The Adventure Zone
Griffin, Travis, and Justin McElroy (also of My Brother, My Brother and Me) play Dungeons & Dragons with their dad, Clint.
The podcast is on its fourth campaign, the third helmed by Griffin, the youngest brother.
The Adventure Zone (TAZ to its friends) started life as a bonus episode of MBMBaM, and has now become a wildly successful podcast in its own right, spawning live shows, fan art, a graphic novel, and even – in a snake-eating-its-own-tail sort of way – its own board game.
Going back through the archives of any podcast is a pain in the bum, but it’s worth it. You don’t need to start from episode 1, as there’s an “episode 1.5” that takes the original character-rolling discussions and picks up the pace a little.
But if starting from 2014 feels intimidating, scroll back a little to the beginning of the current season, Ethersea,.
Mark’s thoughts
5 months, 3 weeks agoIt took me two goes to get into TAZ. I gave it a shot some time in 2017 and couldn’t get past the first couple of episodes, then decided to give it another go in 2019 and blitzed through them at lightning speed.
By the time I’d finished, they were partway into Amnesty,, their second major campaign. I’d enjoyed this second season but found myself drifting off and not identifying with all the characters quite so much as with the first campaign, retroactively named Balance.
2020’s Graduation saw Griffin’s brother Travis take the wheel for an arc that had some fun elements, but I think suffered from feeling a little too much like a chance for Travis to do lots of different voices.
Griffin struck a balance (no pun intended) with non-player-characters that might have come innately to him, but which served the game well. It also lacked much actual DnD content, and the heart that was present in the first two seasons.
That said, Justin is always a highlight as he brings wonderful characters to the table. His Firbolg was hilarious but also full of heart.
There’s no way to say it without being condescending. Travis gave it a good shot.
After a fairly short break, TAZ returned with Ethersea, and with Griffin back at the wheel. As I’d felt TAZ had gone off the boil and I don’t really like stories set in and around water – just like some people don’t like fantasy or sci-fi – I initially gave it a miss, but then mainlined episodes on a long train journey.
Ethersea is proving to be a return to form, with big bold characters, lots of jokes, and plenty of action. Griffin has also pretty much perfected the cliffhanger as an art form.