Prose Descriptive Qualities

Tabletop Games engine published in 2004 by Atomic Sock Monkey Press. Instead of having a set list of attributes, players can choose any trait they can describe in a few words (subject to Game Master approval), and then assign a rank to it from Poor [-2] to Master [+6]. The rank acts as a modifier to any die rolls related to that trait, and players are encouraged to justify using their traits in as many situations as possible. Damage (physical, social and otherwise) takes the form of reductions in trait ranks.

Products in the PDQ line include:
 * Dead Inside, a horror game about characters who have somehow lost their souls and want them back.
 * Monkey Ninja Pirate Robot, a lighthearted Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot (with monkeys instead of zombies) style search for plutonium.
 * Truth & Justice, a Superhero game
 * The Zorcerer of Zo, a Fairy Tale game based on settings like Narnia, Oz and Wonderland.
 * Swashbucklers of the Seven Skies uses PDQ-Sharp (PDQ#), which adds, among other things, Duels (physical or other contests with multiple rounds of attack and defense) and Style Dice (analogous to Fate Points or Drama Points in other systems).

Other publishers have licensed the PDQ rules for their own products, including Aethereal Forge (the second edition of Ninja Burger, Vox), Atomic Overmind Press (Adventures Into Darkness for T&J) and Silver Branch Games (Questers of the Middle Realms, Legends Walk for T&J, Jaws of the Six Serpents).

Core rule book found here.

Not to be confused with PDQ Bach.