Was Gandalf Just A 5th Level Magic User?

This article from Dragon Magazine, back in 1977, is likely very familiar to many of you (feel free to yawn - this item isn't for you!) However, there are many newer fans of D&D who don't even remember Dragon Magazine, let alone issues from nearly 40 years ago. In the article, Bill Seligman posits that Gandalf was merely a 5th level magic-user. Given Cubicle 7's recent announcement about an official Middle Earth setting for D&D, it seems like a nostalgia piece worth revisiting.

Some folks I hear discussing this topic these days take the position that Gandalf is actually a paladin. Certainly "wizards" in Tolkien's works aren't the same magic-missile-throwing folks as in regular D&D; in fact there are only five wizards in the whole of Middle Earth - and at least one of them (the 7th Doctor) is very clearly a druid.

What do you think? Is Gandalf a 5th level magic-user? What about in 5th Edition, given the upcoming Middle Earth release? I'm sure Cubicle 7 will tells for certain this summer, but until then...

 

[Morrus]

The Balrog issue is important. That's a Balor. He's roughly equal to or slightly more powerful than a Balor.

 

[Shasarak]

I always figured Gandalf to be a low level Druid myself.

 

[Curmudjinn]

So, what if C7 ends up doing D&D better than WotC?

 

[Zardnaar]

Gandalf could be a 10HD NPC with spellcasting equal to a 6th level caster (AD&D).

In 1E a balor had 8+8 hit dice. Gandalf with 10HD is tougher than a balrog in that way, throw in some spellcasting power and outsider type abilities he is fine. Middle Earth is very low magic by D&D terms.

 

[Celebrim]

I appear to be in close agreement with Tony.

In D&D terms, approximately speaking:

1e: Gandalf is an Agathion in human form with 6 additional levels of M-U (because he's an unusually powerful and knowledgeable member of his race) or perhaps simply the ability to cast spells as a 6th level M-U.
3e: Gandalf is a 6th level Wizard with the Half-Celestial template.

In both cases "Gandalf" is actually Olorin is a servant of the Solar Varda, who is ruling middle-earth jointly with her spouse Manwe, in vassalage to Illuvatar (the only being with true divine rank in the setting).

Gandalf is known to use the following arcane spells: affect normal fires, light, hold portal, knock, shatter, lightning bolt, fireball, produce flame, pyrotechnics, 'Gandalf's minute meteors' (as Melf's spell of the same name), invisibility, and phantasmal forces. He also probably knows a number spells related to light, shadow, illusion, and sound not directly disclosed by the text, but all presumably of 3rd level or less.

Gandalf is armed with a unique staff +3 which is the symbol of his divinely appointed office and thus the source of his magical power. It acts as the material component for all his spell-casting and his spellbook, but it is not as far as I can tell as potent as a Staff of the Magi. He also has been known to carry a sword +2 goblin-bane, named Glamdring, and he has a unique artifact, a Ring of Elemental Command (Fire), named Narya. Narya vastly increases his ability to make things burn in a pinch, but he avoids doing it because using its powers has negative consequences - perhaps alerting Sauron to his location. The ring also appears to have some additional powers above and beyond a ring of elemental command, primarily related to instilling courage and cheer in others - probably the ability to cast Emotion or something like it a few times day. These powers he uses more freely, so its possible they - not being the sort of things Sauron is interested in - are untainted.

 

[SouthpawSoldier]

Since Gandalf was a Maiar, I've often seen him statted as an Outsider with a few levels Fighter; spells are more racial abilities.

 

[Polyhedral_Columbia]

I like your succinct summary.

Where was Invisibility though?

He also did a kind of exorcism on Theoden.

 

[ccooke]

Of course, you could make a very powerful wizard in 5e with no more than 3rd level spells - you could make a rather nice 5e Gandalf-like with, say, Wizard 5/Druid 5/Fighter 1. Powerful cantrips, the equivalent slots of a 10th level caster but only third level spells. Lots of choice for powerful and thematic ones for Gandalf, though - fireball in a 5th level slot is nothing to be sneezed at, unless you're allergic to bat guano.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I never bought into the 5th level thing. At best, it was an artifact of the story JRRT told being short on magic being used often and obviously- for reasons not fully revealed- being compared to a system in which (increasingly with each progressive edition) many people played spellcasters who used (relatively flashy) magic first and unto depletion in (virtually) every situation.

IOW, apples & oranges.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Of course, you could make a very powerful wizard in 5e with no more than 3rd level spells - you could make a rather nice 5e Gandalf-like with, say, Wizard 5/Druid 5/Fighter 1. Powerful cantrips, the equivalent slots of a 10th level caster but only third level spells. Lots of choice for powerful and thematic ones for Gandalf, though - fireball in a 5th level slot is nothing to be sneezed at, unless you're allergic to bat guano.

It's almost indistinguishable from Fireball III.