Keith Baker along with Monte Cook Are Instructing Sessions at Dungeon Master University

Since 2018, Tabletop Vacations has been running immersive events where expert DMs manage D&D games in old manors in England and at an American castle venue. These all-inclusive trips are especially popular among career game masters who rarely get the opportunity to participate as players themselves, and they often ask for tips from the pros on topics ranging from improv and puzzle design to handling difficult situations at the table.

In response, the coordinators began developing a systematic approach to address these questions, which led to the establishment of DMU. The inaugural event is set for January 2-3, 2026 at an Atlanta campus.

“It's possible to view numerous digital guides on any topic and learn quite a lot, but the concept was that nothing truly replaces a live, hands-on session in the company of other dungeon masters, where there’s live engagement with faculty instructors and your fellow DMs often in comparable situations and also want to level up their game,” noted the program's dean.

Available Classes and Pricing Tiers

Game masters can select tiers ranging from just under $1,000 to $2.5K, based on the amount of contact they desire with the professionals. The entry-level option includes selection from four classes:

• Foundational Skills: Covers the essentials of managing a session.
• Long-Term Game Planning: Is dedicated to designing extended campaigns.
• Setting Creation: Emphasizes the art of setting design.
• Professional Development: Tailored to dungeon masters who aim to explore more about the gaming industry.

Every class includes multiple sessions of training split over two days.

“The workshops are designed so that you leave with tangible results, probably greater confidence, and a lot of usable tools,” Carl noted. “It's more than presentations and they go beyond recorded content. These are sessions that you can participate in, learn from, and then return to your group the week after and apply in your regular session.”

Professional Teachers

Many sessions are taught by a pair of experts. Setting design is led by the founder of Monte Cook Games and the creator of Eberron, both teaching the skill of universe design.

Professional development features multiple instructors, such as Elisa Teague, an entertainment professional, and an early professional game master. The expanded teaching staff is intended to offer targeted guidance to attendees with definite objectives.

“Various attendees aim to start their own D&D actual play and display their adventures with the world, others want to publish and create new material,” Carl explained. “Some just want to ask, How do I get to be a DM at something like an immersive experience? What are the skills that I need? Can anyone do it?”

Premium Packages

A fifteen hundred dollar premium package provides access to a welcome reception, a starter kit, and a half-hour consultation appointment with one of the faculty. This represents the first Dungeon Master Academy, though the team has previously run comparable workshops during breaks between adventures at their premium gatherings.

“You could almost run an full two days just on one-on-one meetings for expert DMs,” Carl mentioned. “It's unclear if that’s the optimal application of each attendee's hours – I believe the structured learning and the hands-on activities is extremely important – but I believe it’s going to be one of the most popular parts of the program.”

The $2,500 platinum tier provides an hour of one-on-one time and the chance to run a game for several participants plus an instructor, who will then offer feedback and instruction.

“The goal is for the instructor to assess whatever the DM is concerned with: I struggle with spontaneous decisions or I get blocked in this kind of combat situation. Could I demonstrate a scenario for you and get feedback on where I excel and need improvement?” Carl said. “Or maybe they want to obtain critique and information on a definite universe that they’ve been developing.”

Future Plans

Input from the debut workshop will help determine subsequent DMU events. Carl mentioned that likely modifications could include adding more office hours, making it longer to three days, or experimenting with different seminar structures.

“I anticipate that we conduct these frequently,” Carl expressed. “I truly hope to see numerous academy events in a given year, in multiple places, and in different countries. The feedback has been extremely positive. We're extremely satisfied with the results so far and I think it would be amazing to be able to organize these in partnership with large gatherings.”