The Adventure Zone podcast, the McElroy family’s popular real drama series, begins its fifth full season today. called steeplechase, the campaign is set in a fictional theme park in an alternate future Georgia. The last few TAZs. Unlike the season’s, steeplechase 5th Edition will not use the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset. Instead, Game Master Justin McElroy is Relying on John Harper blade in the darkAnother critically acclaimed tabletop role-playing game.
blade in the dark First published in 2017 by Evil Hat Productions. The game is set in the fictional setting of Doscavol, a European-inspired town in the throws of the Industrial Revolution and infested with undead souls. Players take on the role of criminals, and are encouraged to play the characters as they are “driving a stolen car.” Sessions often take the form of elaborate heists, in which players are able to improvise solutions in creative ways. From our review published in 2021:
The 327-page rule book allows players to invent their own solutions to problems they face at the table. It’s less about having the right skills at the right time, and more about using the world you’ve created around you as inspiration for in-fiction inspiration. Want to go to that fancy party but don’t know how? Flash back to the beginning of the day and play a scene where you try to bribe a guard to put you on the guest list. A fight breaks out and you need an edge? Just wave your hand at the Game Master, drop some dice on the table, and pull out those brass knuckles you packed away earlier in the day.
steeplechase The campaign began on Thursday with “Session Zero,” with Justin McElroy introducing the setting and the game’s mechanics. Instead of a dark Victorian setting, the game takes place inside a vertical stack of Westworld-style immersive theme parks. McElroy said in an email that the campaign’s first level, Ustaban, is actually a reconstructed map of Kings Island in Cincinnati, Ohio.
,[It’s the same layout of the] We used to go to theme parks all the time as kids,” McElroy said. “It’s a lot of low fare, but I think it’s a good representation of how I’m putting my nerdy theme park obsession to good use.”
Image: The McElroy Family
The first episode also introduces the three main characters played by Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, and their father, Clint McElroy. The campaign has no end date, and is likely to run regularly for many years. Episodes are free to download.
This is not the first time that Adventure Zone has deviated from the D&D rule. after its opening balance The campaign arc, which ended in 2017, commitment depend on the fate system, amnesty Based on Evil Hat Productions monster of the weekAnd dust Used urban shadow, graduationWhich premiered in 2019, back to d&d as it did ethersee,
blade in the dark There has been an increase in popularity over the last year. Glass Canon Network recently launched a campaign set in Doscavol featuring reared by wolves’ Abubakar Saleem; A BAFTA winning production house is working on a TV adaptation; And start-up One More Multiverse launched a virtual tabletop solution to support the game on October 13.
[Disclosure: Justin McElroy and Griffin McElroy co-founded Polygon before going full-time as podcasters and content creators. Though they still occasionally collaborate on projects at Vox Media, they’re disconnected from all editorial decision-making.]
