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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dracomeander" data-source="post: 2292136" data-attributes="member: 20009">Agreed. It is impossible to translate Gandalf or any of the Maiar into D&D/d20 terms.Celestial is just not quite right even if Celestial were a singular concept.The Maiar - of which the Istari were a specialized form - were the direct divine agents of the Valinar. By their description, the closest D&D term for the Valinar would be gods - mostly greater or intermediate. The Maiar are described with powers that would translate into the power level of at least demigod for they have one thing that D&D celestials do not. They have spheres of influence which most closely are approximated by deific portfolios.The only thing that kept Gandolf/Olorin from resolving the whole mess himself was his honor. He had the power to destroy all the armies of Mordor, but that was not his job. His job was to guide the free races - mostly man - and to limit the interference of other supernatural threats until the free races had grown enough to resolve the situation themselves.The Balrog of Moria was one of those supernatural threats, but even then he had to disguise his use of power until he was beyond the observance of witnesses so that they could find the strength within themselves to continue on. Had he revealed his full power in front of the Fellowship, they would have been too tempted to just rely on Gandolf to do everything for them thinking they were just superfluous.As far as the Ring was concerned, none of the Istari could have handled it without being swayed into Sauron's power. Sauron was one of the strongest if not the strongest of the Maiar. As soon as any other Maiar would put the Ring on, Sauron would wake and be in full mental communion with the ring wearer. The other Maiar could have used the ring to destroy Sauron if they were strong enough to resist his seductive presence and dominating power, but none of the Maiar who were allowed to walk Middle Earth were that powerful. Yes, the ring was a weakness to Sauron for he invested too much of himself into it, but it could only be safely touched by the lesser races for they did not have the power to resonate with the Ring to wake Sauron.</blockquote>

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