Keith Baker and Monte Cook Are Teaching Classes at DMU

Beginning in 2018, Tabletop Vacations has been hosting deeply engaging experiences where professional dungeon masters manage D&D games in old manors in the UK and at a U.S. castle resort. These all-inclusive trips are highly favored among career game masters who rarely get the moment to actually play themselves, and they often ask for tips from seasoned professionals on topics ranging from spontaneous storytelling and puzzle design to managing conflicts at the table.

In response, the organizers began crafting a organized method to answer these inquiries, which led to the founding of DMU. The first session is scheduled for early January 2026 at a university in Atlanta.

“You can watch thousands of YouTube videos on any topic and gain significant knowledge, but the idea was that there’s just no substitute a live, hands-on session in the company of peers in game mastering, where there’s live engagement with faculty instructors and your peers often in comparable situations and seek to enhance their abilities,” stated Jason Carl.

Course Offerings and Cost Levels

Game masters can choose from tiers ranging from nearly a thousand dollars to two thousand five hundred dollars, depending on the degree of interaction they desire with the instructors. The base tier includes one of four courses:

• Skill Building: Teaches the fundamentals of managing a session.
• Story Arc Development: Is dedicated to building persistent adventures.
• Setting Creation: Concentrates on the art of setting design.
• Career Building: Tailored to game masters who aim to explore more about the gaming industry.

All workshops includes eight hours of classwork split over 48 hours.

“The workshops are created so that you walk away with tangible results, increased self-assurance, and many practical techniques,” Carl said. “They’re not just lectures and they exceed pre-recorded material. These workshops that you can attend, learn from, and then return to your group the following week and put into practice in your home campaign.”

Professional Teachers

Most classes are taught by duo of instructors. Universe creation is taught by Monte Cook and Keith Baker, both teaching the skill of universe design.

Industry advancement includes four different teachers, such as an author on gaming puzzles, Clint McElroy, and Hunter Fell. The expanded teaching staff is intended to offer targeted guidance to students with definite objectives.

“Various attendees plan to create their own live gameplay show and share their stories with the world, some of them aim to release and write original content,” Carl explained. “Several only seek to ask, What does it take to be a DM at an event like a castle event? Which abilities that I need? Can anyone do it?”

Higher Tiers

A fifteen hundred dollar enhanced option offers access to a opening gathering, a welcome gift pack, and a brief one-on-one appointment with one of the faculty. This marks the inaugural DMU session, though the organizers has previously run similar events during breaks between campaigns at their castle events.

“You could almost run an entire weekend just on office hours for career game masters,” Carl mentioned. “It's unclear if that’s the most effective utilization of everybody’s time – I believe the structured learning and the hands-on activities is highly beneficial – but I believe it’s going to be one of the most popular parts of the program.”

The $2.5K top package provides an extended personal consultation and the opportunity to lead a session for several participants plus a teacher, who will then give comments and coaching.

“The aim is for the faculty member to evaluate any element is interested in: Hey I don’t do well with improvisation or I get blocked in specific fight encounters. Could I demonstrate a scenario for you and obtain advice on where I excel and need improvement?” Carl detailed. “Or maybe they want to get feedback and information on a specific world that they’ve been creating.”

Next Steps

Responses from the debut workshop will help guide future Dungeon Master University sessions. Carl suggested that potential adjustments could include increasing consultation time, extending the program to a longer period, or testing alternative workshop formats.

“I anticipate that we host such events very often,” Carl stated. “I really want to see several DMU sessions in a given year, in different cities, and in various nations. The reception has been really terrific. We’re very happy with the results so far and I believe it would be wonderful to be able to organize these in collaboration with major events.”