The Monsters Know What They're Doing: Combat Tactics for Dungeon Masters

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From the creator of the popular blog The Monsters Know What Theyre Doing comes a compilation of villainous battle plans for Dungeon Masters.

In the course of a Dungeons & Dragons game, a Dungeon Master has to make one decision after another in response to player behaviorand the better the players, the more unpredictable their behavior! Its easy for even an experienced DM to get bogged down in on-the-spot decision-making or to let combat devolve into a boring slugfest, with enemies running directly at the player characters and biting, bashing, and slashing away.

In The Monsters Know What Theyre Doing, Keith Ammann lightens the DMs burden by helping you understand your monsters abilities and develop battle plans before your fifth edition D&D game session begins. Just as soldiers dont whip out their field manuals for the first time when theyre already under fire, a DM shouldnt wait until the PCs have just encountered a dozen bullywugs to figure out how they advance, fight, and retreat.

Easy to read and apply, The Monsters Know What Theyre Doing is essential reading for every DM.

Reviews

Ive always said, the Dungeon Master is the whole world except for his players and as a result, I spend countless hours prepping for my home group. What Keith gets is that the monsters are the DMs characters and his work has been super helpful in adding logic, flavor, and fun in my quest to slaughter my players characters and laugh out the window as they cry in their cars afterward. Joe Manganiello, award-winning actor/producer, author of Evolution, founder/creative director of Death Saves streetwear, and consultant/contributor to Dungeons & Dragons
This book almost instantly made me a better Dungeon Master. If youre running games, it is a must-have enhancement. I gave copies to the two others in our group who share in the Dungeon Mastering, and both of them came back the next time grinning rather slyly. Keith is a diabolical genius, and I say that with the utmost respect! R. A. Salvatore, #1 New York Timesbestselling author of more than sixty-five books, including the Drizzt novelsThe Crystal Shard,Timeless, andBoundless
The best movie villains are the ones you fall in love with. Keiths book grounds villains in specificity, motivation, and tactics--so much so that players will love to hate em. This book will enrich your game immeasurably! Matthew Lillard, award-winning actor, director, producer, and co-founder of Beadle and Grimms Pandemonium Warehouse
I have to send this book to my DM! Hugo award finalist Max Gladstone, author ofThis is How You Lose the Time War
I hope my DM doesn't read this book. Hugo award-winner Elizabeth Bear, author of Ancestral Night
One of the most interesting, thoughtful, smart RPG sourcebooks I've ever read. . . . The Monsters Know What They're Doing is a hoot just to read, and transported me back to my days of poring over the Monster Manual and the Fiend Folio."Cory Doctorow, co-editor of boingboing.net and New York Times bestselling author of Little Brother and Homeland -- Cory Doctorow * BoingBoing *
This book is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL for any D&D DM, whether youre running monsters straight from the book or not. This should sit prominently on every game shelf and should be pulled out for every session. Dice Monkey

Author Bio

KeithAmmannhas been a Dungeons & Dragons player and DM for more than thirty years. He has been writing his fifthedition D&D-focused blogThe Monsters Know What Theyre Doingsince 2016. He lives in Chicago.