Since 2018, Tabletop Vacations has been hosting deeply engaging experiences where experienced game masters run Dungeons & Dragons games in historic castles in the UK and at a U.S. castle resort. The comprehensive packages are widely appreciated among career game masters who infrequently find the chance to join in the game themselves, and they often look for guidance from seasoned professionals on topics ranging from improv and creating challenges to handling difficult situations at the table.
In response, the organizers began crafting a structured way to tackle these topics, which led to the creation of DMU. The debut workshop is set for January 2-3, 2026 at an Atlanta campus.
“You can watch countless online tutorials on almost every theme and learn quite a lot, but the philosophy was that there’s just no substitute face-to-face interaction together with other dungeon masters, where direct communication with seasoned educators and your peers likely in a similar position and aim to enhance their abilities,” noted the program's dean.
Available Classes and Cost Levels
Dungeon Masters can select packages ranging from nearly a thousand dollars to $2,500, based on the level of access they desire with the experts. The entry-level option includes a choice of four workshops:
- Skill Building: Teaches the fundamentals of running D&D.
- Long-Term Game Planning: Centers on crafting long-running games.
- Worldbuilding: Emphasizes the crafting of environments.
- Industry Advancement: Tailored to DMs who want to learn more about the gaming industry.
All workshops includes multiple sessions of training spread over a weekend.
“The courses are created so that you walk away with immediate practical outcomes, enhanced belief in your abilities, and a lot of usable tools,” Carl said. “It's more than presentations and they go beyond recorded content. These classes that you can attend, learn from, and then go right back home the following week and apply in your regular session.”
Expert Instructors
Most classes are instructed by a pair of experts. Universe creation is led by the founder of Monte Cook Games and the creator of Eberron, both teaching the skill of universe design.
Career building features multiple instructors, such as Elisa Teague, Clint McElroy, and Hunter Fell. The additional faculty is meant to offer targeted guidance to students with specific goals.
“Various attendees want to launch their own real-play series and display their adventures with the world, others plan to produce and develop fresh ideas,” Carl said. “Some just want to ask, How do I get to be a DM at something like a castle event? Which abilities that I need? Is this achievable?”
Premium Packages
A $1.5K gold tier provides access to a introductory event, a welcome gift pack, and a half-hour consultation appointment with an instructor. This marks the inaugural DMU session, though the company has previously run Castle Days during breaks between adventures at their immersive experiences.
“One could practically host an complete event just on office hours for career game masters,” Carl said. “I'm not certain if that’s the best use of everybody’s time – In my opinion the formal instruction and the lab work is extremely important – but I suspect it’s going to be a highly favored parts of the program.”
The $2,500 premium option provides an hour of one-on-one time and the chance to run a game for five players plus one of the faculty members, who will then offer feedback and coaching.
“The aim is for the instructor to assess whatever the DM is focused on: Hey I don’t do well with improvisation or I get blocked in certain battle scenarios. May I present a scenario for you and receive input on what my strengths and weaknesses are?” Carl said. “Perhaps they want to receive input and information on a definite universe that they’ve been creating.”
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, extending the program to three days, or trying out different seminar structures.
“I hope that we conduct these frequently,” Carl stated. “I truly hope to see multiple Dungeon Master Universities in a given year, in different cities, and in multiple countries. The response has been extremely positive. We're quite pleased with the results so far and I think it would be fantastic to be able to do this in conjunction with major events.”
