These aren’t the fat lovable trolls from children’s TV shows. These are beasts. Warriors.
Awesome!
Enter Name.
“Chad,” I say.
Chod pops up above the troll’s head.
“No. Chad,” I say again.
The name doesn’t change.
“CH-AD,” I do my best to enunciate my single syllable name.
Nothing.
According to Valery, all of my in-game icons will be activated simply by focusing on them, so I try to mentally click on the name to see if I can change it, but it doesn’t work. Nothing I do changes the name.
It seems I’m already being trolled by the game. Great. At least it didn’t call me Chode. I’ll take that as a win.
Choose Race.
I cycle through several races, but they are all grayed out and unavailable. There seems to be a wide variety for players to choose from in the future. Or maybe if you’re not being punished by a court of law. There are dwarves, elves, humans, gnomes, halflings, minotaurs, wereraces, and many more. There are even a few shadows that must be for special races they aren’t showing yet.
Troll. Trolls are barbaric creatures, gifted with physical prowess but not much else. Very rarely are trolls able to learn magic, and those that do are not of much renown. Most of their lives are spent trying to fill their insatiable appetite. Trolls have the ability to blend in with their surroundings when not moving.
Bonus Abilities: Night Vision, Increased Regeneration, Thick Skin, Camouflage, Savage.
I focus on troll and a new category appears.
Choose Subspecies.
Several subspecies of trolls now appear before me with their stats displayed to the side—mountain, desert, and forest. Arctic and seaside are grayed out for some reason. Each one is uniquely different from the others.
The forest troll is my current selection.
Forest Troll. Forest trolls dwell in the depths of the forest. They can usually be found in a wide clearing, having uprooted the surrounding trees in boredom. Forest trolls are big and strong, but they are also the fastest of the subspecies of trolls.
Strength: 18
Dexterity: 15
Constitution: 19
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 6
Next, I cycle to the mountain troll. His light plum-colored skin is dotted with speckles of gray. A short gray mohawk runs down the center of his head. A hawk nose nearly touches his lips, and the tusks are shorter but more girthy. He is stockier than the forest troll, built for strength and not speed. A large fur shawl is tossed over his shoulders.
Mountain Troll. Mountain trolls are most commonly found tucked away in the depths of caves. The strongest of all trolls, they find entertainment in tossing boulders from great heights and watching them tumble into the depths below.
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 20
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 6
The final option available to me is the desert troll. Its skin is a dull tan with patches of hazelnut and toffee around the shoulders. Shaggy orange hair is pulled into a ponytail that falls down his back. He is less muscular than the other two, but far wider.
Desert Troll. The largest of the troll subspecies, the desert troll can survive for days at a time without food or water due to extra fatty tissue stored in their backs and midsection.
Strength: 18
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 21
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 6
The last two subspecies of troll are grayed out to me. I can’t see their stats or descriptions, but the arctic troll has black skin and is covered with long white fur everywhere except for its belly. The seaside troll, with baby blue skin, is the smallest of them all, and it appears to have webbed fingers and toes.
I take a moment to look over the three available subspecies, weighing the pros and cons of each. I quickly disregard the desert troll. While the higher Constitution and the ability to travel without food and water is nice, I want to be more than just a walking tank. Especially considering I might be going at this alone.
That leaves the mountain and forest trolls. The mountain troll definitely looks the coolest with his purple skin and bulging muscles, but the trade-off of Dexterity for Strength just isn’t worth it for me. I want to be able to move quickly and hit hard.
I guess I’m going to be a forest troll.
I select him, and a new category appears.
Select a Class.
Only four classes are available to me, most likely based on my low Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. They are barbarian, fighter, ranger, and rogue.
It would be cool to be a wizard or paladin troll, maybe even a bard. Had the choices actually been there, I might have even taken one just to stick it to the man. But then I remember the pain settings and the other players. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to play to my strengths.
Ranger. Masters of both close-combat and ranged weapons, rangers are in tune with nature and use natural magic in conjunction with physical attacks to tackle quests across the realm.
Ranger is a no-go. Trolls aren’t really known for their ranged attacks and my low Intelligence means I would have a hard time mastering any of the magic usually associated with the class.
Rogue. Known for their seedy antics and untrustworthiness, rogues are masters of stealth and trickery. Experts in bladed weapons and poisons, these scoundrels thrive in their nighttime escapades.
Rogue is also not a good choice. While my Dexterity is on the higher side, I’m too large to be sneaky. My night vision would be an asset, but I’d essentially be wasting my Strength and Constitution on sneak attacks and subterfuge. Plus, I doubt I would be a very good poison-maker with my Intelligence. My Charisma is basically nonexistent, and who has ever met a rogue that wasn’t a quick talker? Like I need another reason for society to hate me.
Fighter. Masters of a multitude of weapons and fighting styles, fighters are able to learn to use any weapon or martial art with ease.
Barbarian. Savage warriors capable of using basic weapons and entering into a berserker rage.
