u/CardInternational753

Truly you cannot understand the big dog until you have listened to him bitterly complain about being 'profiled' because one time while on his own, he made funny faces at someone's child and the parent sort of pulled the child away from Travis when they noticed. Or listened to him fantasize about phsyically assaulting someone for being kind of like 4/10 on the rudeness scale to him and his friends at the movies.

Oh Boise, here we are again with a masterful Griffin McElroy death game trial that has no need to be three hours long and spread across six real-life weeks, but is anyway! But seriously, this pacing is awful and while this trial has been one of the better ones, it is being dragged down by Griffin's need to stretch the runtime. It should have been run in a way where each 'turn' represented an hour and instead of doing fractured vignettes.

Hello one and all, welcome to Episode 24 of TAZ Royale aka Part 3 of the Trial of Necromancy. Last episode, functionally nothing happened until the last five minutes when Rictus 1) Witnessed his early-season love interest Hasty Jane nearly murder another contestant 2) Changed his character motivation again (this time to - "They're bastardizing necromancy by utilizing corpses") and 3) Became fully pledged to Death in order to overcome a failed save on his broken version of Time Stop.

Left alive at the start of this episode - The Main Trio, Doober Sweetleaf, Skorpo, Burgerman, Hasty Jane, Pranklin (currently being mauled by zombies), Hippocrates (currently dying after being bludgeoned by Hasty Jane), and Formaggio Buccatini (currently locked in the kitchen pantry).

As for me, I'm in Boise, Idaho for Gem State Comic Con. If anyone has any reccs for must-do things or must go places to eat, drop me a line! As suggested last recap, Wylder is already on the list.

Actually, I lied, this is coming to you from the air over southeastern Washington

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I don't think the cape joke merited being in the recap

Sinner take all? Fuck off Justin

Sinner fake ball - Travis is having a stroke

They are MBMBAMing this so hard where they just do rhyming riffs and none of them are funny

Oh thank fuck I can go 2x speed on Spotify

Rictus can't become a lineage ghost anymore - this would probably mean something in another podcast

Pranklin is saaaved! Hooooraaaay!

Rictus taking like 12 actions - so far so Travis

Griffin completely forgets that he gave Lorevith a potion ex machina

Justin screams about a nat 1 and it's annoying.

This flight attendant is doing the most low effort safety announcement demonstration and I love her for that. I feel it girl, we are going to be in the air for less time it took me to get to the airport

Why is Lorevith's signature spell lightning lure? It feels like Justin took a spell he liked

I feel like the manor's layout only makes sense if you can see the map

Justin forces them to do a weird Superman thing with the cape. Rachel plays legally distinct Superman music

NOT THE WEIRD SHIRE MUSIC AGAIN

Was the sigil on the second floor? Surely not, as it controlled the barrier to the second floor. But now Travis is asking if they can reactivate the sigil to lock the survivors on the second floor

HEY HEY Y'ALL, YOU CAN STILL BE A MAXFUN MEMBER, PLEASE.

Also do you think Jesse hates the biweekly TAZ as it really does put all the MaxFun announcements the day before most MaxFun things...end

We're 33 minutes into this 73 minute episode and we're now doing a multi-room puzzle...Is this gonna go to episode 4?

Is Helgrammit fighting for Doober's affections? This is a weird development

SHIRE MUSIC AGAIN, I hate it. Just as much as I hate this child yeeting things around the plane.

Hey Trav, you can't suddenly make Hasty Jane plot relevant again after forgetting about her for about two-thirds of this podcast

Yes Justin, that would be fun (a world where casting is a vulgar, uncouth thing) but I don't trust you dillweeds to do it.

"Hill giants view magic as the brain pissing" - ...anti-indigenous sentiment from Travis?

Oh yeah, Griffin loves Survivor

Now it's time for Helgrammit's scripted 'nemesis face-off'. If only Dr. Legume had had even a single moment of serious character development

HOLY SHIT PARENTS IN FRONT OF ME, DO NOT HAND YOUR CHILD ACROSS THE AISLE MID-TAKE OFF

I am trying best to follow this episode but they really are just saying words today. People moving from room to room with minimal things happening is just not good audio

YEAH HIPPOCRATES, WHY ARE THEY NOT KILLING YOU

It's not your time - TRAVIS. IT'S A FUCKING! DEATH! GAME!

