The Adventure Zone podcast is making a major change for its upcoming season, and long-time fans can hardly believe it. The McElroy family recently announced that Justin McElroy would serve as game master for the first time in the next season. Not only that, but they will be playing a new tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) called Blades in the Dark.
The Adventure Zone is one of the most popular actual play podcast series on offer, but the McElroys have never hesitated to change things up. Brothers Griffin and Travis McElroy have both GM’d Dungeons & Dragons campaigns and experimented with other TTRPGs along with their father, Clint McElroy. However, fans had all but given up hope on hearing the eldest brother Justin McElroy run a game – until now. Not only is Justin writing and running an arc called “Steeplechase,” he is introducing listeners to another critically acclaimed TTRPG system that the show has not utilized before.
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So far, the family has released one “session zero” episode to prime fans on “Steeplechase” and Blades in the Dark. Steeplechase is set in a fantastical theme park reminiscent of Westworld, as Justin mentioned in a previous episode of the podcast. There is a map of the park on the family website, and the latest episode of the podcast introduces the new characters and some aspects of the story.
As for Blades in the Dark, it was created by game designer John Harper and published by Evil Hat Productions in 2017. In its original manual, the game utilizes a European-inspired fantasy setting with technology roughly analogous to the industrial revolution, with the addition of undead spirits plaguing the city. Players assume criminal-style characters and are challenged to perform heists, scams and other skullduggery.
Justin has adapted these mechanics to his own setting with a more advanced technological aesthetic. It sounds like a good fit in the set-up episode, but only time will tell how it works out in actual play. Hopefully it goes well, as Justin seems to be planning on an extended campaign rather than one of the show’s shorter arcs. So far, none of their campaigns have matched the length or scope of the first arc, “Balance,” but “Graduation” and “Ethersea” both lasted for over a year.
The Adventure Zone premieres episodes on Thursdays and is available for free on most major podcast apps. The show is currently coming out on a biweekly schedule.
