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—The Adventure Zone official Maximum Fun blurb

The Adventure Zone is an actual-play TTRPG podcast (and to a lesser extent, graphic novel series) run by the McElroy brothers and their dad . It is hosted on the Maximum Fun Network , and released fortnightly.

• 1.1.1 Balance
• 1.1.2 Experimental era
• 1.1.3 Amnesty
• 1.1.4 Graduation
• 1.1.5 Ethersea
• 1.2 Graphic novel
• 2.1 Primary campaigns
• 2.2 Experimental arcs
• 2.3 Maximum Fun Drive
• 2.4 Liveshow one-shots

History [ ]

Podcast [ ].

Initially a one-off MBMBAM filler episode, popular request led The Adventure Zone to become a full-time podcast. It ended up eclipsing the original in popularity, but that didn't happen until later.

Balance [ ]

Main article: Campaign 1: The Balance Arc

Originally simply called "The Adventure Zone," the Balance campaign kicked off the show. Balance centers around the three-player party of Magnus Burnsides , Merle Highchurch , and Taako , as well as some of their friends , and their quest to find, capture, and destroy the immensely powerful Grand Relics to prevent them from being used for evil. But beware: not all is as it seems.

The campaign consisted of seven arcs.

• The first arc, Here There Be Gerblins , began as a game of Dungeons & Dragons running the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure, but quickly diverged from the path of the module and became its own story serving to lead into the larger picture of the Balance arc.
• The second arc, Murder on the Rockport Limited , was the first of entirely original material on Griffin's part (if you don't count Moonlighting ), an Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery.
• The third arc, Petals to the Metal , did double duty as a bank heist and an illegal wagon race as the boys attempted to wrest a powerful relic from the hands of a self-made supervillain.
• The fourth arc, The Crystal Kingdom , had the boys fighting to recover the ubiquitous Philosopher's Stone from a floating laboratory before a science experiment gone wrong could cause it to crash into the ocean and transform all of Faerun into crystal.
• The fifth arc, The Eleventh Hour , sent the party into a Wild West inspired town, with the mission of solving its history mystery and freeing it from a 24-hour time loop.
• The sixth arc, The Suffering Game , trapped the party in a twisted amusement park of pain with the promise of their wildest dreams gated behind it.
• The seventh arc, The Stolen Century , looked into the boys' long-forgotten past to find the secrets that were there all along.
• The eighth arc, Story and Song , consisted of the final battle to save their universe.

Experimental era [ ]

Main articles: Campaign 2: Commitment , Campaign 3: Amnesty , and Campaign 4: Dust

After Balance concluded, in order to find their footing in the process of reformatting The Adventure Zone from just Balance into a multi-season show with Balance as its first, the McElroys tried out several new miniature campaigns with the goal of seeing what stuck. However, it soon became apparent that what didn't stick was the format in general, and they abandoned the experimental arcs early due to losing listeners.

• The first experimental arc, Commitment , DMed by Clint McElroy, was done through the Fate system and took place in present-day America, centering around the first mission of neophyte superheroes to rescue a slightly more experienced one from herself.
• The second experimental arc, Amnesty , DMed once again by Griffin McElroy, was done through the Powered by the Apocalypse system and centered around a haphazardly assembled group teaming up to defeat a monster from another world. After the cessation of the experimental era, this arc was chosen to be adapted into the next full-length campaign.
• The third experimental arc, Dust , DMed by Travis McElroy, was also done through Powered by the Apocalypse and had three detectives trying to solve a murder in a Western setting.

During this era, the show adopted a new general-purpose logo image (the prior one only representing Balance), a six-segment art piece adapted from the Bureau of Balance logo.

Amnesty [ ]

Main article: Campaign 3: Amnesty

The second of three experimental arcs, expanded into a full campaign for The Adventure Zone's second season. Duck Newton the park ranger, Aubrey Little the stage magician, and Ned Chicane the tourist trap owner become unlikely heroes defending the town of Kepler , West Virginia from abominable invaders. Amnesty follows a story structure similar to Balance, with distinct arcs separated by interlude episodes.

