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Home-Field Advantage - A Compendium of Lair ActionsClick to magnify
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Home-Field Advantage - A Compendium of Lair Actions

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Home-Field Advantage is a 240-page compendium of Lair Actions for your favorite 5e baddies!

This ENnie Award winning, Adamantine Best Seller features hundreds of new and unique lairs covering over 320 of your favorite creatures from the 5e Monster Manual, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, and Volo's Guide to Monsters.

There’s nothing like entering the lair of a boss monster who's been built up as an antagonist for several sessions. Lair actions are the tool D&D 5th Edition provides you, the Dungeon Master, to make sure that this battle lives up to the hype and anticipation. D&D truly shines when a boss battle is not just a slugfest, but involves the environment and unique obstacles for the player characters to overcome in creative ways. Our goal with Home-Field Advantage is to produce the kind of fun experience your players will still be talking about for years to come.

Run lair actions at every tier of play. Until now, Lair Actions were treated as something only legendary creatures, usually in the 3rd and 4th tier of play, should have. But in practice, adventurers tend to fight bosses in their lair at every tier of play, and most campaigns end before reaching this legendary stage. With over 170 lairs (almost 70% of the book) for the first two tiers of play, Home-Field Advantage puts the spotlight on the parts of the game people love and experience the most, making them shine even brighter than before.

Breathe new life into old favorites. There are creatures without whom D&D wouldn't be what it is: mages, hags, genies, mind flayers, vampires, or even the mighty Tarrasque. You've probably used at least a couple of them in every single one of your campaigns, and you know their stat blocks like the back of your hand. With Home-Field Advantage, you'll find an excuse to bring back some of those fond memories, and make them fresh (and deadly) all over again.

Still not sure? Check out the full preview, below the cover in the top left of the page. It contains the first 50 lairs in the book, and it is completely free. Judge them for yourself, and let us and others know what you think!

What people are saying about Home-Field Advantage:

Rogue Watson's profile pictureRogueWatson: "Home-Field Advantage deserves a coveted place up next to Monster Manual Expanded as a good-looking, well-designed, and incredibly useeful monster supplement, and a must-have for every Dungeon Master." Sly Flourish' profile pictureSlyFlourish: "I love this book - I think it's fantastic. It is currently the number 1 best seller on DMsGuild and with good reason. [...] As a Lazy DM, I think it's fantastic because if I want to run a boss fight, I can just run and grab this, I don't have to come up with my own mechanics." Bob's profile pictureBob World Builder: "I really like it for including so many low CR monsters that I love to use, and now have all of these new actions to throw at my players"
GmBen's profile pictureGMBen of NeverNotDM: "Homefield Advantage is a fantastic way to bring dynamic combat to your tables. You get hundreds of flavorful lair actions in a well organized, high-quality supplement. Frankly, I was stunned at the production quality of this supplement." DCS' profile pictureDiceCreamSandwich: "So sometimes when you're DMing a campaign it can be hard to get experienced players to be excited about low level encounters. When it comes to players who've been playing this game for a long time, and they come up against a group of kobolds, a group of goblins, etc... It can be kinda hard to make it feel like they're in for a challenge. [Home-Field Advantage is] an amazing supplement that helps with this very problem." The Cleric Corner's profile pictureThe Cleric Corner: "As a DM, you want things to be impactful, but at the same time to be easy on you. And dropping these lair actions into the most mundane encounters will really just add an experience and a story that your players and you will remember for years."

A preview of what can be found in the book: the deathlocks have 4 lair actions. The first one deals damage to undead creatures and grants temporary hit points to non-undead creatures in an area. The second one creates a wall, and any creature going through the wall summons a shadow which tries to kill it. The third curses creatures to prevent them from regaining hit points. The last one makes the deathlock regain an expended spell slot.The ettin has four lair actions, and must roll a d4 to randomly select which lair action it takes. On a 1, it hits itself as its two heads bicker with one another. On a 2, the foul stench of the lair poisons intruders. On a 3, the ettin's voices reverberates through the lair, deafening and frightening intruders. On a 4, the two heads agree for a change, and the ettin gets to move and attack once as a lair action.

The Remorhaz has 3 lair actions. The first one creates a column on steam which bursts from the ground, deals fire damage, and pushes intruders around. The second creates a pit which is difficult to climb out of. The third one creates a cloud of smoke which obscures the Remorhaz.The hydra has 3 lair actions. The first one creates areas of quicksand throughout the lair. The second one makes swarms of carnivorous fish appear within the water of the lair.  The third one coats the hydra in mucky water to give it resistance to fire damage.

