Introduction - What is DeRP?:
	"DeRP" is short for The Descriptive Role-Playing System. It is so named because in DeRP characters and events are tracked using verbal descriptions rather than statistical ones, similar to the way that a story is told. This (in theory) allows for a much greater degree of freedom and ease of storytelling than most other roleplaying systems.

Resolution in DeRP:
	There are two types of rolls in DeRP: success rolls and appearance rolls. Success rolls are made to determine whether or not an attempted action is successful. Appearance rolls are made to determine whether or not certain character or environmental traits have an influence on the narrative of the game. All rolls in DeRP are made by rolling 2d6, applying all relevant bonuses and penalties, and checking the result against the difficulty of the action or rarity of the appearance as determined by the GM. If the modified roll is above the target, the roll passes; if it is below the target, it fails. Below is a guideline for targets for various levels of difficulty or rarity:
	Practically Guaranteed - 2
	Very easy/common - 4
	Easy/common - 5
	Average - 7
	Hard/rare - 9
	Very hard/rare - 11
	Nigh-Impossible - 12

Appearance Rolls:
	Appearance rolls determine whether or not a certain character or environmental trait influences the narrative of the game. As an example, a character who is an architect may make an appearance roll to determine if he is familiar with the layout of a building he is attempting to burgle.

Spectacular Failures:
	When a success roll results in a 2, the attempted action automatically fails and the failure carries an additional unforseen consequence. These consequences should pose new obstacles for the characters to overcome, but should not put them in an inescapable situation or result in their unavoidable doom.
	When an appearance roll results in a 2, the roll passes but with an unintended or ironic outcome. A character with a background in organized crime may make an appearance roll to see if he has any connections at in an inner-city bar, but upon rolling a 2 discovers that the bar is a hangout for the local police force, who are all very familiar with the character.

Defending:
	Whenever a character is the target of an action, they may choose to 'defend' against it with an appropriate action of their own. An appropriate action in this case is an action whose sole or primary outcome is preventing the initial action from succeeding or having its intended effect*. When this happens, the 'defender' makes a roll of appropriate difficulty; if the roll passes, the initial action fails or its intended outcome is prevented.

    *For example, if fighter 'A' (the initial actor) is attempting to perform a double-leg takedown on fighter 'B' (the defender,) an appropriate defending action would be to stuff the takedown and sprawl without initiating a counterattack. If fighter B wanted to counterattack, such as kneeing fighter A in the face, this would create a new outcome, rather than solely preventing the outcome of the initial action, and would therefore require a contested roll (below.)

Contesting Rolls:
	When two characters are simulteneously competing to perform actions with contradictory positive outcomes (i.e. they are both attempting to make happen something that would not otherwise happen,) they must contest their rolls. To do this, the characters make rolls of appropriate difficulty respective to their actions simulteneously. If one passes and the other fails, the one who passed 'wins' the contest, and their action proceeds. If both pass or fail, the character who passed by the larger margin or failed by the smaller margin wins.

Character creation in DeRP:
	The first step to creating a character in DeRP is to write a verbal description of them. Once you've done this, separate the description into individual descriptors of the character. These will be referred to as 'traits.' Traits describe your character's abilities, assets, and experiences, and determine the modifiers they will get on specific rolls, as well as what kind of appearance rolls they can attempt. Each trait has a point cost. Point totals will differ between games, but 300 points is a good guideline for heroic characters. 
	To determine the point cost of each trait, you will need to describe the trait using two or more keywords. Keywords represent the effects of a trait in a way which can determine its approximate utility over the course of a campaign. There are three types of keywords: primary keywords, secondary keywords, and campaign keywords. Primary keywords describe the effects of the trait on the narrative. Secondary keywords describe a trait's limitations, enhancements, or conditions of use (the exception to this rule is the 'generic' keyword.) Finally, campaign keywords are specific to each campaign, and describe how a trait relates to the campaign's contents. Campaign keywords are determined by the creator of the campaign and have a point cost based on how often the keyword will be relevant to the campaign. Each trait is described using one primary keyword and at least one campaign or secondary keyword. Each keyword has an associated point cost.
	Campaign keywords can be combined in two ways. To combine them in a way which narrows their scope, such as using Medicine + Animal to describe Veterinary Science, multiply their values to determine their collective value. To combine them in a way which broadens their scope, such as using Medicine + Animal to describe Biology, add their values to determine their collective value.
	After combining campaign keywords, multiply the values of all of a trait's keywords together to determine its total value.

A Note About Traits and Keywords:
	It is worth noting that DeRP keywords are *descriptive* rather than *perscriptive*, meaning they do not dictate the exact nature of a trait. The nature of each trait is determined by how they are described by the player to whose character they belong. Keywords merely provide a guideline for their implementation as a mechanic in the game and their approximate pragmatic value to a character in the course of a story.

