Chapter 0
The Tavern Board
The IT Landscape
What IT is as a career, and the three paths into it: corporate IT, data center and MSP.
The Crossroads · Pick your path
Skirmish or Campaign?
Everything on this site is free, and it stays free. The only choice is how you want to use it: jump in wherever you like, or follow one guided route from start to finish.
Skirmish
Learn at your own pace
Pick a topic, learn it, and move on. There is nothing to sign up for and no order to follow.
- Roadmaps
- Cheat sheets
- Home lab builds
- Interview questions
- Glossary
- A short email each Friday, when you join the guild
Campaign
One guided path through all of it
An optional boost for people who would rather follow a route than build one. Intro to IT and MSP Life teaches the same fundamentals in a deliberate order, for career-changers and new hires with no IT job experience.
- Twelve chapters in order, from what IT is to getting hired
- Each chapter is built from short videos, a hands-on lab and an assessment
- Labs start from a fresh virtual machine, so a mistake never costs you your own PC
How they compare
| Skirmish | Campaign | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | See the course page for details |
| Order | Your choice, jump in anywhere | One order, chapter by chapter |
| Practice | Cheat sheets and home lab builds to try on your own | A guided lab and an assessment in each chapter |
| Good if you | Like to explore, or need one skill today | Want a route to follow and a clear finish line |
Nothing on this site is locked behind the Campaign, and you can switch at any time.
What the Campaign covers
Chapter 1
Starter Gear
Office Suite Skills
The skills every IT job uses: analyzing data in Excel and documenting work in Word and PDF.
Chapter 2
Learning Your First Spells
Command Line Basics
Moving around a terminal, network diagnostics, reading event logs and connecting over SSH.
Chapter 3
The Training Grounds
Virtualization Basics
What virtualization is, the major platforms you will meet, and the snapshot skill every lab uses.
Chapter 4
Mapping the Realm
Networking Basics
How devices find and talk to each other: TCP/IP, routing, DNS and the ports worth memorizing.
Chapter 5
Guarding the Gates
Firewall Basics
What firewalls do, and how to read allow, block and port-forward rules.
Chapter 6
The Keep
Server Basics
What a server is, the roles it can play, and the Windows building blocks: Active Directory, DNS and file shares.
Chapter 7
Save Points and Phoenix Downs
Backup Basics
Why backups matter, how they work, where they are stored and how to prove they work.
Chapter 8
The Guild Toolkit
Application Fundamentals
The tools every IT team lives in: documentation, password managers, ticketing and time tracking.
Chapter 9
The Diplomacy Check
Help Desk Communications
Communicating clearly with stressed, non-technical people on calls, remote sessions and tickets.
Chapter 10
The Final Trial
Getting Hired
Reading job postings, certifications, portfolios, resumes, interviews and mindset.
Chapter 11
The Familiar
Working Smarter with AI
How AI tools make the job faster, and the guardrails for using them safely.
Optional
Tavern Tales
Stories from the Field
Skippable personal stories and real-world context from the instructor.
Either way
One IT skill in your inbox every Friday keeps you moving, whichever path you pick.