>Today’s session begins with my level 36 Captain resting in the beauty of Rivendell. My quest log reads like a book of short stories told by Tolkien himself. Bilbo Baggins wants me to solve his riddle, Elrond has asked me to talk to Frodo, and there is a Troll problem in the South Trollshaws. There are hundreds of decisions to be made during my time in Middle-earth, and this is the one I always get hung up on. What shall I do first? A member of my kinship informs me that he will be hunting stone trolls in the very near future and that I am welcome to join him if I like. Problem solved. I mount my horse and blaze off in the direction of the troll hunting party. (Yes, I have a horse.) > >The ride from The Last Homely House to the hunting party is a long one; Middle-earth is a big place, and travel takes time. Along the way I pass Sam at the Meeting Spire, Boromir near the road to the Misty Mountains and a number of friendly Elven merchants selling their wares. I cross the Ford of Bruinen without incident, but the ride gets more dangerous from here. Many creatures roam these lands and running into a Troll is not uncommon -- get too close to one of these and you’ll find yourself knocked from your steed and in a very tight spot. Luck is on my side this day, and I meet up with my party in one piece. > >Scanning my group list, I quickly realize that we’re more than a match for any Trolls in the area. Small talk commences as we wait for one or two more members to show up. It’s not long before we are all assembled and searching for our quarry. My quest log currently contains two Troll quests. The first of these was given by a Dwarf; he is searching for an unremarkable stone and is convinced that one of these monsters has walked off with it. Its return has become my responsibility. My second quest is to thin out the Troll population some. I’m to kill 6 of them and report back for my reward. > >As we follow our tracker through the woods, my attention turns to the skill bar on my user interface. The Captain is a good secondary buffer and I contemplate which party members should receive which buffs. The Champion will get “Relentless Attack.” This is a “Command” buff and it allows one to attack ferociously, giving them the ability to critically wound with their attacks more often by adding 5% to their critical hit chance. We also have a Guardian in the group and on him I bestow “On Guard.” This is a defensive buff that adds 5% to his parry chance. These are in addition to the “Motivating Speech” buff I have already placed on the entire group. This skill increases the affected player’s morale pool by 1.1%.

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