Beginning in 2018, a specialized event organizer has been organizing deeply engaging experiences where expert DMs run Dungeons & Dragons games in historic castles in England and at a U.S. castle resort. The full-service getaways are especially popular among career game masters who seldom have the moment to join in the game themselves, and they often look for guidance from experts on topics ranging from improvisation and puzzle design to handling difficult situations at the table.
In response, the coordinators began designing a structured way to address these questions, which led to the creation of Dungeon Master University. The debut workshop is set for the start of 2026 at a university in Atlanta.
“It's possible to view thousands of YouTube videos on any topic and learn quite a lot, but the concept was that nothing truly replaces a live, hands-on session alongside fellow DMs, where direct communication with seasoned educators and your fellow DMs who are probably in a similar position and seek to improve their skills,” noted the dean of Dungeon Master University.
Course Offerings and Pricing Tiers
Dungeon Masters can choose from tiers ranging from $995 to two thousand five hundred dollars, according to the level of access they desire with the instructors. The starting package includes one of four courses:
- Skill Building: Covers the essentials of running D&D.
- Campaign Building: Is dedicated to building persistent adventures.
- Worldbuilding: Highlights the crafting of environments.
- Industry Advancement: Aimed at DMs who aim to explore more about the tabletop profession.
All workshops includes two days of classwork spread over two days.
“The workshops are created so that you depart having tangible results, probably greater confidence, and numerous applicable methods,” Carl noted. “They’re not just lectures and they exceed pre-recorded material. These are sessions that you can join, absorb insights from, and then return to your group the next week and apply in your home campaign.”
Professional Teachers
The majority of workshops are instructed by two professors. Setting design is taught by Monte Cook and a renowned campaign designer, both teaching the skill of universe design.
Career building presents four different teachers, such as a puzzle design specialist, Clint McElroy, and a pioneering DM. The expanded teaching staff is meant to offer targeted guidance to participants with particular aims.
“Various attendees want to launch their own D&D actual play and display their adventures with the world, some of them want to publish and write original content,” Carl explained. “Others simply wish to ask, What's the path to be a DM at something like a castle event? What are the skills that I need? Can anyone do it?”
Advanced Options
A $1,500 gold tier includes access to a introductory event, a starter kit, and a half-hour consultation appointment with one of the faculty. This constitutes the inaugural DMU session, though the company has previously run similar events during breaks between adventures at their premium gatherings.
“You could almost run an complete event just on office hours for professional dungeon masters,” Carl mentioned. “I'm not certain if that’s the best use of all participants' schedule – I believe the formal instruction and the hands-on activities 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 hour of one-on-one time and the opportunity to run a game for several participants plus a teacher, who will then offer feedback and coaching.
“The purpose is for the instructor to assess whatever the DM is focused on: Hey I don’t do well with improv or I feel stuck in this kind of combat situation. Can I run a scenario for you and receive input on my areas of proficiency and challenge?” Carl explained. “Or maybe they want to obtain critique and information on a specific world that they’ve been building.”
Future Plans
Responses from the inaugural session will help determine future Dungeon Master University sessions. Carl suggested that potential adjustments could include expanding one-on-one sessions, lengthening the event to 72 hours, or trying out alternative workshop formats.
“I expect that we do this frequently,” Carl stated. “I truly hope to see several DMU sessions in a given year, in different cities, and in different countries. The response has been extremely positive. We’re very happy with what we’re seeing and I think it would be amazing to be able to organize these in partnership with large gatherings.”
