is the 7th full-length campaign of The Adventure Zone, it is run using a d8-based Homebrew system created by Travis the GM, and centers around 3 Animal-Themed superheros who parted ways with their old teams to join forces as a rag-tag group. Abnimals also strays away from the other campaigns due to the amount of guest players featured in the episodes, including names like Erika Ishii, Aabria lyenger, Brennan Lee Mulligan, etc

Shorter Campaigns

The Adventure Zone: Commitment

After the completion of the Balance arc, the McElroys announced that they would continue the podcast with a series of shorter, experimental games played in the FATE engine, with each of them taking turns as DM, until they figured out what they wanted the next long term story to be. The first of the shorter arcs is Commitment. It is a superhero themed game with Clint as DM, and the brothers as members of the Do Good Fellowship, a benevolent organization, who are given superpowers through a new technology.

The Adventure Zone: Nights

Nights (Sometimes written as (K)Nights) is a bonus campaign that requires a donation to the Maximum Fun Drive to listen to. It is set in a completely different world from Balance, with new characters and Travis as DM. There is far less fan content for it due to the need to pay for it.Lin-Manuel Miranda was a guest player in the third episode.

The Adventure Zone: Amnesty

Amnesty employs the Powered by the Apocalypse system; Monster of the Week. Griffin takes over this limited run. Amnesty is set in the McElroy's home state of West Virginia, and follows Duck Newton, the Lady Flame (Aubrey Little), and Ned Chicane as they fight monsters and ghouls in the Mononghahela National Forest. This is the game that would later evolve into Season 2: Amnesty.

The Adventure Zone: Dust

This arc used the Urban Shadows system developed by Magpie Games, set in a fantastic Wild West. Travis McElroy conceptualized and ran the game, and originally intended to develop a full system from scratch. However, with input from Magpie Games, he tweaked a current system and wrote an intense mystery which focuses on rival Werewolf and Vampire families in the town of Dry River.

The Adventure Zone: Outre Space

The Adventure Zone: Outre Space was a Short-term Campaign run by Clint McElroy using the Marvel Multiverse Roleplaying Game system, it featured Dimension 20 GM Gabe Hicks and Kate Welch as Players alongside Justin, Clint, and Travis

Liveshows

The McElroys also go on tour with live TAZ episodes. Originally, their live games only featured the characters from Balance in one-shot adventures, but they have since branched out into live shows featuring other characters and new games to keep things fresh. Some live shows are released along with the regular podcast. It is common for fans to come to live shows in cosplay.

Graphic Novel

There is a graphic novel adaptation of the Balance arc, drawn by Carey Pietsch and adapted by the McElroys (but mostly Clint).

For further information, see The Adventure Zone (graphic novels).

Example Fanworks

Fans of the McElroys often enjoy many of their podcasts at the same time, but The Adventure Zone appears to have the most fannish following of its own, leading to fanart, fanfiction, plot speculation, etc. Fanart and fan animations are especially popular, as the Balance Arc characters have sometimes been described on the podcast, but do not have "canon" appearances, letting fans use their own imaginations.

For Balance arc specific fanworks, see the Balance Arc's Notable Fanworks subcategory.

Fanfiction

The Adventure Zone has a very lively fandom clocking in over 11,765 works as of February 2025 with most works centering around the characters from the first campaign; Balance

  • Old Man Taako Outruns Death and Lives Forever by anonymousAlchemist

    Taako is supposed to die on the 18th of October 652 A.H. Taako knows this. Taako stole Kravitz’s calendar-slash-agenda and on 10/18/52, it is marked in red: “Take Taako home.” There’s an asterisk mark with the addendum, “buy flowers maybe?” Taako had grinned to see it.

  • The Moth who Came In from the Cold by Thor20

    Not all visions come true. Not all things can be foreseen. Not all futures can be changed. Or, Indrid Cold meets a man on a warm November day in 1963, and makes one of the biggest mistakes of his entire life.

  • The Worst Candlenights Ever by Weevilo707

    Taako and Lup have devised a plan to get back at their shitty family for the way they had treated them as children, as well as put an end to the incoming letters now that the twins have gained a little bit of notoriety. They're going to go back home for Candlenights, and it's going to be the worst Candlenights anyone there has ever had.

  • All the Things You Prayed For by anonymousAlchemist & marywhale

    Taako's been dead for two years. Taako's been dead for seven decades. Depends how you count it. Her brother is dead and Lup’s a whole lifetime into the future. It’s a brave new world out there, and she’s trying not to think about it too hard. She gets the feeling that if she starts thinking, she won’t ever stop, and she can’t afford to be out of commission. She's the only Captain America the new century’s got. (MCU AU fic)

  • hiraeth and nocturnal reverie by Salty_Cro

    Duck Newton is just a regular guy now. He can't do anything about that. But for some reason, Indrid keeps showing up. Duck can't help but get a little attached to the guy, especially since he's the only one who knows anything about destiny.

Fanart

Animatics

Zines

Cosplay

TAZ characters are popular cosplay subjects both at cons and at TAZ Live Shows. Cosplay costumes are usually highly personalized. A Taako cosplay, for instance, can consist of just a pointy hat and umbrella. Fans can add whatever else they personally feel their character would wear.

"Canon" Appearances and Representation

For the fanon/fanart discussion for the Balance arc, see the Balance Arc's Fandom Controversies subcategory. For the graphic novel specific conversions, see the Adventure Zone graphic novels' controversies subcategory.

Further reading: On The Adventure Zone Graphic Novel, Blue Taako, and Representation, post on the official TAZ Tumblr by Griffin.

Fannish Links & Resources

References

  1. ^ Nice.
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