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Making Enemies

Monster Design Inspiration for Tabletop Roleplaying Games
Brief Description
From the acclaimed author of the “must-have” (R.A. Salvatore, #1 New York Times bestselling author) The Monsters Know What They’re Doing series, an indispensable and easy-to-follow new handbook for creating original enemies in tabletop role-playing games. In The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, the essential tactics... Read More
Format: Hardback
$6500
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

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From the acclaimed author of The Monsters Know What They're Doing and its acclaimed sequels comes an indispensable new handbook for creating original monsters for tabletop role-playing games.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

From the acclaimed author of the “must-have” (R.A. Salvatore, #1 New York Times bestselling author) The Monsters Know What They’re Doing series, an indispensable and easy-to-follow new handbook for creating original enemies in tabletop role-playing games.

In The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, the essential tactics guide for Dungeon Masters, and its sequel, MOAR! Monsters Know What They’re Doing, Keith Ammann reverse-engineered hundreds of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons monsters to help DMs prepare battle plans for combat encounters before their game sessions.

Now, in Making Enemies, he explores everything that goes into creating monsters from the ground up: size, number, and level of challenge; monster habitats; monster motivations; monsters as metaphors; monsters and magic; the monstrous anatomy possessed by real-world organisms; and how to customise monsters for your own tabletop role-playing game adventuring party to confront.

No longer limited to one game system, Making Enemies shows you how to build out your creations not just for D&D 5E but also for Pathfinder 2E, Shadowdark, the Cypher System, and Call of Cthulhu 7E. Including interviews with some of the most brilliant names in RPG and creature design, Making Enemies gives you the tools to surprise and delight your players—and terrify their characters—again and again.

Series: The Monsters Know What They’re Doing

View all
  • Making Enemies
    From the acclaimed author of the “must-have” (R.A. Salvatore, #1 New York Times bestselling author) The Monsters Know What They’re Doing series, an indispensable and easy-to-follow new handbook for creating original enemies in tabletop role-playing games. In The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, the essential tactics guide for Dungeon Masters, and its sequel, MOAR! Monsters Know What They’re Doing, Keith...
    Hardback
    $6500
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Monsters Know What They're Doing
    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 behaviour—and the better the players, the more unpredictable their behaviour! It’s easy for even...
    Hardback
    $5400
    Elsewhere:
    $5999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • How to Defend Your Lair
    Defend yourself and protect your assets in a lair that feels as real and alive as your monsters with advice from Keith Ammann, author of The Monsters Know What They’re Doing: Combat Tactics for Dungeon Masters. The world is a dangerous place—especially when you’re up to no good. Whether you’re a rampaging monster, a calculating mastermind, or the current possessor...
    Hardback
    $5399
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • MOAR! Monsters Know What They're Doing
    From the author of The Monsters Know What They’re Doing comes a follow-up strategy guide with MOAR! Monsters Know What They’re Doing—monster tactics for Dungeon Masters playing fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Keith Ammann’s first book, based on his popular blog, The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, unpacks strategies, tactics, and motivations for creatures found in the Dungeons & Dragons...
    Hardback
    $5399
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781668093344

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 06 November 2025

Country: United States

Imprint: Gallery

Illustration: 1-c black illus t-o

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 38.0mm

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 229.0mm

Weight: 748g

Pages: 592

About the Author

Keith Ammann is an ENNIE Award–winning writer based in Chicago and has been a roleplaying gamer and gamemaster for more than thirty years. He likes to play outwardly abrasive helpers, out-of-their-element helpers, reluctant helpers, and genuinely nice, helpful helpers. Mostly, though, he plays non-player characters. And monsters.

Also by Keith Ammann

View all
  • The Monsters Know What They're Doing
    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 behaviour—and the better the players, the more unpredictable their behaviour! It’s easy for even...
    Hardback
    $5400
    Elsewhere:
    $5999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • How to Defend Your Lair
    Defend yourself and protect your assets in a lair that feels as real and alive as your monsters with advice from Keith Ammann, author of The Monsters Know What They’re Doing: Combat Tactics for Dungeon Masters. The world is a dangerous place—especially when you’re up to no good. Whether you’re a rampaging monster, a calculating mastermind, or the current possessor...
    Hardback
    $5399
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • MOAR! Monsters Know What They're Doing
    From the author of The Monsters Know What They’re Doing comes a follow-up strategy guide with MOAR! Monsters Know What They’re Doing—monster tactics for Dungeon Masters playing fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Keith Ammann’s first book, based on his popular blog, The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, unpacks strategies, tactics, and motivations for creatures found in the Dungeons & Dragons...
    Hardback
    $5399
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

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