Halfling Opportunist

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 self-confidence 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.

Ahalfling 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.

Ahalfling 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.

Halflings Golarion OF 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.

Ahalfling opportunist has a keen ability to notice and react to danger. She gains the trap spotter rogue talent.

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.

At 2nd level, the range of the opportunist’s trap spotter ability increases to 20 feet.

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.

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.

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.

PLAYER COMPANION Traits Hafling Traits C haracter traits represent unique advantages conferred by a character’s formative experiences or innate qualities. Only halfling characters (or members of other races who take the Adopted trait) may select the traits detailed below. Many of them demand additional requirements, such as the character worshiping a specific deity or hailing from a particular part of Golarion. Race Traits Only halflings may select one of these traits.

Helpful: You see nothing wrong with letting others achieve greatness so long as the job gets done. Whenever you successfully perform an aid another action, you grant your ally a +4 bonus instead of the normal +2.

Lettered: You can read a smattering of most languages and know enough to make pretty good guesses about the rest. Linguistics is a class skill for you, and you gain a +1 trait bonus on Linguistic checks made for the purpose of deciphering writing in an unfamiliar language. You never draw a false conclusion if you fail your Linguistics check; instead, you simply realize you cannot make sense of the writing.

Providential Passenger: Those who travel for a living understand that your mere presence could make the difference between success and failure once a journey begins, and this gives you an edge when negotiating your fare or other privileges. Improve the starting attitude that ship captains, caravan leaders, and those with similar sorts of responsibilities have toward you by one step. Scrounger: Others may call it junk, but you call it a bargain. You can buy objects with the broken condition at half price (instead of the normal three-quarters price). The value of the unbroken version of these objects cannot exceed four times your character level. The price you pay for this object can never exceed more than twice your character level in gp (for example, at 5th level you can spend up to 10 gp on a broken object, meaning you can buy any object that, if not broken, has a value of 20 gp or less). Perfect Servant: Your training as a maid or valet has left you with unconscious mannerisms that seem to put members of the upper class at ease. You gain a +3 trait bonus on Diplomacy checks made to influence anyone with at least one level of Aristocrat.

® TM Regional Traits The following regional traits are each tied to a specific country in Golarion. You must be from that country or have spent a significant amount of time there earlier in life to select one of these traits.

Cheap to Feed (Osirion, Varisia): Life in a big city taught the consequences of pride. Now you have no qualms about pointing out how little of a burden your upkeep would prove to potential employers, captors, innkeepers, or anyone else able to provide you with the necessities of life. You gain a +3 trait bonus on Bluff checks made in order to gain food, water, or shelter.

Dusk Dancer (Nidal): Growing up in shadowy Nidal has given you the confidence to avoid hazards which you can barely see. You gain a +2 trait bonus on Reflex saves in dim light or darkness.

Equality for All (Andoran): Even when facing foes much larger than yourself, you still embody the Andoran ethos of liberty. You gain a +2 trait bonus to your CMB and your CMD when facing opponents who are at least two sizes larger than you.

Legalistic Liberation (Molthune, Osirion): You followed—or some might say exploited—the rules and earned your freedom by finding the loopholes within your homeland’s labyrinthine codes regulating slavery and indentured servitude. You gain a +1 bonus on all Knowledge checks to find a legitimate way to avoid, negate, or escape an existing obligation.

Rabble Rebel (Galt): Your time spent amid angry mobs has taught you exactly how to use crowds of people to distract your opponents. If you have at least three allies threatening your opponent, you gain a +2 bonus on Bluff checks to feint him and a +2 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks against him.

Isger Fixer (Isger): Everyone in Isger knows how to make do with substandard equipment, and you can improvise tools and materials in order to keep a damaged object working for just a little bit longer. Once per day, you can tinker with a broken object to allow anyone who uses it to ignore the penalties for its broken condition for 24 hours (this does not affect the object’s hit points). At the end of this time, it regains the broken condition (but you can use this trait on it over and over again).

