Keith Baker and Monte Cook Are Teaching Classes at Dungeon Master Academy

Beginning in 2018, a specialized event organizer has been running deeply engaging experiences where expert DMs lead Dungeons & Dragons games in historic castles in the UK and at Landoll’s Mohican Castle. The full-service getaways are highly favored among long-time dungeon masters who seldom have the moment to participate as players themselves, and they often look for guidance from seasoned professionals on topics ranging from improvisation and crafting riddles to handling difficult situations at the table.

In response, the organizers began designing a systematic approach to tackle these topics, which led to the creation of the Dungeon Master Academy. The first session is planned for early January 2026 at Oglethorpe University.

“It's possible to view countless online tutorials on almost every theme and gain significant knowledge, but the concept was that there’s just no substitute a live, hands-on session together with peers in game mastering, where direct communication with seasoned educators and your peers likely in comparable situations and also want to enhance their abilities,” noted the dean of Dungeon Master University.

Course Offerings and Pricing Tiers

DMs can opt for tiers ranging from $995 to $2,500, based on the degree of interaction they desire with the instructors. The base tier includes selection from four classes:

• Skill Building: Covers the fundamentals of running D&D.
• Long-Term Game Planning: Focuses around crafting long-running games.
• Worldbuilding: Concentrates on the art of setting design.
• Career Building: Aimed at DMs who aim to explore more about the tabletop profession.

All workshops includes two days of classwork split over two days.

“The workshops are created so that you depart having immediate practical outcomes, probably greater confidence, and many practical techniques,” Carl explained. “They’re not just lectures and they’re not just static videos. These workshops that you can attend, absorb insights from, and then return to your group the week after and implement in your regular session.”

Professional Teachers

The majority of workshops are taught by a pair of experts. Universe creation is led by an industry veteran and the creator of Eberron, together instructing the craft of setting creation.

Industry advancement includes several experts, such as an author on gaming puzzles, an entertainment professional, and an early professional game master. The additional faculty is intended to deliver focused advice to students with specific goals.

“Certain participants want to launch their own live gameplay show and display their adventures with the world, others plan to produce and write original content,” Carl stated. “Some just want to ask, How do I get to be a DM at something like an immersive experience? Which abilities that I need? Can anyone do it?”

Higher Tiers

A fifteen hundred dollar premium package provides access to a introductory event, a welcome gift pack, and a 30-minute office hour appointment with one of the faculty. This constitutes the inaugural DMU session, though the team has previously run Castle Days during breaks between adventures at their premium gatherings.

“One could practically host an full two days just on one-on-one meetings for expert DMs,” Carl observed. “It's unclear if that’s the optimal application of everybody’s time – I think the structured learning and the lab work is highly beneficial – but I suspect it’s going to be a highly favored parts of the program.”

The $2.5K platinum tier includes an 60-minute private session and the opportunity to manage an adventure for five players plus an instructor, who will then offer feedback and instruction.

“The purpose is for the instructor to evaluate whatever the DM is interested in: I struggle with improvisation or I get blocked in this kind of combat situation. Can I run a scenario for you and obtain advice on what my strengths and weaknesses are?” Carl explained. “Or maybe they want to get feedback and information on a specific world that they’ve been creating.”

Coming Developments

Responses from the inaugural session will help shape subsequent DMU events. Carl said that possible changes could include increasing consultation time, making it longer to 72 hours, or trying out alternative workshop formats.

“I anticipate that we conduct these very often,” Carl stated. “I would love to see several DMU sessions in a given year, in multiple places, and in various nations. The reception has been overwhelmingly favorable. We're extremely satisfied with what we’re seeing and I feel it would be wonderful to be able to organize these in conjunction with major events.”