The brothers divert to ask Clint to choose a less problematic cowboy than John Wayne. So just to establish the morality of TAZ - jokes about your dad's D&D character fucking children? Good. John Wayne? Bad.

God these children are yeeting everything

OH GOD THEY ARE DOING A FOURTH EPISODE OF THIS TRIAL? WHY?

It barely justified two episodes but FOUR? FOUR FUCKING EPISODES OF JUST KIND OF RUNNING AROUND A MANOR MEETING DEAD VERSIONS OF CHARACTERS WE BARELY MET IN LIFE

Clint finally casts the hut spell to protect Doober from Zombie Randalf, despite Randalf going for Lorevith

It didn't matter than shield is a reaction three episodes ago, Griffin

Are we seriously only going to lose two people in the 'no guaranteed survivors' trial?

THE SHIRE MUSIC FOR LIKE, THE SIXTH TIME

Doober finally learns Lorevith killed Randalf. Griffin tries to do sincerity, Justin makes a joke.

GOD THIS PODCAST FUCKING SUCKS. ANOTHER FUCKING EPISODE OF THIS TRIAL?

I have recently seen a lot of people complaining about Shmanners and saying it needs to end. Of course, people are allowed to not like things (I think it's fine, not my favorite bit, but I don't hate it), but a lot of the complaints I see are "if I wanted to learn about etiquette and random historical figures, I'd just read Wikipedia myself."

And like, that's not the point of the show? Travis and Teresa don't just present a sparknotes version of Alexx's Wikipedia-based script and that's it. They skim it, diminish the contributions and impact of indigenous communities, have uncomfortable marital fights on air, make fun of historical figures for not being born in the late 20th Century, and share the most uninteresting personal anecdotes - like the time that Travis couldn't believe a couple was making out at a Harvey Danger concert in 2006. It's more than just, "hello my dear, hello my dove."

I also may be wrong, but part of me feels like doing it makes Travis' ego happy (before people comment about me "diagnosing someone I don't know", Travis is the first one to admit on Twitter he has an ego (and is proud of it!)), and hey I am happy to spend 35ish minutes listening to the podcast if it means boosting that sweet ego (since I can't sloppily worship his shaft and balls under his desk while he records).

"My favorite part about MaxFun is being part of a global community, but people are always going to have their own opinions on what they consider 'good' and 'bad' members of that community to support. Some years ago, there was a spirited debate about whether MaxFun was right to take an ad buy from a short-term, high-interest loan company. I think too many people today want things to be either 'good' or 'bad' when life and business don't have that luxury."

I've noticed for a while that it seems like Sydnee and Teylor seems to be about a week behind in the news they're talking about versus when an episode drops, but figured it was just a hazard of having to take time for editing after recording. But their second Max Fun Drive episode dropped for me on May 3, despite the Max Fun Drive wrapping up the week prior. This has me worried they don't realize they are still releasing episodes despite no one listening to the podcast and the podcast not really making sense conceptually after Rileigh left to spurn the family business and get a job that doesn't involve podcasting.

Does anyone know what's going on there?

Made the decision to move my Fangan away from being directly tied to Danganronpa so I figured I would drop my original vision here for y'all to enjoy.

General pitch: The (written) Fangan would have followed Season 50 of Danganronpa the TV show, styled like a Japanese reality show where Monokuma, Junko, and a previous winner served as the commentary panel for the action unfolding. The season would have also been a throwback, returning to the setting of Hope's Peak Academy after a 15-season hiatus. The rules are also tweaked - rather than class trials, one contestant is randomly assigned as the 'lead investigator' for each murder case and must present their 'theory' after a certain amount of time. Furthermore, there is no Blackened graduation and no punishment for incorrect suspect identification. As the season is about 'survival of the fittest', getting away with murder keeps you in the game, giving you the chance to prove you are the 'Apex of the Class'. This means that innocent people can be accused of and executed for a murder they did not commit. The only caveat here is that the investigator cannot simply accuse someone at random - their solution has to make a modicum of sense for the person accused.

Season theme: As mentioned, the season would have been heavily themed around 'Survival of the Fittest', promoting an idea that Hope's Peak Academy graduating classes were classes of one, with that one person proving themselves as the ultimate graduate of the academy.

