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Well technically all of the balrogs are Maia, not just the one whose name we know.

Murcushio wrote:
Huan is a magical hound, dude. He's no more a Maia than his evil counterparts, Draugluin and Carcharoth, were.

Also, you state that factually...but that's just an interpretation. Remember Aule got in trouble for creating his own race of people. So if one of the Valar just created Huan out of...nothing?...I don't think that would be kosher. It's 100% valid to interpret him as being Maia, if if that's not your interpretation.

Goldberry, Osse, Uinen, Bob (the balrog of Moria) You could argue Gwaihir aswell

I'd have to re-read a bunch of the Silmarilion, but there are various references to "servants" of the Valar. I've been assuming they are Maia.

For that matter, what are the three sisters of the Dusky River?

poosticks7 wrote:Goldberry, Osse, Uinen, Bob (the balrog of Moria) You could argue Gwaihir aswell

... And probably Vampires (eg, Thuringwethil) and possibly Werewolves (eg, Draugluin) as well.

Rich H wrote:

poosticks7 wrote:Goldberry, Osse, Uinen, Bob (the balrog of Moria) You could argue Gwaihir aswell

... And probably Vampires (eg, Thuringwethil) and possibly Werewolves (eg, Draugluin) as well.

That's my interpretation, too. Basically anything supernatural & immortal (but not undead) is actually a Maia.

I think it's legitimate, though, to have an alternate interpretation, that there's a class of living/immortal/magic beings that aren't Maia, even though Tolkien never suggests at how they would be classified.

Elfcrusher wrote:

Rich H wrote:

poosticks7 wrote:Goldberry, Osse, Uinen, Bob (the balrog of Moria) You could argue Gwaihir aswell

... And probably Vampires (eg, Thuringwethil) and possibly Werewolves (eg, Draugluin) as well.

That's my interpretation, too. Basically anything supernatural & immortal (but not undead) is actually a Maia.

I think it's legitimate, though, to have an alternate interpretation, that there's a class of living/immortal/magic beings that aren't Maia, even though Tolkien never suggests at how they would be classified.

Well, yes, it is problematic. The Ents being the primary example... they're obviously intelligent beings, but they are certainly not Children of Ilúvatar. There is a line of thought that has them as embodied Maiar (like Gandalf and Saruman, but so tied into Arda that they've forgotten their divine origins); another thought that I had as this thread raged is that what if the ent-wives were the Maiar?

We know that embodied Maiar can reproduce with Children or creatures of Arda. So the ent-wives are the original protectors of the trees, sent by Yavanna to protect them. But nature takes its course and the ents are born. The elves wake them up, but the flame imperishable is a gift of their divine mothers. Eventually, the ent-wives tire of their mission (or are called back) and then there will be no more entlings.

Playing Istari with the Eye of Sauron rules, or something like it... I could see that being done as a boardgame maybe, or an epic one-shot, storygame influenced scenario.

As far as the Eye of Sauron thing goes tough, I actually see an other factor as much more important when/if roleplaying an Istari, and that is the issue of corruption. A central theme of magic in Middle-earth is the question of legitimacy both in origin and motivation for use. And Gandalf, it seems, was the only Istari who managed to stay true to this. The other four Istari were corrupted or sort of failed their task, most spectacularly of course was the corruption of Saruman, and harder to judge perhaps, is Radagast. (Alatar and Pallando we don't know that much about. They travelled east is all I recall, but their absence in the struggle against Sauron indicate they didn't do any better than Radagast)
But that knife-edge of how you use magic, or wield any power, as an Istari, that need to be ever self-vigilant and restrictive, is what I would make the central "balancer" in a (hypothetical) Istari rpg.

Re:Maia
Is it possible that Dragons may be maia, or are they defined by Tolkien as something else?

See what you did Phaide?

Hermes Serpent wrote:As a BLMFH (Bas***** LM From Heck) I'd love to see Istari with the new rules for the Eye of Mordor. Anyone starting one of them as a character I'd tell them 'Generate another character' that one won't last the session, Ohh look it's a Nazgul posse.

I wouldn't mind, either.

And, given the limited source material available from MEE, eventually, so long as sales keep up, eventually, they'll have to.