POD version of the book

Also check out: The Better Boss Battles BundleHunters & Hunted Monsters Bundle & our Fantasy Grounds conversion

The Better Boss Battle Bundle hunters & hunted bundle Fantasy Grounds conversion by Grim Press

Got the PDF already? You can get the Hardcover for $20 off by using our PDF+Hardcover bundle:

POD Bundle

If you have the PDF version, you can get the Roll20 version for only $4.95 using the PDF+Roll20 bundle:

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Reviews (13)
Discussions (26)
Customer avatar
WHITE J October 28, 2023 11:12 am UTC
PURCHASER
Is the MEDUSA in here?
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Customer avatar
Valentin P October 28, 2023 11:51 am UTC
CREATOR
Yes - you can read the table of contents of the book in the free preview, it lists every single monster stat block featured inside the book
Customer avatar
Logan H May 25, 2023 3:18 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I was a little bummed because I was gonna use it for my next encounter that includes a succubus/incubus but unfortunately it wasn't in the book. That being said, there are TONS of monsters in here so I'm excited to use it for future encounters.
Customer avatar
Kevin B January 06, 2023 4:26 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I love this book! Is it possible to get maps (like the wizard tower under the mages) as separate files?
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Customer avatar
Valentin P January 07, 2023 6:18 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hi!
Unfortunately, we aren't authorized to distribute those maps ourselves, only to feature them within the book. Some of them are available for free online though: the wizard tower one is on my website, https://trekiros.com/battlemaps

For the other maps, you can find them here:
-Dyson's Logos: https://dysonlogos.blog/
-CzePeku: https://www.patreon.com/czepeku
-Party of Two: https://www.patreon.com/partyoftwo

If there are maps from CzePeku & Party of Two in particular that you want, I can give you their name and the URL of the corresponding Patreon post, but the maps we use are often one of the variations only available to their patrons
Customer avatar
James W December 10, 2022 6:04 pm UTC
I just discovered this book, and it’s super cool! Now that there some dnd monsters that have mythic actions, but only a select few from mtg books, it would be awesome to see a sequel to book that applies mythic actions to the monsters from the official bestiaries that should have them!
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Customer avatar
Valentin P December 10, 2022 8:15 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hi! If that's what you're looking for, we recommend Anne Gregersen's Bloodied & Bruised series: it adds new traits and actions to monsters when they're down to half their hit points, which in essence is roughly the same thing as giving them mythic actions.

We've partnered with Anne to bundle her books with ours so if you have one, you can get the other at a discount. It's the "Better Boss Battle Bundle", the one with the red and black cover
Customer avatar
John M August 19, 2022 8:36 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hi. I’m a bit confused by some the comments in this thread. I don’t previously own the PDF. And I want the POD Hardcover and the PDF. Do I select the Hardcover+PDF? Some of the comments suggest that’s only for those who previously owned the PDF.
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Customer avatar
Valentin P August 20, 2022 3:06 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hi, sorry for the confusion!

It took us about 4 months after release to put the POD together, so by that point a lot of people had bought the PDF. The problem was, DMsGuild doesn't have a "I already on the PDF" option, so these people would have needed to pay $49.95 to get the hardcover on top of the $19.95 they had already paid for the PDF. We thought this would have been rather unfair, and a poor way to thank the people who had supported this book early on, so we created a bundle, as a separate product listing, with both versions of the book.

This is, in effect, the exact same thing as buying the PDF+Hardcover normally: you get both for $49.95. However, the way bundles on DMsGuild work is, if you already own one of the items within the bundle, you get a discount equal to that item's price within the bundle.

So within the bundle, the hardcover is listed for $29.95, and the PDF is listed for $20. This means people who already have the PDF can use that bundle to...See more
Customer avatar
Valentin P July 15, 2022 5:36 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hello all!
This book was nominated for the ENnie Awards, Best Monster/Adversary category.

If you have picked up the book in the past 6ish months and you've liked it, please consider helping us by voting for us!
Thank you for your support!

