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Mephibosheth
2010-08-18, 09:12 AM
I must confess, despite the prevailing opinion to the contrary, that I love Vow of Poverty. I've read (and agreed with) all the arguments about how it's underpowered and how most classes, especially conventional martial classes like fighter and barbarian, rely heavily on their gear to keep up with NPC casters, flying opponents, increasingly large monsters and other difficult challenges at higher levels. Nonetheless, I find the concept of asceticism and renunciation very compelling and the Vow line of feats from the Book of Exalted Deeds provide a mechanical representation of this character concept. It may be suboptimal, but that's part of the point of becoming an ascetic anyway. For me, Vow of Poverty is more about the character than the crunch anyway. It's a way of making an otherwise completely impotent concept somewhat viable.

That said, this is not a thread about fixing Vow of Poverty. Rather, it is a thread inspired by an exalted Vow of Poverty barbarian build I've tried to play in a couple of pbp games. I noticed, when building this character at higher levels, that there are a lack of exalted feats available for non-caster, non-monk, non-paladin exalted characters. And those that are available aren't particularly inspiring. To remedy this situation, I present the following feats. Most of them are intended to be useful to anyone but are targeted more at conventional melee characters than casters. They're not intended to "fix" Vow of Poverty, just give some more interesting options to those players who choose to accept its limitations.

Let me know what you think. If you have any ideas for new exalted feats, bring 'em on!


CONSECRATED WARRIOR [Exalted]
Benefit: You have set yourself aside as a servant of god. As a symbol of this commitment, the hair on your head (including your facial hair, if any) has remained unshorn since your birth. You lose the benefits of this feat if your hair is cut under any circumstances, even against your will. You can regain the benefits of this feat by receiving an Atonement spell.
Your consecrated status grants you great power. For a total number of rounds per day equal to 2 + your character level, you can enter a spiritual state of enhanced physical strength. You gain a +4 perfection bonus to your Strength score for the duration of the effect. You can break your uses of this ability up as you desire in one-round increments.
Special: You must take this feat as a first-level character.

EXALTED GUARDIAN [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Base Fort Save +5
Benefit: You have taken your role as protector of the weak to heart and have been blessed by the gods with divine power to use for this purpose. You gain the ability to use Shield Other as a spell-like ability twice per day.
Beginning at 10th level, you can make a Fortitude save to completely negate any damage you take as a result of your Shield Other spell-like ability. The DC for save is equal to he damage you would have taken.

LIGHTNESS OF BODY [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Character level 3, balance or tumble 2 ranks
Benefit: The purity of your soul imparts lightness to your step that those with more cares and sins cannot match. You walk approximately one inch above any terrain and are treated as if you have Flawless Stride. However, unlike the Flawless Stride ability, you can also walk on solid or liquid surfaces that wouldn’t normally support your weight. You can only walk above these surfaces if you do so intentionally. This is a supernatural ability.
Beginning at character level 6, your soul is so light and pure that you almost float through the air. You take no damage from falling, as if permanently under the effect of the Feather Fall spell. This is also a supernatural ability.

LIGHTNESS OF SPIRIT [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Lightness of Body, character level 9
Benefit: Your body, buoyed by your pure soul, is feather-light, allowing you to move through the air with ease. As a supernatural ability, you gain a fly speed equal to your base speed with perfect maneuverability. At character level 12, your fly speed is equal to twice your base speed.
REFLECTION OF HEAVEN [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Knowledge (Religion) 5 ranks, character level 6, must have had friendly contact with a good-aligned outsider with at least 10 hit dice
Benefit: You have seen the glory of heaven. Your face, especially your eyes, retains and reflects some of that glory. As long as your eyes are uncovered, your face sheds light as a torch. Additionally, all non-good creatures within 5 feet of you must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + half your hit dice + your Charisma modifier) or be blinded for 5 rounds. Creatures that succeed on this Fortitude save are still dazzled for 1 round. Evil creatures take a -5 penalty to this save. Whether or not a creature saves, he or she is immune to these effects for 24 hours. Wearing a scarf, veil, or dark glasses or goggles is considered covering your eyes for the purposes of this feat. Other creatures that have had a similar experience (for example, others with this feat and creatures native to good-aligned planes) are immune to this effect. This is an extraordinary ability.

