"Strap on your fantasy seat belts and brace your asses for... The Adventure Zone!"
— The Announcer
See here for the main recap page.
In this, the pilot episode of The Adventure Zone, the McElroys create the characters with which they'll build a new — and hopefully very, very lucrative — fantasy fiction franchise. Join in the campaign as Justin (Taako), Travis (Magnus) and Clint (Merle), led by Dungeon Master Griffin, take their first steps into the unknown.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Name Change: Sildar Hallwinter is changed to Barry Bluejeans.
- Goblins are now goblins, gerblins or gorblins.
- Buffy Speak: Pointy rock things.
- Chekhov's Gun: Discussed
- Curbstomp Battle: The first battle with gerblins ends in a massacre, with none of the party even taking a scratch.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Many aspects, such as Taako's idiocy and Magnus and Merle's gruff voices, are yet to be introduced. Merle has the Life domain.
- Flaming Arrows: A gorblin uses one.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Magnus cuts a goblin in half.
- Min-Maxing: Parodied in a joke intro of Magnus
- New Media Are Evil: The 70’s moral panic over D&D is referenced.
- Only One Name:Justin: I do have a last name but it's a secret that will only be revealed later in the adventure.
- Pilot Episode: Referred to as such in the opener.
- Shout-Out:
- Deadwood
- The Hunger Games
- The League
- Larry the Cable Guy
- Fifty Shades of Grey
- The Hobbit
- The Dukes of Hazzard ("If we gotta get away from Boss Hogg, I'm the guy you want at the front of the wagon.")
- Video Game Tutorial: Much of the episode is Griffin and Justin explaining the rules.