Cast:

Emiko Izumo (Ultimate Jūkendō), Kyuwa Yoshino (Ultimate Poker Player), Hikaru Matsuzaka (Ultimate Sky Diver), Shoyo Ouji (Ultimate Equestrian), Atsuko Fujimore (Ultimate Railway Attendant), Hidekazu Tatsuno (Ultimate Monk), Ryou Iwamoto (Ultimate Cheerleader), Ryobe Kawamoto (Ultimate Pearl Diver), Mine Furuya (Ultimate Nose), Josuke Kaito (Ultimate Park Ranger), Juria Ueshiba (Ultimate Onsen Attendant), Shiba Maeda (Ultimate Kicker), Michiko Akagawa (Ultimate Astrodynamicist), Shigochiyo Hirano (Ultimate Pastry Chef), Saori Kuroki (Ultimate Journalist), Morihiro Katsuragi (Ultimate Fraternity Leader).

Motives:

#1 - Haterbait: Each contestant is given a piece of information about another contestant that is designed to motivate them to murder that other person (In this case, the Ultimate Park Ranger kills the Ultimate Sky Diver after being given the information that she caused a major forest fire as a result of one of her stunts. He is successfully discovered by Lead Investigator, the Ultimate Railway Attendant).

#2 - Culling the Herd: An anonymous list of the contestants' weaknesses is published and they are told that at least two people need to be culled based on the information, with the implication that 'weaker' members of the class should be targeted due to the demands of future motives. (The Ultimate Kicker kills The Ultimate Journalist to conceal his steroid use, but manages to hide his crime, leading to the execution of The Ultimate Equestrian instead. The Ultimate Monk murders The Ultimate Jūkendō after discovering she suffers from a neurological disease, but is successfully discovered by Lead Investigator, the Ultimate Poker Player)

#3 - Strength Test: The foreshadowing of the second motive is revealed as Monokuma announces 'critical structural damage' has been sustained by the school and the contestants must collectively lift 1500lbs to prevent the collapse of the area around the dorms. The catch being that all surviving contestants (10) must contribute at least 100lbs to the effort and anyone who fails to clear this bench will cause further damage to the building, making the overall task harder. (The Ultimate Onsen Attendant kills The Ultimate Fraternity leader in self-defence but manages to frame The Ultimate Kicker, fooling Lead Investigator, the Ultimate Pearl Diver)

#4 - Cold Case: The contestants are tasked with solving a famous cold case that has been recreated in at the academy. As the contestants work their way through the case, it becomes clear that the culprit could be one of the current survivors. (The Ultimate Nose is killed by The Ultimate Astrodynamacist, who mistakenly concludes that the former is the original killer. She is discovered by Lead Investigator, the Ultimate Onsen Attendant)

#5 - The six remaining contestants (Poker Player, Railway Attendant, Cheerleader, Pearl Diver, Onsen Attendant, Pastry Chef) are told that there are three spots in the final round and that any 'major threats' should be taken care of at this juncture. (The Ultimate Cheerleader manipulates The Ultimate Pastry Chef into killing the Ultimate Pearl Diver. When the Ultimate Pastry Chef is named the Lead Investigator, he stands by his co-conspirator and attempts to frame the Ultimate Poker Player. However, their scheme is revealed by the Ultimate Railway Attendant and the Ultimate Onsen Attendant)

#6 - The Final Three are placed in a placed in a maze beneath the school and told that the first one to make it out wins. The Ultimate Onsen Attendant makes it to the exit, believing that she hears the Ultimate Railway Attendant killed by the Ultimate Poker Player along the way. However, she finds that the exit is guarded by a blood sacrifice, with three holes in the door in which to give blood, implying that all three people could have made out. At this point, the Ultimate Railway Attendant emerges from the maze and the two women agree to graduate together, with Monokuma revealing that the true key to survival is teamwork.

As I said, I'm pivoting the idea to do something tied to my pre-established OC universe, likely utilizing a smaller cast using some of these characters but steering away from an out-and-out death game to do something a little different that can tie my established OCs into the mix.

They've got people declaring their 'loyalty' to MaxFun (that post includes the gem of OP actually railing against an ad-free listening experience). Someone asked the question 'what do I get for being a MaxFun member' and getting eviscerated for it.

Definitely a normal company with normal supporters that you should definitely give your money too.