So, it looks like I’m either a fighter or a barbarian. Being a fighter would be easy with the ability to master weapons and fighting techniques. Being a troll, though, I think I should rely on my natural abilities. Brutal strength with basic weapons. Barbarians are capable of going into berserker rages, which considering why I’m here to begin with, seems fitting.
I select barbarian and my character locks into place.
Chod, the Barbarian Forest Troll appears above my avatar.
I’m not going to lie, I look like a badass. I’d like to see somebody take a swing at me.
The next thing I know, the screen fades to black and I open my eyes in the middle of a forest.
4. They See Me Trolling
The smell of cedar washes over me. I stand in a clearing, a beam of light breaking through the canopy and bathing me in warm sunshine. A brook murmurs somewhere nearby and I can hear the scuffle of insects and birds chirping all around. This is by far the most peaceful place I have ever been. Maybe I’ll just chill here for the next thirty days.
I take a step forward, my legs stumble, and I fall straight on my face. My chin slams against a rock and even though my tough troll skin keeps me from feeling more than a bump, stars dance in my vision.
Attempting to rise to my feet, I stumble and sway back and forth. My body slams into a tree, causing a flock of birds to take flight and several exotic fruits to fall to the ground. I wrap my hands around the tree to stop the world from spinning and dig my sharp black nails into the bark. It holds me steady.
It takes me several minutes to acclimate to my new troll body. Being eight feet tall, I didn’t take into account that it might be like a toddler trying to walk for the first time as I stumble through
the forest.
Eventually, I adjust to my new body and feel its power coursing through me. Once I get the hang of it, this is going to be fun. I must weigh several hundred pounds, because every step I take leaves deep impressions in the earth.
Slowly, I begin to jog and then run. Each step rumbles the nearby earth, sending anything foolish enough to be in my path scurrying into the forest’s depths. I move faster than I thought possible, faster than any human.
Now that I know my speed, I want to test my strength. I grab a nearby tree and its bark crumples beneath my grip. With a heave, I uproot it almost effortlessly. I lift it over my shoulder and toss the tree like a javelin. It soars through the air and lands with a violent crash.
“This is awesome!” I yell. My voice is deep and cavernous. Terrifying, really; it sounds more like the roar of a lion than anything.
Wanting to test my strength some more, I cock my fist and unload into a nearby pine. Wood splinters at the impact and sawdust rains down all around me like the fallout from an atomic bomb.
“Chod smash!” I hit the tree again and another large chunk of timber explodes into sawdust and splinters. It takes five more hits before I hear a loud crack and the pine falls. It crashes through the canopy, clearing a wide path before smacking against the earth and disheveling everything that isn’t rooted in place. Pine needles fall like confetti on New Year’s Eve.
I am one powerful motherfucker.
But there is always a bigger beast.
Something rumbles in the depths of the forest. Whatever it is causes the remaining birds to take flight. Several deer run by me, escaping what is coming from the other direction. I stand tall, awaiting my challenger. The crunch of trees announces its arrival and a moment later, I am face to face with my first opponent.
Ogre. Level 5. Big, strong, and ugly. Ogres are quick-tempered, powerful brawlers.
Standing a good two feet taller than me, the ogre has pasty yellow skin and crooked brown teeth, all dull except for the row of jagged, sharp teeth at the front of his lower jaw. He’s draped in an assortment of furs with a bone necklace dangling from his neck. In one hand, he holds a wooden club, crudely fashioned from a broken tree, and in the other, the bloody remains of a deer. I guess I interrupted his dinner.
Large, bloodshot eyes stare at me with fury. The top of his head ends above his eyebrows, showcasing what little brains he has. Ogres have never really been known for their smarts. He tosses the carcass of the deer to the ground and unleashes a deafening roar. Spittle flies from his mouth and hot breath permeates the air in my direction.
He yells something at me, but I don’t speak fucking ogre, so I just stand there and wait for the showdown that is inevitably about to happen. Yeah, he’s big and ugly, but so am I.
The ogre obviously takes offense to me not responding, because he swings his club at me. Luckily, I am expecting it and dodge the attack. While he recovers his balance from the swing, I jab him in the ribs and his HP drops by ten percent.
I really should have taken a moment to look through my abilities before I got in a fight, but here we are and there is no time like the present. The ogre swings again, and I step back and to the side. His club collides with a tree and cleaves it in two.
I finally take stock of the icons floating in the edge of my vision. They’re translucent except for when I focus on them. One looks like a notebook. That should be where my abilities are listed.
The ogre swings again, and I sidestep, dodging the attack as he falls past me. I kick him in the back, and he stumbles forward. I use the momentary distraction to check my abilities.
The book opens across my vision, obscuring my sight completely. I’m looking through, searching for my skill list, when a sharp pain erupts in the side of my head. My vision goes dark around the edges and the words become unreadable as my vision wavers. I try to close the notebook and focus on the fight at hand, but I can’t do anything until my head stops spinning.
The spinning stops, and I close the notebook just in time to catch another club to the side of my face. Again, my head spins and I notice I’m down to a third of my health. No wonder. He’s level five and I’m still level one.
