StreamOfTheSky
Adventurer
No, not the feat. And no, dear god no, not the awful Pathfinder version for monks. I'm talking about something that doesn't suck and makes playing a character that doesn't come decked out in magic items possible.
[sblock]Vow of Poverty: You swear to forsake the use of all magic items, seeing them as wasteful extravagances in a world where many lack even a few coppers to purchase food. At 1st level, you gain a starting wealth of 100 gp (regardless of class, no more than half on any one item) spent on mundane, non-masterwork gear as you see fit. Should you expend or lose any items, you may replenish your supplies after spending at least 8 hours in a civilized area, up to the 100 gp value limit, including changing what gear it is.
Benefit: You gain boons equivalent to what masterwork and magical items could grant. Starting at 2nd level, based on the wealth per level for your level in gp, you gain an equal amount of "essence points." Select benefits equal to what you could have achieved through purchasing items of that value, with a limit of 1/3 your "essence points" or less on any one "item." You must pay the masterwork cost before adding enhancements to any arms or armor. You can only select continuous, unlimited use-activated or command word activated , or uses per day items. You cannot select expendable items such as wands, potions, and so forth. You may completely change your benefits each time you level up, otherwise your selections cannot be altered. All of these benefits are Su abilities and are suppressed in an antimagic field. If you imbue items such as weapons with this essence, they function as masterwork/magical items only for you.
Drawbacks: You lack the flexibility of using expendable items. Your effective wealth for any given level remains at the minimum expected level for the entire time you are at that level, before bumping up as you level, while as a normal character sees gradual increase in wealth and power over the course of the level.
Special: You cannot give your share of treasure to allies, it must be donated to the poor, used for charitable causes, and so forth. This vow requires no feat or class feature cost to select, it is meant to be a balanced option w/ using magic items. You must not willingly use or possess masterwork or magical items in order to retain these benefits, though you can receive helpful spells from allies if the spell has no expensive material component or focus costs. Should you willingly break this vow, you immediately lose all benefits until you receive an atonement spell.[/sblock]
The goal again is a simple, balanced means to play a character that can be effective without being draped in items galore. While there would be much book keeping between level ups, there would be none at all otherwise. I think the loss in flexibility is enough to justify the inherent benefits of "magic items without needing items." Of course, these rules were written assuming a game that roughly follows the wealth by level charts. If you do not, you could feel free to adjust how much essence is gained at each level based upon what other party members have. (Side note: this could also be an excellent way to include more humanoid classed NPCs in the game w/o blowing PC wealth off the charts. I personally love using such NPCs for the tactics and banter they bring, but often find I have to limit their usage with slobbering dumb penniless brute monsters or grievously underequip them and thus make them less effective, just to keep the PCs' wealth from EXPLODING)
Please let me know what you think of this, and I could add questions and answers to the Q&A:
Q: Does the VoP character need to wear an item in order to receive its analogous benefit? For example, needing to wear goggles if he selects to spend his essense points on goggles of darkvision?
A: No. He is under no obligation to wear or possess items of the slot being used. The exception is weapons and armor (unless the weapon is unarmed or natural), which must be specifically imbued and wielded/worn.
Q: What if the VoP character wants more than one item effect that occupies the same body slot?
A: Then he would have to pay +50% on each effect after the first, just as he would if he were paying for a magic item with those properties.
Q: You said armor and weapons are imbued on their own instead of being internalized. So if they are lost, stolen, broken...?
A: Hope you had imbued some back ups. Once you level up, you can completely reassign your essence points and recoup the loss, but until then, you will have to suffer without the item.
Q: One of the common problems with the "christmas tree" is just that. You light up like crazy under a detect magic spell, making stealth and disguise sometimes difficult. Is the VoP not burdened by this?
A: I'm not sure yet if he should be or not. Seems like a relatively infrequently important fringe thing, so for now I'll just err on the side of less powerful and say, "Even though his magic would be internalized, it's still magic, and he'd light up like a christmas tree, too."
[sblock]Vow of Poverty: You swear to forsake the use of all magic items, seeing them as wasteful extravagances in a world where many lack even a few coppers to purchase food. At 1st level, you gain a starting wealth of 100 gp (regardless of class, no more than half on any one item) spent on mundane, non-masterwork gear as you see fit. Should you expend or lose any items, you may replenish your supplies after spending at least 8 hours in a civilized area, up to the 100 gp value limit, including changing what gear it is.
Benefit: You gain boons equivalent to what masterwork and magical items could grant. Starting at 2nd level, based on the wealth per level for your level in gp, you gain an equal amount of "essence points." Select benefits equal to what you could have achieved through purchasing items of that value, with a limit of 1/3 your "essence points" or less on any one "item." You must pay the masterwork cost before adding enhancements to any arms or armor. You can only select continuous, unlimited use-activated or command word activated , or uses per day items. You cannot select expendable items such as wands, potions, and so forth. You may completely change your benefits each time you level up, otherwise your selections cannot be altered. All of these benefits are Su abilities and are suppressed in an antimagic field. If you imbue items such as weapons with this essence, they function as masterwork/magical items only for you.
Drawbacks: You lack the flexibility of using expendable items. Your effective wealth for any given level remains at the minimum expected level for the entire time you are at that level, before bumping up as you level, while as a normal character sees gradual increase in wealth and power over the course of the level.
Special: You cannot give your share of treasure to allies, it must be donated to the poor, used for charitable causes, and so forth. This vow requires no feat or class feature cost to select, it is meant to be a balanced option w/ using magic items. You must not willingly use or possess masterwork or magical items in order to retain these benefits, though you can receive helpful spells from allies if the spell has no expensive material component or focus costs. Should you willingly break this vow, you immediately lose all benefits until you receive an atonement spell.[/sblock]
The goal again is a simple, balanced means to play a character that can be effective without being draped in items galore. While there would be much book keeping between level ups, there would be none at all otherwise. I think the loss in flexibility is enough to justify the inherent benefits of "magic items without needing items." Of course, these rules were written assuming a game that roughly follows the wealth by level charts. If you do not, you could feel free to adjust how much essence is gained at each level based upon what other party members have. (Side note: this could also be an excellent way to include more humanoid classed NPCs in the game w/o blowing PC wealth off the charts. I personally love using such NPCs for the tactics and banter they bring, but often find I have to limit their usage with slobbering dumb penniless brute monsters or grievously underequip them and thus make them less effective, just to keep the PCs' wealth from EXPLODING)
Please let me know what you think of this, and I could add questions and answers to the Q&A:
Q: Does the VoP character need to wear an item in order to receive its analogous benefit? For example, needing to wear goggles if he selects to spend his essense points on goggles of darkvision?
A: No. He is under no obligation to wear or possess items of the slot being used. The exception is weapons and armor (unless the weapon is unarmed or natural), which must be specifically imbued and wielded/worn.
Q: What if the VoP character wants more than one item effect that occupies the same body slot?
A: Then he would have to pay +50% on each effect after the first, just as he would if he were paying for a magic item with those properties.
Q: You said armor and weapons are imbued on their own instead of being internalized. So if they are lost, stolen, broken...?
A: Hope you had imbued some back ups. Once you level up, you can completely reassign your essence points and recoup the loss, but until then, you will have to suffer without the item.
Q: One of the common problems with the "christmas tree" is just that. You light up like crazy under a detect magic spell, making stealth and disguise sometimes difficult. Is the VoP not burdened by this?
A: I'm not sure yet if he should be or not. Seems like a relatively infrequently important fringe thing, so for now I'll just err on the side of less powerful and say, "Even though his magic would be internalized, it's still magic, and he'd light up like a christmas tree, too."
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