Sandkheg’s Hide is a custom-blended small-batch bourbon inspired by the lore of Vox Machina, Campaign 1 of the popular streaming series. The drink was first introduced in Episode 65 as a “fierce” alcoholic beverage made in the deserts of Marquet from the acidic bile of an 8-foot-tall insectoid creature known as a sandkheg.

The bottle captures the description from the episode with a dark green glass with a distressed label, wax seal, and an exclusive coin medallion around the neck, contained inside a burlap bag. The box is designed to appear as if it’s inside an in-world shipping crate, with a “found” journal from the Exandrian maker of Sandkheg’s Hide written by Jasmine Bhullar, art by Tyler Walpole and a map by fantasy cartographer Deven Rue.

Ale Ochoa, the master blender of Quest’s End, uses in-world flavors to help inspire real-world flavors including base bourbon notes of baked apple, brown spice, shortbread cookie, and oak blended with whiskey finished in vermouth barrels for herbaceous notes and whiskey finished in sherry barrels for dried red fruit and a hint of smoke.

Fine Familiar Spirits is co-founded by Matthew Lillard (Scooby Doo, Scream, Five Nights at Freddy’s), who is a huge Dungeons & Dragons fan and currently has his own shows on the Dungeons & Dragons channel. It’s also cofounded by screenwriter Justin Ware, with Blue Run Spirits co-founder Tim Sparapani as the advisor.

“From the gorgeous ‘in-world’ Exandrian bottle design to the delicious whiskey blend to the incredible all-new Critical Role art and story in the journal, we’re insanely proud of what we’ve created with Sandkheg’s Hide,” said Lillard. “We think Critters are going to freaking love it.”

“We wanted to do something special for our fans, and we wanted to pull something from the actual lore of the show,” said Shaunette DeTie, Licensing Manager at Critical Role. “Quest’s End was a natural fit as a partner — both our companies have an authentic love for storytelling as well as gaming and fantasy.”

Sandkheg’s Hide will be available at Quest’s End website (questsendwhiskey.com), their distributor Seelbach’s (seelbachs.com) and on the exclusive site for SandkhegsHide.com. It’s a limited-run sale with just a three-week window and will become a collector’s item.

Critical Role started as a web series following Matthew Mercer as the dungeon master along with his friends and voice actors Ashley Johnson, Marisha Ray, Taliesin Jaffe, Travis Willingham, Sam Riegel, Laura Bailey and Liam O’Brien. It has spawned an animated series on Amazon Prime Video, comic books, and more.

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The FAST channel launched this week and is available on Amazon Freevee and Plex with more platforms to be revealed.

On Monday, November 13th, the cast and crew of Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures attended the special rooftop screening at EP & LP in Los Angeles to celebrate the premiere of the new series.

Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill!

The Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill! team in attendance included Matthew Lillard (co-creator), Bill Rehor (series host and executive producer), Paul Shapiro (executive producer), Jon Ciccolini (executive producer) and Charlie Rehor (executive producer). Celebrity players from the show appeared including Abraham Benrubi, Alicia Marie, Amy Vorpahl, David Dastmalchian, Deborah Ann Woll, Kailey Bray, Krystina Arielle, Luis Carazo, Mary Lou, Paula Deming, Todd Stashwick, and Xander Jeanneret.

Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill! airs on Thursdays & Saturdays at 9 PM Eastern & Pacific.

You can check out our interview with Matthew Lillard about his new show and his Dungeons & Dragons-inspired drink here.

Encounter Party

The Encounter Party came out in full force with executive Producers and cast members Ned Donovan and Brian David Judkins along with series regulars Andrew Krug, David Lee Huynh, Khary Payton, Landree Fleming, and Sarah Babe.

Encounter Party airs on Tuesdays & Fridays at 9 PM Eastern & Pacific.

Heroes’ Feast

Heroes’ Feast hosts “Chef Mike” Haracz and Sujata Day were joined by series guests Anjali Bhimani, Noura Ibrahim, Ify Nwadiwe, Jared Logan, Kyle Newman, and Michelle Nguyen Bradley. Series talent were also joined by special guest Luke Gygax, son of Dungeons & Dragons creator Gary Gygax and founder of Gary Con.

Heroes’ Feast airs Mondays & Wednesdays at 9 PM Eastern & Pacific.

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Many Dungeons & Dragons campaigns start out inside a local tavern, and adventurers can unwind and relax as they find quests and chat with the local villagers. The party can also partake in drinking the night away in the fantasy world. However, if you want to take that experience to the next level in real life, there’s Quest’s End Whiskey from Find Familiar Spirits. The company’s mission is to craft high-end curated potables for adventurers.

Find Familiar Spirits is founded by actor Matthew Lillard (Scream, Scooby-Doo), screenwriter Justin Ware, and Blue Run Spirits co-founder Tim Sparapani. Together, the team has brought artist Tyler Jacobson and writer Kate Welch on board to flesh out the world of Quest’s End. Yes, there’s worldbuilding in the whiskey brand, with the first in the line titled Paladin.

The side of the bottle has HP (hit points), and the more you drink, the more “hit points” you gain.

“I came up with it really early,” Lillard tells Nerd Reactor. “In our creative team, I’m the Dungeons and Dragons guy. I mean we all game, but I’m deep into it. But I was like, ‘What if on the side, the hit points, as you drink down you get stronger?'”

To represent the Paladin and their oaths, master blender/alchemist Ale Ochoa has blended aging stocks with hints of vanilla and fruit. There’s a little bit of spice to represent their fighting spirit. With Welch and Jacobson on the team, they have developed the characters and story for each of the whiskey.

“And so we have to make sure the whiskey is incredible,” Lillard continued. “And then on top of that, we create the story experience that goes along with it.”

Paladin will be the first one released. Afterward, Rogue, Warlock and Dragon will come out.

“The plan, as of right now, is to go through 16 different bottles,” Lillard said. “Each bottle is different. Each bottle is a whiskey that’s curated for that character. So Paladin is specifically built for her, who she is. We open up the story with Sarin of the Pit, and she’s a gladiator. She’s a paladin/gladiator of the god Inxa, which is a god that we created. And in the world, she’s fighting in a life-and-death battle with a combatant. If she wins, she wins her freedom. So that’s where we sort of open up the story. As we go through, it’s on that journey with her. Each bottle has this shield. So for a Paladin, that’s her mace. But for the next one, Rogue, the shield is completely different. So each bottle looks different, tastes different.”

For more info on Quest’s End Whiskey, you can visit QuestsEndWhiskey.com.

Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill! is an upcoming Dungeons & Dragons series from Beadle and Grimms’ featuring Lillard and guests as their characters battle the big bad. The players know that their characters will die, but they have to play it in a way where their characters don’t know the outcome.

“Every episode of Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill! is coming to the Dungeons and Dragons channel soon,” Lillard explained. “Again, I can talk about it because it’s not a struck company, which is important to acknowledge. Each episode has four first-level characters. They go off into the world to become the heroes of legend. They just so happen to meet up with epic Dungeons and Dragons monsters and they all get completely obliterated. So every show, four first-level characters, one epic bad, and everyone dies. It’s hilarious. It’s a little like Whose Line Is It Anyway? meets Dungeons & Dragons. And we have an incredible table. We have 20 shows. Each show is different. Each show is a different collection of players. No two shows are the same. And I think when people see it, they’re gonna fall in love with the show. It’s funny. It’s faster. They’re oddly emotional and sentimental at times. And we’re super proud of them. And we can’t wait for people to find them.”

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