You don’t need a thousand-page setting book to run a great campaign. In Alacrity, the world is whatever you need it to be. The system is setting-neutral by design—lightweight, modular, and ready to serve any kind of story you want to tell. Whether you’re sketching out your own homebrew world, adapting a favorite novel or show, or just starting with a single map and a good idea, the mechanics won’t get in your way.
Throughout this book, you’ll find references and examples drawn from Blackwatch, a gritty fantasy world I’ve been building over time. Blackwatch is full of frontier towns, hidden magic, and moral gray zones—perfect territory for gritty adventures and big choices. But it’s just an example, not a requirement. You’re free to use it, borrow from it, or ignore it entirely.
Alacrity isn’t tied to any official setting. That’s intentional. The system gives you tools, not homework.
Start Small. Let the World Grow.
Great campaigns often start in small, focused locations: a borderland outpost, a haunted ruin, a town barely holding itself together. You don’t need a global map—just something tangible for the players to interact with. Let their questions, decisions, and consequences fill in the blanks.
Sketch a few names, factions, and points of tension. Decide who’s in power, who’s on the edge, and what’s about to go sideways. That’s enough to launch a story. The rest can come when you need it.
Set the Tone Early
Before you draw maps or name kingdoms, decide what kind of world this is. Is it bleak and brutal? Mythic and mysterious? Worn down and weary, or full of fresh hope?
Once you’ve set the tone, communicate it clearly. Let your players know what kind of story they’re stepping into. A shared sense of tone keeps your group unified—even when the characters aren’t.
Let Player Actions Shape the World
The Alacrity system is built to respond. When players topple a warlord, expose a conspiracy, or flee from the consequences of their own ambition, the world changes. This responsiveness doesn’t require a complex lore bible—it just requires you to pay attention and follow through.
When in doubt, ask yourself: what would this world logically do in response to what just happened?
Freedom Without Friction
You can run Alacrity in any fantasy world that inspires you. Build your own from scratch. Reskin a favorite franchise. Mash up genres. The mechanics don’t assume anything about your world’s cosmology, magic systems, or political structures.
That’s the point.
The Blackwatch setting is linked throughout this book as a ready-to-use example, but it’s just that—an example. If it helps you get started, use it. If you already have a world in mind, skip it. You’re not building around the system. The system bends to your world.
In Alacrity, the world isn’t a fixed backdrop—it’s a story engine. It reacts, adapts, and evolves. Whether you draw inspiration from your bookshelf, your campaign archive, or the group’s chaotic energy around the table, all that matters is this:
Make it real. Make it yours.
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File Created: 04/30/2025 Last Modified: 04/30/2025