RIGHTEOUS FURY [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Rage or frenzy class ability, BAB +9
Benefit: When you first deal damage to an evil foe during your rage, all evil creatures within a 20 foot radius must make a successful Will save (DC 10 + half your hit dice + your Charisma modifier) or be shaken for the duration of the encounter. For every 4 ranks you have in Intimidate, the DC for this save increases by +1. This is an extraordinary ability.
While raging, you maintain clarify of mind unusual among barbarians. You are perfectly able to deal nonlethal damage, stop your attacks to show mercy and distinguish friend from foe even in the heat of your rage.

WRATH OF GOD [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Righteous Fury
Benefit: Your anger, fueled by your piety and your god’s wrath, propels you to new heights of martial prowess. While you are raging, your unarmed strikes, natural weapons and any manufactured or improvised weapon you wield deals extra damage to evil creatures. It behaves in all ways as if affected by the Holy Sword (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/holySword.htm) spell. This is a supernatural ability.
WEAPON OF HEAVEN [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Craft (Weaponsmithing) 4 ranks, BAB +3
Benefit: In return for your devotion, the gods have granted you the ability to call their blessing down upon your weapon in times of need. For a number of rounds per day equal to your character level, your weapon is empowered with divine energy, gaining a +1 perfection bonus on attack rolls, dealing 1d6 points of divine damage against evil creatures and overcoming damage reduction as a good-aligned weapon. You can divide these rounds up as you desire. The bonuses granted increase by +1/+1d6 for every 5 character levels. This is a supernatural ability.

Tetrasodium
2010-08-18, 09:30 AM
REFLECTION OF HEAVEN [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Knowledge (Religion) 5 ranks, character level 6, must have had friendly contact with a good-aligned outsider with at least 10 hit dice
Benefit: You have seen the glory of heaven. Your face, especially your eyes, retains and reflects some of that glory. As long as your eyes are uncovered, your face sheds light as a torch. Additionally, all creatures within 5 feet of you must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + half your hit dice + your Charisma modifier) or be blinded for 5 rounds. Creatures that succeed on this Fortitude save are still dazzled for 1 round. Evil creatures take a -5 penalty to this save. Whether or not a creature saves, he or she is immune to these effects for 24 hours. Wearing a scarf, veil, or dark glasses or goggles is considered covering your eyes for the purposes of this feat.

I'd suggest growing a secondary eyelid to block this effect or similar, as it is they would essentially blind entire towns just by visiting.

Mephibosheth
2010-08-18, 10:15 AM
True, it has its hazards. However, it's only for 5 rounds and you can use a veil, dark glasses or other face covering to prevent it. I was trying to replicate the effect that Moses had on the Israelites after coming down from Mt. Sinai or the effect the Eldar had on the orcs after returning to Middle Earth from the Undying Lands.

Xefas
2010-08-18, 11:24 AM
Not going to touch on balance; my primary question is simply: Why are these Exalted feats? Mechanically speaking, they're no more "Good" than anything else.

I realize Consecrated Warrior is supposed to be a reference to Samson, but being especially hairy and unhygienic isn't particularly Good.

Exalted Guardian allows you to protect people, sure, but it's indiscriminate on what you can use it on. Protection, in and of itself, is not Good. If you could only, say, protect people who have never ended a sentient life before, or who have received an atonement for each and every life ended and vowed never to kill again, then maybe that would be "Exalted" level Goodness.

Lightness of Body is something capable of being emulated by Ninjas, a Tome of Battle stance, and probably multiple non-aligned spells. It and Lightness of Spirit have nothing to do with being Good. They're just some minor levitation and flight capabilities.

Reflection of Heaven allows you to indiscriminately blind people as you walk by. Its probably a Moses reference, but actually considering what the feat does, I could see easy justification for slapping an "Any non-Good" clause onto it. Regardless, not at all Goodly.

Righteous Fury is, admittedly, close. Some clarity of mind while raging could fit any alignment, but its closer than any of the other feats. Wrath of God is just some generic weapon enhancement. You could easily do "Wrath of the Gods: If you're good, your weapons are holy, if you're evil, your weapons are unholy, if you're neutral, you deal +2d6 damage versus the four extreme alignments" and make it for any alignment.

Weapon of Heaven would be, ironically, an amazing feat for fiendish foot-soldiers to take. Since it bypasses damage reduction "as if it were good-aligned" but is not specifically Holy or anything, Demons and Devils in the Blood War could use it to take each other down without having to worry about Negative Levels and what not.

