Both parties must declare and agree that they want to duel, and decide what exactly signals when it's time to attack (it's usually a bell, or the ring of a timed clock, or the shot in the air of another party). Third parties cannot act during a duel, but may influence it in some way (DM call).You don't necessarely have to use a firearm for the duel: you can use every weapon, both ranged and melee. In case of melee weapons, the duelists simply stand close, so they can charge at each other in a single turn. Mixed duels (ranged versus melee) also take place with the opponents close. You can't duel with a spell but you may influence a duel with spells (see below). A duel is made up of 5 phases, during which the bonuses of the opponents are matched to see who wins a specific phase. Highest bonuses means you win that phase, and a tie is possible (neither wins that bonus). You don't roll any dice during the phases, but simply compare the modifiers. Each won phase gives you a +1 bonus to the final roll.
- Reputation phase: Where your name and former deeds are taken into account. The highest Reputation wins; remember to add the Reputation bonuses from the traits.
- Gaze phase: The opponents look straight into each other eyes, in a contest of sheer determination. Each of the following counts towards calculation your bonus: challenge class ability, at least 4 ranks in Intimidate, the Killer Eyes trait, the Impertubable Mind trait, stern gaze class ability, and the ability to cast any gaze spell or one that influences the opponents eyes (you don't really cast the spell but still lose the spell slot). The duelist with the most of these wins the phase.
- Reaction phase: How quickly the duelists can react to the signal. Each opponent add his Initiative to his base Reflexes Save bonus, plus every trait, magic or feat bonus that might improve Reflexes: the highest result wins the phase.
- Draw phase: Both duelists draw their weapon extremely fast. Each of the following counts towards calculation your bonus: using a 1 handed weapon, Quick Draw feat, every other draw feat, the Deadly Draw trait (+2 bonus), at least 4 ranks in Sleigh of Hands, at least 4 ranks in Bluff, Gunslinger Initiative deed (must have at least 1 Grit point to get the bonus), mage hand or other spells that might help drawing a weapon (you don't really cast the spell but still lose the spell slot). The duelist with the most of these wins the phase.
- Attack phase: Both duelist finally attack. Each opponents takes the attack bonus with the weapon he's using (magic and feat bonuses included), and adds +1 for every one of the following: using two handed weapon, using two weapons or a weapon and a shield, charging at the opponent with a melee weapon, having a weapon with the reach ability, having a weapon with the deadly ability, the Warrior Spirit trait, Dodge feat or any Dodge bonus, Evasion or ather forms of dodging an attack, any Critical feat, any Improved (Combat Manouver) feat, magic weapon/true strike/blessing or any other spells that add to the attack bonus (the spells must have been cast beforehand). The highest final bonus wins the phase.
- REVENGE bonus: Include this one as an external bonus to the final d6 roll, but you must have the proper motivation towards getting REVENGE from a certain opponent. "He looked at me funny" is not a proper one. Also, REVENGE always goes in all caps.
Resolution: After the 5 phases, each opponent roll a single d6, and add the bonuses for every phase they have won.
Compare the final results: the one with the highest roll wins the duel, and automatically confirms a critical hit against the opponent with the weapon he's using, with the max possible damage (for example a weapon that does 1d8+3/x4 will automatically deal 44 damage). The attack always hits and ignores armor and damage reduction.Forms of precision damage, like Sneak attack, couts for calculating the damage you deal. For example, if you have sneak attack +2d6, you add 12 damage (without multipling for the critical) to the final damage, since the opponent you just attacked is considered flat footed.
Should the opponent that lost the duel not die after this attack, he will be knocked prone, be staggered for 1 round, and last in Initiative in the following round. The winning duelist may decide not to kill or damage his opponent, but disarm it or immobilize him instead.
In case both opponents obtain the exact same results with the resolutive d6 roll, the one that collected the most bonuses during the phases wins. Should both opponents have the same results and bonuses, they will deal damage to each other at the same time, and suffer the same consequences of a losing duelist. Yes, you can use your Hero point to reroll the d6 of a duel if you want.
To save time and cut straight to the chase, it's better to calculate your Duel stats beforehand, and put them in you character sheet. For example:
Duel: Reputation 5, Gaze 2, Reaction 10, Draw 4, Attack 11
This way you only need to roll a d6 to duel against an opponent. Write additional sets of stats if you plan to due with different weapons. If you are not sure if some of your abilities or feats might improve your duel stats, ask away.