Intermission: Pulling Aggro

I really like playing tanks. Big things, covered in armour. They make loud noises, they can take a beating, and they're a great distraction for squishier things smaller than them that need to do more technical work. The main role of a tank in a fantasy role-playing game is tying up enemies while the DPS does the big numbers - for which they need to be able to soak a lot of hits, and to appear to be a bigger threat than the rogue, wizard, or whatever class is dealing the damage. The first role is easy to fix - lots of armour, lots of HP, lots of defences. The second is more complicated.

The Monastery I: Rain, Rats and a Retreat

Morning finds the party in poor spirits. The weather took a turn for the worse (14) during the night, and threatens to throw the whole plan off - they hadn't planned for a long journey, and the weather would slow them down. Though they can all afford another night at the inn ($25, at such short notice), they would rather not risk it. Werner rolls for his Impulsiveness and fails (18), declaring "we're leaving, and that's final!" before storming out of the door into the rain, covering his previous book under his cloak. The party groan and catch up with him, which isn't an especially difficult task. They trudge through the mud and the rain towards the foothills where the monastery lies, but pass through a small copse on the way, where greedy eyes watch. 

Preparations I: Leather and Long Knives

Our story opens in the morning, in the village of Sternvale. Werner Coates, a wizards' college grad student (though one with no magical aptitude), is planning an expedition to a nearby monastery to investigate their library for any valuable information that might help with his thesis. Responding to a budding scholar's request, three adventurers meet him at the tavern...

Prologue

 This post will hopefully explain a little about what I'm doing. 

Sternvale Adventures is a personal project where I run a solo game of GURPS 4th Edition (drawing heavily on the adjustments and rulings made since the game came out 20 years ago, including from the DFRPG boxed set) and write what happens. It's intended both as a way for me to have some fun playing in a game that suits me perfectly and to become more familiar with the rules from a player side.