diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index a87e052de2..b72bd50618 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 [workspace]
 
 members = [
+    "tokio-trace-proc-macros",
     "tokio-trace-futures",
     "tokio-trace-tower",
     "tokio-trace-tower-http",
diff --git a/tokio-trace-macros/Cargo.toml b/tokio-trace-macros/Cargo.toml
index c4bd2906f0..a59d7bb894 100644
--- a/tokio-trace-macros/Cargo.toml
+++ b/tokio-trace-macros/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,20 +1,12 @@
 [package]
 name = "tokio-trace-macros"
 version = "0.1.0"
-authors = ["Eliza Weisman <eliza@buoyant.io>", "David Barsky <dbarsky@amazon.com>"]
-
-[lib]
-proc-macro = true
+authors = ["Eliza Weisman <eliza@buoyant.io>"]
 
 [dependencies]
 tokio-trace = "0.0.1"
-syn = { version = "0.15", features = ["full", "extra-traits"] }
-quote = "0.6"
-proc-macro2 = { version = "0.4", features = ["nightly"] }
+
 
 [dev-dependencies]
-tokio-trace = "0.0.1"
 tokio-trace-log = { path = "../tokio-trace-log" }
 env_logger = "0.5"
-ansi_term = "0.11"
-humantime = "1.1.1"
diff --git a/tokio-trace-macros/examples/factorial.rs b/tokio-trace-macros/examples/factorial.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4e7e1d5177
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tokio-trace-macros/examples/factorial.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+//! Compare to the example given in the documentation for the `std::dbg` macro.
+#[macro_use]
+extern crate tokio_trace;
+#[macro_use]
+extern crate tokio_trace_macros;
+extern crate env_logger;
+extern crate tokio_trace_log;
+
+fn factorial(n: u32) -> u32 {
+    if dbg!(n <= 1) {
+        dbg!(1)
+    } else {
+        dbg!(n * factorial(n - 1))
+    }
+}
+
+fn main() {
+    env_logger::Builder::new().parse("trace").init();
+    let subscriber = tokio_trace_log::TraceLogger::new();
+
+    tokio_trace::subscriber::with_default(subscriber, || {
+        dbg!(factorial(4))
+    });
+}
diff --git a/tokio-trace-macros/src/lib.rs b/tokio-trace-macros/src/lib.rs
index 905dcd78e3..592d16211d 100644
--- a/tokio-trace-macros/src/lib.rs
+++ b/tokio-trace-macros/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,46 +1,66 @@
-extern crate proc_macro;
 #[macro_use]
-extern crate syn;
-#[macro_use]
-extern crate quote;
-extern crate proc_macro2;
-
-use proc_macro::TokenStream;
-use proc_macro2::Span;
-use syn::token::{Async, Const, Unsafe};
-use syn::{Abi, Attribute, Block, Ident, ItemFn, Visibility};
-
-#[proc_macro_attribute]
-pub fn trace(_args: TokenStream, item: TokenStream) -> TokenStream {
-    let input: ItemFn = parse_macro_input!(item as ItemFn);
-    let call_site = Span::call_site();
+extern crate tokio_trace;
 
-    // these are needed ahead of time, as ItemFn contains the function body _and_
-    // isn't representable inside a quote!/quote_spanned! macro
-    // (Syn's ToTokens isn't implemented for ItemFn)
-    let attrs: Vec<Attribute> = input.clone().attrs;
-    let vis: Visibility = input.clone().vis;
-    let constness: Option<Const> = input.clone().constness;
-    let unsafety: Option<Unsafe> = input.clone().unsafety;
-    let asyncness: Option<Async> = input.clone().asyncness;
-    let abi: Option<Abi> = input.clone().abi;
+/// Alias of `dbg!` for avoiding conflicts with the `std::dbg!` macro.
+#[macro_export(local_inner_macros)]
+macro_rules! trace_dbg {
+    (level: $level:expr, $ex:expr) => {
+        dbg!(level: $level, $ex)
+    };
+    (level: $level:expr, $ex:expr) => {
+        dbg!(target: module_path!(), level: $level, $ex)
+    };
+    (target: $level:expr, $ex:expr) => {
+        dbg!(target: $target, level: tokio_trace::Level::DEBUG, $ex)
+    };
+    ($ex:expr) => {
+        dbg!(level: tokio_trace::Level::DEBUG, $ex)
+    };
 
-    // function body
-    let block: Box<Block> = input.clone().block;
-    // function name
-    let ident: Ident = input.clone().ident;
-    let ident_str = ident.to_string();
-
-    let return_type = input.clone().decl.output;
-    let params = input.clone().decl.inputs;
+}
 