"Here is a decent, ordinary fellow MaxFun Member, who in broad daylight in my own subreddit says to me, his Podfather, that the community will not be worth living in for his furbabies. I simply do not have the right to shrug my shoulders and think about something else. What he is saying, thousands and hundreds of thousands are saying and thinking—not throughout the Greater Los Angeles Area, perhaps, but in the areas that are already undergoing the total transformation to which there is no parallel in a thousand years of podcasting history. Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad. We must be mad, literally mad, as a community to be permitting the annual inflow of some 50,000 free listeners, who are for the most part the material of the future growth of the listening audience population. It is like watching a community busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre. So insane are we that we actually permit free listeners to listen for the purpose of founding a taste for the show without any intention of ever subscribing."

WHAT'S UP, YOU FREELOADING SHITBIRDS. WELCOME TO MAXFUN DRIVE 2026. NOW, MORE THAN EVER, YOU SHOULD BE IGNORING YOUR OWN FINANCIAL REALITIES AND GIVING EVERY CENT OF YOUR INCOME, DISPOSABLE OR OTHERWISE, TO OUR EXCELLENT PODCAST NETWORK. HAVE YOU LAUGHED ONE SINGLE TIME AT MBMBAM OR TAZ IN THE PAST CALENDAR YEAR? GIVE US MONEY!

Welcome back to The Adventure Zone: Royale, a media property I have been told by my legal team I can legally refer to as 'a podcast that exists'. Last time out, we began the Trial of Necromancy, which mostly involved Griffin establishing a turn order and then running through vignettes with various characters that didn't really move the plot or trial along. We have already lost 2 of the 12 aspirants that began the trial - Tommy Falcon was dropkicked out a window by Lorevith and subsequently consumed by a horde of zombies. Meanwhile, The Spider was crushed to death after Burgerman toppled a bookcase onto him while Lorevith watched.

The most important thing to note about this trial is that while PvP is technically enabled, any sort of violent action toward other contestants (or the zombies themselves) causes the remaining zombies to target you. Again, I question why the Octave is so insistent on the participants in their 'winner takes all' death game being as averse to violence as possible.

At the end of the last episode, Lorevith was gleefully watching one horde of zombies make a beeline for Burgerman in the library, while Rictus and Helgrammit were about to flee from a second horde that had just broken into the kitchen. Let's get into the (god I hope) resolution of this thrilling trial.

• Before we start, how the fuck have we not talked about the fact that this year's TAZ BoCo content is Charlieverse 4 and a BTS episode for Charlieverse 4? Like two whole episodes of TTRPGs was too much for ya bud?
• UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. The episode literally starts the MaxFun Drive pitch (Also very funny to listen to this on MaxFun and see that the MFD total is still at less than 50%, god they are so cooked)
• Justin starts by talking about how much he loves Lorevith and how much he's going to miss him when they are done recording. This, to me, is the final nail in the coffin that character deaths were never on the table. I'm glad he likes his character but fuck you, I was actually excited for a death game and you couldn't do that even a little bit.
• "I dont know what any of you are going to do next" - Griffin, this is not the compliment that you think it is.
• GOD FUCKING PLAY D&D
• We return to Lorevith and his murder voyeurism
• Justin casts shield on himself and then powerbombs the mound of corpses trying to get to Burgerman. That's not how shield works, of course, because shield is a reactive defensive spell, not a proactive one like mage armor.
• Justin is playing some serious D&D today, chaining actions and everything. I guess he took his adderall today because he is locked! in!
• So Lorevith gets chomped, takes 20+ damage, and nat 1s a con save. He has to be single digits hp or close to it now. Griffin I swear to god. ANOTHER NINE POINTS? SORRY, LOREVITH JUST TOOK 31 POINTS OF DAMAGE IN A SINGLE TURN. COME ON, HE HAS TO BE CLOSE TO FUCKING DEATH RIGHT NOW.
• We leave Lorevith to the other group of players, who were running away from the tsunami of zombies.
• Helgrammit bails on the scene to go help Lorevith
• Rictus uses time stop. Griffin pauses the podcast to try and explain his super broken version of time stop. Either Rictus can expend nine spell slots to cast it at ninth level/full power, or he can cast a weakened version of it at 3rd level. And this folks is why we don't try to reverse engineer spells into weaker versions of themselves but holy shit Griffin what are you talking about.
• Griffin has all of a sudden got really pedantic about DCs. Almost as if he has seen our recaps calling him out for allowing 4s and 5s to survive a life and death roll.
• So Rictus beefs his time stop resistance and basically just freezes himself, but is immediately saved by Pranklin because why should the PCs face any sort of consequences?
• Eyeing my phone as I am going to have to pause this shit to do work in a moment I think, but for now we ball
• Rictus ganks some zombies because no! PC! peril! allowed!
• Work needs me in 30 minutes. 41 minutes left in podcast. Oh my god is this trial going to go a third episode?
• Another joke about getting sued for just saying the name of a fictional character
• We're back to Lorevith, who should be fucking dying after taking 31 points of damage last turn. He does spider climb to lure the zombies away from Burgerman
• "We're not in initiative right now" - Griffin you literally had them roll initiative last session. What are you fucking talking about.
• JUSTIN IS PLAYING THE ROLE OF RULES LAWYER TODAY FOR NO REASON
• The MAXFUN PLEDGE COUNTER IS UPDATING LIVE?? They have acquired less than 100 new and upgrading members since I started working on this. I believe the drive formally ends tomorrow?
• JUSTIN TAKES SIX MORE DAMAGE - HE HAS NOW TAKEN 37 DAMAGE WITH NO HEALING. Okay so Lorevith should be fucking dead at this point. Wizards are a d6 hit dice, meaning that Lorevith can't have more than mid-30s in terms of hit points at level five. HOW THE FUCK IS HE STILL ALIVE.
• Oh cool, 35 points of healing from a random healing potion
• Frantic piano - guess it's time to threaten Doober (and let Rachel play weird piano music)

