A gaunt lich casts cloudkill, enveloping the area in green, poisonous gas. Five adventurers—a halfling swashbuckler with a rapier, a fighter in Mughal-style chain mail, a sickle-wielding druid in West African–style garb and a head scarf, an aasimar bard-swordswoman wearing a ruqun, and a long-haired elf wizard—struggle forward through the poison gas cloud. The elf wizard is collapsing. A bug in the corner indicates that this blog won a gold ENnie award in 2020.

The Monsters Know What They’re Doing

Ready-to-Use Tactics for D&D 5E

Month: January 2021

  • Where I’ve Been

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    Hey, readers. I owe you an update! Yeah, it’s been a while since I posted any new tactical analyses, and I apologize for that. Since I became a parent, my available time to work on projects has gotten pared way back. For the past couple of months, what time I’ve had has been claimed by getting my next two (!) books ready to deliver to my publisher, and it’s going to be the same for at least the next couple of months as well. The holidays weren’t much of a break, either, since my wife is hard at work on the illustrations for book No. 3 (you know her work from book No. 1), meaning I’ve been picking up slack for her rather than vice versa. A lot of things have fallen by the wayside, writing blog posts among them. I’ll still slip in a post here and there when my workload permits, and once I’m further along on book No. 4, I’ll try to make up for lost time. But it’s probably going to remain somewhat quiet for a while.

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

“I’ve 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 DM’s 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

“The best movie villains are the ones you fall in love with. Keith’s 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

“This book almost instantly made me a better Dungeon Master. If you’re 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

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