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
| Feat | Pre- | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sacred Vowᴱˣ | +2 perfection bonus on Diplomacy checks | |
| Vow of Povertyᴱˣ | Bonuses to AC, ability scores, and saves; bonus feats (see page 29) | |
| Animal Friendᴱˣ | [Cha15] | +4 exalted bonus on wild empathy checks |
| Exalted Wild Shapeᴱˣ | [Lev8] | Additional wild shape options |
| Righteous Wrathᴱˣ | [rage] | Potential shaken effect against evil creatures |
| Sanctify Nat. Attackᴱˣ | [BAB+5] | +1/+1d4 natural attack damage vs evil creatures |
| Exalted Companion | Ability to acquire a new animal companion, minimum level requirement (see text) | Additional animal companion choices |
| Gift of Faith | Wis 13 | +2 bonus on saving throws to resist fear and despair effects |
| Power Attack | ||
| Resounding Blow | ||
| Quell the Profaneᴱˣ | [BAB+8] | Potential Str damage to evil creature on critical |
| Exalted Spell Resistance | Cha 15, spell resistance | +4 to spell resistance against evil spells and spell-like abilities of evil outsiders |
| Favored of the Companions | — | +1 luck bonus on any one roll or check (paragon of guardinals) |
| Knight of Stars | — | +1 luck bonus on any one roll or check (paragon of eladrin) |
| Servant of the Heavens | — | +1 luck bonus on any one roll or check (paragon of archons) |
| Holy Subdual1 | Subduing Strike | Transform bonus and smite damage to nonlethal |
| Nemesis2 | Favored enemy class ability | Detect presence of favored enemies |
| Nimbus of Light | +2 bonus on Diplomacy and Sense Motive checks with good creatures | |
| Holy Radiance | Glow with light harmful to undead | |
| Stigmata | Heal others’ wounds by taking Con damage | |
| Nymph’s Kiss | +2 bonus on Cha-related checks, +1 bonus on saving throws against spells, 1 extra skill point per level | |
| Ranged Smite Evil | Smite evil class ability | Smite evil with ranged attack |
| Sacred Vow | +2 perfection bonus on Diplomacy checks | |
| Vow of Abstinence | +4 perfection bonus on Fort saves against poisons and drugs | |
| Vow of Chastity | +4 perfection bonus on Will saves against charms and phantasms | |
| Vow of Nonviolence | +4 bonus on save DCs of nondamaging spells | |
| Vow of Peace | Calming aura; +6 varied bonus to AC | |
| Vow of Obedience | +4 perfection bonus on Will saves against compulsions | |
| Vow of Poverty | Bonuses to AC, ability scores, and saves; bonus feats (see page 29) | |
| Vow of Purity | +4 perfection bonus on Fort saves against disease and death effects | |
| Sanctify Natural Attack | One or more natural weapon attacks, base attack bonus +5 rolls against evil creatures | +1 or +1d4 bonus on natural attack damage |
| Sanctify Weapon | Ability to cast align weapon | Aligned weapon becomes sanctified |
| Touch of Golden Ice | Con 13 | Evil creatures touched ravaged by golden ice |
| Words of Creation | Int 15, Cha 15, base Will save bonus +5 | Ability to use Words of Creation (see page 31) |
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 the exalted feat Sacred Vow gain the bonuses detailed below based on their character level.
| Char. Lev. |
AC | DR | Save Resist. |
Exalted | Other Benefits | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ex. | Def. | Nat. | Strike | Feats | ||||
| 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 enh. +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 their 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 they take the Vow of Poverty feat; they only gain those bonus feats that apply for the levels they gain after swearing their 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. They 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).
| Bonus | DR overcome |
|---|---|
| +2 | good |
| +3 | cold iron, silver |
| +4 | adamantine† |
| +5 | any alignment |
Exalted Strike (Su): At 4th level, an ascetic gains a +1 enhancement bonus on all their 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.
- Attacks with an enhancement bonus of +3 or greater can ignore some types of damage reduction, regardless of their actual material or alignment. The following table shows what type of enhancement bonus is needed to overcome some common types of damage reduction.
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 their 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, they gain an extra +2 bonus to that score, and a +2 bonus to another ability score. At 15th level, they gain an extra +2 bonus to those two scores, and a +2 bonus to a third ability score. At 19th level, they gain 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 their 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 their 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 they attain 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 themself 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 they are in self-denial. The majority of their 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 themself 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.
