Knight-Hero Prestige Class
by Roger LV Girtman IIAlthough they may wander far and wide, across, under, and above Mystara, the hin never forget their home in the Five Shires and while some may quest for glory, gold, or adventure, the greatest of them do it for their people and the Five Shires and are known as the knight-heroes.
Whereas the great heroes of other races may be praised for their ability to confront their foes head-on, and hammer away at them until they both collapse into the mud, bloody and exhausted, that seems foolish to the hin, who prize cleverness and wisdom above raw brute strength. While a dwarven defender will bar a foe with his dying breath, the hin knight-hero would be more likely to slip around to the foe's rear through stealth and cleverness, cut off their reinforcements and confront the enemy leader one-on-one.
Hit Dice: 1d10
REQUIREMENTS
To qualify to become a Knight-Hero, a character must fulfil all of the following criteria.
Race: Halfling
Alignment: Lawful Neutral, Lawful Good, or Neutral Good
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Knowledge (nobility and royalty): 3+ ranks
Knowledge (history)(Five Shires): 3+ ranks
Loyalty: A knight-hero must demonstrate loyalty to a particular cause, be it a clerical order, nation, a people, or a ruler (the cause chosen by the vast majority of knight-heroes is almost universally the Halfling people and their homelands). A knight-hero must show his devotion by not specialising in any other Prestige Class. Multiclassing in base classes are still permitted, however. A Knight-hero who either picks up a second PrC or who goes against his chosen cause looses all supernatural class abilities and can never again advance in the knight-hero class. His reputation has become irrevocably stained.
CLASS SKILLS
The Knight-Hero's class skills (and the key ability for each) are Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (history)(Shires)(Int), Knowledge (local)(Shires)(Int), Knowledge (nature)(Int), (Knowledge (nobility and royalty)(Int), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (choose terrain)(Wis) and Swim (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4+ Int modifier.
Table 1-X: Knight-Hero
BAB: Moderate
Fort: Good
Ref: Good
Will: Poor
(Level) Special
(1) Code of Conduct, Associates, Improved Throwing
(2) Favoured Enemy
(3) Heroic Luck
(4) Uncanny Dodge
(5) Low-light Vision
(6) Throwing Specialisation
(7) Second Favoured Enemy
(8) Inspire Courage
(9) Evasion
(10) Hin Paragon
CLASS FEATURES
All of the following are features of the Knight-Hero prestige class.
Weapon and Armour Proficiency: Knight-Heroes are proficient in the use of all simple and martial weapons and all armour (heavy, medium, and light) and shields.
Code of Conduct: A knight-hero must be within one step of lawful good alignment or loose all supernatural class abilities if he ever willingly commits an act of evil. Additionally, a knight-hero's code requires that he respects legitimate authority, help those that need help (provided they do not use the help for evil ends) and punish those that harm or threaten innocents.
Associates: While he may adventure with any non-evil characters, a knight-hero will never knowingly associate with evil characters. A knight-hero will not continue an association with someone who consistently offends his moral code. A knight-hero may only hire henchmen or accept followers who are within one step of lawful good.
Improved Throwing: A knight-hero's bonus with thrown weapons and slings increases to +2, rather than the halfling-standard +1.
Favoured Enemy: A second level knight-hero chooses a traditional enemy of the Five Shires and trains in techniques to combat them. An additional favoured enemy is chosen at seventh level. This ability works exactly like a ranger's favoured enemy, except that the knight-hero must choose a favoured enemy from among Aberrations, Dwarves, Goblinoids, Humans, Orcs, Shapechangers, and Undead. It is not politic for the hin to mention that they still keep a wary eye fixed on dwarves and humans, and this knight-heroes only discuss their favoured enemies in those cases with other hin.
Heroic Luck (Su): The High Heroes smile on the knight-hero, granting him a bonus to all saving throws equal to his Charisma modifier (minimum bonus of +1). This replaces the natural bonus to saving throws all halflings get by the grace of the High Heroes.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Starting at fourth level, a knight-hero can react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to do so. He retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still looses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilised. If a Knight-hero already has uncanny dodge from a different class, he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead.
Low-light Vision (Ex):Beginning at 5th level, the knight-hero has trained and heightened his senses to such a point that he now is considered to have low-light vision exactly like an elf.
Throwing Specialisation: At sixth level, a knight-hero gains a +2 damage bonus with thrown weapons and slings.
Inspire Courage (Su): A knight-hero may sing or chant a traditional hin song ("Halfling High" and "Sing of a King" are favourites) and raise the courage of themselves and their companions. This ability works exactly like the Bardic ability of the same name. This bonus stacks with the halfling's +2 morale bonus against fear.
Evasion (Ex): The embodiment of the nimble halfling, an eighth level knight-hero can avoid even magical and unusual attacks by being light on his feet. If a knight-hero make a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion may only be used if the knight-hero is wearing light or no armour.
Hin Paragon (Ex): At tenth level, the knight-hero's physical training in devotion to his people and homeland has reached an apex--he has become the embodiment of all that is Hin. The knight-hero's racial bonuses for Climb, Jump, Move Silently, and Listen skills are doubled.