Monte Cook and Monte Cook Will Lead Sessions at Dungeon Master University

Since 2018, Tabletop Vacations has been organizing deeply engaging experiences where professional dungeon masters lead fantasy roleplaying games in ancient fortresses in Britain and at an American castle venue. The comprehensive packages are especially popular among long-time dungeon masters who seldom have the chance to participate as players themselves, and they often look for guidance from experts on topics ranging from spontaneous storytelling and puzzle design to managing conflicts at the table.

In response, the coordinators began crafting a structured way to address these questions, which led to the founding of the Dungeon Master Academy. The first session is planned for the start of 2026 at an Atlanta campus.

“It's possible to view numerous digital guides on almost every theme and learn quite a lot, but the idea was that nothing compares to a live, hands-on session together with peers in game mastering, where there’s live engagement with expert teachers and other game masters often in a similar position and also want to level up their game,” noted Jason Carl.

Workshop Options and Ticket Packages

Game masters can select packages ranging from nearly a thousand dollars to $2.5K, based on the amount of contact they desire with the professionals. The base tier includes a choice of four workshops:

• Skill Building: Teaches the fundamentals of running D&D.
• Story Arc Development: Centers on designing extended campaigns.
• Universe Design: Highlights the art of setting design.
• Career Building: Designed for dungeon masters who aim to explore more about the roleplaying business.

Each course includes multiple sessions of instruction spread over 48 hours.

“The workshops are created so that you leave with tangible results, probably greater confidence, and a lot of usable tools,” Carl noted. “These aren't simple talks and they’re not just static videos. These classes that you can attend, absorb insights from, and then go right back home the week after and apply in your local game.”

Professional Teachers

The majority of workshops are led by duo of instructors. Setting design is taught by Monte Cook and the creator of Eberron, jointly leading the craft of setting creation.

Professional development presents four different teachers, such as Elisa Teague, Clint McElroy, and Hunter Fell. The additional faculty is intended to offer targeted guidance to attendees with particular aims.

“Various attendees aim to start their own real-play series and share their stories with the world, others aim to release and develop fresh ideas,” Carl explained. “Several only seek to ask, What's the path to be a DM at something like an immersive experience? What are the skills that I need? Is this achievable?”

Advanced Options

A $1.5K enhanced option includes access to a opening gathering, a welcome gift pack, and a 30-minute office hour appointment with an instructor. This constitutes the inaugural DMU session, though the team has previously run similar events during breaks between adventures at their immersive experiences.

“You could almost run an entire weekend just on office hours for career game masters,” Carl said. “I don’t know if that’s the most effective utilization of each attendee's hours – I think the formal instruction and the practical exercises is highly beneficial – but I suspect it’s going to be among the most sought-after parts of the program.”

The twenty-five hundred dollar platinum tier offers an extended personal consultation and the possibility to lead a session for a small group plus an instructor, who will then provide notes and guidance.

“The aim is for the faculty member to review whatever the DM is focused on: I have difficulty with improv or I encounter obstacles in certain battle scenarios. Can I run a scenario for you and receive input on what my strengths and weaknesses are?” Carl detailed. “Or maybe they want to get feedback and advice on a specific world that they’ve been creating.”

Future Plans

Feedback from the first event will help guide upcoming academy workshops. Carl said that likely modifications could include increasing consultation time, making it longer to a longer period, or testing alternative workshop formats.

“I hope that we do this frequently,” Carl expressed. “I would love to see multiple Dungeon Master Universities in a given year, in different cities, and in different countries. The feedback has been really terrific. We're extremely satisfied with current developments and I think it would be fantastic to be able to do this in partnership with big conventions.”