Monte Cook and Keith Baker Are Teaching Sessions at Dungeon Master University
Beginning in 2018, Tabletop Vacations has been organizing immersive events where expert DMs lead fantasy roleplaying games in historic castles in England and at Landoll’s Mohican Castle. The full-service getaways are widely appreciated among forever DMs who rarely get the chance to participate as players themselves, and they often look for guidance from experts on topics ranging from spontaneous storytelling and crafting riddles to managing conflicts at the table.
In response, the planners began designing a organized method to address these questions, which led to the founding of DMU. The first session is planned for the start of 2026 at a university in Atlanta.
“It's possible to view countless online tutorials on almost every theme and acquire valuable insights, but the idea was that there’s just no substitute face-to-face interaction in the company of peers in game mastering, where real-time interaction with seasoned educators and your fellow DMs often in the same boat and also want to improve their skills,” noted Jason Carl.
Course Offerings and Cost Levels
DMs can choose from packages ranging from $995 to $2,500, according to the degree of interaction they desire with the instructors. The base tier includes selection from four classes:
- Foundational Skills: Teaches the basics of leading a game.
- Long-Term Game Planning: Is dedicated to crafting long-running games.
- Worldbuilding: Concentrates on the art of setting design.
- Career Building: Tailored to DMs who want to learn more about the gaming industry.
Every class includes multiple sessions of training divided across two days.
“The courses are designed so that you depart having usable skills, increased self-assurance, and many practical techniques,” Carl explained. “They’re not just lectures and they exceed pre-recorded material. These workshops that you can join, absorb insights from, and then head back to your table the week after and put into practice in your local game.”
Seasoned Educators
The majority of workshops are taught by a pair of experts. Universe creation is guided by Monte Cook and Keith Baker, together instructing the skill of universe design.
Industry advancement presents multiple instructors, such as an author on gaming puzzles, Clint McElroy, and a pioneering DM. The extra instructors is meant to offer targeted guidance to attendees with particular aims.
“Various attendees plan to create their own D&D actual play and share their stories with the world, several plan to produce and develop fresh ideas,” Carl stated. “Some just want to ask, What's the path to be a DM at a program like D&D in a Castle? What capabilities that I need? Is this achievable?”
Premium Packages
A fifteen hundred dollar gold tier provides access to a welcome reception, a starter kit, and a 30-minute office hour appointment with a teacher. This marks the inaugural DMU session, though the company has previously run similar events during breaks between campaigns at their castle events.
“You could almost run an entire weekend just on one-on-one meetings for professional dungeon masters,” Carl said. “I don’t know if that’s the best use of all participants' schedule – I believe the structured learning and the hands-on activities is highly beneficial – but I think it’s going to be one of the most popular parts of the program.”
The twenty-five hundred dollar platinum tier offers an 60-minute private session and the opportunity to lead a session for five players plus a teacher, who will then offer feedback and coaching.
“The aim is for the teacher to assess whichever aspect is interested in: I have difficulty with improv or I feel stuck in this kind of combat situation. Can I run a scenario for you and receive input on my areas of proficiency and challenge?” Carl detailed. “Or maybe they want to receive input and information on a particular setting that they’ve been creating.”
Coming Developments
Input from the inaugural session will help determine upcoming academy workshops. Carl suggested that likely modifications could include increasing consultation time, lengthening the event to three days, or experimenting with alternative workshop formats.
“I anticipate that we host such events regularly,” Carl expressed. “I would love to see numerous academy events in a single year, in various locations, and in various nations. The feedback has been extremely positive. We’re very happy with the results so far and I feel it would be wonderful to be able to conduct this in collaboration with large gatherings.”