Aran Banks
2010-08-18, 11:53 AM
Um... why is Exalted Wildshape an [Exalted] feat?

Because it's cool and goes with the "good-aligned" flavor.

Seriously, it's just following the tradition of BoED. Which is nice, because BoED was kind of filled with suck.

I recommend another feat:


Heavenscent [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Ranger 1, Druid 1, Barbarian 1, Spirit Shaman 1, or Totemist 1
Benefit: This feat scales to your ECL
1: Gain scent as an extraordinary ability
5: Gain blindsense (based on scent) 30'
10: Blindsense improves to 60' and you can mask your own scent as a free action.
15: Gain Blindsight 30'

Mephibosheth
2010-08-18, 12:36 PM
Not going to touch on balance; my primary question is simply: Why are these Exalted feats? Mechanically speaking, they're no more "Good" than anything else.
Thanks a lot for the great comments. Let me say first that I understand and sympathize with you're arguments. There are a couple of general reasons why I didn't limit these feats to, say, only affecting evil-aligned creatures.

First, I think that, while things like Smite Evil and Consecrate Spell are inherently aligned, when you boil things down, most mechanics are fairly alignment-neutral. Why does a paladin have to be lawful good to retain the Divine Grace, Lay on Hands or Aura of Courage class features? A neutral or evil character might be just as good at saving throws, may want to heal her allies or may be quite courageous. There's nothing inherent in these abilities either that requires a lawful good alignment. Similarly, look at exalted feats like Favored of the Champions (and the similar feats associated with other celestials, a simple +1 luck bonus on a roll or check), Gift of Faith (a bonus on saves against despair effects), Intuitive Attack (use Wisdom instead of Strength for melee attack rolls) or any other of a number of exalted feats that grant abilities that aren't alignment-specific. It seems that, in a large number of cases, the alignment requirements are for flavor reasons or fairly arbitrary. The same can be said of these feats. Yes, you can easily change the flavor and make them fit with other worldviews. In fact, that might be a good idea.

Second, I've often thought that many exalted feats (particularly the Vow feats) should be available for non-exalted characters or could be tweaked to make them more accessible. I can't think of any reason why a neutral or evil character couldn't forgo possessions, alcohol or sex in order to appease their deity or fulfill the requirements for some religious system. For me, feats like Vow of Poverty are most useful for characters espousing ascetic belief system similar to those found in Hinduism, Jainism and other South Asian religious traditions (I'm a graduate student in South Asian history, so these references come readily to mind). Many of these renounciatory traditions fit quite well with a neutrally-aligned character and some of them even advocate positions that are well within the bounds of the neutral alignments. However, "exaltedness" is the system in which these concepts have been incorporated into D&D. I wanted to stay within and work with that system rather than completely re-write it.

Third, I think that limiting exalted feats to, say, only affecting evil creatures unnecessarily straight-jackets exalted characters and is one of the reasons why exalted feats are, in general, viewed as underpowered. Flavor-wise, I can easily envision a situation where an exalted character would need to protect a neutral or evil creature when serving the greater good. It also seems quite possible that an exalted character might need to harm neutral or good creatures who are committing evil deeds. A creature's alignment, in my mind, isn't always a perfect predictor of that creature's behavior.

Finally, my goal with these feats was to give more options to exalted characters, specifically those characters gaining bonus feats from Vow of Poverty. If they weren't exalted feats, they wouldn't fulfill that requirement.

That said, you make some very good points.


I realize Consecrated Warrior is supposed to be a reference to Samson, but being especially hairy and unhygienic isn't particularly Good.
I agree that, re-flavored, it could easily be a non-exalted feat. However, the long hair isn't important in-and-of-itself. It's important as a symbol of the character's devotion and faith, which fits very well with the general flavor of exalted feats, imho. And yes, it's a Samson reference. While I wouldn't necessarily call him particularly exalted, the idea of a Nazarite vow is. Yes, you could re-fluff the feat to be available to any alignment but I would argue that's true of most exalted feats


Exalted Guardian allows you to protect people, sure, but it's indiscriminate on what you can use it on. Protection, in and of itself, is not Good. If you could only, say, protect people who have never ended a sentient life before, or who have received an atonement for each and every life ended and vowed never to kill again, then maybe that would be "Exalted" level Goodness.
Again, I agree with the substance of your argument that protection isn't necessarily exalted. However, it makes sense from a flavor standpoint. It seems to me that the "exaltedness" of exalted feats need not necessarily exist in the mechanics.


