First there are five ranks

Rank Level        Rank Title*               NWP CheckModifier **
Rank I	      apprentice			        -4 penalty
Rank II	    junior journeyman		        -2 penalty
Rank III         journeyman			        no penalty
Rank IV	    senior journeyman			  +2 bonus
Rank V	        master			        +4 bonus

*(These titles are from the D&D Gazetteer 9: The Minrothad Guilds.)

**(I found that the best-suited bonus/penalty modifiers were the ones
 Garry J. Sled came up with.)

The base training/study time for a character to obtain rank I (apprentice level) in a non-weapon proficiency is 1 week. A character has to study for one rank level at a time, i.e. s/he cannot study for rank 2 and 3 if s/he currently has rank I only in the NWP.

The training time is doubled for each rank. I.e.: rank II takes twice as long to learn as rank I. Rank III takes twice as long to learn as rank II (four times as long as rank I). Rank IV takes twice as long as rank III (eight times as long as rank I), et cetera.

The base study time for rank I is modified as follows:

+ 1 week per extra NWP slot the NWP costs

+ 1 week per -1 penalty check modifier (as in the Player’s Handbook)

+ 1 week if relevant ability is constitution

+ 2 weeks if relevant ability is dexterity

+ 3 weeks if relevant ability is charisma/comeliness

+ 4 weeks if relevant ability is intelligence

+ 5 weeks if relevant ability is wisdom/perception

- 1 week per +1 bonus check modifier (as in the Player’s Handbook)

Note: The minimum time to train for rank I is always at least one week.

After the training time is done the character must roll higher than the rank s/he was training for. I.e. a character must roll higher than a 3 on a d20 to obtain rank 3.

If successful the character obtains the new rank.

If not successful the character must spend the same amount of time in training.

For every previous time the rank was trained for a character receives a + 1 bonus to determine if s/he obtains the rank.

Characters may train for different NWPs at the same time. No more than a total of 5 ranks may be trained for at the same time.

For Example:

A character could study for 5 rank 1 NWPs

A character could study for 1 rank 2 NWP and 1 rank 3 NWP

A character could study for 2 rank 1 NWPs and 1 rank 3 NWP

A character could study for 1 rank 5 NWP.

For every year below age 16 years one week is added to the base study time. A student must be at least 6 years old to train for a NWP, except for modern languages, which the child can start to learn at the age of 1 year.

With the DM’s permission a character may improve in a NWP without a teacher. It takes twice as long to learn. Optional: The character does not receive a bonus to the roll to determine if the rank is obtained for previous attempts at obtaining the rank.

With this method a person obtains rank III modern languages in his/her native tongue by the age of 9 with a teacher or age 14 without a teacher.

Rank I character can speak 1-syllable words

Rank II character can speak 2-syllable words

Rank III character can speak 3-syllable words

Rank IV character can speak 4-syllable words

Rank V character can speak all words

Rank I Character can read and write 3-lettered words

Rank II Character can read and write 5-lettered words

Rank III Character can read and write 7-lettered words

Rank IV Character can read and write 9-lettered words

Rank V Character can read and write all words

DM determines success number. Player rolls a d20 and adds his/her NWP score or ability score.

Difficulty of task	    Suggested Target Number
Child's Play                         4
Basic                                8
Simple                              12
Very Easy                           16
Easy			                   20
Moderate			             24
Hard				             28
Difficult			             32
Extremely Difficult		       36
Next to Impossible	             40

Using this system a character must obtain a modified die result equal to or
higher than the target number to succeed. A natural 20 is not an automatic 
success and a natural 1 is not an automatic failure. This will prevent 
seemingly ridiculous things from happening. I.e. all the big, strong 
warriors failing to lift a heavy boulder and the 98 lb. weakling mage 
lifting it.