Keith Baker along with Monte Cook Will Lead Classes at DMU

Since 2018, Tabletop Vacations has been organizing immersive events where experienced game masters run D&D games in historic castles in Britain and at a U.S. castle resort. These all-inclusive trips are especially popular among career game masters who infrequently find the opportunity to actually play themselves, and they often look for guidance from seasoned professionals on topics ranging from improvisation and creating challenges to managing conflicts at the table.

In response, the planners began crafting a organized method to answer these inquiries, which led to the establishment of Dungeon Master University. The first session is set for early January 2026 at an Atlanta campus.

“You can watch countless online tutorials on almost every theme and learn quite a lot, but the idea was that nothing compares to face-to-face interaction alongside fellow DMs, where direct communication with faculty instructors and other game masters often in the same boat and seek to level up their game,” explained the program's dean.

Course Offerings and Pricing Tiers

Game masters can opt for packages ranging from just under $1,000 to two thousand five hundred dollars, according to the amount of contact they desire with the experts. The base tier includes a choice of four workshops:

• Skill Building: Covers the basics of managing a session.
• Story Arc Development: Centers on building persistent adventures.
• Worldbuilding: Highlights the crafting of environments.
• Industry Advancement: Aimed at dungeon masters who aim to explore more about the tabletop profession.

All workshops includes eight hours of instruction split over a weekend.

“The workshops are designed so that you depart having usable skills, probably greater confidence, and numerous applicable methods,” Carl said. “It's more than presentations and they exceed pre-recorded material. These workshops that you can participate in, absorb insights from, and then return to your group the next week and put into practice in your regular session.”

Professional Teachers

Most classes are led by a pair of experts. Setting design is taught by an industry veteran and the creator of Eberron, both teaching the craft of setting creation.

Industry advancement presents multiple instructors, such as an author on gaming puzzles, a podcast co-host, and an early professional game master. The expanded teaching staff is intended to provide specialized information to attendees with particular aims.

“Various attendees want to launch their own real-play series and share their stories with the world, several aim to release and develop fresh ideas,” Carl stated. “Some just want to ask, What's the path to be a DM at an event like D&D in a Castle? Which abilities that I need? Can anyone do it?”

Premium Packages

A $1,500 gold tier includes access to a welcome reception, a welcome gift pack, and a brief one-on-one appointment with one of the faculty. This represents the inaugural DMU session, though the organizers has previously run similar events during breaks between game sessions at their castle events.

“It would be possible to organize an complete event just on consultation sessions for career game masters,” Carl mentioned. “I'm not certain if that’s the most effective utilization of all participants' schedule – I think the structured learning and the hands-on activities is too valuable – but I suspect it’s going to be among the most sought-after parts of the program.”

The twenty-five hundred dollar top package offers an hour of one-on-one time and the chance to run a game for five players plus one of the faculty members, who will then offer feedback and coaching.

“The goal is for the teacher to assess whichever aspect is focused on: I have difficulty with improv or I feel stuck in this kind of combat situation. Could I demonstrate a scene for you and get feedback on what my strengths and weaknesses are?” Carl explained. “Perhaps they want to receive input and advice on a definite universe that they’ve been developing.”

Future Plans

Feedback from the debut workshop will help guide subsequent DMU events. Carl said that likely modifications could include adding more office hours, extending the program to three days, or testing varied class arrangements.

“I expect that we host such events frequently,” Carl expressed. “I really want to see several DMU sessions in a given year, in multiple places, and in various nations. The feedback has been really terrific. We’re very happy with current developments and I believe it would be wonderful to be able to conduct this in conjunction with big conventions.”