Guild of Lost Lore · Encounter Dossier SL-E-004
One Sip for the Soul
Tomorrow is the Harvest Tapping. If the Great Cask finishes its infernal brew, every soul in town becomes a line item on a contract signed in Brewmaster Malachar Vint’s hand. The party has one night, a locked brewhouse, and the smell of brimstone under the hops.
Party
Best for 5 characters, level 8
Scales for 4–6, levels 7–9
Mode
Combat, hazard
Supernatural, countdown
Run Time
90–120 minutes
5e-compatible fantasy
GM Context
Brewmaster Malachar Vint was a middling brewer with a magnificent ego. Three winters back, a stranger in a red apron offered him a recipe. Now Cinderhop Stout wins every festival ribbon in the province, the town adores him, and nobody asks why the kettles run hot all night with no fire beneath them.
Malachar is a cambion now, though he still looks like a plump man in a stained apron until his skin flushes copper-red. The recipe was only the bait. The Great Cask is an infernal instrument: once tapped and completed, it binds the souls of everyone who drinks the festival stout to the contract Malachar signed.
Hooks
The Missing Apprentice
Young Tobin vanished after the night shift. His family knows he was frightened by something he saw in the brewhouse and asks the characters to find him before the festival.
Uneasy Faith
A local temple noticed that the festival ale makes the faithful uneasy. A priest asks the party to inspect the brewery discreetly before tomorrow’s tapping.
A Bitter Rival
A rival brewer has suspiciously accurate accusations: impossible heat, midnight deliveries, and a stout recipe no honest brewer could reproduce. Petty jealousy does not explain how much they know.
What the Characters See
The loading doors open into a stone brewhouse swimming in heat. Copper kettles glow red though no flame burns beneath them. Spilled stout glistens across the center floor. Along the east wall, three vats breathe sour vapor beneath a narrow wooden catwalk. Between the kettles towers an iron-banded cask taller than a man, carved with writing that seems to rearrange itself when you look away. From somewhere above comes a muffled shout, abruptly cut short.
Brewhouse Layout
Dimensions. The stone brewhouse is 60 by 50 feet and two stories tall. Each map square is 5 feet.
West wall. Two open-top mash tuns stand 5 feet high. A barrel ramp descends from the loft in the northwest corner.
North wall. Two copper kettles flank the Great Cask, an iron-banded barrel taller than a man and carved with an Infernal contract.
East wall. Three fermentation vats sit beneath a wooden catwalk 10 feet above the floor. Cellar stairs descend in the southeast corner.
South wall. The party enters through the loading doors.
Objectives & Stakes
Primary. Stop Malachar from tapping the Great Cask, or seal it before its five-round countdown expires.
Secondary. Rescue Tobin from the loft and recover Malachar’s contract from his apron.
Failure. If the countdown reaches zero, the cask is finished and the town’s souls become bound to Malachar’s infernal agreement ahead of the Harvest Tapping.
Permanent victory. Malachar cannot be killed permanently while his contract exists. If slain, he reforms in the cellar in 1d4 days unless the contract is burned.
The Great Cask Clock
Malachar intends to tap the Great Cask on his third turn. Tapping requires his action while adjacent to the cask. When it happens, two Cask-Born hell hounds appear and the countdown begins.
Track it openly. Place a die showing 5 where everyone can see it. At the end of each subsequent round, reduce it by 1. When it reaches 0, the contract binds the town.
Make the clock visible in the fiction. At 5, black foam beads around the tap. At 4, Infernal letters glow across the hoops. At 3, a bell tolls from the cellar. At 2, the cask begins to pulse like a heartbeat. At 1, names start appearing in the contract script.
Seal the cask. A creature adjacent to it can use an action to hammer the bung home with a DC 15 Strength check, cast dispel magic against DC 15, or break the infernal seal by dealing 30 damage to the cask (AC 17, immune to fire). Sealing it immediately banishes any Cask-Born hell hounds still present.
Environment & Interactive Elements
Fermentation vapors. The three eastern vats are the most dangerous feature in the room. Any fire damage dealt within 10 feet of a vat ignites its fumes in a 10-foot burst. Creatures in the burst make a DC 13 Dexterity save, taking 3d6 fire damage on a failure or half on a success. Each vat can flash once per round. Hell hound breath deliberately sets them off.
Kettle valves. A creature can use an action to open a kettle valve, spraying scalding wort in a 15-foot cone. Creatures in the cone make a DC 13 Dexterity save, taking 2d8 fire damage on a failure or half on a success. An imp can operate a valve with its action. A valve can be jammed shut with a DC 14 Strength check.
Slick floor. The central area is a lake of spilled stout and counts as difficult terrain. A creature that dashes through it or is shoved while standing in it must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity save or fall prone. Devils treat the mess as a nuisance; hell hounds tend to slide through it at speed.
