Monte Cook along with Monte Cook Are Teaching Sessions at Dungeon Master Academy

Since 2018, a specialized event organizer has been organizing immersive events where expert DMs run Dungeons & Dragons games in ancient fortresses in the UK and at an American castle venue. These all-inclusive trips are widely appreciated among career game masters who rarely get the opportunity to actually play themselves, and they often ask for tips from the pros on topics ranging from improv and crafting riddles to handling difficult situations at the table.

In response, the planners began developing a systematic approach to address these questions, which led to the creation of Dungeon Master University. The inaugural event is set for early January 2026 at Oglethorpe University.

“It's possible to view countless online tutorials on virtually any subject and gain significant knowledge, but the philosophy was that nothing truly replaces an in-person experience in the company of peers in game mastering, where direct communication with faculty instructors and your peers who are probably in comparable situations and also want to enhance their abilities,” stated Jason Carl.

Available Classes and Ticket Packages

Dungeon Masters can choose from tiers ranging from $995 to two thousand five hundred dollars, depending on the degree of interaction they desire with the experts. The entry-level option includes a choice of four workshops:

• Skill Building: Covers the basics of running D&D.
• Campaign Building: Focuses around crafting long-running games.
• Setting Creation: Emphasizes the art of setting design.
• Career Building: Tailored to DMs who want to learn more about the roleplaying business.

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

“The courses are designed so that you depart having usable skills, enhanced belief in your abilities, and numerous applicable methods,” Carl explained. “These aren't simple talks and they go beyond recorded content. These are sessions that you can participate in, gain knowledge from, and then go right back home the next week and apply in your home campaign.”

Seasoned Educators

Many sessions are led by a pair of experts. Universe creation is led by Monte Cook and the creator of Eberron, together instructing the craft of setting creation.

Industry advancement presents several experts, such as Elisa Teague, a podcast co-host, and Hunter Fell. The extra instructors is intended to offer targeted guidance to participants with specific goals.

“Certain participants plan to create their own D&D actual play and display their adventures with the world, several plan to produce and create new material,” Carl stated. “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? Can anyone do it?”

Higher Tiers

A $1,500 gold tier provides access to a opening gathering, a welcome gift pack, and a brief one-on-one appointment with one of the faculty. This constitutes the inaugural DMU session, though the organizers has previously run similar events during breaks between adventures at their immersive experiences.

“You could almost run an entire weekend just on consultation sessions for expert DMs,” Carl said. “It's unclear if that’s the best use of all participants' schedule – I believe the formal instruction and the lab work is too valuable – but I think it’s going to be one of the most popular parts of the program.”

The twenty-five hundred dollar premium option offers an hour of one-on-one time and the possibility to lead a session for a small group plus one of the faculty members, who will then offer feedback and coaching.

“The goal is for the faculty member to review whatever the DM is concerned with: I struggle with improv or I get blocked in specific fight encounters. Can I run a scene for you and get feedback on what my strengths and weaknesses are?” Carl said. “Alternatively they want to get feedback and information on a definite universe that they’ve been building.”

Future Plans

Responses from the debut workshop will help determine upcoming academy workshops. Carl suggested that possible changes could include expanding one-on-one sessions, making it longer to 72 hours, or experimenting with alternative workshop formats.

“I hope that we do this frequently,” Carl said. “I would love to see numerous academy events in a calendar year, in multiple places, and in various nations. The feedback has been overwhelmingly favorable. We're extremely satisfied with what we’re seeing and I think it would be wonderful to be able to organize these in collaboration with major events.”