Lightness of Body is something capable of being emulated by Ninjas, a Tome of Battle stance, and probably multiple non-aligned spells. It and Lightness of Spirit have nothing to do with being Good. They're just some minor levitation and flight capabilities.
Again, they're not mechanically exalted but the flavor of the feats is. Mechanically, I wanted to create a way for exalted non-casters to gain some flight abilities without resorting to exotic races.


Reflection of Heaven allows you to indiscriminately blind people as you walk by. Its probably a Moses reference, but actually considering what the feat does, I could see easy justification for slapping an "Any non-Good" clause onto it. Regardless, not at all Goodly.
Yes, you're more-or-less right again. It was inspired in part by Moses in part by the return of the elves to Middle Earth as described in the Silmarillion. I considered having it only blind evil creatures, but decided I didn't want to gimp it that much. I like the idea of "non-good" though. Consider it added.


Righteous Fury is, admittedly, close. Some clarity of mind while raging could fit any alignment, but its closer than any of the other feats. Wrath of God is just some generic weapon enhancement. You could easily do "Wrath of the Gods: If you're good, your weapons are holy, if you're evil, your weapons are unholy, if you're neutral, you deal +2d6 damage versus the four extreme alignments" and make it for any alignment.
Again, it's always possible to re-fluff or re-write feats to make them more broadly applicable. You could say the same thing about any exalted feat.


Weapon of Heaven would be, ironically, an amazing feat for fiendish foot-soldiers to take. Since it bypasses damage reduction "as if it were good-aligned" but is not specifically Holy or anything, Demons and Devils in the Blood War could use it to take each other down without having to worry about Negative Levels and what not.
That's true, but that's also true of a lot of good-aligned or exalted abilities. Smite Evil or Sanctify Martial Strike would be similarly useful to demons and devils. A succubus would probably get a lot of mileage out of a Vow of Nonviolence or a Vow of Peace.

Again, I really appreciate your comments. I don't necessarily disagree with your specific comments, but I think that we're looking at the feats from different perspectives. It's always good to have someone else take a look at your work. It's difficult to see outside your own fundamental assumptions. I set out to write exalted feats, so I only saw them through that lens and never considered that they could easily be re-fluffed into non-exalted feats. That said, I think that's true of most alignment-specific abilities. Look at, for example the various paladin variants, which are very similar mechanically but have radically different flavor.

Edit: Ninja'd by Aran Banks. Thanks for the comments.

I like the idea of some sort of divinely-enhanced senses but have a couple of concerns.

First, in this case, I actually agree with Xefas' argument, if only because, other than the name Heavenscent there's nothing in this feat to show why it's exalted. For me, solving this problem would be a simple as adding a sentence or two describing how a character's "exaltedness" grants the ability. Not a hard fix.

Second, the general convention is to not require levels in a specific character class as a feat prerequisite (except in certain, very specific circumstances). I would instead suggest requiring 4 ranks in Survival or Knowledge (nature) as a prerequisite. Maybe even going so far as to require the Wild Empathy ability or some similar nature-themed class ability.

Third, even though it scales fairly slowly, this seems a bit powerful for one feat. I would split it up into two feats, one granting scent and the other granting blindsense/blindsight. Scent alone is a pretty useful and powerful ability.

Finally, some of the things in here need to be clarified. What does it mean that the blindsense is "based on scent?" How does that affect its range? Does it still require line of affect? What does it mean to "mask your own scent?" Does it mean that nothing can detect you by scent at all or that it's more difficult?

Again, an interesting feat, just needs a few tweaks, imho.

Xefas
2010-08-18, 12:53 PM
Well, I'm glad we agree in some ways, and I'm glad I could help, even if it was only a small way.

Honestly, I like the idea of the feats, and I like some of the mechanics. I'd probably change a few things here and there, such as adding a permanent "feather fall" effect to Lightness of Body at character level 6, and maybe add a few other scaling perks Exalted Guardian so it doesn't feel so flat.