Barrel ramp. Six loose barrels are stacked in the loft. A creature there can use an action and make a DC 12 Strength check to shove one down the ramp. It rolls through a 20-foot line, dealing 2d6 bludgeoning damage to a creature in its path and knocking that creature prone unless it succeeds on a DC 13 Dexterity save.
The catwalk. The wooden catwalk stands 10 feet above the eastern vats. A creature knocked from it into a vat is restrained until it climbs out with a DC 12 Strength (Athletics) check and takes 1d6 fire damage at the start of each of its turns from the hot wort.
Tobin in the Loft
Apprentice Tobin is tied up in the northwest loft after refusing to add the final ingredient. A creature adjacent to him can cut the ropes as an action, break them with a DC 12 Strength check, or open the knots with a DC 12 Dexterity check. Once freed, Tobin immediately warns the party not to use open flame near the eastern vats and tells them Malachar keeps the true contract in his apron.
Creatures, NPCs & Stat Blocks
Malachar Vint, Pact-Brewer · Cambion, CR 5 · 1,800 XP
Medium fiend, lawful evil. AC 19 (scale mail + Fiendish Blessing). HP 82 (11d8+33). Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft.
STR 18 (+4) · DEX 18 (+4) · CON 16 (+3) · INT 14 (+2) · WIS 12 (+1) · CHA 16 (+3)
Saves Str +7, Con +6, Int +5, Cha +6. Skills Deception +6, Intimidation +6, Perception +4, Stealth +7. Resistances cold, fire, lightning, poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks. Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14. Languages Common, Infernal.
Innate Spellcasting. Charisma is Malachar’s spellcasting ability (save DC 14). He can cast alter self, command, and detect magic 3/day each, and plane shift 1/day on himself only.
Multiattack. Malachar makes two melee attacks or two ranged attacks.
Brewer’s Paddle. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit. Hit: 1d6+4 piercing damage plus 2d6 fire damage.
Fire Ray. Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, range 120 ft. Hit: 3d6 fire damage.
Fiendish Charm. One humanoid Malachar can see within 30 feet must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom save or be charmed for 1 day, repeating the save whenever it takes damage. A charmed target craves the stout; Malachar immediately offers a tankard.
Tactics. Malachar opens with Fiendish Charm against the party’s most persuasive or influential character, then flies to the catwalk and uses Fire Ray. On his third turn he tries to reach the Great Cask and tap it. He does not plane shift while the cask is still running. If the cask is sealed and he falls below 20 hit points, he attempts to escape with the contract.
Vatkeeper Bearded Devil ×2 · CR 3 · 700 XP each
Medium fiend. AC 13. HP 52 (8d8+16). Speed 30 ft.
STR 16 (+3) · DEX 15 (+2) · CON 15 (+2) · INT 9 (−1) · WIS 11 (+0) · CHA 11 (+0)
Saves Str +5, Con +4, Wis +2. Resistances cold; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks that are not silvered. Immunities fire, poison. Senses darkvision 120 ft. Traits Devil’s Sight, Magic Resistance, Steadfast.
Multiattack. The devil makes one beard attack and one glaive attack. Beard. +5 to hit; 1d8+2 piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution save or be poisoned for 1 minute and unable to regain hit points. Glaive. +5 to hit, reach 10 ft.; 1d10+3 slashing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution save or suffer an infernal wound, losing 1d10 hit points at the start of each of its turns. Wounds stack and can be closed with a DC 12 Wisdom (Medicine) check or magical healing.
Tactics. The Vatkeepers exploit their reach from behind the mash tuns and try to keep characters inside the dangerous center lanes. They are perfectly comfortable fighting in spilled ale and near fire.
Tasting Sprite Imp ×2 · CR 1 · 200 XP each
Tiny fiend. AC 13. HP 10 (3d4+3). Speed 20 ft., fly 40 ft.
STR 6 (−2) · DEX 17 (+3) · CON 13 (+1) · INT 11 (+0) · WIS 12 (+1) · CHA 14 (+2)
Skills Deception +4, Insight +3, Persuasion +4, Stealth +5. Resistances cold; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks that are not silvered. Immunities fire, poison. Senses darkvision 120 ft. Traits Shapechanger, Devil’s Sight, Magic Resistance.
Sting. +5 to hit; 1d4+3 piercing damage plus 3d6 poison damage, with a DC 11 Constitution save for half poison damage. Invisibility. At will.
Tactics. The imps begin invisible and use kettle valves instead of joining the melee. They gossip constantly in Infernal. If isolated, one may surrender for a bribe and happily explain the entire scheme.
Cask-Born Hell Hound ×2 · CR 3 · 700 XP each
Medium fiend. AC 15. HP 45 (7d8+14). Speed 50 ft.