The world moves back and forth like a crashing wave. My head is throbbing, and I want to throw up. I blindly throw a punch, hoping against hope I connect with something. The action throws me off balance and I feel two large, powerful arms grasp me around the neck. Hot breath and heavy breathing assault my ears. The ogre says something, but it only sounds like grunts to me. A moment later, my neck goes tight, I hear my vertebrae crunch, and everything goes black.
5. Let's Try This Again
Alert! You have died. All items on your person have been lost. Items can be retrieved at the site of death in the event they have not been looted. One level and any stat points associated with it have been removed.
I respawn in the same clearing as before, fuming. Man, that was so stupid of me. The middle of a fight is not the time to study up on my abilities. I know better. I’ve been playing games for years, for crying out loud. Just because this feels like I am actually here, it doesn’t mean I can just forget everything I know about gaming. I uproot a tree, breaking it in half in my frustration and tossing the remains deep into the forest. Not to mention taking on an ogre five levels higher than me. Of course he could kill me in three hits. If I wasn’t a level one scrub, I would have lost everything I had on me, including a level.
If I want to be the best, then I need to play smarter. I need to know what I’m working with here.
I pull up the notebook and look at my abilities.
Abilities: You have three starter ability points to use. A new ability point is unlocked at every odd level. New abilities may be learned from completing quests, equipping new items, and various achievements.
Bite. Using your massive tusks and powerful jaw, you take a bite out of an opponent, dealing immense damage. Cost: 10 rage. Level 2. Massive Bite. Deals double damage. Cost: 20 rage.
Claw. You attack with sharp claws, swiping at an opponent and dealing extra damage. Cost: 5 rage. Level 2. Claws. Swipe at an opponent with both hands, dealing extra damage. Cost: 10 rage.
Multi-Attack. Bite and Claw at the same time. Cost: 20 rage.
Iron Will. Immune to slows and stuns for 15 seconds. Cost: 50 rage. Cooldown: 180 seconds.
Intimidation. You let out a roar at your opponent, freezing them in place so that they are unable to attack for two seconds. Cost: 10 rage.
Berserker Rage. (Ultimate. Available at level 5.) Attacks and physical damage build your rage meter. 5 rage per attack. Rage meter deteriorates over time when out of combat at a rate of 5 rage per second. When Berserker Rage is activated, for 30 seconds, rage meter is full, deal increased damage, increased attack speed, health regenerates at 5x the normal rate, cannot be stunned, slowed or otherwise affected. Cooldown: 60 minutes.
I’m Always Angry. (Available at level 10). Once rage meter is at 50%, it will not deteriorate below 50% when out of combat.
Beneath those, there also five bonus abilities for picking troll as my race.
Increased Regeneration. (Passive) Regenerate health at a faster rate. Level 2. Rapid Regeneration. (Passive) When below 10% health, regeneration is doubled.
Night Vision. (Passive) Increased vision in darkness and low light.
Thick Skin. (Passive) Take 10% less damage from physical attacks.
Camouflage. (Passive) When out of combat and not moving for 20 seconds, trolls blend in with their surroundings.
Savage. (Passive) Ability to eat uncooked meat without consequences.
Not a bad list of starter abilities. The five racial abilities are already unlocked, so I’ll need to pick three more from the list above them. The low cost on Claw will boost my basic attacks significantly. The fact that they all rely on rage instead of mana is nice, because I can always replenish it by simply attacking. Bite and Claw are easy choices, because they play off my already high Strength. Multi-Attack seems like a
luxury at my current level, so the choice for my final ability is between Iron Will and Intimidation. I elect to go with Intimidation because of the low rage cost and its ability to be used for offense and defense.
In the top right corner of my vision, an avatar of my character’s face looks down at me. Beside it, there are bars detailing my Health, Mana, Rage, and Experience Points.
Chod, Level 1 Barbarian Forest Troll
HP: 475/475
Mana: 0/0
Rage: 0/100
XP: 0/300
It’s interesting that I don’t have any mana, but seeing as how all of my abilities feed off of rage, it makes sense. The creation screen did say that trolls were not known for their magical aptitude. I wonder if it means I can’t learn magic or if I just need to find a way to unlock it. At least I won’t have to waste my money on mana potions until I know for sure.
In the bottom right corner of my vision, there is a map. I focus on it and it enlarges, displaying the Isle of Mythos. I am currently smack dab in the middle of a giant forest on the southern half of the island. An enormous mountain range separates the northern and southern halves of the island near the center. Several towns are marked on the map with question marks. The map will probably fill itself in as I travel.
Above the map, there is an icon of a backpack. I focus on it and it opens my inventory. Between my Strength and Constitution, I bet I can carry a massive amount of loot. The only item I have right now is the ragged loincloth that drapes over my trollberries. I pick up one half of the broken tree and it shows in my inventory as a wooden club.
Item. Wooden Club. +1 Strength.
I’d like to replace it with something made of stone or metal once I have the chance, but first I’ll need to earn gold or find something worthy of a trade.
Sentenced to Troll Page 3