Nac_Mac_Feegle said:People seem to be awfully pedantic about VoP, I would go as far to say, thier argumentative nature is so disruptive that the BoED isnt for them, given the maturity required to adapt it to your setting.
Interesting statement.
from the VoP (previously posted by someone else
Originally Posted by BoED p.48
you must not own or use any material posessions, with the following exceptions: You may carry ordinary (neither magic nor masterwork) simple weapons, usually just a quarterstaff that serves as a walking stick. You may wear simple clothes (usually just a homespun robe, possibly also including a hat and sandals) with no magical properties. You may carry enough food to sustain you for one day in a simple (nonmagical) sack or bag. You may carry and use a spell component pouch. You may not use any magic item of any sort, though you can benefit from magic items used on your behalf ...
A fighter gets a sword from VoP, but its cant be masterworked or anything else, putting the Kensai PrC right out the picture. He gets an AC bonus as he levels from the VoP so he doesnt need armour, which is expressely forbidden by VoP anyway.
Actually the text says "simple" weapons. That is a classification of weapons and excludes all martial and exotic ones.
A 20th level monk, wiht a VoP in simple robes is wearing a fortune, why? because his deeds will be so legendary, people will pay extreme amounts of money to own something he/she wore, now how do you adjudicate that?.
?? Does it have a price listed? The items people are talking about have specific prices listed in the books and are not subject to role-playing, except for possibly bargaining and barter and house-rules (as is always the case)
Your allowed to carry a days worth of food and drink, and suddenly your in a famine striken country, that food/drink is suddenly worth 10 times its amount.
Subjective totally. Again it isn't an issue. They are also allowed to drink from a potion even though they can't possess one.
A monks weapons are only exotic to non monks, otherwise 90% of monk weapons are simple weapons (what could be more simple than 2 pieces of wood put together at right angles)
Incorrect statement. A monk's weapons are always exotic (well some of them like Sais, etc. are) - monks are proficient in them. This proficiency does not change the type of weapon they are.
There is absolutely no reason why any class cannot take the VoP, and still be effective, the trick here is to understand what the vow means, understand its spirirt, and work within those guidlines.
This is the house-rule point and is of course always applicable.
To discount the spellbook for a mage is a house rule, nothing more, and if you make that call, then thats how it is for your world, but there are plenty of reason, within the spirit of the vow, as to why a mage might have a spellbook, and still donate all his money to charity, and only carry with him what he needs to survive (food, drink, clothing and a spellbook)
Anything that is within the spirit of the rules is not RAW but instead an interpretation and is subject to house-rules.
If you want to be RAW about it, the rules themselves are wrong, because you would not be anything but a monk with VoP, because a true VoP person would carry no gear at all, no spell component pouch, no simple weapon, nothing, a true VoP is to forsake ALL material possesions, so an adventuring VoP is almost anthema to the idea of VoP, except for perhaps the monk, or the unarmed fighter.
Rules aren't wrong

In essence, VoP would be an NPC peasant only thing, but its not, its been done to add a different flavour/characetr concept, and therefore, the idea of VoP iteself has been broken before it starts by allowing simple weapons and spell pouches, so to argue you may have nothing else because it doesnt follow VoP by RAW is an exercise in futility.
Sorry to sound so aggresive, but it strikes me that some poeple are being deliberately obtrusive about the RAW of VoP, or simply just dont get it. But if you dont get it, dont use it.
Feegle Out![]()
Then the question shouldn't have been brought up on the rules forums. All discussion here are first coming from the RAW. When there are questions as to what it says that is where people start to insert their "opinons" and house-rules.