STR 17 (+3) · DEX 12 (+1) · CON 14 (+2) · INT 6 (−2) · WIS 13 (+1) · CHA 6 (−2)
Skills Perception +5. Immunity fire. Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15. Traits Keen Hearing and Smell, Pack Tactics.
Bite. +5 to hit; 1d8+3 piercing damage plus 2d6 fire damage. Fire Breath (Recharge 5–6). 15-foot cone; DC 12 Dexterity save; 6d6 fire damage on a failure or half on a success.
Tactics. The hounds appear when the Great Cask is tapped. They deliberately breathe fire toward the fermentation vats, using the room’s hazards as part of their attack. They know exactly what happens when the vapor catches.
Running the Encounter
Before initiative. Foreshadow the eastern vats. Let a candle or lantern sputter near Vat 1 and answer with an ominous whump inside the vessel. Do not explain the hazard; give the players enough information to suspect that fire near the east wall cuts both ways.
Opening beat. Malachar tries Fiendish Charm, the Vatkeepers establish reach around the mash tuns, and the invisible imps move toward the kettle valves. Tobin’s muffled shouting comes from the loft so that the party immediately faces competing priorities.
Round 2. An imp should demonstrate a kettle valve if the party has not interacted with the room. The Vatkeepers push or pressure characters toward the slick center and east wall.
Round 3. Malachar attempts to tap the Great Cask. If successful, the Cask-Born hell hounds arrive and the visible five-round clock begins.
After the tap. The encounter stops being a damage race. The hounds use fire to threaten the vats, the imps manipulate the machinery, and Malachar tries to keep the party away from the cask. Characters who spend actions on the objective should feel as useful as characters dealing damage.
Malachar’s escape. If the cask is sealed and the fight turns against him, Malachar tries to plane shift with the contract. A party that only wins the room but loses the document has solved tonight’s crisis, not the infernal bargain behind it.
Do Not Run This as a Straight Slugfest
The full enemy roster plus the room hazards is intentionally punishing if every fiend focuses fire from round one. The encounter works because the imps operate machinery, the hell hounds arrive late, the cask can banish them, Tobin creates a rescue decision, and Malachar prioritizes the contract over simply killing characters.
Design intent: Make the room the third side of the fight. Players should win by noticing, moving, jamming, sealing, rescuing, and exploiting the brewery—not only by reducing hit points.
Difficulty & Scaling
4 characters at level 7. Remove one Vatkeeper bearded devil and one Cask-Born hell hound. Let the remaining imp pair focus primarily on valves rather than stings.
5 characters at level 8. Use the encounter as written. The encounter is dangerous, but the objective play, staggered hell hounds, and environmental options are part of the balance.
6 characters at level 9. Add a third Vatkeeper bearded devil and give Malachar a potion of greater healing.
If the party has everything under control. On round 6, a Chain Devil quality inspector can arrive from the cellar. Use this only if the encounter has become anticlimactic; it is an escalation valve, not part of the expected baseline.
Resolution, Rewards & Consequences
2,400 gp. Festival prize purses, stored coin, and ledgers of sales account for the bulk of the immediate treasure. If the town is grateful enough, it may also hand the party the brewhouse itself—a delightful long-term headache.
Malachar’s Contract. Burning the contract frees Malachar’s soul, voids the town’s obligations, and causes him to die weeping and thankful. Keeping it turns the document into a bargaining chip with a very interested devil. If Malachar is killed while the contract survives, he reforms in the cellar in 1d4 days.
Kettle cupboard. Two potions of fire resistance and one potion of greater healing are hidden among the brewer’s supplies.
The Devil’s Draught. Uncommon. The bottle has 3 charges and regains 1d3 charges daily at midnight. Drinking a charge grants fire resistance and advantage on Charisma checks for 1 hour, but the drinker must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution save or be poisoned for the same duration. It tastes glorious.
Cinderhop Paddle. A +1 quarterstaff that deals an extra 1d4 fire damage on a hit. It sheds dim light in a 10-foot radius and keeps any drink it touches pleasantly warm indefinitely.
Two Notes for the GM
Show the vats before you weaponize them. The fermentation vats are the whole trick of the room, so drop the hint early: an ominous whump when a candle sputters near Vat 1. Let the players discover that fire near the east wall cuts both ways.
Make rescue compete with the clock. Put Tobin’s muffled shouting in the loft early enough that someone has to choose between climbing toward the apprentice, controlling the barrel ramp, and racing the Great Cask.
Adventure seed: If the party keeps Malachar’s contract, the stranger in the red apron sends a courteous representative to negotiate its return. Explore more encounters from the Guild of Lost Lore.
Discover more from The Stygian Labyrinth
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
