Keith Baker and Keith Baker Will Lead Classes at Dungeon Master Academy

Since 2018, a specialized event organizer has been running immersive events where professional dungeon masters lead fantasy roleplaying games in historic castles in England and at a U.S. castle resort. These all-inclusive trips are especially popular among career game masters who rarely get the moment to actually play themselves, and they often seek advice from experts on topics ranging from improvisation and crafting riddles to handling difficult situations at the table.

In response, the planners began crafting a systematic approach to address these questions, which led to the creation of DMU. The inaugural event is planned for January 2-3, 2026 at a university in Atlanta.

“There are countless online tutorials on virtually any subject and acquire valuable insights, but the philosophy was that there’s just no substitute face-to-face interaction in the company of peers in game mastering, where direct communication with expert teachers and your peers often in the same boat and aim to level up their game,” noted the dean of Dungeon Master University.

Workshop Options and Cost Levels

Game masters can select tiers ranging from nearly a thousand dollars to $2,500, depending on the amount of contact they desire with the instructors. The starting package includes one of four courses:

• Skill Building: Teaches the fundamentals of running D&D.
• Campaign Building: Focuses around crafting long-running games.
• Universe Design: Highlights the art of setting design.
• Industry Advancement: Aimed at game masters who seek to understand more about the roleplaying business.

All workshops includes multiple sessions of training divided across 48 hours.

“The workshops are structured so that you depart having tangible results, probably greater confidence, and a lot of usable tools,” Carl said. “It's more than presentations and they exceed pre-recorded material. These classes that you can attend, absorb insights from, and then go right back home the week after and apply in your local game.”

Seasoned Educators

The majority of workshops are taught by duo of instructors. Worldbuilding is led by the founder of Monte Cook Games and Keith Baker, both teaching the art of worldbuilding.

Career building presents several experts, such as a puzzle design specialist, a podcast co-host, and an early professional game master. The additional faculty is designed to deliver focused advice to participants with particular aims.

“Certain participants want to launch their own D&D actual play and display their adventures with the world, others want to publish and create new material,” Carl said. “Several only seek to ask, How do I get to be a DM at something like D&D in a Castle? What capabilities that I need? Is this achievable?”

Premium Packages

A $1.5K enhanced option offers access to a welcome reception, a welcome gift pack, and a brief one-on-one appointment with an instructor. This constitutes the first Dungeon Master Academy, though the organizers has previously run similar events during breaks between campaigns at their premium gatherings.

“It would be possible to organize an complete event just on office hours for expert DMs,” Carl said. “I don’t know if that’s the best use of each attendee's hours – I think the coursework and the hands-on activities is too valuable – but I think it’s going to be a highly favored parts of the program.”

The twenty-five hundred dollar platinum tier provides an hour of one-on-one time and the opportunity to lead a session for a small group plus a teacher, who will then give comments and coaching.

“The goal is for the teacher to assess any element is interested in: I have difficulty with improvisation or I encounter obstacles in certain battle scenarios. May I present a scene for you and get feedback on my areas of proficiency and challenge?” Carl explained. “Or maybe they want to obtain critique and advice on a definite universe that they’ve been developing.”

Future Plans

Feedback from the first event will help determine subsequent DMU events. Carl mentioned that possible changes could include expanding one-on-one sessions, making it longer to 72 hours, or testing different seminar structures.

“I anticipate that we host such events very often,” Carl said. “I truly hope to see several DMU sessions in a calendar year, in multiple places, and in various nations. The response has been extremely positive. We’re very happy with current developments and I feel it would be amazing to be able to organize these in collaboration with big conventions.”