Which Political Pundit Would Make the Best Dungeon Master?

*Originally published on 4/13/11


I've become fascinated by Dungeons and Dragons as of late and am still working on getting a group together. In the meantime, I've been reading what I can on it as well as hearing other people cast their games online for all to hear. For some reason, I started to wonder how pundits on networks like Fox News and MSNBC would fare. It started with Glenn Beck, and sort of snowballed from there. I figured it would be fun to ponder how these public figures would handle the task of running a campaign.

Glenn Beck

As this is the guy who got the ball rolling, I figured it would be apt to start with him. While many speak ill of the man for his views, I can't help but think that he would make an awesome DM. He seems like the kind of guy who would really get into the roleplaying aspect, coming up with distinct personalities for the various NPC's and his penchant for wacky conspiracy theories lends itself to creating an interesting campaign storyline.

On the other hand, the reviews of his novel have not been kind, so this may not prove to be the case. Even so, I want to see him take a crack at it just to see how it all goes down.

Bill O'Reilly

I don't see this working out too well. O'Reilly has a tendency to get worked up and shout at people. I have a feeling that this would make things difficult during a game. During those times when the players stop to crack jokes about something that's going on, Bill would probably be the type to get mad about it and rain on everyone's parade. He also runs the risk of either adhering to the books too closely, allowing no flexibility, or abusing the "house rule" system to bend game aspects a certain way.

I will grant you that O'Reilly is much calmer in everyday conversations than he is during his interviews on The O'Reilly Factor, but even taking that into consideration, I don't think he'd be able to really get into the spirit of the game.

Keith Olbermann

I've only seen a few bits and pieces of Olbermann's show back when he was on MSNBC. His general demeanor rubbed me the wrong way. Even putting aside my own biases about the guy, he doesn't strike me as the type who would even be up for playing. I get the sense that he would look down on it as something beneath him as a journalist. I'm sure he'd also try to link it to Fox News in some fashion as is his wont.

Rachel Maddow

I could see Maddow being a very good DM. She's a geek, so out of all of the pundits so far, she's the one most likely to actually sit down at a table and join in on a game, and her more laid back persona lends itself to a more lighthearted, easygoing gaming session. She's intelligent and well read so she'll pick up on the rules quickly, and the fact that she invites conservatives on to debate shows that she's willing to be fair.

Sean Hannity

This is a tough one to call. The guy seems amicable enough, but I don't know how well that would translate into running a game. He does like to hear himself talk, so if nothing else, there would be plenty of descriptions in terms of setting and NPC's. I'll say that a learning curve comes into play with this guy, once he gets the hang of it, he could do OK, but it might take some getting used to.

Ed Schultz

I have no idea, I've never watched his show. I doubt it though. From what I've seen he'd suffer from the same problems that Olbermann and O'Reilly do. He could prove me wrong, but I don't see him faring too well in the position.

As you can see, people from either end of the political spectrum have a chance of either succeeding or failing when it comes to taking on the task of dungeon master. Granted, this is all speculation, as I've never seen any of them play, but I think going by their personas, you can get a good handle on how it would pan out.

The one major risk of recruiting a pundit to be your DM is that there's a chance that the game will be turned into a soapbox. Were Beck to run a game, you can bet that the dark powers would want to instill a Socialist regime in the kingdom and it would be up to the libertarian heroes to stop them. It goes the other way too, while Maddow may adapt to the role, I wouldn't be surprised if she had the main kingdom turn out to be some liberal haven while the eeevil conservatives plotted to ruin everything with their tax cuts and what not.

This may not amount to much in the grand scheme of things, but it is rather fun to speculate think about it. I'm curious to see what other people think about pundit run campaigns.