Keith Baker and Monte Cook Are Instructing Classes at DMU
Beginning in 2018, Tabletop Vacations has been running deeply engaging experiences where expert DMs manage Dungeons & Dragons games in ancient fortresses in England and at a U.S. castle resort. These all-inclusive trips are highly favored among career game masters who seldom have the opportunity to actually play themselves, and they often look for guidance from experts on topics ranging from improv and puzzle design to handling difficult situations at the table.
In response, the planners began developing a structured way to address these questions, which led to the establishment of Dungeon Master University. The inaugural event is planned for the start of 2026 at a university in Atlanta.
“You can watch countless online tutorials on any topic and learn quite a lot, but the concept was that there’s just no substitute an in-person experience alongside other dungeon masters, where there’s live engagement with seasoned educators and your fellow DMs often in comparable situations and also want to enhance their abilities,” stated the program's dean.
Workshop Options and Pricing Tiers
Game masters can choose from options ranging from $995 to $2.5K, according to the level of access they desire with the experts. The starting package includes a choice of four workshops:
- Skill Building: Teaches the basics of running D&D.
- Campaign Building: Is dedicated to crafting long-running games.
- Universe Design: Highlights the crafting of environments.
- Industry Advancement: Designed for game masters who want to learn more about the roleplaying business.
All workshops includes multiple sessions of instruction divided across a weekend.
“The classes are designed so that you walk away with usable skills, probably greater confidence, and a lot of usable tools,” Carl said. “It's more than presentations and they’re not just static videos. These are sessions that you can join, gain knowledge from, and then head back to your table the week after and put into practice in your regular session.”
Seasoned Educators
Most classes are led by a pair of experts. Setting design is led by Monte Cook and the creator of Eberron, jointly leading the craft of setting creation.
Industry advancement presents several experts, such as an author on gaming puzzles, an entertainment professional, and Hunter Fell. The extra instructors is intended to deliver focused advice to attendees with particular aims.
“Some of them plan to create their own real-play series and present their narratives with the world, several aim to release and develop fresh ideas,” Carl explained. “Some just want to ask, How do I get to be a DM at a program like a castle event? Which abilities that I need? Can anyone do it?”
Premium Packages
A fifteen hundred dollar gold tier offers access to a welcome reception, a welcome gift pack, and a brief one-on-one appointment with a teacher. This represents the inaugural DMU session, though the team has previously run Castle Days during breaks between game sessions at their premium gatherings.
“One could practically host an complete event just on one-on-one meetings for expert DMs,” Carl observed. “I'm not certain if that’s the optimal application of all participants' schedule – In my opinion the coursework and the practical exercises is too valuable – but I believe it’s going to be among the most sought-after parts of the program.”
The twenty-five hundred dollar platinum tier provides an hour of one-on-one time and the possibility to manage an adventure for several participants plus a teacher, who will then offer feedback and guidance.
“The goal is for the teacher to review any element is focused on: I have difficulty with improvisation or I get blocked in this kind of combat situation. May I present a scene for you and get feedback on what my strengths and weaknesses are?” Carl explained. “Perhaps they want to receive input and guidance on a particular setting that they’ve been creating.”
Next Steps
Feedback from the debut workshop will help shape future Dungeon Master University sessions. Carl suggested that likely modifications could include adding more office hours, lengthening the event to three days, or experimenting with alternative workshop formats.
“I anticipate that we conduct these frequently,” Carl said. “I really want to see multiple Dungeon Master Universities in a given year, in various locations, and in multiple countries. The response has been extremely positive. We're quite pleased with current developments and I feel it would be amazing to be able to conduct this in partnership with big conventions.”