Some playgroups want nothing more than for their dungeon master to throw them into countless battles. Others want to engage in subtle intrigue and manipulative political cunning.

My playgroup? They like to go shopping.

I have no one to blame but myself. I love to play shopkeepers. It’s when I allow myself—and, by extension, my players—to unwind a little from the stresses of adventuring and embrace my inner clown. For me, it feels good, after running the party through a harrowing dungeon crawl, to sink back into the comfortable, bizarre shoes of someone like Felrazz Thistlepint. My players seem to appreciate this dichotomy, and take time to chat up the various strange and wonderful shopkeepers that I put in front of them.

As a result, my players spend a significant amount of their downtime in shops and taverns. Taverns are a great opportunity to add flavor and depth to your setting. They are social hubs; players can learn a lot about the world they’re in just by sitting down at the bar and striking up a conversation. Moreover, they’re a wonderful opportunity to infuse your setting with some atmospheric magic. Just as you might put venomous animals in your jungles to create a persistent sense of danger, you can put magical booze on tavern shelves to create a persistent sense of wonder. Additionally, it’s much more interesting for a dungeon master to narrate a night of drinking when there’s a chance that things may go magically awry.

In the spirit of spreading enchanted revelry, I’ve included three illustrative, but very different, examples of unusual liquors that I created for my own game below.

Aleaqrab (a.k.a. “Scorpion Whiskey”)

A rare distilled spirit from desert regions, Aleaqrab comes in a squat, round bottle with the bottom half wrapped in twine. The liquid is a dark, rusty brown, and is similar in viscosity to maple syrup, though it’s not nearly as sticky. The thickener is hidden at the bottom of the bottle: a scorpion tail, severed from a living creature. The tail is removed and immediately dropped into a full bottle of barley spirit; the mixture of blood and venom give the drink its trademark color and flavor, along with an unusual extra kick.

Aleaqrab is traditionally drunk as a shot. It smells metallic and vaguely briny. It has a strong copper flavor with notes of honey, and a piquant burn closer to a hot pepper than regular alcohol. When a player takes a drink, have them roll a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the scorpion venom causes their mouth and tongue to go numb for the next two hours. During this time, they have disadvantage on all Charisma-based skill and ability checks. On a success, they suffer no penalty. For every shot of Aleaqrab that a player drinks, the DC of the saving throw increases by 2.

A player who fails the Constitution saving throw at any point in the evening will wake up the next morning with a hangover. Players who are hung over have disadvantage on all attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks until their next long rest. A hangover can be cured with lesser restoration.

Skjolhammar Strong Ale

Strong Ale is a popular drink in the dwarven kingdoms, but it can be difficult to find elsewhere. Technically a type of barleywine, Strong Ale of any kind will knock a dwarf out of their chair after only a few flagons. For any other race, it can be borderline deadly. Skjolhammar is the most likely brand that you’ll find outside of a dwarven city or a dwarf-run tavern. It’s the cheapest and the strongest, though it lays no claim to being the best quality.

Skjolhammar, like most Strong Ales, only comes in casks, and is served by the pint. It has a deep goldenrod color, and a weak, pale head of foam. It smells strongly of alcohol. The flavor is akin to a combination of honey, pickles, and fermented apples, but it doesn’t last long before being overpowered by an eye-watering alcohol burn that lasts for several seconds before dissipating. Most dwarves will attempt to drink Strong Ale “down in one,” pouring it down their open gullet. This is the kind of drink that a dwarf will order in a drinking contest if they want to be sure that they’ll win.

Strong Ale affects other races differently than dwarves. A dwarf must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw after drinking three pints. On a failure, they are incapacitated, falling asleep where they sit and likely tumbling to the floor. On a success, they suffer no penalty, but for every subsequent pint, they must make the saving throw again. For every additional pint, the DC increases by 2.

Non-dwarves, on the other hand, must make the same saving throw after their first pint, or else suffer the same fate. If they succeed, the DC of the saving throw on any subsequent pint increases by 4, and each pint drunk deals 1d6 poison damage.

Any player who fails a saving throw cannot be roused by non-magical means for the remainder of the evening. If other players wish to move them, they must be carried. Additionally, a player who fails this saving throw wakes up the next morning with a hangover.

Feywine

Exceedingly rare and exorbitantly expensive, Feywine is only found in high-end establishments in cities with a large elven population. Developed centuries ago by an elven wizard and alchemical hobbyist, Feywine is made from grapes grown in the Prime Material Plane combined with ones grown in the Feywild. Sourcing transplanar produce is difficult in the best of circumstances, and combined with the time dilation effect that travelers to the Feywild often experience, the handful of artisans who make Feywine can do so only occasionally. As a result, Feywine is generally considered a collector’s item, and any establishment that has managed to procure some likely only has a single bottle.

Stored in an opaque glass bottle and sealed with wax, Feywine is dark purple in color, nearly black, but it shimmers when poured as if reflecting bright light. In a glass, it sparkles as if it were full of starlight. Feywine is always drunk by the glass, though whoever serves it should tell the players that every round of drinks must begin with a toast. The Fey, after all, are a proud and fickle bunch, and the failure to acknowledge the unique gift that is Feywine may have dire consequences. Feel free to frame this as an imperative, tradition, or mere superstition as you see fit.

One player must give a short toast at the beginning of every round of drinks. If they do, Feywine is simply delicious, expensive wine, with a nose of leather and moist earth and dark, fruit-forward flavors. However, a failure to toast attracts unwelcome attention. For every round of drinks that does not begin with a toast, roll a d6 and consult the following table.

Result Effect 1 Nothing happens, and the players continue to drink as normal. 2 When the players take a sip, the wine turns to ash in their mouth. 3 An ear-piercing shriek rings out from the mouth of the bottle, shattering all of the glasses on the table and dealing 1d6 psychic damage. The bottle itself is unaffected. 4 Anyone who drinks must make a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be polymorphed into a toad. 5 1d4 pixies appear to accost and harass the players for their rudeness and audacity. 6 The wine becomes a deadly poison. Anyone who drinks must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or fall unconscious at 0 hit points. Players who succeed are poisoned for one hour.

Magical drinks seem to be a popular homebrew item for dungeon masters, so I encourage you to make your own and share them in the comments below. If you’ve never homebrewed an item before, magical alcohol can be a great place to start. The only limit is your own imagination, and I guarantee that your players will thank you for it.

But they’re going to hate you in the morning.

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