I guess mainly my beef is with the way D&D handles things as a system. It tries to go both ways on the flavor/mechanics continuum. Mostly it goes the 'complete separation of flavor and mechanics' that you see in generic systems like BESM or Fate. But it also tries to hang on occasionally and be like "No, no! We have rich, meaningful attachment between flavor and mechanics!", usually by hamfisting alignment requirements into places it shouldn't be, but in other ways as well.

I just think the designers should have picked one way or the other, rather than sending mixed signals and doing both poorly.

If I were ever to be conned into playing D&D again, I'd probably have a list of house rules a mile long to the point where it wasn't recognizable anymore, but in this case, I sincerely think you'd be better of scraping alignment altogether, and making Vow of Poverty just give out Any Bonus Feat (which wouldn't be overpowered, in my opinion), and the integrity of what D&D is would still be there.

Tetrasodium
2010-08-18, 12:54 PM
Let me know what you think

I'm a bit confused and curious what you wanted to know? It seems like all of your posts since the first have amounted to "I did it this way because I wanted it like/based on X" and/or "that's not a problem it's by design". Were you looking for feedback, or just a bunch of people saying your feats are awesomely flawless?

Xefas
2010-08-18, 01:01 PM
I'm a bit confused and curious what you wanted to know? It seems like all of your posts since the first have amounted to "I did it this way because I wanted it like/based on X" and/or "that's not a problem it's by design". Were you looking for feedback, or just a bunch of people saying your feats are awesomely flawless?

There's nothing wrong with sharing some of the ideas behind the design. In fact, it'd be a lot easier to critique homebrew if under every class feature/feat/spell/etc was "Well, I used X as a bookmark, and my goal was specifically to use this to do Y, and I counted on someone making Z argument, but here's why I did this the way I did..."

In my opinion, it'd be worse if the designer just rolled over at the drop of a hat and changed their work without thinking. Defending one's work is a good thing to do, and Mephibosheth has done so far more politely than the majority I've seen.

Mephibosheth
2010-08-18, 01:43 PM
Honestly, I like the idea of the feats, and I like some of the mechanics. I'd probably change a few things here and there, such as adding a permanent "feather fall" effect to Lightness of Body at character level 6, and maybe add a few other scaling perks Exalted Guardian so it doesn't feel so flat.
I like those ideas a lot. I'll add the Feather Fall effect to Lightness of Body. I think I'll allow a higher-level character with Exalted Guardian to make a Fortitude save to completely negate the damage they would normally take as a result of using Shield Other.


I guess mainly my beef is with the way D&D handles things as a system. It tries to go both ways on the flavor/mechanics continuum. Mostly it goes the 'complete separation of flavor and mechanics' that you see in generic systems like BESM or Fate. But it also tries to hang on occasionally and be like "No, no! We have rich, meaningful attachment between flavor and mechanics!", usually by hamfisting alignment requirements into places it shouldn't be, but in other ways as well.

I just think the designers should have picked one way or the other, rather than sending mixed signals and doing both poorly.

If I were ever to be conned into playing D&D again, I'd probably have a list of house rules a mile long to the point where it wasn't recognizable anymore, but in this case, I sincerely think you'd be better of scraping alignment altogether, and making Vow of Poverty just give out Any Bonus Feat (which wouldn't be overpowered, in my opinion), and the integrity of what D&D is would still be there.
I agree that the designers are pretty inconsistent in this regard, especially where alignment-specific books like Book of Exalted Deeds are concerned. The system is fairly clunky but so much content has been built upon it that it's difficult to change. I still enjoy playing D&D for all its flaws, plus my gaming group isn't really open to other systems. And I could definitely see making changes to the alignment system and allowing Vow of Poverty to grant plain ol' bonus feats. Re-working the system to this extent wasn't my intention, however.


I'm a bit confused and curious what you wanted to know? It seems like all of your posts since the first have amounted to "I did it this way because I wanted it like/based on X" and/or "that's not a problem it's by design". Were you looking for feedback, or just a bunch of people saying your feats are awesomely flawless?

I won't deny that I always enjoy hearing people say my feats are awesomely flawless :smallwink:, but I am looking for feedback, especially on balance. I'm fairly sure nothing is completely outrageous but it never hurts to have someone else look at them. I tend to err on the side of underpowered when homebrewing, so I often find posters commenting on ways to make things more attractive, powerful and in line with already-existing content. I also thought (perhaps wishfully) that others might like the idea and want to use these feats in their own games.

