You really then have to think very long and hard and carefully about who your biggest enemies are and what they in particular can do to you (or are likely to try to do to you). And because magic is very flexible by its nature, you start to have to account for more and more and more and more and plan different contingencies. The more magic becomes like technology, the more you get into a technological arms race when it's available to everybody. If the number of people in the population that can read minds is 20 percent as opposed to, you know, 1 or 2 percent, then you have everybody of any importance at all walking around wearing magical talismans that protect them against mind reading. You have to assume that the more magic there is in the world, the more magic is available to everybody for their defense. I look back at history because it provides concrete illustrations of what can be done and what has been done.Ĭan you talk about how magic impacts lair balance and design, and speak to how your book addresses this fantastical element? Defending a lair becomes a lot harder when somebody can just magically turn a stone wall into a doorway. You could use it for a contemporary or a science fiction setting because the principles apply regardless of the level of technology. You can use it for an ancient mythological setting, or you could use it for a more industrial fantasy setting. The majority of the advice in the book applies regardless of the technology level. Can you talk about why that is, and how it impacts your lair design philosophy and advice for this fantasy roleplaying game? You draw a lot on real-world history in this book - there’s a section about castles that’s really fascinating. I argue in favor of using that as a starting point and constructing the lair around the defense of whatever valuables the owner of the lair has. A lot of the time when DMs create dungeons, the treasure is the last thing to go in. I think the biggest error DMs make is simply not orienting the defense toward the protection of particular assets. You're gonna be sending off more attacks than you can handle. If, for example, you have detection and response, but you don't have deterrence, people are gonna be testing you all the time. That means giving less attention to one of the three basic components of lair defense, which are detection, deterrents, and response. Overlooking particular situations that create weaknesses, such as when the owner of the lair has to leave or is asleep. What are some of the biggest mistakes DMs make when dealing with a lair? In an interview with SYFY WIRE, Ammann explained some of his lair-building philosophy. Ammann draws on a deep understanding of the Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual, a wealth of historical comparisons, and a keen understanding of how people (and monsters) tick. The book helps guide in the creation of lairs from scratch, starting with an understanding of what the purpose of a lair is and going from there to teach DMs how to create a lair that makes sense - and there are several in-depth examples of lairs that DMs can either use whole cloth or learn from. “When Dungeon Masters draw maps for locations, oftentimes they tend to have a kind of random incoherence to them that doesn't really reflect the desire of a villain, NPC, or a monster.” There's a whole world always going on in the background, and NPCs and monsters are continually doing things for their own reasons,” Ammann tells SYFY WIRE. More lived in, more internally consistent, more like a place where things are continually going on, even if they're not being acted upon by the player characters. ![]() ![]() “A lot of the things that I write about I do so out of a desire to make the fantasy setting feel more real. It’s a valuable resource for DMs who want to give their players a challenge and make their game feel truly immersive. 29, is the work of Keith Ammann, who is also behind the popular blog The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, which helps DMs run monsters as the intelligent and exciting foes they’re meant to be rather than just generic cannon fodder. Luckily for the Beholders and Litches out there, the new book How to Defend Your Lair will teach DMs how to do just that. For a villain (and by extension the Dungeon Master who is playing them and created the scenario in the first place), defending a lair is no easy feat. In Dungeons & Dragons, the player characters tend to find ways to get the loot they’re after. Woe to anybody - be they a low-level thief or a mighty dragon - who thinks they can defend themselves against a group of determined fantasy heroes.
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