Book Review: The Monsters Know What They're Doing | DM's Toolkit

hey everyone I'm dam Alan and welcome back to another video from the DM stable today I'm going to be reviewing with you a wonderful book that I have just finished and I absolutely adore it it's called the monsters know what they're doing combat tactics for Dungeon Master's and is written by Keith Amon this book is exactly what it says on the cover it is a tactics reference guide that you can use to better your understanding of how combat works in D&D 5e and it is phenomenal for shifting your paradigm on how you use these monsters Keith also does something very interesting and he proposes a discourse on how to actually use the stat block that's in the monster manual provided by the Wizards of the coast you can read it like you might normally do and just look at it as numbers and attributes but really what Keith challenges us to do is look at those numbers and why they're there and also why are those attributes there and then start thinking about how these monsters are actually going to attack a party or interact with that party so now let's get into what I liked about the book and what I didn't quite like about the book and then some personal takeaways that I had when reading it so let's dive in first off like I mentioned this book is going to alter the way you think about monsters this book is really good at changing the paradigm in which you look through now even if you're similarly minded to Keith this is going to give you a insight into how he tackles his monsters for games in preparation without giving away too much about what he has to offer he really challenges the DM to look at the stat block and start questioning why are those stats the way they are why do you have a high Dex mod and a high Constitution mod does that mean you're shocked true or does that mean you're a hit and run kind of monster and then he dives into what Wizards gives the monsters as far as attributes like dark vision and and water breathing and then he starts thinking about how are these monsters going to attack a party and where are they going to attack these parties if you've got water breathing in a swim speed why would you find them in a desert or on land that's not really where you would find them you might find them in a bog or or in a coastal area and though that seems like a concept that is a no-brainer you constantly see DMS online or even at cons that really don't grasp these concepts and I'm one of these DMS when I read this book it was a phenomenal shift in my thought process and how I tear down these monsters and I'm very excited that I have read this book because it's inspired me as a DM and it also has challenged me to take my DMing skills just a little bit higher and try and make encounters that are meaningful and not just what Keith calls it rah-rah-rah stab stab stab and I love that another thing I like about this book is he doesn't be to run the bush on what he's going to tell you he tells you right off the bat why he started looking at things like this and the kind of journey that he went through to kind of find these insights and that's really really great because in the end this is a reference guide so it's important for us to have that information right away one of my last big things that I really enjoyed about this book and this is a personal thing is I love the crunchy bits that he added when it came to like crunching the numbers and how you're going to gain advantage and how that changes your statistical outcomes for a battle it is really really refreshing to see someone come at the game with that old-school tactics mentality and then taking that and putting it into a way that you can change it into a really good RP game and I applaud him because it's a very well executed and I have not seen anyone articulate that through words or writing in a way that was so concise and don't get me wrong this is gonna get really tactical and that's what's gonna lead us into the cons all right hold on before we go any further I need to 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like you're just staring into the Stars it is absolutely fantastic I really love the looks of their metallic dice too and those dice trays are looking really really good too so go check out metallic dice Gamescom and let's get back to the video now if you're not like me and you're not a big Tactics crunchy numbers person then this book is still good for you but it's gonna be a lot harder of a read you're gonna want to treat this book as a reference manual because that's really what it is I bought it and I thought maybe this is gonna be a cover to cover type of read and once I really got into it I started realizing that that's not at all what this is intended for this is really intended for I've got a monster that I'm about to put into a encounter and then you go look it up and you learn a little bit about the monsters now I would highly suggest if you use the book in this way which you should that you read the section starter first heath loves to drop in little tidbits all through the book that are just absolutely fantastic insights into the game of D&D that tactics part of the game he drops little insights like the combat system only really expects you to be battling for like two to three rounds five rounds at most that's a really interesting insight that just shows up in the middle of a random monster so if you're looking for those insights you will want to slog through all of these monsters and read them and I'm gonna tell you it is a slog it is a very interesting read but you have to take it a little at a time this book is not something I could sit down and crush in a day I'm not a fast reader by any means but if I get into a book I don't want to put it down with this book I read a chunk had to put it down read another chunk I had to put it down again because it's just so much information that you have to sit and process it and let it sink in and hopefully you remember it for when you go to DM another thing I really wish I would have seen in this book is a more concise start I loved how he got into everything so quickly but he always leaves you wondering how he breaks the system down like Keith talks about how high a certain high ability modifiers are going to put monsters into certain rankings like a shock trooper or a long term fighter or a glass can and things like that but what he doesn't tell you is what his system is for that he doesn't tell you you know if you've got these three attributes that are super high then you're really looking at a glass cannon but as you read through it what you're gonna start seeing is that process it just takes a lot of technical reading and for me that that's kind of a lot like I said it's not a book I wanted to sit and read the whole day now at the end of the day it's still a very good book and I absolutely loved it you should do yourself a service and go and read it whether it's in chunks or otherwise I would highly recommend this to all levels of DM that it doesn't matter if you're brand new to DMing or if you're a super seasoned Dungeon Master this book is a great insight into a new way of thinking now in the book he says players can read it too and I'm not against it by any means but I did see that he's got a new book coming out that's called live to tell the tale and I'm guessing that books gonna be a lot better geared towards players and their tactics I'm assuming that book is gonna be a lot more cover to cover or at least I hope I would also recommend that you really spend time in the first few sections of the book that is where Keith is going to lay out the groundwork for what he does throughout the book so whether you're going to use it as a reference guide or not I would highly suggest that the first few sections you actually do read don't just let it sit down the shelf and then as you use monsters start diving in otherwise you're gonna be very lost now as always I have affiliate links down in the description below and you guys can check out the book on Amazon and I highly recommend again that you guys read this this is really a game changer and at the very least you are gonna get some crazy good DM inspiration from it alright don't forget to Like and subscribe to the channel obviously hit that Bell down below and also if you want to join the DM stable discord you are more than welcome to join just hit us up on our social medias that we're on twitter at DM stable and on facebook at the DM stable just hit us up for an invite to the discord link and we've got fantastic channels where we talk about the books we're reading where we're talking about D&D RPG information gaming in general miniatures painting and just other awesome nerd talk we love it over there and we want you to join so hit us up alright that's all I've got for you today I'll see you out on the Internet right guys [Music] you [Music]

Channel: The DM's Table

Views: 2,339

Keywords: Dungeons and Dragons, Tabletop, RPG, Role-play Games, The DM's Table, Tabletop RPG, Games, D&D, DnD, D and D, rpg games, teach D&D, Book Review, The Monsters Know What They're Doing, Product Review, DM tips, D&D Tips, new DM, Dungeon Master, Monster tactics, Strategy guide, Combat guide, Creature tactics, Monster manual, Keith Ammann, RPG strategy, RPG tactics, RPG guides, RPG books, d&d, how to play dungeons and dragons

Id: NAkhMEjYqxk

Length: 10min 58sec (658 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 07 2020