• The first arc, told during the experimental period, features the three protagonists' call to adventure after an unlikely series of events drew them all towards a mysterious archway in the woods. With help from newfound allies in the Pine Guard , they embrace their respective destinies (or random luck) and hunt their first abomination, the Beast.
• The second arc resumes with the Pine Guard learning of the next abomination to besiege Kepler, the Water. On their mission to conquer this elemental foe, they become acquainted with the planet of Sylvain , which is connected to their world by the archway.
• In the third arc, the Pine Guard investigate a series of accidents around Kepler, and make a surprising new friend who leads them to the next abomination, the Calamity.
• In the fourth arc, with their complicated pasts and future visions all coming back to bite them, our heroes come face to face with the Countenance.
• The story concludes in the seven-episode finale arc, with a fight for the fate of Earth and Sylvain alike.

Graduation [ ]

Main article: Campaign 5: Graduation

With Travis as DM, the podcast returns to Dungeons & Dragons once more with a story following three roommates at Hieronymous Wiggenstaff's School for Heroism and Villainy , the preeminent learning institution for any aspiring hero or villain. The knight school dropout Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt , the affable rogue Argo Keene , and the nameless exile Master Firbolg are initially enrolled not as heroes or villains, but as sidekicks and henchpeople—though that doesn't stop them from discovering a secret society, memory-altering magic, and a whole bunch of demons.

Unlike Balance or Amnesty, Graduation's story structure does not lend itself towards distinct arcs.

Ethersea [ ]

Main article : Campaign 6: Ethersea

Griffin returns as the DM for this undersea adventure. This campaign follows the adventures of the ex-psychic shark warrior Amber Gris , a previously cloistered parishioner Devo la Main , and a coral-bodied cartographer named Zoox Anthellae as they begin to take work for the Bluespan Brokerage via their ship, The Coriolis.

This season begins with five "prologue" episodes focusing on world-building using The Quiet Year game system, then returns to Dungeons & Dragons for the campaign proper.

• The first arc, The Gallery Job , begins with Amber, Devo, and Zoox attempting to secure their contract with the Bluespan Brokerage; and in order to do so, they must first obtain a ship. This quest leads them to take a job with a Brinarr archaeologist named Guthrie , who hires the trio to help him scavenge long-lost art pieces from the wreckage of a surface installation.
• The second arc, The Infinite Clam, follows the player characters' first official mission as "freelancers" aboard their new ship, the Coriolis . After reluctantly accepting a job from the Benevolent Parish , the trio ventures into the Ethersea to locate a missing church official Benefactor Orlene , whom they find trapped inside a large and unusually magical clam.
• The third arc, The Abyssal Auction , follows Amber, Devo, and Zoox to a mysterious and illegal auction house, where they go must undercover to attempt to win a very valuable journal for Amber's mentor, Ol' Joshy.
• The fourth arc, Cambria's Call, begins after the Coriolis accidentally carries a deadly virus known as the Sallow back to Founder's Wake. When the virus decimates the magical phytoplankton maintaining city's infrastructure, Amber, Devo, and Zoox team up with famous explorer Finneas Cawl to replace them; but even figuring out how to do so is easier said than done.
• The fifth arc, The Menagerie , begins with the Coriolis crew taking a job from the Curator to find and retrieve the surface animals that have been stolen from the Conservatory. They journey to Crescendo, a secret society in the Ethersea whose members take pleasure in hunting rare species to extinction.
• The sixth and final arc of Ethersea is called Benefactor's Folly, which begins with the sudden death of Devo's estranged mentor and mother-figure, the Hand of Guidance . The trio is compelled to investigate the circumstances of her demise and track down her suspected killer with the help of Amber's childhood friend, Ballaster Kodeira . In doing so, Amber, Devo, and Zoox are forced to choose what matters to them most, and how far they're willing to go to get and/or save it.

Season One of Ethersea concluded after forty-four episodes on July 28th, 2022. The McElroys have stated that they would like to return to Ethersea for future season(s) of the podcast, although whether or not those seasons will feature Amber, Devo, and Zoox has yet to be decided.

