User summary:
In Dramatic License, characters are built around personality and concept. These traits should be the driving force behind character actions and goals. Players that drive character actions that deviate from personality and concept receive significant penalties. Personality in particular is well-defined and categorized. Good play is defined as performing fast and interesting actions.
Characters have twelve Attributes in three classes: Physical (Might, Toughness, Reflexes, Size); Mental (Intuition, Smarts, Willpower, Heart); and Other (Appeal, Fan Factor, Luck, Power). There are three Derived Attributes (Basic Damage Resistance, Popularity, Recovery). Attributes are purchased from a points pool. Characters can eschew Armor in favor of the Scantily Clad Bonus.
Characters also have definitive abilities (Classic Bits) and Skills. Combat is driven by Skill use. Because the game focuses on cinematic events, most combat Skills are visually impressive and exciting, and much of the rules is devoted to numerous combat Skills (some are quite crazy). Skill resolution follows a familiar formula of Attribute and Skill with die roll compared to a target difficulty.