--- product_id: 106776833 title: "The Monsters Know What They're Doing: Combat Tactics for Dungeon Masters: Volume 1" price: "11199 som" currency: KGS in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.kg/products/106776833-the-monsters-know-what-theyre-doing-combat-tactics-for-dungeon store_origin: KG region: Kyrgyzstan --- # The Monsters Know What They're Doing: Combat Tactics for Dungeon Masters: Volume 1 **Price:** 11199 som **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Monsters Know What They're Doing: Combat Tactics for Dungeon Masters: Volume 1 - **How much does it cost?** 11199 som with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.kg](https://www.desertcart.kg/products/106776833-the-monsters-know-what-theyre-doing-combat-tactics-for-dungeon) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description In the course of a Dungeons & Dragons game, a Dungeon Master has to make one decision after another in response to player behaviour—and the better the players, the more unpredictable their behaviour! 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. Easy to read and apply, The Monsters Know What They're Doing is essential reading for every DM. Review: Probably the best "non-source" source book for D&D I have ever bought - I bought a load of books to "up my game" as Dungeon Master, and put this one off until now as I thought it was a little over-priced, and also most of the content was available online. How wrong I was! The book is beautifully put together, the hardcover is fantastic, and the sheer size of the thing is way beyond what I had imagined. But most important of all is the fact that this is all really well written. It's really easy to read, like a good "page turner" story where you don't want to stop reading. I think it's fair to say that most D&D books fall into one of three categories: - essential source books that are a little dry, but (mostly) necessary for the tables and information in them; - skinny pamphlets posing as books that have great content, but would be better as a laminated A4 handout; - books written with good intentions, but the author just isn't a very good writer. This book stands far above all of the rest in my opinion. The information in it can be read from cover to cover, or dipped into to prepare a specific encounter. There's some general ideas that cover any monsters not covered in detail, and then a wealth of information for all of the common monsters that I would expect to see in a campaign. I honestly don't know how I have been running combat without this book as a resource, and I would heartily recommend reading this to any Dungeon Master, experienced or brand new to the hobby. My players knew something had "changed" the last time we played, and I had a number of post-game messages to confirm that this was one of the best combat sessions they had ever played. I can't wait to put more of the ideas in this book into practice. Review: Essential if you think your combat has got stale. - By no means is this a core book, most people buy when starting DnD for the first time. But once you understand most intelligent creatures wouldn't want to die, then you think about your campaign and notice most battles are to the death. DM's grab this book and. Your game will become more interesting. ## Features - New Store Stock ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | 26,964 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 25 in Role-Playing & War Games 27 in Hobbies & Games References | | Customer Reviews | 4.9 out of 5 stars 4,142 Reviews | ## Images ![The Monsters Know What They're Doing: Combat Tactics for Dungeon Masters: Volume 1 - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81h6huJSzuL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Probably the best "non-source" source book for D&D I have ever bought *by M***L on 29 June 2020* I bought a load of books to "up my game" as Dungeon Master, and put this one off until now as I thought it was a little over-priced, and also most of the content was available online. How wrong I was! The book is beautifully put together, the hardcover is fantastic, and the sheer size of the thing is way beyond what I had imagined. But most important of all is the fact that this is all really well written. It's really easy to read, like a good "page turner" story where you don't want to stop reading. I think it's fair to say that most D&D books fall into one of three categories: - essential source books that are a little dry, but (mostly) necessary for the tables and information in them; - skinny pamphlets posing as books that have great content, but would be better as a laminated A4 handout; - books written with good intentions, but the author just isn't a very good writer. This book stands far above all of the rest in my opinion. The information in it can be read from cover to cover, or dipped into to prepare a specific encounter. There's some general ideas that cover any monsters not covered in detail, and then a wealth of information for all of the common monsters that I would expect to see in a campaign. I honestly don't know how I have been running combat without this book as a resource, and I would heartily recommend reading this to any Dungeon Master, experienced or brand new to the hobby. My players knew something had "changed" the last time we played, and I had a number of post-game messages to confirm that this was one of the best combat sessions they had ever played. I can't wait to put more of the ideas in this book into practice. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Essential if you think your combat has got stale. *by M***S on 29 June 2025* By no means is this a core book, most people buy when starting DnD for the first time. But once you understand most intelligent creatures wouldn't want to die, then you think about your campaign and notice most battles are to the death. DM's grab this book and. Your game will become more interesting. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Massive Tome, but still very concise *by N***E on 27 June 2020* So this book was much bigger than I expected, and I must admit I was little nervous about reading it at first. However, once I read through the introduction and useful overview of the monster's goals, it became clear the book was then quickly split up into explaining the tactics of each individual monster one by one. This with a good index and contents page makes it incredibly easy to find the monsters you want, study them specifically, and then you can put down and pick up the book at your leisure. My party just got visited by an old "friend" they disturbed some time ago, and I'd already built him up quite a lot before (a vampire). This book was brilliant with the tactics and helped me scare the players so much they were meta gaming their little socks off (for a party that rarely meta games at all, this was pretty hilarious to me). Even so, the vampire managed to escape to fight another day, so the paranoia continues for now. Just wait until the vampire sends his minions after them too (all carefully explained in the book as well). I've gone through quite a few of the classic monsters now and always feel like the advice is easy to understand, makes a lot of sense and is very interesting to read. A lot of love went into this book and if there are ever sequels with monsters found in Volo's and Mordenkainen's I will happily purchase them too. ## Frequently Bought Together - The Monsters Know What They're Doing: Combat Tactics for Dungeon Masters (1) - MOAR! Monsters Know What They're Doing (3) (The Monsters Know What They’re Doing) - How to Defend Your Lair (4) (The Monsters Know What They’re Doing) --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.kg/products/106776833-the-monsters-know-what-theyre-doing-combat-tactics-for-dungeon](https://www.desertcart.kg/products/106776833-the-monsters-know-what-theyre-doing-combat-tactics-for-dungeon) --- *Product available on Desertcart Kyrgyzstan* *Store origin: KG* *Last updated: 2026-05-28*