Graphic novel [ ]

The McElroys are in the process of publishing graphic novel adaptations of The Balance Arc, illustrated by Carey Pietsch . These graphic novels follow the same overall story as the first campaign, but there are several differences including the changing of trademarked names from the Phandelver module, and the tweaking of minor plot details to improve continuity. The fifth book, based on the Eleventh Hour arc, is set to be released on February 21st, 2023. [1]

Campaigns [ ]

Primary campaigns [ ].

• Campaign 1: The Balance Arc
• Campaign 3: Amnesty
• Campaign 5: Graduation
• Campaign 6: Ethersea

Experimental arcs [ ]

• Campaign 2: Commitment
• Campaign 3: Amnesty (first arc)
• Campaign 4: Dust

Maximum Fun Drive [ ]

• MaxFunDrive Bonus Campaign: (K)nights
• MaxFunDrive Bonus Campaign: Elementary
• MaxFunDrive Bonus Campaign: Fur

Liveshow one-shots [ ]

• TAZ: Hootenanny - Live in Nashville!
• TAZ: Inheritance
• TAZ: Holiday Brawl in Chicago!
• The brothers and their father communicate through Skype to play audio-only games of tabletop RPGs. This is done due to the family's separation geographically, and helps make the podcast experience more genuine.
• The show's arc names follow a jumbled alphabetical progression .
• Despite their own blurb, no TAZ characters have ever slain a kobold (yet).
• ↑ https://read.macmillan.com/the-adventure-zone/
• 1 Campaign 1: The Balance Arc
• 2 Campaign 3: Amnesty
• 3 Campaign 6: Ethersea

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Episode Guide

This page lists all episodes in the order in which they aired. All episodes are listed as they appear on the Maximum Fun website , and the overall episode # is derived from the file names of episode transcripts.

• 1.1 Main Campaigns
• 1.2 Mini-Campaigns
• 1.3 Live Episodes
• 2 Episode List
• 3 MaxFun Drive Bonus Episodes

Series Overview edit | hide all | hide | edit source

Each campaign has its own episodes grouped together on its page. Both the number of episodes aired and when they last aired only considers the main seasons, not live or bonus episodes.

Main Campaigns edit | hide | edit source

Mini-campaigns edit | hide | edit source, live episodes edit | hide | edit source.

Main page: Category:Live Campaigns

Episode List edit | hide | edit source

Maxfun drive bonus episodes edit | hide | edit source.

Main article: Maximum Fun Bonus Content

• ↑ Note: In the transcript dropbox, this episode is listed as "263." However, later there are two 269's, presumably to fix for the accidental skip of 262, so the table has been adjusted accordingly.

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The Adventure Zone

Fri, Jul 21, 2023 @ 7:00P

Justin, Travis and Griffin McElroy from My Brother, My Brother and Me have recruited their dad Clint to play RPGs. Join the McElroys as they solve puzzles, make friends, and probably slay a few monsters in ... The Adventure Zone!

You can follow us on Instagram @TheMcElroyFamily, and be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcatcher so you never miss a new episode.

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Justin, Travis and Griffin McElroy from My Brother, My Brother and Me have recruited their dad Clint to play RPGs. Join the McElroys as they solve puzzles, make friends, and probably slay a few monsters in… The Adventure Zone !

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The Adventure Zone TV Show May Feature a New Voice Cast

The novel coronavirus pandemic may have slowed down television production across the world, but animation is one area where things are still happening. The McElroy brothers are hard at work on the pilot for Peacock’s The Adventure Zone animated series—a show that may come with a few surprises, including a potential new voice cast.

Related Content

The Adventure Zone podcast   creators Griffin McEloy and Travis McElroy chatted with io9 over the phone about the release of their latest graphic novel , The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal (you can read the interview here ). During the chat, we asked the McElroy brothers to give an update on the planned The Adventure Zone animated TV show for new streaming service Peacock , which was announced by NBC in January. Travis said they’re “in the process of really fine-tuning the pilot,” with the goal of making the show accessible to viewers who’ve never read or heard of The Adventure Zone before. But it’s a unique challenge trying to turn an actual comedy and adventure play podcast into a scripted TV show.

