Poverty

Sacred Vow

Book of Exalted Deeds, p. 45

[Exalted] You have willingly given yourself to the service of a good deity or cause, denying yourself an ordinary life to better serve your highest ideals.

Prerequisite:

Required for: Vow of Poverty (exalted), Vow of Nonviolence, Vow of Abstinence, Vow of Chastity, Vow of Obedience, Vow of Purity.

Benefit: You gain a +2 perfection bonus on Diplomacy checks.

Special: This feat serves as the prerequisite for several other feats, including the Vow of Abstinence, Vow of Chastity, Vow of Nonviolence, Vow of Obedience, Vow of Peace, Vow of Poverty, and Vow of Purity.

Vow of Poverty

Book of Exalted Deeds, p. 48

Pathfinder: Ultimate Magic

Prerequisite: Sacred Vow (Exalted) or Monk.

Restriction

A character taking a vow of poverty must never own more than seven possessions:

• a set of clothing (including sandals or shoes),
• a mess kit,
• a blanket,
• a shoulder bag,
• a utility item (such as a divine focus, a music instrument, a spell component pouch, or a simple weapon),
• a second utility item,
• any one other item.

Six of these items must be of plain and common (non-masterwork) make, though one can be of some value (such as a masterwork tool or heirloom of great personal significance).

The character can never keep more money or wealth on their person than they need to feed, bathe, and shelter themself for one week in modest accommodations. They cannot borrow or carry wealth or items worth more than 50 gp that belong to others. They are allowed to accept and use curative potions (or similar magical items where the item is consumed and is valueless thereafter) from other creatures. They may also receive a spell cast by another creature or from another creature’s magic item, be a passenger on a magical mount, or a guest in an extra-dimensional space.

If you deliberately break your vows, you immediately lose the benefits of this feat, and must complete a quest to either regain the benefits, or take another feat to replace it.

Benefits

A monk with this vow increases their ki pool by 1 ki point for every monk level they possess. Characters who also have an exalted Sacred Vow gain bonuses to their Armor Class, ability scores, and saving throws, as well as bonus exalted feats, depending on their character level.

C. Lev.	Ex. AC	Def. AC	Nat. AC	DR	Resist.	Ex. Strike	Ex. Feats	Other Benefits
1st	+4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+4	—	—	—	—	—	1	—
3rd	+5	—	—	—	—	—	1	Endure elements
4th	+5	—	—	—	—	+1	2	—
5th	+5	—	—	—	—	+1	2	Sustenance
6th	+6	+1	—	—	—	+1	3	—
7th	+6	+1	—	—	+1	+1	3	Ability score enhancement +2
8th	+6	+1	+1	—	+1	+1	4	Mind shielding
9th	+7	+1	+1	—	+1	+1	4	—
10th	+7	+1	+1	5/magic	+1	+2	5	—
11th	+7	+1	+1	5/magic	+1	+2	5	Ability score enh. +4/+2
12th	+8	+2	+1	5/magic	+1	+2	6	Greater sustenance
13th	+8	+2	+1	5/magic	+2	+2	6	Energy resistance 5
14th	+8	+2	+1	5/magic	+2	+3	7	Freedom of movement
15th	+9	+2	+1	5/evil	+2	+3	7	Ability score enh. +6/+4/+2
16th	+9	+2	+2	5/evil	+2	+3	8	—
17th	+9	+2	+2	5/evil	+3	+4	8	Regeneration
18th	+10	+3	+2	5/evil	+3	+4	9	True seeing
19th	+10	+3	+2	10/evil	+3	+4	9	Ability score enh. +8/+6/+4/+2
20th	+10	+3	+2	10/evil	+3	+5	10	Energy resistance 15

AC Bonus (Su): A 1st-level ascetic receives a +4 exalted bonus to his Armor Class. The bonus increases to +5 at 3rd level, and thereafter increases by +1 for each 3 character levels. This bonus does not apply to touch attacks and does not hinder incorporeal touch attacks. Brilliant energy weapons, however, do not ignore this bonus. This does not stack with an armor bonus.