Link here: https://vote.ennie-awards.com/vote/2022/
Customer avatar
Valentin P June 08, 2022 11:03 pm UTC
CREATOR
The POD will be unavailable for a couple of weeks as we update the print files, sorry for the inconvenience!
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Customer avatar
Valentin P June 27, 2022 10:18 am UTC
CREATOR
And the POD is available again! Sorry for the disturbance!
Customer avatar
Nigel R May 28, 2022 11:55 am UTC
PURCHASER
Hi
Stupid question perhaps
Is this book POD and printed in the UK please?
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Customer avatar
Valentin P May 28, 2022 1:00 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hi
The book can be printed in the UK or the USA, yes
Customer avatar
Jonathan C May 24, 2022 11:57 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I already have the pdf. I remember you saying there would be some kind of discount for people who had already purchased. Is that true or do I just buy the hardcover book at full price?
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Customer avatar
Valentin P May 25, 2022 9:39 am UTC
CREATOR
Yup, we have a bundle with the PDF and the hardcover, which makes it so if you already have the PDF, you get $20 off the hardcover:
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/397585/HomeField-Advantage-HardcoverPDF-BUNDLE?src=hfa_bundle
Customer avatar
jack J March 30, 2022 7:18 am UTC
PURCHASER
Paid full price for having access to Banderhobb lair actions and what do you know.. no Banderhobb..
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Customer avatar
Valentin P March 30, 2022 2:44 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hi, sorry we seem to have failed to meet your expectations for this book! Banderhobbs are established as tracker-type creatures, and their lore states they only exist for the duration of their hunt, which is why we didn't include them in this book. Similarly, we haven't given lairs to Revenants, Retrievers, or Slithering Trackers, for the same reason.
However, they *are* pretty cool monsters, blending themes of witchery with sneakery, and we can definitely see why you would want to give them a lair despite their lore. You could easily give them one by using lair actions from other monsters from the book - here's an example:
* (drow warband) The [banderhobb] snuffs out all non-magical lights within 60 feet of itself. Additionally, all spellcasters who maintain magical light sources produced by spells of 3rd level or lower must make a DC 15 Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, the magical light is dispelled.
* (shadow demon) An area of darkness the [banderhobb] can see takes form and grasps...See more
Customer avatar
Jay A March 17, 2022 5:06 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I'll just join the chorus and say, once POD hits, I'm in.
Reply
Customer avatar
Valentin P May 24, 2022 1:44 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hi! We've just released the POD for Home-Field Advantage today, so I thought I'd let you know!

If you already have the PDF, you can get $20 off of the hardcover by using the Hardcover+PDF bundle linked above.
And if you don't already have the PDF, it's 30% off right now, so you get $6 off of the hardcover by buying the PDF first and then the bundle.
Customer avatar
Luke V March 12, 2022 4:02 pm UTC
PURCHASER
The third lair action for the xorn reads "Those creatures are restrained until the xorn uses this ability again or casts earth tremor." Xorn don't have earth tremor or any spells. What's the intention here?
Reply
Customer avatar
Valentin P March 12, 2022 5:18 pm UTC
CREATOR
Oh, that's an editing mistake, thank you for pointing it out. For context, the second lair action used to say "the xorn casts earth tremor", and we replaced that with the spell's text for ease of use, but then failed to reflect this change in the third lair action.

It should say "until the xorn uses another lair action"
Customer avatar
Miles M March 08, 2022 9:46 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Really excited for the POD!
Reply
Customer avatar
Valentin P May 24, 2022 1:45 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hi! We've just released the POD for Home-Field Advantage today, so I thought I'd let you know!

If you already have the PDF, you can get $20 off of the hardcover by using the Hardcover+PDF bundle.
And if you don't already have the PDF, it's 30% off right now, so you get $6 off of the hardcover by buying the PDF first and then the bundle
Customer avatar
Stefan C March 08, 2022 9:04 am UTC
PURCHASER
I have really been enjoying this title since purchasing it!

I saw that there were some very nice battle maps included in some of the entries. I just wanted to know if there was a map pack available for purchase anywhere. Thanks for your hard work!
Reply
Customer avatar
Valentin P March 08, 2022 11:24 am UTC
CREATOR
No map pack is planned: CzePeku & Party of Two were kind enough to let us use some of their maps to illustrate the lairs, but as per their commercial licences, to download the maps in question, you must still go through their respective Patreons. A lot of them are available for free, but some of the variations, such as the blood altar version of the ice map used for the cult fanatic's lair, require being a patron to get the HD version:

CzePeku: https://www.patreon.com/czepeku
Party of Two: https://www.patreon.com/partyoftwo

The DysonLogos maps are all available for free on https://dysonlogos.blog, and the Dungeondraft maps can be found for free on https://trekiros.com/battlemaps
Customer avatar
Tim A March 03, 2022 9:08 am UTC
PURCHASER
Keen to purchase as soon as POD becomes available!
Reply
Customer avatar
Valentin P May 24, 2022 1:45 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hi! We've just released the POD for Home-Field Advantage today, so I thought I'd let you know!

If you already have the PDF, you can get $20 off of the hardcover by using the Hardcover+PDF bundle.
And if you don't already have the PDF, it's 30% off right now, so you get $6 off of the hardcover by buying the PDF first and then the bundle
Reply
Customer avatar
Tim A June 04, 2022 9:46 am UTC
PURCHASER
Thank you, I purchased it straight away!
Customer avatar
Jeff S February 25, 2022 3:43 am UTC
PURCHASER
As soon as this becomes available for POD I'll buy a copy.
Reply
Customer avatar
Valentin P May 24, 2022 1:45 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hi! We've just released the POD for Home-Field Advantage today, so I thought I'd let you know!

If you already have the PDF, you can get $20 off of the hardcover by using the Hardcover+PDF bundle.
And if you don't already have the PDF, it's 30% off right now, so you get $6 off of the hardcover by buying the PDF first and then the bundle
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File Last Updated:
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This title was added to our catalog on January 21, 2022.