“We are still in that first two years period where it is a completely different set of questions. We are going to be probably bound to a specific length per episode, which is different from the graphic novel. It is going to be different from the podcast. There are a lot of the same questions that we had to answer for the graphic novel that now have to answer again,” Griffin told io9. “I would argue [it’s] even a little bit more complicated this time around, because—maybe I’m just saying that because I’m kind of used to how the sausage gets made with regard to graphic novels. And I’m still—despite the fact that we had an award-winning six-episode TV series on Seeso, pour one out—the TV process is still sort of mystifying.”

“Just to clarify, we did not win any awards,” Travis added.

The challenge is not only that TV is its own monster, but play podcasts thrive on out-of-character interactions that may not work in a scripted series. So, how will The Adventure Zone show handle those moments, particularly the ones where the characters directly engage with the Dungeon Master? The brothers said those parts aren’t being removed entirely but, much like the graphic novels, the show will focus more on telling the Balance Arc story as-is than interjecting fourth-wall-breaking Dungeons & Dragons gameplay, which have been a staple in the podcast.

“So much of [the podcast] is a combination of the story we’re telling and the four of us learning to tell the story. Learning to play the game. It’s about us not necessarily knowing how D&D works—and some might argue it is still that,” Travis said. “I think that in the graphic novel, and now the TV show, we’re really interested in focusing more on the story and the characters, and not so much getting bogged down in the intricacies of how Dungeons & Dragons works. While not losing that same fun, and that same feeling of discovery. How do we tell the story, keep all those elements, but not get distracted away from the characters and the plot?”

Even though The Adventure Zone’s “beleaguered Dungeon Master,” played by Griffin, will still be part of the TV show... he may not actually be voiced by Griffin. When asked whether the stars of The Adventure Zone podcast—Travis McElroy as Magnus Burnsides, Justin McElroy as Taako, Clint McElroy as Merle, and Griffin McElroy as their DM and non-player characters—will be voicing their characters in the show, Griffin said it was still being discussed but they’d prefer to bring in new actors.

It’s a move that could turn off some longtime podcast listeners, who enjoyed their portrayals of the characters, but there’s a good reason for it. Griffin told us, “My preference would be no. Just because we’re not—I mean, we’ve been in Trolls World Tour , but we’re not, like, accomplished voice actors.”

“Another thing we’ve considered is when we’re making the podcast, the people making it are being restricted by the fact that it’s the four of us because we’re family, and that’s why we’re doing the show together,” Travis added. “I don’t want us to be limited in casting, like here are four white dudes doing the voices, just because we have done it before. I really want to be able to open up casting possibilities to find the best people for it, and make the right character choices and think with an inclusive kind of framework. Not just say, ‘Yeah, we’re just gonna stay with the four white dudes, because that’s who made it before!’”

The Adventure Zone TV show is still in early development and an expected release date has not been announced. The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal graphic novel is now available, and the podcast is in the middle of a new campaign , Graduation , helmed by DM Travis McElroy.

For more, make sure you’re following us on our Instagram @ io9dotcom .

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• The Adventure Zone
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The Adventure Zone: Graduation Ep. 38: Finals

15th April 2021

Where have all the good folks gone? Where is all of HOG? We need a streetwise thunderman to stop these scheming gods. Isn’t there a Firbolg upon a flying steed? Reality is ripping, someone get me Argo Keene!

We need some heroes.

• the zone cast

Episode notes

In this episode....

Justin McElroy

Travis McElroy

Griffin McElroy

Clint McElroy

About the show.

Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy from My Brother, My Brother and Me have recruited their dad Clint for a campaign of high adventure. Join the McElroys as they find their fortune and slay an unconscionable number of… you know, kobolds or whatever in… The Adventure Zone. 

Follow us on Twitter @TheZoneCast , post with the tag #TheZoneCast !

Email: [email protected].

Get in touch with the show

How to listen.

Stream or download episodes directly from our website, or listen via your favorite podcatcher!

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New start here..., here there be gerblins: chapter one, liked the adventure zone: graduation ep. 38: finals listen to these next....

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We’re thrilled to reveal the cover for The Adventure Zone: The Suffering Game , which will be released on July 16th, 2024 - pre-orders are now open ! Carey has once again knocked it out of the park with utterly incredible art, and we’re beyond proud of how the story has come together. We cannot wait for y’all to get your hands on this one!

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