The Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide Preview - Coming Two Weeks to Kickstarter! [Prices Reduced!!!]

The Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide by DMDave is coming to Kickstarter in less than two weeks.

We will be launching on Tuesday October 12th at 10:00 am EST (that's 7:00 am PST/2:00 pm GMT/4:00 pm CET), so set your calendars and alarms. If you want to make sure not to miss out, you can follow the Kickstarter campaign now and get a notification as soon as we go live.

Below, I've included a preview of all the content that the Kickstarter will offer and how much it will cost. This gives you a sneak peak at all the tiers you will be able to pledge so that you can plan accordingly for launch date. Please note that the prices don't include shipping, but shipping estimates will be provided. Check out the information below.

If everything goes well we have loads of really cool stretch goals to share, so the first 24-48 hours are critical to get that momentum going and reaching those goals. If you are planning to back the Kickstarter I recommend doing so as early as possible so we can hit our funding goal and push on straight away. As such, we're offering a 10% early bird special on some of our tiers (see which ones below).

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments, or come to the Discord server and ask in our new #gmsg-kickstarter channel.

The Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide is a hardcover book featuring more than 300 tactical guides for popular Fifth Edition monsters. These guides are essential to improving your combat strategies for monsters, creating fun and memorable encounters that will challenge your players and improve their overall experience.

Not the final artwork.

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The tactical guides are easy to read and understand, each one offering the following information:

• Basic Information. Know the monster's type and challenge rating.
• Fighting Style. Most monsters fall into one of the following archetypes: artillerist, brute, controller, elite, leader, lurker, minion, skirmisher, and soldier. All categories come with a detailed explanation of the archetype's basic tactics.
• Set-up. Get details on the best possible battle map set-up for your monsters.
• Basic Tactics. Gain insight into the round-by-round steps for using each monster in a believable way (for example, dumb monsters fight dumb, smart monsters fight smart, and so on).
• Weaknesses. Know what to avoid and watch out for when running your monster up against a prepared party.
• Pairings. Learn the types of monsters that each monster should team up with to help them minimize their weaknesses and maximize their strengths.

The book will be a hardcover with an estimated 325-350 pages. It will also include tips for building encounters using the monsters as well as tips for going up against certain playstyles and character builds.

So far, we plan to have the book come out at around 325-350 pages. The book will contain the following information.

• Table of Contents, Indices, and OGL. Your basic information goes here.
• Basic Strategies. Any overview of the basic strategies to employ in your games.
• Character Build Breakdowns. Understanding different character builds and how to overcome the cheesiest ones.
• How to Read Monster Blocks. How to read and understand a monster block so you can run them realistically.
• Tactical Guides. The tactical guides will look similar to the one above, designed for quick reference.
• Quick Encounter Charts. A collection of charts to add monsters to your games for multi-combat and single combat sessions.

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The Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide Hardcover - $30 USD

Includes digital PDF copies of the book.

The book comes with everything detailed above, offering you awesome, easy-to-master tactics for nearly every creature featured in the Fifth Edition manual of monsters.

Shipping not included (See Shipping Info further down the page)

Includes:

• 1 hardcover copy of the Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide
• 1 PDF copy of the Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide
• All applicable rewards and stretch goals
• A "Beware the GM" vinyl sticker

Digital only versions available, as well.

The Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide Boxed Set - $100 USD

*Early Bird Available (10% Off Price)

The boxed set comes with a premium two-part box to fit all your goodies along with some other fun stuff to make your gaming experience all the more memorable.

This also includes Quick Tactics cards, which have truncated versions of the monster tactical guides so you can draw the ones you need and have them ready for play.

The playbook sheets use actual maps to show you how to set up your monsters. These maps are designed by our good friend, Tom Cartos.

And the Ultimate Encounter Cheat Sheet offers you hundreds of detailed encounter set-ups that you can grab and go without having to do a ton of mind-numbing math.

Shipping not included (See Shipping Info further down the page)

Includes:

• 1 hardcover copy of the Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide
• 1 PDF copy of the Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide
• 2 Monster quick tactics decks (CR 0 to 1/4 and CR 1/2 to 2)
• 10 Playbook sheets
• All applicable rewards and stretch goals
• Murderhobo's Bane Dice Set
• A "Beware the GM" vinyl sticker

The Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide Deluxe Set - $200 USD

*Early Bird Available (10% Off Price)

In addition to all the cool stuff mentioned above, the Deluxe Boxed Set comes with even more fun stuff to take your encounters to the next level.

The Battlefield Modification Deck lets you randomize terrain features such as obstacles, sources of cover, and even some hazards to make your combats more interesting.

Two more Monster Quick Tactics Decks covering the remaining Challenge Ratings: CR 3-6 and CR 7-30.

The Official DMDave GM Screen will have all the basic tactical information you need written on the inside with a warning to players on the outside: "Don't mess with me... I've got a copy of the GM's Survival Guide."

Take the playbook sheets and make them real with full sized battle mats measuring 22" by 17" inches, all created by our good pal, Tom Cartos.

Shipping not included (See Shipping Info further down the page)

Includes:

• 1 hardcover copy of the Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide
• 1 PDF copy of the Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide
• 4 Monster quick tactics decks (CR 0 to 1/4 and CR 1/2 to 2)
• 1 Battlefield Modification Deck
• 1 Gamemaster's Survival Guide GM's Screen
• 10 Playbook sheets
• 6 double-sided battle mats
• All applicable rewards and stretch goals
• Out-for-Blood dice set
• A "Beware the GM" vinyl sticker

The Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide All-in Set - $300 USD

*Early Bird Available (10% Off Price)

Want to get it all? No problem, we've got you covered!

In addition to all the cool stuff included in the Deluxe set, the All-in Set gets you even more rad stuff.

BroadSword Compendium #2 is a 300-page adventure book featuring all of DMDave's best adventures over the last four years (a $60 value).

The Digital Bundle includes FoundryVTT and Roll20 versions of all the content for easy reference (a $150 value!)

Both dice sets come with this package, so they aren't sold separately.

Shipping not included (See Shipping Info further down the page)

Includes:

• 1 hardcover copy of the Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide
• 1 hardcover copy of the Best of DMDave Adventure Book
• 1 FoundryVTT module pack
• 1 Roll20 module pack
• 1 PDF copy of the Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide
• 4 Monster quick tactics decks (CR 0 to 1/4 and CR 1/2 to 2)
• 1 Battlefield Modification Deck
• 1 Gamemaster's Survival Guide GM's Screen
• 10 Playbook sheets
• 5 double-sided battle mats
• All applicable rewards and stretch goals
• Murderhobo's Bane RPG dice set
• Out-for-Blood RPG dice set
• A "Beware the GM" vinyl sticker

Pledge Breakdown Guide

Shipping Cost Estimates

Shipping will be charged via Backerkit after the Kickstarter campaign ends. We have provided our best estimates for costs based on current fees in the table above.  However please be aware that these may be subject to change.  We will do everything we can to keep them as low as possible.

Don't forget to sign up to the pre-launch page to be notified when we go live!