RPG: Preview The Bureau Of Balance, Step Into The Adventure Zone
The Adventure Zone RPG will bring the gacha-fueled world of the Bureau of Balance to your tabletop, and today we’ve got a preview of the game in progress.
If you haven’t experienced the sheer joy that is the Adventure Zone (and the Balance arc, in particular) then you are missing out on one of the best actual play podcasts out there. Brought to you by none other than the McElroy family, who are proving that there’s no medium these boys can’t ennoble, the Bureau of Balance was a D&D campaign that became something else. Something legendary.
And now it’s being turned into an amazing RPG by none other than Keith Baker (creator of Eberron) and the folks at Twogether Studio. How do you take the sprawling epic that is the Bureau of Balance and transfer the experience into a game you can play at the table? Twogether studios is answering that question with a look at their design journal. Let’s check it out.
via Twogether Studios
At it’s core, the new game, titled TAZ: Bureau of Balance, is all about cooperative storytelling. Specifically it’s about spending an hour with your friends and laughing over the story you’re creating together–and in order to facilitate that, you’ll be playing a storytelling card game:
As reclaimers-in-training, you and your companions are pitted against nefarious villains and exotic locations as you seek to reclaim dangerous relics. You’ll match wits with gerblins and have to find a way through deadly traps. The challenges you face are represented by decks of cards, and you’ll have to combine your skills with those of your companions to defeat them. But beyond the numbers and die rolls, what drives the game is the story. How will you outwit that gerblin? What will you do to get through the Vile Jelly Pits? Perhaps, in the end, the greatest treasures you’ll find in the dungeon are the memories you make along the way.
Now interestingly enough, the game is designed to be played without a game master. You either succeed or fail together–the cards stand in, generating challenges each week, so you can play multiple times without facing the same scenario. And the game is short too, with about an hour average playtime.
It seems like Twogether Studios is really chasing down the feeling of the show. That’s a hard thing to capture–but if they can snag that ‘goofing towards meaningful story’ feeling of the podcast, this game will be one you’ll want on your radar. If you’re interesting in checking out the game, click below for more information on upcoming playtest events–including an Adventure Zone fanart show.
The Adventure Zone Playtest Info
If you haven’t listened to their show, they recently concluded the Amnesty Arc, and it’s incredible. Now’s the perfect time to jump in, which you can do right here.
Happy Adventuring!
