Keith Baker and Monte Cook Are Teaching Workshops at DMU

Since 2018, Tabletop Vacations has been hosting immersive events where experienced game masters lead fantasy roleplaying games in ancient fortresses in the UK and at a U.S. castle resort. The full-service getaways are highly favored among forever DMs who infrequently find the moment to join in the game themselves, and they often look for guidance 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 tackle these topics, which led to the founding of the Dungeon Master Academy. The first session is planned for the start of 2026 at an Atlanta campus.

“You can watch countless online tutorials on almost every theme and acquire valuable insights, but the philosophy was that nothing truly replaces a live, hands-on session alongside peers in game mastering, where direct communication with expert teachers and your peers likely in comparable situations and seek to improve their skills,” explained the program's dean.

Course Offerings and Pricing Tiers

Game masters can opt for options ranging from nearly a thousand dollars to two thousand five hundred dollars, based on the amount of contact they desire with the professionals. The base tier includes one of four courses:

• Skill Building: Focuses on the essentials of running D&D.
• Campaign Building: Centers on building persistent adventures.
• Setting Creation: Emphasizes the crafting of environments.
• Industry Advancement: Designed for DMs who seek to understand more about the tabletop profession.

All workshops includes multiple sessions of classwork divided across a weekend.

“The workshops are designed so that you depart having tangible results, probably greater confidence, and numerous applicable methods,” Carl said. “These aren't simple talks and they go beyond recorded content. These classes that you can attend, gain knowledge from, and then return to your group the following week and implement in your home campaign.”

Seasoned Educators

Many sessions are led by a pair of experts. Universe creation is taught by Monte Cook and a renowned campaign designer, together instructing the art of worldbuilding.

Professional development presents several experts, such as an author on gaming puzzles, Clint McElroy, and an early professional game master. The extra instructors is intended to deliver focused advice to attendees with definite objectives.

“Certain participants plan to create their own D&D actual play and display their adventures with the world, several want to publish and develop fresh ideas,” Carl said. “Others simply wish to ask, What does it take to be a DM at an event like an immersive experience? Which abilities that I need? Is this achievable?”

Advanced Options

A $1,500 premium package provides access to a opening gathering, a welcome gift pack, and a brief one-on-one appointment with an instructor. This represents the first Dungeon Master Academy, though the team has previously run Castle Days during breaks between game sessions at their premium gatherings.

“You could almost run an complete event just on office hours for expert DMs,” Carl observed. “I don’t know if that’s the optimal application of each attendee's hours – I think the formal instruction and the hands-on activities is too valuable – but I believe it’s going to be one of the most popular parts of the program.”

The twenty-five hundred dollar top package provides an extended personal consultation and the opportunity to run a game for five players plus one of the faculty members, who will then give comments and instruction.

“The goal is for the teacher to evaluate whatever the DM is focused on: I struggle with improv or I encounter obstacles in specific fight encounters. Could I demonstrate a situation for you and receive input on where I excel and need improvement?” Carl explained. “Alternatively they want to obtain critique and information on a definite universe that they’ve been building.”

Next Steps

Responses from the first event will help shape subsequent DMU events. Carl suggested that possible changes could include expanding one-on-one sessions, making it longer to 72 hours, or trying out different seminar structures.

“I expect that we conduct these very often,” Carl stated. “I really want to see numerous academy events in a single year, in various locations, and in different countries. The reception has been extremely positive. We're quite pleased with the results so far and I believe it would be amazing to be able to do this in partnership with big conventions.”