Ad Break

• Last weekend's con was solid but not super my vibe, put way less emphasis on panels than I expected, and was so! fucking! crowded! Please, and I don't care how busy the convention is, don't fucking touch me to try and physically move me out of your way. Getting in line for Matt Mercer's table is not that important
• My Dress Up Darling fucking slaps. I love it so much (though I hate Netflix's 'We release Season 1 one month and Season 2 the next). Marin and Gojo are amazing. I can't remember the last time I intentionally laughed so much at a TV show. The fanservice is excessive in the best way, but also masterfully done imo. God I love these fucking idiots.
• Book recommendation for y'all - Bimbos of the Death Sun. It's a 1980s murder mystery set at a fantasy and sci-fi convention, where an engineering professor and his situationship have to (reluctantly) navigate fan conventions and, unsurprisingly, the murder of one of the other con guests. If you can find a copy, it's a fantastic sub-300-page read.
• Ohhhhhh my god "We are pretty far behind if you are listening to this on release day. We're not even halfway to our goal, so we need your help uh pretty desperately." GRIFFIN, GOOD LORD.
• "Keep MaxFun afloat for another year" - WAIT DOES THE NETWORK GO UNDER IF THEY DON'T GET NEARLY 9000 NEW AND UPGRADING MEMBERS IN THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS?

Back to TAZ after the MaxFun Drive begging (and is quite literally begging)

• Helgrammit fights zombie Pip the Gnome to save Doober. Pip is pushed back out the window...and then just runs away. Okay then.
• God this is going to go a third episode for no reason.
• Hasty Jane is killing Hippocrates. Good to see that she's here and is having a heel turn for no reason. Rictus 'Killing is bad, guys' Ravenwood has nothing but a mildly chill reaction to this. Hasty Jane runs away.
• Pranklin and Scorpo don't want to help the dying Hippocrates but Scorpo reluctantly does with Rictus
• Pranklin is now in peril. Travis tries to do a full spell slot burn of time stop but doesn't have enough spell slots. Travis really wants to be allowed to do it to help Pranklin, a character he has interacted with twice (?) prior to this trial.
• Work duties call with 8 minutes left in the episode
• Work duties concluded, the MFD has cracked 7700 in the interm.
• Rictus freezes himself again and he is forced to watch as Pranklin slowly gets ripped apart. Death appears to fucking dunk on Rictus for his hubris about controlling time and death. This would be cool if I didn't hate these motherfuckers
• Rictus' motive changes again, yaaaay
• There is some Rictus bullshit happening. Rictus gives himself to Death, whatever that means
• Yay, third trial episode. Ya-hoo. This is what the people WANT.
• See you in two weeks, where I be coming to you from uhhhhhh Boise, Idaho as I prepare for my next con.