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Message: <blockquote data-quote="emoplato" data-source="post: 5373327" data-attributes="member: 97812">Here are the bonuses and conditions of the Vow of Poverty. Personally, if you are not in a high treasure campaign and you have a character that either needs and/or derives bonuses from multiple attributes it is a good build. Besides there are ways around the obvious drawbacks. If you have a natural weapon or improved unarmed strike a Kensai will give magical properties at the indicated experience cost+(per natural weapon beyond 1)10%. Consult Complete Warrior for more details. However as many kind of hint at with this it isn't a build that allows much specialization if your party needs x or if you need x to compensate for your build this build kind of says this is all you aside from other feats.In many cultures and belief systems, the height of purity isembodied in an ascetic lifestyle that involves forswearing allmaterial possessions. Such a life is hard for most D&D characterseven to imagine, since their possessions—particularly theirmagic items—are such an important part of their capabilities. Acharacter who swears a vow of poverty and takes the appropriatefeats, Sacred Vow and Vow of Poverty, cannot own magic items,but he gains certain spiritual benefits that can help outweighthe lack of those items. These benefits depend on his characterlevel. The level at which the character swears the vow (and takesthe appropriate feats) is irrelevant; if he gives up his possessionsat 10th level he gains all the benefits of a 10th-level ascetic character,with the exception of bonus exalted feats.AC Bonus (Su): A 1st-level ascetic receives a +4 exaltedbonus to his Armor Class. The bonus increases to +5 at 3rd level,29CHAPTER 2:VARIANTRULES30and thereafter increases by +1 for each 3 character levels. Thisbonus does not apply to touch attacks and does not hinderincorporeal touch attacks. Brilliant energy weapons, however,do not ignore this bonus. This does not stack with an armorbonus.Bonus Exalted Feats: At 1st level, an ascetic gets a bonusexalted feat, and another bonus feat at 2nd level and every 2levels thereafter. Unlike the other benefits of a vow of poverty,a character does not gain these bonus feats retroactively whenhe takes the Vow of Poverty feat; he only gains those bonus featsthat apply for the levels he gains after swearing his vow. Thus,the bonus feat gained at 1st level is available only to humanswho take both Sacred Vow and Vow of Poverty at 1st level.Endure Elements (Ex): A 3rd-level ascetic is immune to theeffects of being in a hot or cold environment. He can exist comfortablyin conditions between –50 and 140 degrees Fahrenheitwithout having to make Fortitude saves (as described in theDungeon Master’s Guide).Exalted Strike (Su): At 4th level, an ascetic gains a +1enhancement bonus on all his attack and damage rolls. In effect,any weapon the character wields becomes a +1 magic weapon,and can overcome the damage reduction of a creature as thoughit were a magic weapon. This enhancement bonus rises to +2 at10th level, to +3 at 14th level, to +4 at 17th level, and to +5 at20th level. At 10th level, any weapon damage the character dealsis also considered to be good-aligned, so that it can bypass thedamage reduction of some evil outsiders.Sustenance (Ex): A 5th-level ascetic doesn’t need to eat ordrink.Deflection (Su): A 6th-level ascetic receives a +1 deflectionbonus to his Armor Class. This bonus increases to +2 at 12thlevel, and to +3 at 18th level.Resistance (Ex): At 7th level, an ascetic gains a +1resistance bonus on all saving throws. This bonusincreases to +2 at 13th level, and to +3 at 17th level.Ability Score Enhancement (Ex): At 7thlevel, an ascetic gains a +2 enhancement bonusto one ability score. At 11th level, he gains anextra +2 bonus to that score, and a +2bonus to another ability score. At 15thlevel, he gains an extra +2 bonus tothose two scores, and a +2 bonus to athird ability score. At 19th level, hegains an extra +2 bonus to those threescores, and a +2 bonus to a fourth abilityscore.Natural Armor (Ex): At 8thlevel, an ascetic gains a +1 naturalarmor bonus, or his existingnatural armor bonus increasesby +1. It increases an extra +1 at16th level.Mind Shielding (Ex): Also at 8thlevel, an ascetic character becomesimmune to detect thoughts, discernlies, and any attempt to discernhis alignment.Damage Reduction (Su): An ascetic gains damage reduction5/magic at 10th level. At 15th level, this improves to 5/evil, andat 19th level to 10/evil.Greater Sustenance (Ex): Once he attains 12th level, anascetic character doesn’t need to breathe.Energy Resistance (Ex): At 13th level, an ascetic gainsresistance 5 to acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic energy. At20th level, this increases to resistance 15.Freedom of Movement (Ex): At 14th level, an ascetic can actas if continually under the effect of a freedom of movement spell.Regeneration (Ex): At 17th level, an ascetic heals 1 point ofdamage per level every hour rather than every day. (This abilitycannot be aided by the Heal skill.) Nonlethal damage heals at arate of 1 point of damage per level every 5 minutes.True Seeing (Su): At 18th level, an ascetic gains a continusoustrue seeing ability, as the spell.OTHER RAMIFICATIONS OF POVERTYA character who has forsaken material possessions may findhimself at a marked disadvantage when it comes to certain necessaryexpenses, such as expensive material components. Oneoption is for ascetic characters to beg components from otherparty members, who are probably gaining as much benefit fromhaving the spell cast as the caster is. Alternatively, an asceticspellcaster can sacrifice experience points in place of expensivecomponents, with 1 XP equivalent to 5 gp value of components.Having a character in the party who has taken a vow ofpoverty should not necessarily mean that the other party membersget bigger shares of treasure! An ascetic character must beCHAPTER 2:VARIANTRULESIllus. by J. JarvisForsaking materialpossessions, the asceticgains spiritual strength.as extreme in works of charity as she is in self-denial. The majorityof her share of party treasure (or the profits from the salethereof ) should be donated to the needy, either directly (equippingrescued captives with gear taken from their fallen captors)or indirectly (making a large donation to a temple noted for itswork among the poor). While taking upon herself the burden ofpoverty voluntarily, an ascetic recognizes that many people donot have the freedom to choose poverty, but instead have itforced upon them, and seeks to better those unfortunates asmuch as possible.CHAPTER 2:VARIANTRULESTable 2–3: Voluntary PovertyCharacterLevel Benefit1st AC bonus +42nd Bonus exalted feat3rd AC bonus +5, endure elements4th Exalted strike +1 (magic), bonus exalted feat5th Sustenance6th AC bonus +6, deflection +1, bonus exalted feat7th Resistance +1, ability score enhancement +28th Natural armor +1, mind shielding, bonus exalted feat9th AC bonus +710th Exalted strike +2 (good), damage reduction 5/magic,bonus exalted feat11th Ability score enhancement +4/+212th AC bonus +8, deflection +2, greater sustenance,bonus exalted feat13th Resistance +2, energy resistance 514th Exalted strike +3, freedom of movement, bonusexalted feat15th AC bonus +9, ability score enhancement +6/+4/+2,damage reduction 5/evil16th Natural armor +2, bonus exalted feat17th Exalted strike +4, resistance +3, regeneration18th AC bonus +10, deflection +3, true seeing, bonusexalted feat19th Ability score enhancement +8/+6/+4/+2, damagereduction 10/evil20th Exalted strike +5, energy resistance 15, bonus exalted</blockquote>

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