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 an hour |
| Production | |
| No. of episodes | 50 (plus 3 bonus episodes) |
| Publication | |
| Debut | August 18, 2014 |
| Provider | Maximum Fun |
| Website | The Adventure Zone |
The Adventure Zone is a bi-weekly comedy and adventure podcast based 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, the show's primary host and dungeon master, guides his brothers and father through a series of stories and encounters that make up the overlying story for the show's listeners, Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition.
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 challenges the characters to retrieve a magical relic created under the alignment of one of the schools of magic. 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.
- Here There Be Gerblins – an introductory quest that's loosely based off the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set and aligned around the school of evocation. This adventure is based on the introductory adventure in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set, and is called The Lost Mines of Phandelver.
- Murder on the Rockport Limited – a murder mystery on a train, written by Griffin McElroy and aligned around the school of divination.
- Petals to the Metal – a racing and fighting adventure, written by Griffin McElroy and aligned around the school of conjuration. Based around the idea of racing illegally, it occurred to Griffin while watching Fast Five.[5]
- The Crystal Kingdom – a science adventure, written by Griffin McElroy, and aligned around the school of transmutation. This arc occurred to Griffin while watching Alien, based around a creature following and hunting the players in a space station but it devolved into something else.
- The Eleventh Hour – a time-loop adventure, written by Griffin McElroy, in which the players must cycle through the same hour repeatedly while trying to solve the mysteries of a wild-west inspired town and save it from destruction.
- The Suffering Game – an adventure written by Griffin McElroy, inspired by the Zero Escape video game series.[6]
Hosts
Justin, the oldest brother, lives in Huntington, West Virginia,[7] and works as the managing editor of Polygon, a video game website.[8] He also co-hosts the medical history podcast Sawbones with his wife, Dr. Sydnee McElroy.[9] Travis, the "middlest" brother, lives in Los Angeles, California,[10] and worked as a master carpenter for the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.[11] He also co-hosts the doomsday prepping comedy podcast Bunker Buddies.[12] Griffin, the "sweet baby brother", lives in Austin, Texas, and is the deputy news editor for Polygon.[13] Together with their father, a radio personality himself,[14] the brothers produce the show.
All three were raised in Huntington by Clint and Leslie McElroy.[7]
References
- ↑ "MBMBaM: The Adventure Zone". My Brother, My Brother and Me. Maximum Fun. August 18, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
- ↑ http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/adventure-zone
- ↑ "How Music Helped "The Adventure Zone" Podcast Get Better". The Adventure Zone. Pitchfork. March 27, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
- ↑ http://nerdist.com/enter-the-adventure-zone-with-a-new-graphic-novel-series-exclusive/
- ↑ "The The Adventure Zone Zone | Maximum Fun". maximumfun.org. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
- ↑ "Griffin McElroy". twitter.com. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
- 1 2 "Super Clint". Huntington Quarterly. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
- ↑ "JustinMcElroy". Polygon. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
- ↑ "Sawbones". maximumfun.org. Maximum Fun. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
- ↑ http://www.travismcelroy.com/contact.html
- ↑ "Travis McElroy". maximumfun.org. Maximum Fun. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
- ↑ Maximum Fun#Bunker Buddies with Andie and Travis
- ↑ "Griffin McElroy". maximumfun.org. Maximum Fun. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
- ↑ http://www.tcrcountry.com/onair/cledus-t-party-with-judy-clint-2381/
External links
- The Adventure Zone at MaximumFun.org
- The Adventure Zone Podcast on iTunes
- The Adventure Zone subreddit