Learning LOTRO: Lesson 60 - Session Play

In this series, I talk about various aspects of The Lord of the Rings Online. This series is meant for newcomers, but may also help veteran players find more to love about the game.

It's been a hot minute, hasn't it? Real life things aside, this is the official return of the Learning LOTRO series, and I thank you for patiently waiting! Today we're going to cover Session Play -- a feature every player encounters at some point during their gameplay and gives a new layer of depth to Lord of the Rings Online.

Note: There are no screenshots or examples of specific Session Plays in this entry as I am a firm believer of not spoiling story for other players! If you're needing assistance completing a specific Session Play, please visit the wiki, forums, or reach out to me on Twitter!

--snarkqueen

 

 

What is Session Play?

Session Play is a mechanic of LOTRO that places the player in the role of a specific, unique character -- with that character's appearance, skills, and story. It allows the player to participate in past events that are being recounted to them in some fashion. A player's character obviously wasn't present throughout the entire history of Middle-earth, so this mechanic lets players experience more layers of story and understand their current situation or events better.

Types

There are four types of Session Play to encounter in the game: Epic, Landscape, PvMP, and Critter. Epic and Landscape will occur periodically during quests as you advance in level. PvMP is, as the name suggests, only available in PvMP and is limited. Access to Critter half depends on a specific content purchase. I'll explain all four types below!

• Epic

This is the first type of Session Play you are likely to encounter in the game (the exception is noted further on). The Epic quest line in LOTRO helps to guide you through the regions of the game as you advance in level. The first Session Play occurs once you are level 50 and dealing with the forces of Angmar, in Volume 1, Book 14. The Epic Session Plays are (for the most part) the easiest to complete -- though a few of them can be tricky or have specific bugs to avoid (which happen because the events are largely scripted). If you do experience a bug, you can usually just leave the Session Play, cancel the quest, and then take it again. If that doesn't fix the problem, I advise visiting the forums or the wiki to make sure you aren't doing something that triggers the bug.

• Landscape

Much like the Epic variety, these Landscape Session Plays occur as you're questing, but they aren't part of the Epic quest line. They occur in areas ranging from Wildermore up through Old Anorien and the Court of Lothlórien (Allegiance). They function the same way as the Epic ones, and fill in gaps of story that are more minor than those in the Epic but still help to connect the dots in the overall story.

• PvMP

If you enjoy playing as Freeps or Creeps in the Ettenmoors, you likely already know about the PvMP Session Play. For a sum of 500 Commendations, players on either side can choose to Session Play as either a Ranger or a Troll. There are specific requirements to play one, but once they are met the Session Play lasts 1 hour. There can only be 3 of these Session Play characters at a time, with a max of 2 per side. Whichever side holds the least keeps and outposts will have access to their 2nd character. For all of the intricate details, I recommend visiting the wiki page for either Ranger Session Play or Troll Session Play.

• Critter

Yes, there are animal Session Plays -- though probably not as many as you might like. There are only two options: Chicken or Horse. The Chicken is available to everyone, but the Horse is restricted to players who managed to purchase the Legendary version of the Riders of Rohan expansion. That said, there is far more content to accomplish as the Chicken versus the Horse. 

The Chicken Play quests are tricky because you are not in an instance when you play -- and you are a mere level 1 chicken, meaning you die very easily. There is a maximum limit of 50 players who can be chickens at any given time. There are a total of 12 different session plays in a series of quests available as a chicken, with the most challenging ones having a time limit of 8 hours and typically taking almost 2 hours to complete if you don't have to restart. As a chicken, you can't speak on any player channels -- only chicken channels. Completing the quests rewards you with a unique cloak (which allows you to cluck like a chicken and throw feathers around) and the coveted title "Crosser of Roads."

The Horse Play is part of a series called Discovering the Descendant. A beefy, white horse randomly shows up in Combe and you have a pile of tasks to do to make it comfy before taking it to Hengstacer Farm. Once there, you can complete a rotation of task quests for Éogar. There are 4 normal quests, and 1 will be available every day. There are 4 Session Plays, and 1 will be available every day. The Session Plays will send you to the Lone-lands, the North Downs, the Trollshaws, and the Horse-fields. Once you complete all of these at least once, you will complete the Discovering the Descendant deed which grants the title "Destined for Rohan." Completing this deed also unlocks a quest which will grant the Favour of the Mearas skill (which you won't see until you have a war-steed) which restores War-steed Endurance. When you complete 60 activities with the horse (a combo of the regular quests and session plays), you will complete the Horsing Around deed which grants the Cloak of the Equine and the title "Studier of the Equine."

Replay

If you absolutely can't get enough Session Plays in your LOTRO experience, then I have some good news: You can repeat most of them. For the Epic, you'll have to visit the Chronicle of Events in Rivendell, or Gleowine's Map in Rohan (for the Interludes). And the Chicken Play is repeatable simply by visiting Sandson's Farm.

Do you enjoy Session Plays, or are they just tedious filler? 
Tell me in the comments and tag me @spottedsnark on Twitter!

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