One of the founding principles of Alacrity is that you don’t need a trunk full of gear to play a great game. The essentials are simple, portable, and easy to teach.
Here’s what you’ll need to get started:
1. A Set of Percentile Dice (or Two d10s)
Alacrity runs on a d100 system. That means you’ll need two ten-sided dice—one to represent the “tens” digit and one for the “ones.” Roll them together, and you’ve got your result. If you’ve got dice numbered 00–90 and 0–9, you’re all set. Otherwise, just agree on which color represents which digit.
You can play with a digital roller, but a physical d100 roll carries weight at the table—and weight is good.
2. A Character Sheet
You’ll find everything you need to track your character on a single sheet. Character creation is fast, but detailed enough to give you identity and direction. The sheet tracks your Attributes, Skills, Vital Stats, and any special abilities or gear. No nested rule systems or buried subsystems. What you see is what you roll.
3. A Game Master
The GM (Game Master) is the referee, narrator, and the world’s collective brain. In Alacrity, the GM makes rulings, interprets the rules, and keeps things moving. They’re not bound to a script—they’re reacting, improvising, and helping tell a story that belongs to everyone at the table.
4. A Group of Players
One GM, at least one player, and preferably a few more. This system plays well with small groups and thrives with 3–5 players. If everyone’s on board with the tone and the world, everything else will fall into place.
5. Some Way to Track Numbers
Pen and paper works. A dry-erase board works. A shared Google Doc works. You’ll want a simple way to note Hit Points, Status Effects, and gear—nothing more complicated than a grocery list.
6. A World to Explore
You can use the setting material provided later in this book, build your own, or drop Alacrity into your favorite fantasy world. The system is setting-neutral by design, and it thrives on world-building. The GM doesn’t need a complete atlas—just a place where interesting things can happen and the players have room to move.
That’s it. No cards, no trackers, no plastic widgets, no apps—unless you want them. Alacrity is designed to run on whatever you’ve got, whether you’re around a kitchen table or connecting through a screen.
Everything else is optional. Imagination is not.
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File Created: 04/30/2025 Last Modified: 04/30/2025