Keyword descriptions:
	Status (75) - A status is a position in a social hierarchy. Any time a character is presented with a situation where their status is relevant, such as when meeting an NPC who belongs to the same social hierarchy, they can make an appearance roll of average difficulty to see if their status comes into play.
	Training (50) - Training is the combination of knowledge and skills in a certain field or practice. Training provides a +1 bonus to all success rolls for actions which can incorporate the field or practice in which the character is trained.
	Education (25) - Education is a body of knowledge about a given topic which has no skill component involved. Education provides a bonus of +1 to all success rolls which require the use of the body of knowledge in which the character is educated.
	Aptitude (25) - An aptitude is a talent in a specific practice that does not involve an explicit knowledge component. An aptitude provides a bonus of +1 to all success rolls which require the use of the practice.
	Posession (50) - A possession is an item on the character's person. If the item is wholly lost during the course of a campaign this trait cannot be invoked again until it is recovered.
	Asset (25) - An asset is an item or number of items to which a character has access but is not carried on their person. An asset must have a predetermined location or method of access in the game world. If the asset is wholly lost or destroyed during the course of the campaign, this trait cannot be invoked again until it is recovered.
	Ally (25) - An ally is a non-player character who is obliged to help the character who possesses the trait. An ally must have a predetermined location or method of contact in the game world.
	Background (50) - A background is a body of professional or personal experience that offers a character unique advantages over others. When a player believes that their character's background is relevent to the situation, they can (with the GM's permission) make an appearance roll of average difficulty to determine whether or not the background comes into play. Backgrounds cannot be used to modify success rolls for actions or produce allies, possessions, or assets that are not otherwise listed on the character sheet.
	Attribute (100) - An attribute is a character trait which is necessarily part of the character's physiology or psychology, such as strength or willpower. An attribute provides a +1 bonus to all success rolls for actions that require the use of the given attribute.

	Locale-Dependent (3/5) - Describes a trait that can only be invoked in a specific location.
	Time-Dependent (3/5) - Describes a trait that can only be invoked at a specific time. 
	Specific (3/5) - Combine this with a campaign keyword to describe a trait that pertains to a subset of that campaign keyword.
	Generic (2/5) - Use this keyword if no campaign keywords apply to a given trait. This keyword cannot be used to describe a trait that is already described by at least one campaign keyword.
	High-Level (7/5) - If used to describe a trait that provides a success roll bonus, that bonus is increased by +1. If used to describe a trait that provides an appearance roll, that roll becomes one difficulty level easier.
	Involuntary/Compulsive (3/5) - Used to describe a trait that must always be invoked when possible.
	Stigma (4/5) - Used to describe a trait that carries a negative social stigma. If NPCs become aware of the trait, they will behave accordingly.
	Random (2/5) - Used to describe a trait that activates at random times. Every time the trait *can* be invoked, the GM makes an appearance roll of average difficulty to determine if the trait is invoked.
	Single-Use (2/5) - Used to describe a trait that can only be used once in a campaign.
	Disadvantage (-5/5) - Used to describe a trait that is disadvantageous to its owner. When applied to a trait that would otherwise provide a bonus to specific rolls, the trait instead inflicts a penalty to those rolls. 

Powers:
	Currently, there are no keywords that pertain to special powers or abilities beyond those regular humans. I plan to add these in the future.

Actions in DeRP:
	In DeRP, an action can be anything that is physically possible for a character to attempt. In situations where characters are not competing to act first, actions can occur in any order and last any length of time.
 
Actions under pressure:
	In situations where characters *are* competing to act first (acting under pressure), each character rolls initiative for their action, with the highest roll acting first. Certain traits, such as being particularly agile, can provide a bonus to an initiative roll. Actions under pressure are roughly 15 seconds. When actions are occuring under pressure, the environment is split into stages. Stages are sections of the environment separated by uneven or dificult terrain (such as small passages, debris, or staircases) or more than 40 feet of even terrain. In order to take an action that requires contact with an object within a given stage, a character must already be in the same stage as the target. If they are not, they must first use an action to move to the desired stage. If an action does not require direct contact with its target, it can target any object in any stage with which the character has line-of-sight without penalty.

Acquired traits:
	During the course of a campaign, the GM can assign characters new traits as a result of events in the game world. Traits acquired this way have no point value.

Conditions:
	Conditions are a special type of trait that can only be acquired during gameplay, and have unique gameplay effects. Conditions can also be lost if certain criteria are met.

Wounds:
	When a character is seriously injured, they are "wounded." Each time a character sustains a wound, they acquire the next-level wounded trait. A single event can inflict multiple wounds at once.

	Wounded - Applies a -1 penalty to all success rolls for physical actions.
	Severely wounded - This condition cannot be acquired without also acquiring the "wounded" condition. This conditions applies an additional -1 penalty to physical actions and a -1 penalty to success rolls for mental actions.
	Mortally wounded - This condition cannot be acquired without also acquiring the "severely wounded" condition. A character who is mortally wounded must pass a success roll of easy difficulty to avoid becoming unconscious. If the character's actions are occuring under pressure, this roll must occur every time it is their turn to act. If their actions are not occuring under pressure, this roll must occur every two minutes of in-game time. If the character has already fallen unconscious, a failed roll results in death. 
	Unconscious - The character cannot make any actions. 
	Dead - You're dead!
	Bleeding out - The character must pass a success roll of easy difficulty to avoid becoming wounded, then severely wounded, then mortally wounded. If the character's actions are occuring under pressure, this roll must occur every time it is their turn to act. If their actions are not occuring under pressure, this roll must occur every two minutes of in-game time.
	Disabled - A part of the character's body is disabled, such as their eyes. Actions that are rendered physically impossible, such as reading a sign, cannot be attempted. ACtions that are physically possible but normally require the use of the body part, such as hitting a target with a projectile, can only succeed on an unmodified roll of 12.

Rulings, not Rules:
	Currently, the DeRP ruleset is pretty bare-bones. If you are a game master who is using DeRP, you will probably encounter many instances where the existing rules are insufficient to determine the exact outcome of a situation. If this happens, you should decide the outcome based on what you think is realistic, or what you think would create an engaging game for your players. If you identify an area where the rules are severely lacking, please feel free to contact me (Evil Wizard) as per the information on the "contact" page on the Wizard's Castle Website. I will try my best to address all comments and update the rules accordingly.