Vow of Poverty - RP Implications?

[RedTonic]

As mentioned in my previous topic, I have a player (with whom I've not previously played) who wants to take the Vow of Poverty feat. Now that I've gotten the Initiate of Honor thing squared away, I'm considering the effect of the RP side of things on the campaign.

What I wonder about now is, at least until the character receives the Sustenance ability, the character is dependent on others for food. My concern is that this player OOCly plans to mooch from the party's Paladin for healing by potions, food, etc. What I think, which was elaborated upon for me by a friend who is way better at unpacking my thoughts than I am, is that the PC has made a sacred vow in which he has foregone expectation that he or anyone else will take care of him. He relies on faith to sustain him--upon, basically, the mercy/generosity/lenience of his god/precept, and that to do otherwise violates the vow and leads to the irrevocable loss of the benefits of the vow of poverty feat.

Honestly, I'm not worried that playing it out the way I describe there will lead to unplayability--first of all, that's the player's concern; second of all, the world is not desolate and there's a population of people the monk can beg or be gifted by, temples he can seek shelter at for a time, and so forth. The type of game I run leans more towards RP than combat (though yes, I do like some butt-kicking fun, and so do the other players). What I am worried about is the accuracy of my analysis of the feat and the sacred vow--so I humbly request input.

 

[Dandu]

Vow of Poverty is a pain in the kender.

 

[Pergentile]

A Character with Vow of Poverty is allowed to carry a simple weapon, and a certain amount of food. They can also "Carry" all the treasure they want. They still get their regular share of loot, it just must be given to charity/not used to benefit the Character at all. If the character commonly gains benefits from material wealth like potions etc. it is a violation of his Vow. He wants to ask the pally for a potion after every battle? He suddenly finds himself unprotected by a faith he has decided to half-ass. I think your view is close enough that the Player wont be able to justify getting pissy when he loses the VoP bonuses.

 

[R-Hero]

I've never liked the Vow feats. They are hard to RP and they make little sense to me.

Vow of Poverty, Vow of Peace: two things that are very anti-adventurer.

 

[RedTonic]

A Character with Vow of Poverty is allowed to carry a simple weapon, and a certain amount of food. They can also "Carry" all the treasure they want. They still get their regular share of loot, it just must be given to charity/not used to benefit the Character at all. If the character commonly gains benefits from material wealth like potions etc. it is a violation of his Vow. He wants to ask the pally for a potion after every battle? He suddenly finds himself unprotected by a faith he has decided to half-ass. I think your view is close enough that the Player wont be able to justify getting pissy when he loses the VoP bonuses.

Honestly, I hadn't even thought about the possibility of the character carrying their share of the treasure. It seems like me that it's still the PC "owning" it (unless he's just carrying someone else's stuff) regardless of whether he uses it for his personal benefit. Otherwise, I think our perspectives are pretty much the same.

I do agree with R-Hero, it's difficult to RP (especially if you were playing a kick-down-the-door type game) when the expectation is that you're going to be out there committing more or less wanton acts of violence. I think the vow of nonviolence/vow of peace feats work best for NPCs. While D&D can totally be run without combat, I don't believe the game is meant for that sort of play, and it's definitely not optimized for it. This player has set himself up for a challenge, and as I've never roleplayed with him before, I don't know how ready he is or isn't to meet it.

At the very least, if the PC becomes unplayable in the campaign, I'll certainly let him roll up a new character equal in level, and he can retire this guy to a life of contemplation or something. And if the character dies, well...

 

[Dandu]

VoP's a horrible idea for a monk anyways. When your enemy can fly while you can't and, your ranged weapon options include "throw tiny shuriken", you suck.

 

[RedTonic]

Well, there's nothing wrong with another party member casting "Fly" on him. Personally, I like the part where you don't have to breathe anymore. Most adventurers don't seem very keen on personal hygiene, and don't get me started on stinking clouds.

 

[garagos]

I think the best way for a VoP character to get food and shelter at low levels is to do something like offer to work at the inn for the night instead of paying for his room. Wash dishes, serve food/drinks, help cook if he can, anything like that can be used instead of money to acquire food and lodging.

 

[Dandu]

Well, there's nothing wrong with another party member casting "Fly" on him.

Drain on party resources, in this case a third level spell and one standard action. The party is giving up said resources along with an equal share share of XP and loot to someone who can't function unless other classes take pity on him and hand him some candy.

Something's wrong here.

 

[RedTonic]

Well, to be honest, I'm not terribly worried about whether it's over or underpowered; and at any rate, all builds have something they're plainly not cut out for. What I am concerned about is what's going to make or break this PC's vow.