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The Monsters Know What They’re Doing

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

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  • The Monsters Know What They’re Doing: Combat Tactics for DMs
  • Live to Tell the Tale: Combat Tactics for PCs

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Order from your favorite independent bookseller, or click one of these links:

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Featured in Syfy’s “The Best Loot: A Dungeons & Dragons Gift Guide”!

“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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Available now in stores and online!
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On the heels of The Monsters Know What They’re Doing—a compilation of villainous battle plans for Dungeon Masters—Live to Tell the Tale evens the score, providing beginning and intermediate D&D players the tools they need to fight back. Examining combat roles, class features, party composition, positioning, debilitating conditions, attacking combinations, action economy, and the ever-important consideration of the best ways to run away, Live to Tell the Tale will help you get the most out of your character’s abilities.

NEW!

The Buddy System: Combat Tactics for Beast Masters is a free supplement to Live to Tell the Tale, providing additional guidance for Beast Master rangers—including laying out what you can (and can’t) do with your Ranger’s Companion at each level according to Player's Handbook rules. Download it from the Dungeon Masters’ Guild.

Recent Posts

  • Where I’ve Been
  • Undying Tactics
  • Karrnathi Undead Soldier Tactics
  • Dolgaunt and Dolgrim Tactics
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About Me

I’ve been a D&D player since before there were flumphs. Back in those days, the manuals were set in Futura, and plate mail plus a shield was AC 2, and we were thankful for it, you whippersnappers. Now running a 5E campaign for my wife and her coworkers and loving it.

Got a Request?

Is there a monster you’d like me to analyze that I haven’t looked at yet? Send me a message and let me know.

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Buy We See It Differently on the DMs’ Guild

While monstrosities seek food and territory, giants compete for status, dragons pursue power and treasure, and aberrations are after who knows what, conflicts with humanoid antagonists typically revolve around the things we don’t discuss at the dinner table: religion and politics. Factions represent the players in these conflicts. Learn how to write compelling adventures focusing on the clashes between factions without making it obvious who the “good guys” and “bad guys” are.

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Buy Oath of Deliverance on the DMs’ Guild

The Oath of Deliverance is an attestation that there are laws greater than the laws of governors and judges, kings and emperors—laws of freedom, justice, benevolence, and dignity. Paladins who swear this oath serve those who suffer under the weight of tyranny and cruelty: the downtrodden, the persecuted, the abused.

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Buy The Pigeon Package on the DMs’ Guild

Just as eruptions of magical energies and careless experimentation by incautious wizards have resulted in the creation of monstrosities such as the owlbear, the shambling mound, and the banderhobb, they’ve also produced fearsome mutations in the common pigeon. Some of these cousins of this hardy avian species keep to remote locales, while others share their forebears’ predilection for the easy grub to be found in city streets.

Use the stat blocks of these foul fowl with the Pigeon Tactics on this blog!

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