The world is a dangerous place—especially when you’re up to no good.
But even a person of unblemished character and sterling repute may make enemies, especially among those of more blemished character and more tarnished repute. Perhaps your deeds have intruded on someone else’s interests, or soon will, and they’ve resolved to stop you. Perhaps the wealth you’ve amassed is becoming an irresistible temptation to larcenous minds. Perhaps you’re making discoveries that others would prefer to keep under wraps—or would appropriate for purposes of their own.
Whether you’re a rampaging monster, a renowned hero, a despised tyrant, an ambitious schemer, a paranoid recluse, or the current possessor of the Golden MacGuffin, someone’s going to come at you. Probably more than one someone. You need to be ready.
You need a lair.

Coming Nov. 29 from Saga Press, How to Defend Your Lair pulls back the curtain on an underrated but crucial part of any tabletop roleplaying game: drawing the maps. Say goodbye to encounters between PCs and baddies in randomly generated dungeons and hello to a game in which where the fight takes place is just as important as the fight itself.
In How to Defend Your Lair, I discuss real-world principles of building security and area defense and how to use them to to create strongholds infused with flavor, informed by narrative, and complex enough to force your players to think strategically. Keep out ordinary intruders—and provide a thrilling challenge to extraordinary ones!
How to Defend Your Lair includes sections on fundamental principles of defense, terrain, magic, lair staffing, battle strategy and interrogation, along with 16 illustrative scenarios, from a grung village in the rainforest to the mountaintop redoubt of a wily lich.
Click here to preorder today from your favorite independent bookseller, or follow one of these links:
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If you’d prefer to support your friendly local game store with your purchase, ask the buyer to contact Simon & Schuster Distribution or ACD Distribution to order wholesale.
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