 Halfling Opportunist
Source Halflings of Golarion pg. 28
Even more so than the rest of their kind, halfling opportunists make their own luck. Shamelessly willing to take advantage of their foes, they can instantly assess a situation in order to find a way to turn it to their own benefit. When a giant swings his club, the halfling opportunist leaps onto it and uses the momentum to make her jump go that much further. When a spellcaster hurls a bolt of magical energy, the halfling opportunist steps in front of a door and uses the power to help her to smash through so she can make her escape. When a courtier tries to blacken her name, the halfling opportunist lets loose such a stream of cheeky accusations that the courtier ends up looking like the traitor instead. Halfling opportunists’ ability to exploit their enemies gives them a breezy selfconfidence and the sheer audacity to take risks few others would dare. Perhaps because of this brazenness, they seem blessed by amazing strokes of good fortune. However, they rarely take their luck for granted. Instead they rely upon their keen senses to sidestep danger and their adaptability to carry them through both combat and social settings.
Most halfling opportunists begin their careers as rogues, with bards and rangers tied as distant seconds. Barbarians and fighters with the presence of mind to adjust their combat styles prove surprisingly effective. Paladins and monks, troubled by the halfling opportunist ethos of deception and exploitation, are rarer entry points of this class than spellcasters.
Role: Their amazing luck, acute sense of danger, and ability to assess and then seize the advantage in virtually any situation makes halfling opportunists ideally suited for scouting or taking the front of party lines, especially when fighting only one enemy.
Alignment: Halfling opportunists view deception and taking advantage of others as a way of life. This makes it very difficult (but not impossible) for lawful characters that choose this prestige class to stick to their principles.RequirementsTo qualify to become a halfling opportunist, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Race: Halfling.
Skills: Perception 5 ranks, Stealth 5 ranks.
Feats: Defensive Combat Training.Class SkillsThe Halfling Opportunist's class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Dex), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Stealth (Dex), and Swim (Cha).
Skill Points at each Level: 6 + Int modifier.
Hit Die: d8.Class Features| Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | | 1st | +0 | +0 | +1 | +1 | Exploitive maneuver, trap spotter, excelled aid (+1) | | 2nd | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | Exceptionally lucky (+2), sneak attack +1d6, improved trap spotter | | 3rd | +2 | +1 | +2 | +2 | Fit in, excellent aid (+2) | | 4th | +3 | +1 | +2 | +2 | Exceptionally lucky (+3), sneak attack +2d6 | | 5th | +3 | +2 | +3 | +3 | Opportunity attacker, excellent aid (+3) | |
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All of the following are class features of the halfling opportunist prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Halfling opportunists gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Exploitive Maneuver (Ex): A halfling opportunist can use an enemy’s actions in combat for her own gain, as if the opponent were using aid another to assist the opportunist, giving her a bonus on her next skill check, attack roll, or to AC against the next attack (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 86 and 197). The enemy must be able to reach the opportunist, and the opportunist must activate this ability as an immediate action and succeed at a combat maneuver check against the enemy’s CMD; at the GM’s discretion, the opportunist can substitute another ability score modifier for her Strength modifier when making her combat maneuver check (such as using Dexterity for an agility-related action or Charisma for a social-related action). If the halfling succeeds at this combat maneuver check, she adds the aid another bonus to her action on her next turn and subtracts that bonus from the enemy’s roll for that action. Note that if the combat maneuver check is successful, the outcome of the enemy’s roll is irrelevant to this ability—a halfling opportunist can use a giant’s swinging club to jump farther whether the giant hits or misses with its attack roll.
The GM decides whether the enemy’s action can benefit the opportunist in the desired manner. Circumstances occurring between the enemy’s turn and the halfling’s turn may prevent her from following through with the desired action); if this occurs, she loses the bonus from aid another but can take her turn normally.
Example: Piria is a halfling opportunist battling an ogre in a walled arena. On the ogre’s turn, it swings at her with its club; Piria’s player wants to use her exploitive ability to catch the club and use its movement to boost her toward the top of the arena wall, giving her a bonus on her Acrobatics check to jump. The GM decides this is a reasonable use, has the player make a combat maneuver check against the giant’s CMD, and allows her to use Piria’s Dexterity bonus in place of her Strength bonus in the check. She succeeds and will gain the aid another bonus on her Climb check on her next turn. The GM rolls the ogre’s attack with a –2 penalty, hits Piria, and deals damage, but Piria still gets the aid another bonus on her next Acrobatics check— perhaps as the ogre’s club hit her, she grabbed it, flipped onto it, and on her turn can jump from the swinging club using the +2 bonus from aid another.
Trap Spotter (Ex): A halfling opportunist has a keen ability to notice and react to danger. She gains the trap spotter rogue talent.
Excellent Aid (Ex): A halfling opportunist has an amazing talent for getting the most out of those who assist her. Increase the bonus she gets from aid another by +1. This increases by another +1 at 3rd level and again at 5th level. This increase does not apply to when she uses aid another to help others, only when others aid her.
Exceptionally Lucky (Ex): At 2nd level, a halfling opportunist learns how to squeeze even more from her innate luck. Her halfling racial bonus on saving throws increases to +2. This bonus increases to +3 at 4th level.
Sneak Attack (Ex): This is exactly like the rogue ability of the same name. The extra damage dealt increases by +1d6 for every even level (2nd and 4th). If a halfling opportunist gets a sneak attack bonus from another source, the bonuses on the damage stack.
Improved Trap Spotter (Ex): At 2nd level, the range of the opportunist’s trap spotter ability increases to 20 feet.
Fit In (Ex): At 3rd level, a halfling opportunist masters the art of sending out nonverbal cues that suggest agreement and affiliation. This enables her to act as if she belongs in any situation, whether an aristocratic garden party or an evil cult’s inner sanctum. She can make a Disguise check in lieu of a Diplomacy check to influence the initial attitudes of NPCs. She does not need to change her appearance to make this check—this ability relies on instinctively knowing how to act to make it appear she belongs. If multiple creatures with differing views of appropriate behavior are present, she cannot simultaneously affect them and must choose a target creature or group to influence—she can’t pretend to be a guest at a fancy party to impress the nobles and pretend to be a maid to mingle with the servants at the same time.
Opportunity Attacker (Ex): At 5th level, a halfling opportunist masters the art of striking foes when they are at their most vulnerable. When making an attack of opportunity, she deals her sneak attack damage even if her target is not flat-footed or otherwise denied its Dexterity bonus to AC.
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