The Adventure Zone: Balance Showed Me a World of Benevolence
Sitting there in my cubicle, I try to do my work, but I’m bored out of my mind. Annoyed by my work and the people around me, I put in my earphones and am transported to another world. A world much more warm and welcoming than our own. A world that helped me ignore the trappings of my office job and any other problems I was facing in my life. That world was the world crafted by Griffin McElroy in The Adventure Zone: Balance.
For the uninitiated, The Adventure Zone is a D&D based (well originally, anyway) story podcast by the three brothers Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy along with their father Clint McElroy. Balance was the original 69 episode story arc of the podcast which followed the adventures of three hapless heroes named Merle, Magnus, and Taako. Merle is a healer in name alone who has a penchant for having no idea what he’s doing. Magnus is a selfless hero who is never afraid to rush in. Taako (you know, from TV?) is a powerful chef turned mage who has little regard for the collateral damage he causes.
Over the course of the show, you hear these characters grow, improve, and build bonds with one another. Along the way you hear in real time as Griffin sharpens his skill as a storyteller, starting relatively endearingly awkward, but by the end becoming a confident dungeon master who has created intricate lore for the world his family inhabits.
What really makes the show special is the way the McElroys infuse every element with endless amounts of kindness. It’s hard to describe to someone who has never heard the show before, but there is a warm welcoming tone throughout the whole show. The way characters help each other. The way characters don’t judge others by any external qualities. The way you can feel the real love the family has for each other. The infectious fun they feel from playing D&D together. It all comes together to make a show that is incredibly approachable for me. It’s the only show written(ish) by a cis person with a trans character who is not only respectfully portrayed, but also the best damn character in the whole show.
It’s a show with such a warm aura that it single handedly made me believe in a better world being possible. In the early days of my transition, it was what got me through my fear of the future. It was a reassuring voice that told me things were going to be okay. What it did for me and my transition cannot be overstated. Hell, I got a tattoo of a symbol from the show as a reminder of what the show made me feel.
I genuinely believe Griffin McElroy is one of the greatest storytellers of our generation. Listen to The Adventure Zone. I understand it won’t be for everybody, but it’s worth listening just to understand why it resonates so hard with the fans. Nothing has made me cry harder than the finale of Balance. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, McElroys.
