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

The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, Book 1

By: Keith Ammann

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins

Length: 25 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

From the creator of the popular blog The Monsters Know What They're 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 behavior - and the better the players, the more unpredictable their behavior! It's 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 They're Doing, Keith Ammann lightens the DM's burden by helping you understand your monsters' abilities and develop battle plans before your fifth edition D&D game session begins. Just as soldiers don't whip out their field manuals for the first time when they're already under fire, a DM shouldn't wait until the PCs have just encountered a dozen bullywugs to figure out how they advance, fight, and retreat.

©2019 Keith Ammann (P)2020 Tantor

Really interesting, but get the physical book

The content & presentation of this book is really interesting and is an invaluable tool to take your DM skills to the next level. I found that this was a bit more difficult to follow in audio format because the stat blocks get hard to follow. As a DM resource it is difficult to reference specific monster groups section as well.

I ended up returning the audio book, but will definitely be buying a physical copy.

it is awesome!!!!!

I really like this book. because I am wanting to be a DM for my dad and little brother so this has been a big help.

great info for new DMs!

great to listen to and take notes. detailed examples for NPC character play and combat interactions. highly recommend for all new DMs to DnD.

as a Professional DM this is a great resource

everything is great now make with new monsters.or 3 rd party monsters. tpk book be awesome

A DM's Must Read

If you are a DM gaming D&D 5e this is must read that will ensure you will take your game to the next level. I highly recommend it.

Let your dragons live!

I recently listened to The Monsters Know What They’re Doing: Combat Tactics for Dungeon Masters written by Kieth Ammann and narrated by Kevin T. Collins.

This book is written as a bit of an instructional guide for Dungeon Masters of Dungeons and Dragons 5E. While this book is specific to this edition of the popular game commonly known as D&D, it’s principles of considering monster stats, abilities, and lore combine to give one a guide for running monsters in any combat oriented RPG system. He uses the available information to inform the tactics of each creature, thus giving each a unique and vivid life at the table.

Narration: Kevin T. Collins actually brings a fairly well spoken and thought out diction to the task of reading this tome. His reading elevates a topic that could be a dry read into something that is arresting. He adds the emotion of an enthusiastic teacher to his reading and it matches the book’s tone quite well.

Conclusion: This is an excellent book for any Dungeon Master in any tactically based RPG system, but especially for those invested in 5E. The methods described here are a useful guide to turn boring statistics about creatures into a useful way of modeling a vibrant living breathing creature at the table. It lets you bring your dragons to life!

Great resource!

Id love to see a follow-up with more entires. I always reference this while preparing

Very insightful

Listening to this has made me very eager to use practically every tactic as he described, and provides minor guidance in homebrewing creatures.

very good resource

This book is a very good resource for DMs, and will save a good amount of prep time.

A great book for any DM!

The book's content is smart, witty and well thought out. Also the narrator's clean pronunciation allows for a better understanding of the ideas.