Melf

[Scott]

Melf was the main PC of Luke Gygax. Melf was a neutral good gray elf who reached 11th level as a fighter and 13th level as a magic-user. Melf was one of the original adventurers in The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth and The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun. He had many adventures in the Greyhawk dungeons, including trips to Dungeonland and The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror. He also playtested the adventures in the dungeons detailed in the Gord novels. Melf had a fair assortment of magic items, the most powerful being the Spear of Zagyg, (Zagyg’s Needle) which he acquired, in Luke’s words, “through an incredibly selfish and greedy act of game play”.

[tzelios]

From Chris Siren's study on the Gord novel's:

Prince Brightflame, better known as - "Melf of the Green Arrow"
He is a a grey elfin fighter/mage of at least thirteenth level as a mage in Artifact of Evil. He is 165 years old. He is very modest. He has given up all royal titles and claims and dislikes being called by his true name.

[Ghul]

And in Artifact of Evil, he kicked butt! As I recall, he would cast _fly_ and _invisibility_ , soar into combat and let loose with a fireball. Then He could fight with sword or bow. He was a machine!

--Ghul

[Scott]

A little more on Zagyg’s Needle. It was literally a needle in a haystack. Melf discovered a haystack in the Dungeon. Rather than search it, he burned it. And then found the Needle in the ashes. After a time, Zagyg paid Melf a visit, told him he wasn’t chaotic enough, and took the Needle back.

[amalric]

I'd always wondered about Melf ~ such a strange name for an elf character, in the first place, but I hadn't read the background material before. Any further info on the Spear of Zagyg, or where it can be found? And was Zagyg 'addressing the balance', by judging Melf 'not chaotic enough', or was it just a useful DM's tool?


As it happens - my first (and main) PC was a CG gray elf fighter/mage, long before I had heard of Melf, who reached 10th/11th level (drew the Moon card from a Deck of Many Things earlier in his career, and was granted increased levels - stroke of luck!) in my friend's campaign. I then had him as an NPC when I ran G1-3, so he would have been 11th/12th or so by that time. Fun times.

[amalric]

I meant to add, is there any greater detail on Melf - stats, magic items, etc - somewhere out there? It's possible to track down Robilar, Erac's Cousin, and some others, but I'm always fascinated to know more about those kinda characters.

[Scott]

Under Zagyg's listing in the Guide, it states that those who worship him will occasionally be judged; maybe this was the case, not sure.
The spear was cool, but I don't know if it was impacting enough to affect the balance.
I just know it was in the Dungeon, nothing more specific. Maybe I''ll ping Luke.

[Melf]

Jul 1, 2009 16:08:08 GMT -5 Scott said:

Under Zagyg's listing in the Guide, it states that those who worship him will occasionally be judged; maybe this was the case, not sure.
The spear was cool, but I don't know if it was impacting enough to affect the balance.
I just know it was in the Dungeon, nothing more specific. Maybe I''ll ping Luke.

The story of how Melf acquired the Spear of Zagyg is known to but a few- and they no longer walk the same path as we gamers (yes they have given up gaming). I obtained the Spear immediately after defeating the Vampire at the center of the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. Melf definitely kicked some serious ass with the Spear. It was a bit random- but it was fully loaded with powers. Flight at will, invisibility at will, planar travel at will. Transform from needle to pike and was +1-8. It definitely made Melf significantly more formidible.

As far as the being judged stuff- I don't buy it. My Dad was not above flaunting his DMly power. If you want to read more on Melf stop by the garycon.com forums and check out the thread in RPG discussions. Or even better- just stop by Lake Geneva in March and talk to me at Gary Con II.

Luke

[Scott]

Wow, the spear had a lot more to it than I was aware of. Thanks for commenting.

[GT]

Wow, the Melf-Man himself! Now I DO feel like a "posting slacker", if Luke has gotten here before me! "MacGreggtim"

[Scott]

Wallow in your shame!

[GT]

I regret only that I wasn't on the Net at two in the morning to carry on converse with Luke and you! Are you gonna be at Gary Con II this next time, Scott? Old-School AD&D, MA and --yes!--Mythus goodness! Oh, yeah... and beer! ^__^

[Scott]

I hope so, but it's too far ahead to commit now.

[Melf]

Jul 3, 2009 9:59:57 GMT -5 Scott said:

I hope so, but it's too far ahead to commit now.

You should come Scotty. Last year was lots of fun and this year Gary Con will be a Friday, Saturday and Sunday because so many people travel to attend.

[Scott]

This year, we were looking for a house, and my girlfriend/wife is pregnant or I would have made it.
I should be able to make it to GC II.

[grodog]

Henry just turned 1 at GC1, so I didn't make it this year for similar reasons Hopefully next year though

[GT]

So, in "Artifact of Evil" there seemed to be an inferred connection between Melf and the priests of Celestian--was that his deity?

[melf]

Jul 19, 2009 20:11:43 GMT -5 GT said:

So, in "Artifact of Evil" there seemed to be an inferred connection between Melf and the priests of Celestian--was that his deity?

Yes. Melf worshipped Celestian the Far Wanderer- atleast until he switched allegiance to Zagyg! But eventually he found his way back to the path of enlightenment and Celestian (and the loss of several levels for switching )

[geneweigel]

That "Melf" doll that they had in the 80's was a naming coincidence according to Gary (some toy company representative named them all) but the Melf toy association was confusing.

They renamed him "Peralay" when he appeared in a Basic adventure module and game supplement (QUEST FOR HEARTSTONE adventure [1984] & THE SHADY DRAGON INN supplement[1983]) once they realized there was an established character (spells from DRAGON/UNEARTHED ARCANA and appearances as the Circle of Eight agent in original "pure" GREYHAWK ADVENTURES novels) but for some reason I was under the impression forever that it was originally supposed to be "Melf of the Arrow" of Greyhawk and they changed it for licensing reasons (etc., etc., etc.) so I thought the other toy characters might have originally had a GH connection that was pushed back. HOWEVER, Gary was pretty clear to me that it was absolutely a mistake that the doll was named "Melf" and the toys and cartoon had nothing to do with Greyhawk.

[GT]

Thanks for the quick reply, Luke! I promise that the next time I'm an evil blood-sucking android I'll go light on ya! ^__^