Bounty Hunter Prestige Class

Written by Dave McAlister

Bounty hunters are the bane of any criminal that has “jumped bail”. Employed by bail bondsmen, their livelihood depends on being able to track down, and apprehend, their targets. Bounty hunters come from many walks of live but all require to be licensed by the local authorities.

Abilities: A bounty hunter relies on his wit and charm as much as his ability to trace bail jumpers. To this end, his most useful abilities are Charisma and Wisdom. In addition, Dexterity is also useful should the bullets start to fly or a chase ensues.
Vitality: 1d10 plus Constitution bonus per level.

Requirements
To become a bounty hunter, an agent must meet all of the following requirements:
Gather Information: 8 ranks.
Bureaucracy: 8 ranks.
Feats: Persuasive, Mark.

Class Skills
The bounty hunter’s class skills are Bluff, Bureaucracy, Computers, Diplomacy, Disguise, Driver, First Aid, Gather Information, Hide, Intimidate, Knowledge, Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Profession, Read Lips, Search, Sense Motive, Spot, and Surveillance.

Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Class Features
All the following are class features of the bounty hunter.

Class Feats: The bounty hunter gains the following feats at 1st level; Armour Proficiency (Light), Weapon Group Proficiency (Handgun), Weapon Group Proficiency (Melee).
Connections: Whenever the bounty hunter uses an action die to add to a Bureaucracy, Diplomacy or Gather Information roll, he rolls two action dice instead of one. This is the bounty hunter’s core ability.
The Upper Hand: Beginning at 1st level, the bounty hunter gains a +2 circumstance bonus against a chosen target. This bonus applies to Listen, Move Silently, Search, Spot and Surveillance checks when using these skills against or when tracking the target. The bonus increases by 1 at every odd-numbered level (3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th). The target must be determined at the start of the gaming session.
Bonus Feat: At 2nd level, the bounty hunter gains a bonus unarmed combat or style feat. He must still meet all prerequisites for this feat. He receives another bonus feat from these trees at 6th level.
Police Assistance: Successful bounty hunters begin to build up a reputation for themselves, thereby endearing them to the members of various law enforcement agencies. Beginning at 4th level, the disposition of law enforcement officials improves by one grade once appropriate introductions have been made. This bonus is applied after the normal roll to improve an NPC’s disposition. At 8th level, the bounty hunter’s reputation becomes so impressive that the law enforcement official’s disposition increases by two grades. Of course, this assistance works both ways and, due to the reputation of the bounty hunter, law enforcement officials may request assistance themselves.
Getting the Drop: At 10th level the bounty hunter, once per session and only if combat takes place between the bounty hunter and their target (as chosen under The Upper Hand ability), automatically rolls a natural 20 for initiative. Should the Game Control be using the optional rules for fluid initiative (as presented in the Modern Arms Guide, page 9), the bounty hunter can press to gain an additional attack.

The Bounty Hunter