-    quote_spanned!(call_site=>
-        #(#attrs) *
-        #vis #constness #unsafety #asyncness #abi fn #ident(#params) #return_type {
-            span!(#ident_str, traced_function = &#ident_str).enter(move || {
-                #block
-            })
+/// Similar to the `std::dbg!` macro, but generates `tokio-trace` events rather
+/// than printing to stdout.
+///
+/// By default, the verbosity level for the generated events is `DEBUG`, but
+/// this can be customized.
+#[macro_export]
+macro_rules! dbg {
+    (target: $target:expr, level: $level:expr, $ex:expr) => {
+        {
+            #[allow(unused_imports)]
+            use tokio_trace::{callsite, Id, Subscriber, Event, field::{debug, Value}};
+            use tokio_trace::callsite::Callsite;
+            let callsite = callsite! {@
+                name: concat!("event:trace_dbg(", stringify!($ex), ")"),
+                target: $target,
+                level: $level,
+                fields: &[stringify!($ex)]
+            };
+            let interest = callsite.interest();
+            let val = $ex;
+            if interest.is_never() {
+                val
+            } else {
+                let meta = callsite.metadata();
+                let mut event = Event::new(interest, meta);
+                if !event.is_disabled() {
+                    let key = meta.fields().into_iter().next()
+                        .expect("trace_dbg event must have one field");
+                    event.record(&key, &debug(val));
+                }
+                drop(event);
+                val
+            }
         }
-    )
-    .into()
+    };
+    (level: $level:expr, $ex:expr) => {
+        dbg!(target: module_path!(), level: $level, $ex)
+    };
+    (target: $level:expr, $ex:expr) => {
+        dbg!(target: $target, level: tokio_trace::Level::DEBUG, $ex)
+    };
+    ($ex:expr) => {
+        dbg!(level: tokio_trace::Level::DEBUG, $ex)
+    };
 }
diff --git a/tokio-trace-proc-macros/Cargo.toml b/tokio-trace-proc-macros/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f802e92aec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tokio-trace-proc-macros/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+[package]
+name = "tokio-trace-proc-macros"
+version = "0.1.0"
+authors = ["Eliza Weisman <eliza@buoyant.io>", "David Barsky <dbarsky@amazon.com>"]
+
+[lib]
+proc-macro = true
+
+[dependencies]
+tokio-trace = "0.0.1"
+syn = { version = "0.15", features = ["full", "extra-traits"] }
+quote = "0.6"
+proc-macro2 = { version = "0.4", features = ["nightly"] }
+
+[dev-dependencies]
+tokio-trace = "0.0.1"
+tokio-trace-log = { path = "../tokio-trace-log" }
+env_logger = "0.5"
+ansi_term = "0.11"
+humantime = "1.1.1"
diff --git a/tokio-trace-macros/examples/basic.rs b/tokio-trace-proc-macros/examples/basic.rs
similarity index 95%
rename from tokio-trace-macros/examples/basic.rs
rename to tokio-trace-proc-macros/examples/basic.rs
index a128f67f18..fc72792e17 100644
--- a/tokio-trace-macros/examples/basic.rs
+++ b/tokio-trace-proc-macros/examples/basic.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate tokio_trace;
 #[macro_use]
-extern crate tokio_trace_macros;
+extern crate tokio_trace_proc_macros;
 extern crate env_logger;
 extern crate tokio_trace_log;
 
diff --git a/tokio-trace-proc-macros/src/lib.rs b/tokio-trace-proc-macros/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..905dcd78e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tokio-trace-proc-macros/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+extern crate proc_macro;
+#[macro_use]
+extern crate syn;
+#[macro_use]
+extern crate quote;
+extern crate proc_macro2;
+
+use proc_macro::TokenStream;
+use proc_macro2::Span;
+use syn::token::{Async, Const, Unsafe};
+use syn::{Abi, Attribute, Block, Ident, ItemFn, Visibility};
+
+#[proc_macro_attribute]
+pub fn trace(_args: TokenStream, item: TokenStream) -> TokenStream {
+    let input: ItemFn = parse_macro_input!(item as ItemFn);
+    let call_site = Span::call_site();
+
+    // these are needed ahead of time, as ItemFn contains the function body _and_
+    // isn't representable inside a quote!/quote_spanned! macro
+    // (Syn's ToTokens isn't implemented for ItemFn)
+    let attrs: Vec<Attribute> = input.clone().attrs;
+    let vis: Visibility = input.clone().vis;
+    let constness: Option<Const> = input.clone().constness;
+    let unsafety: Option<Unsafe> = input.clone().unsafety;
+    let asyncness: Option<Async> = input.clone().asyncness;
+    let abi: Option<Abi> = input.clone().abi;
+
+    // function body
+    let block: Box<Block> = input.clone().block;
+    // function name
+    let ident: Ident = input.clone().ident;
+    let ident_str = ident.to_string();
+
+    let return_type = input.clone().decl.output;
+    let params = input.clone().decl.inputs;
+
+    quote_spanned!(call_site=>
+        #(#attrs) *
+        #vis #constness #unsafety #asyncness #abi fn #ident(#params) #return_type {
+            span!(#ident_str, traced_function = &#ident_str).enter(move || {
+                #block
+            })
+        }
+    )
+    .into()
+}