The Adventure Zone’s new season moves from Dungeons & Dragons to something even better
The Adventure Zone podcast, the popular actual play series featuring the McElroy family, kicks off its fifth full season today. Called Steeplechase, the campaign is set in a fictional theme park in an alternate future Georgia. Unlike some past TAZseasons, Steeplechase will not use the 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons ruleset. Instead, game master Justin McElroy is relying on John Harper’s Blades in the Dark, another critically acclaimed tabletop role-playing game.
Blades in the Dark was first published in 2017 by Evil Hat Productions. The game is set in the fictional setting of Doskvol, a European-inspired city in the throws of an industrial revolution and plagued by undead spirits. Players take on the role of criminals, and are encouraged to play those characters like they are “driving a stolen car.” Sessions often take the form of elaborate heists, with players able to improvise solutions in creative ways. From our review, published in 2021:
The 327-page rulebook gives players permission to invent their own solutions on the fly to problems that they encounter at the table. It’s less about having the right skills at the right time, and more about using the world that you’ve created around you as the motivation for in-fiction inspiration. Want to get into that fancy party but don’t know how? Flash back to earlier that day and play out a scene where you try to bribe a guard to put you on the guest list. A fight breaks out and you need an edge? Just wave your hand at the game master, drop some dice on the table, and pull out those brass knuckles you packed earlier in the day.
The Steeplechase campaign began Thursday with a “session zero,” in which Justin McElroy introduces the setting and the game’s mechanics. Instead of a
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