Bonus Exalted Feats: At 1st level, an ascetic gets a bonus exalted feat, and another bonus feat at 2nd level and every 2 levels thereafter. Unlike the other benefits of a vow of poverty, a character does not gain these bonus feats retroactively when he takes the Vow of Poverty feat; he only gains those bonus feats that apply for the levels he gains after swearing his vow. Thus, the bonus feat gained at 1st level is available only to humans who take both Sacred Vow and Vow of Poverty at 1st level.

Endure Elements (Ex): A 3rd-level ascetic is immune to the effects of being in a hot or cold environment. He can exist comfortably in conditions between -50 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit without having to make Fortitude saves (as described in the Dungeon Master’s Guide).

Exalted Strike (Su): At 4th level, an ascetic gains a +1 enhancement 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 though it were a magic weapon. This enhancement bonus rises to +2 at 10th level, to +3 at 14th level, to +4 at 17th level, and to +5 at 20th level. At 10th level, any weapon damage the character deals is also considered to be good-aligned, so that it can bypass the damage reductions of some evil outsiders.

Sustenance (Ex): At 5th-level ascetic doesn’t need to eat or drink.

Deflection (Su): A 6th-level ascetic receives a +1 deflection bonus to his Armor Class. This bonus increases to +2 at 12th level, and to +3 at 18th level.

Resistance (Ex): At 7th level, an ascetic gains a +1 resistance bonus on all saving throws. This bonus increases to +2 at 13th level, and to +3 at 17th level.

Ability Score Enhancement (Ex): At 7th level, an ascetic gains a +2 enhancement bonus to one ability score. At 11th level, he gains an extra +2 bonus to that score, and a +2 bonus to another ability score. At 15th level, he gains an extra +2 bonus to those two scores, and a +2 bonus to a third ability score. At 19th level, he gains an extra +2 bonus to those three scores, and a +2 bonus to a fourth ability score.

Natural Armor (Ex): At 8th level, an ascetic gains a +1 natural armor bonus, or his existing natural armor bonus increases by +1. It increases an extra +1 at 16th level.

Mind Shielding (Ex): Also at 8th level, an ascetic character becomes immune to detect thoughts, discern lies, and any attempt to discern his alignment.

Damage Reduction (Su): An ascetic gains damage reduction 5/magic at 10th level. At 15th level, this improves to 5/evil, and at 19th level to 10/evil.

Greater Sustenance (Ex): Once he attains 12th level, an ascetic character doesn’t need to breathe.

Energy Resistance (Ex): At 13th level, an ascetic gains resistance 5 to acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic energy. At 20th level, this increases to resistance 15.

Freedom of Movement (Ex): At 14th level, an ascetic can act as if continually under the effect of a freedom of movement spell.

Regeneration (Ex): At 17th level, an ascetic heals 1 point of damage per level per hour rather than every day. (This ability cannot be aided by the Heal skill.) Nonlethal damage heals at a rate of 1 point of damage per level every 5 minutes.

True Seeing (Su): At 18th level, an ascetic gains a continuous true seeing ability, as the spell.

Ramifications

A character who has forsaken material possessions may find himself at a marked disadvantage when it comes to certain necessary expenses, such as expensive material components. One option is for ascetic characters to beg components from other party members, who are probably gaining as much benefit from having the spell cast as the caster is. Alternatively, an ascetic spellcaster can sacrifice experience points in place of expensive components, with 1 XP equivalent to 5 gp value of components.

Having a character in the party who has taken a vow of poverty should not necessarily mean that the other party members get bigger shares of treasure! An ascetic character must be as extreme in works of charity as she is in self-denial. The majority of her share of party treasure (or the profits from the sale thereof) should be donated to the needy, either directly (equipping rescued captives with gear taken from their fallen captors) or indirectly (making a large donation to a temple noted for its work among the poor). While taking upon herself the burden of poverty voluntarily, an ascetic recognizes that many people do not have the freedom to choose poverty, but instead have it forced upon them, and seeks to better those unfortunates as much as possible.