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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Polyhedral_Columbia" data-source="post: 7696639" data-attributes="member: 55445">Gandalf = 20th-level in a single class.Surely, in the actual Middle-earth 5e game, Gandalf will have a single class. The Middle-earth 5e RPG will be based on the archetypes which exist within that world -- not based on the existing class archetypes of the D&D Multiverse. Yes, if Gandalf were transported into the D&D Multiverse, he might be re-statted rules-wise into a 7th-level Wizard/Fighter/Bard/Paladin or whatever.But within the stand-alone Middle-earth milieu, Gandalf - and whatever he does - is the archetypal wizard and magician.And as far as his Stature (class level), Gandalf the White, after the fall of Sauron, has the highest Stature of any persona in Middle-earth (along with Tom Bombadil), and so would be 20th-level at the moment of leaving for the Other Shore. He characterized himself as the counterpart to Sauron.As for which single class he'd have 20 levels in? Well, though the Istari are a unique kind of being, they function in Middle-earth as "Magicians." I realize that JRRT explicitly distinguished the "Wizards" from "magicians" and "sorcerers", but rules-wise, role-wise, and class-wise, they function as the archetypal Magician in Middle-earth. The Wizards are essentially Magicians who happen to also be Angels, so that their Magic/Spells are enhanced by their preternatural wisdom and insight. But still basically following the same "profession" as mannish Magicians. I mean the Three Magi of Biblical legend are surely one inspiration for the Five Wizards.And so, being that Gandalf the White was 20th-level, but still didn't often wield flashy spells, then the Magician profession in Arda is very distinct from the magic-using classes and schools of the D&D Multiverse, and progresses at a more subtle rate, in regard to "spell slots." The Magician might also have other class abilities which are not spells. Wielding a sword ought to not be a hindrance.As for Gandalf's "race", AFAIK, the name "Istari" and "Maia" can't be used by licensees, since they don't actually appear in the LotR or The Hobbit. Decipher used a circumlocution, something like (AFAIR) "The Kindred From Beyond the Sea." I suggest simply: "Angel" or (Greek) "Angelos":"But G. is not, of course, a human being (Man or Hobbit). There are naturally no precise modern terms to say what he was. I wd. venture to say that he was an incarnate 'angel'– strictly an 'angelos'."-JRRT Letter #156I'd say Gandalf, at the end of the LotR, is an Angelos 20th-level Magician.</blockquote>

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