Halflings Golarion OF Pomp and Pageantry (Taldor): Though others think you merely waste time, you know that those extra flourishes and ceremonial touches actually make your work just that much better. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Acrobatics, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Perform, and Ride checks with class skills if you spend twice as long as it normally takes to make that check.

Clumsy Slave (Cheliax, Katapesh): As a former slave, you learned how to conceal your malice toward your owner behind a facade of clumsiness. The first time you attack someone with an attack that deals nonlethal damage, your target must make a Sense Motive opposed by your Bluff check minus the damage dealt to realize you actually intended to harm him; failure means he believe the injury was an accident on your part instead (though he may still want to punish you for it).

Religion Traits Religion traits are tied to specific deities. The following religion traits reference the deities presented on page 43 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, as well as two halfling deities presented on pages 51–52 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Gods and Magic and pages 17–18 of this book. You must worship the listed deity to select these traits.

Backstabber (Thamir Gixx): Pledging your faith to Norgorber’s lethal shadow gives you the skill to make a brutal attack against an opponent who cannot fully fend you off. When you hit a foe you are flanking, you deal an additional 1 point of damage (this damage is added to your base damage, and is multiplied on a critical hit). This additional damage is a trait bonus.

Call for Help (Chaldira Zuzaristan): Offering your devotion to and modeling your life on Desna’s impetuous companion means you frequently find yourself in a jam but also ensures that you can always rely upon your friends to bail you out. When you take the total defense action, allies gain a +1 trait bonus on rolls made against a creature threatening you.

Dawn Renewal (Sarenrae): Your morning prayers often send a welcome spark of divine vitality into your most recent patients. When you use the Heal skill to provide long-term care, your patients heal an extra 2 hit points at sunrise. Good Dreams (Desna): Your dreams often give you a hint of possible dangers you might face during your day—such as a fall, a blast of fire, or a poisonous snake— and this hint sometimes makes all the difference. Each time you sleep, the GM tells you of a dangerous dream you had. Once per day, if you have to make a saving throw against a threat related or similar to that dream, you can roll twice and take the more favorable result. If you do not encounter circumstances similar to the threat or situation you dreamed, this trait has no effect that day. If you have the Halfling Jinx trait (see page 27), you cannot select this trait, and vice versa.

Provider (Erastil): Few things exalt your faith more than feeding the hungry with your own honest sweat. You gain a +1 trait bonus on any d20 roll to acquire food or water for others. Though this bonus most often applies to Survival checks, it could also apply to attacking monsters that are safe and nutritious to eat (mainly animals and plants). However, Erastil takes a dim view of waste and of those who scorn his favor, and if you abuse this gift (for example, by using the bonus to defeat a bear, then only eating one bite of it), he punishes you with a –2 penalty on attacks, checks, and saves for 24 hours.

Self-Sacrifice (Shelyn): You honor your goddess through your willingness to take risks for those you care about. As a move action, you can use your own body to grant soft cover (Core Rulebook 196) to an adjacent ally regardless of the difference in your respective sizes. Sense of Order (Abadar): Your ability to notice even the slightest change, and the discomfort it causes, made service to Abadar a logical choice. You gain a +3 trait bonus on any Perception check made to identify any changes to a location that have occurred since you last visited it.

Sensing Imperfection (Irori): Your belief in Irori has honed your ability to recognize when someone lies or dissembles. Sense Motive is a class skill for you, and you gain a +1 trait bonus on Sense Motive checks.

Venom-Drenched (Norgorber): You have nothing to fear from one sort of poison. In fact, you can actually drink the toxic brew in order to make your blood dangerous. You are immune to one specific nonmagical poison (Core Rulebook 559). If you ingest a dose of that poison (even if it is a contact, inhaled, or injury poison), it remains in your system for 24 hours; any creature that bites you during that time is subject to the poison’s effects.

Halfling opportunists gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.