Skills Proposal

Skill Determination
There are four essential skills within Death Before Dishonor!. They are: Swordsmanship, Horsemanship, Marksmanship, and Etiquette. They are all based on a simple system for resolution of their respective challenges, which will be detailed below. All of these skills operate on a similar scale: a number between 3 and 18 initially, with an average of 10 or 11 on that scale.
Swordsmanship is simply Expertise, renamed. Like its original version, it is determined by a 3d6 roll at the time of character creation. Marksmanship, likewise, is determined by the same method, as is Horsemanship.
Etiquette is a special case, as it is determined by the roll of a single die, then added to the SL to determine its value. Most commoners will tend to have a poor Etiquette, with only titled nobles (or their sons) in possession of any notable skill in this regard.
As a general rule of thumb, the following values may be helpful in establishing the relative skill between characters:

Value	Swordsmanship	Marksmanship	Horsemanship	Etiquette
3-5	Neophyte	Untrained	Helpless	Vulgar
6-8	Student	Hesitant	Clumsy	Coarse
9-12	Competent	Proficient	Trained	Common
13-15	Master	Marksman	Cavalryman	Gentleman
16-18	Master Superior	Sniper	Cossack	Noble Air
19-20	Grandmaster	Sharpshooter	Master Horseman	Grand
21+	Wizard	Master Marksman	Master Cavalryman	Diplomat

To determine the success of a skill, compare its value against whatever opposition it faces. The number of the table below is the result necessary or higher (rolled on 2d6) to succeed against the difficulty.

Skill:	Opposition:	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21+
3		7	8	9	10	11	12	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
4		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
5		5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
6		4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
7		3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
8		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
9		A	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
10		A	A	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	X	X	X	X	X	X
11		A	A	A	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	X	X	X	X	X
12		A	A	A	A	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	X	X	X	X
13		A	A	A	A	A	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	X	X	X
14		A	A	A	A	A	A	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	X	X
15		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	X
16		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
17		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
18		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
19		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
20		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
21+		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2	3	4	5	6	7

A: Automatic success. When calculating for points, simply roll 2d6 and deduct nothing.
X: Automatic failure. No points are possible.
When using this matrix for competitions (such as a marksmanship tournament), one of two methods can be used. Either set the range to the target as a fixed value (having each contestant roll against its difficulty), or match one contestant's skill against another. In any event, a successful roll is worth a number of points equal to the roll minus the target. Thus a roll of 10 against a target of 6 is worth (10-6=4) points; whereas a roll of 7 against a target of 7 is a success, but awards no points.
In the case of pistols at dawn, the roll is one contestant versus the skill of his opponent. A hit with no points is a graze, and every point scored inflicts 15 Endurance in wounds.