Ascetics, Equipment, Money and Powers

[Roman]

Two characters in different online games I play in inspired me to make this thread. One is a druid in a campaign that is beginning on 4th level who for roleplaying reasons does not possess any equipment (apart from clothing of course). The characters may not gain much new equipment for some time, so the DM is worrying that the character may be underpowered compared to the rest of the group as well as compared to challenges of the appropriate CR.

The second character is a monk in an online game that has been going on for some time now. The monk is very dedicated to Tyr and is a strong ascetic again for roleplaying reasons (he is a monk of Tyr and all monks of Tyr in that campaign have to have taken vows of chastity, loyalty, poverty, etc. [think Roman Catholic monks, but they can kill], cannot drink alcohol or use any mind affecting substances [includes many potions]... I am sure you get the idea. Again it is clear that such a character will be less powerful than the rest of the group in fact even more so than the druid, as the monk cannot ever gain new equipment and can only posess food, water, bag, and clothing none of which can be magical. Furthermore, the monk is sometimes tempted (last time by a certain lady in the bar) to break his other vows and he has to roll to see whether he resists the temptation and the risk of failing is not that small. If he succumbs he looses his powers, so even the non-poverty based vows have a significant negative impact on his power.

Anyway, while any suggestions to deal with either of the above would be interesting, I thought to generalise the question. How would you deal with situations where the character foregoes all his material posessions (as in the case of the monk) or all of his starting material posessions (as in the case of the druid), or just a portion of his material posessions? Playing such a character, should IMO be possible - it is an archetype after all - and the character should not be unduly penalized, so he needs some compensatory powers. What system would work? Would it for example be feasible to decide that foregoing X amount of gold lets you choose from some set of compensatory abilities?

On a related note, how would you deal with the effects of chastity, non-alcohol, etc. if the character risks loosing his powers for breaking his vows and has to roll whether he withstands the temptation?

 

[Dirigible]

I don't have it, but apparently the Book of Exalted Deeds has rules which allow you to foreswear material possessions in excahnge for a range of enhancements and bonuses.

Dragon #304 had rules on Prestige Races (as does Oathbound, I beleive, where the idea came from) whicha re sort of like inherant magical items.

Personally, I would never make a PC roll to see if he succumbs to some tempation or vice (unless it was purchased as a Disadvantage or Weakness, dependig on the system). I can, however, see a logical reason to do so (if you roll for combat, why not for seduction, or the sweet, siren-like lure of intoxicating beverages?). I just don't, and assume the player will roleplay his character faithfully.

 

[Scion]

definately cool stuff. I would second the vote for checking out the book of exalted deeds and use the feats presented there for the monk. Modify them slightly if necissary but it should work out just fine (one can only hope right? lol) but it should at least put them back into the same par range.

As for the druid it is generally easy enough for the dm to slip in an extra item/quest/whatever now and then to help out said character. If this is too much then offer up a prestige class (custom built of course), or check out the feats from the above book again and modify them to taste to make the druid go well. If all of this fails well.. some people like playing characters that others would consider under par, if he's haveing fun hopefully there will be no problems (and of course the dm doesnt always have to tell the player about any strange bonuses from the diety/titan/whatever of earth and blood that happens to like the druid for doing some random thing and gave him a permanent +2 sacred bonus to whatever)

 

[Roman]

Interesting answers so far - I have heard much good about the Book of Exalted Deeds, but supposedly the virtuous feats it contains can only be applied to 'Exalted' characters that are paragons of good. On a theoretical level, though, ascetics can also be neutral and possibly even evil.

Again, on a theoretical level, I was thinking of some kind of system where a certain amount of treasure/magical items foregone will allow one to choose new abilities (or feats, or something along those lines). This would be flexible, as it would allow one to tailor the 'level' of ascetism one wants to play at. Someone might wish to be a complete ascetic, while somebydy else might want to play an austere but not quite ascetic character. Has anybody devised or seen anything along those lines?