The Adventure Zone’s new season won’t use Dungeons & Dragons

The Journey Zone podcast, the favored precise play collection that includes the McElroy household, kicks off its fifth full season right this moment. Referred to as Steeplechase, the marketing campaign is ready in a fictional theme park in an alternate future Georgia. Not like some previous TAZ seasons, Steeplechase won’t use the fifth version Dungeons & Dragons ruleset. As an alternative, recreation grasp Justin McElroy is counting on John Harper’s Blades within the Darkish, one other critically acclaimed tabletop role-playing recreation.

Blades within the Darkish was first printed in 2017 by Evil Hat Productions. The sport is ready within the fictional setting of Doskvol, a European-inspired metropolis within the throws of an industrial revolution and stricken by undead spirits. Gamers tackle the position of criminals, and are inspired to play these characters like they’re “driving a stolen automobile.” Classes usually take the type of elaborate heists, with gamers in a position to improvise options in inventive methods. From our evaluate, printed in 2021:

The 327-page rulebook provides gamers permission to invent their very own options on the fly to issues that they encounter on the desk. It’s much less about having the suitable abilities on the proper time, and extra about utilizing the world that you simply’ve created round you because the motivation for in-fiction inspiration. Need to get into that fancy celebration however don’t understand how? Flash again to earlier that day and play out a scene the place you attempt to bribe a guard to place you on the visitor record. A struggle breaks out and also you want an edge? Simply wave your hand on the recreation grasp, drop some cube on the desk, and pull out these brass knuckles you packed earlier within the day.

The Steeplechase marketing campaign started Thursday with a “session zero,” by which Justin McElroy introduces the setting and the sport’s mechanics. As an alternative of a darkish Victorian setting, the sport takes place inside a vertical stack of Westworld-style immersive theme parks. McElroy mentioned in an electronic mail to Polygon that Ustaben, the marketing campaign’s first stage, is definitely a repurposed map of King’s Island in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“[It’s the same layout of the] theme park we used to go to on a regular basis as children,” McElroy mentioned. “It’s fairly low hire, however I feel it’s illustration of how I’m placing my silly theme park obsession to good use.”

Picture: The McElroy Household

The primary episode additionally introduces the three fundamental characters, performed by Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, and their father Clint McElroy. The marketing campaign has no finish date, and is prone to run frequently for a number of years. Episodes are free to obtain.

This isn’t the primary time that The Journey Zone has stepped away from the D&D ruleset. Following its inaugural Stability marketing campaign arc, which concluded in 2017, Dedication relied on the Destiny system, Amnesty was based mostly on Evil Hat Productions’ Monster of the Week, and Mud used City Shadows. Commencement, which premiered in 2019, returned to D&D as did Ethersea.

Blades within the Darkish has seen a surge in reputation over the past yr. The Glass Cannon Community just lately started a marketing campaign set in Doskvol that includes Raised by Wolves’ Abubakar Salim; a BAFTA-winning manufacturing home is engaged on a TV adaptation; and start-up One Extra Multiverse launches a digital tabletop answer to help the sport on Oct. 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.]