I'm sorry if I didn't take anyone's comments as seriously as I should have. However, like Xefas said, I don't think they would be improved if I didn't defend my initial purpose. Some of these feats were inspired by already-existing, non-gaming literature and I wanted to stay true to those examples. In the case of Xefas' original post, it seems like our disagreement was more about inconsistencies in D&D as a system of rules than about anything inherent to the feats themselves. That said, Xefas' comments were very helpful in showing how people other than myself might view the feats. It's always hard to look at things in ways that might challenge or contradict your own assumptions. I also seriously considered adding a sentence or two allowing characters with Reflection of Heaven to turn it off somehow but I liked the idea of veiled characters too much to completely eliminate that necessity. Plus, like I said, it was partly inspired by stories of Moses reflecting divine light in Exodus, where a veil was an integral part of the story.

I hope that addresses your comments.

Xefas
2010-08-18, 03:07 PM
I agree that the designers are pretty inconsistent in this regard, especially where alignment-specific books like Book of Exalted Deeds are concerned. The system is fairly clunky but so much content has been built upon it that it's difficult to change. I still enjoy playing D&D for all its flaws, plus my gaming group isn't really open to other systems. And I could definitely see making changes to the alignment system and allowing Vow of Poverty to grant plain ol' bonus feats. Re-working the system to this extent wasn't my intention, however.

Fair enough. Can't argue with that.

Further suggestion: Wrath of God requires a total of Rage, BAB +9, and two feats. I think something a little better than 'Holy' is appropriate for that. How about any weapon you wield while raging gains the benefit of a Holy Sword (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/holySword.htm) supernatural effect?

Even better: add the effect that you don't take the penalty for wielding improvised weapons while raging, either. Something about turning a normal table into a +5 Holy Table, that you then use as a vessel for righteous vengeance to beat the tar out of a Vrock, is appealing to me.

Also ties into Vow of Poverty. You pick up whatever you have around and perform Justice! Justice does not wait for you to find a good, sharp weapon to fight with! Justice demands tankards and chair legs!

Mephibosheth
2010-08-18, 03:25 PM
Good idea. I think, though, that a Holy Sword effect and proficiency with improvised weapons is a bit more than I'm comfortable with for a single feat. Besides, the +5 enhancement bonus offsets the non-proficiency penalty with improvised weapons pretty well and there are always other feats to solve that problem. Edited the feat in the first post. Thanks!

Mulletmanalive
2010-08-19, 06:06 AM
Bitter Oath [Exalted]:
When no other option presents itself, violence can be the only choice for peace.
Prerequisites: BAB +5, Sacred Vow
Description: You take a vow never to raise a weapon except in self defence or in a challenge. You may not draw or wield a weapon except when an armed creature has approached you with murderous intent or during the following ritual:

As a Full action, you draw your blade and recount the sins of your enemy. You present him with one last chance to forgo his wickedness, with the sad knowledge that he will not. No attempt to lie, magically augmented or not can deceive you while you make this oath. As of this point, you may fight your opponent, gaining an SR value of 20 + your level, though your challenged opponent gains a +10 bonus to overcome this.

If you attack a target other than your challenged foe, you violate your oath. If your enemy attacks a target other than you, an enemy other than your challenged opponent attacks you or your allies attack your enemy, they suffer the effects of either Holy Smite or Unholy Blight, based on the alignment of the target attacked, with a CL based on your BAB; this carries a visual signature and there is a distinct hum in the air that allows astute enemies to pick up on the effect before triggering it.

At the end of the encounter, you must sheath your sword and all sins accumulated during the challenge are washed clean. Using this feat does not break the Vow of Non-Violence, but would violate the Vow of Peace. You are granted the ability to retain one weapon for purposes of using this feat if you have the Vow of Poverty.


Oath of Purification [Exalted]:
You have mastered an inner purity that grants you great insight into defeating the most vile of foes
Prerequisites: BAB +8, Sacred Vow, Bitter Oath
Description: When you engage a foe in the challenge granted by the Bitter Oath feat, you gain a bonus to your Attack and Damage rolls equal to the number of Vile feats your opponent possesses and a bonus to your AC equal to the number of Exalted feats you possess.

You cannot use this feat within 24 hours of touching a dead body [including eating meat], partaking of drugs or alcohol or engaging in sexual congress.

There we go; one more

Mephibosheth
2010-08-19, 10:18 AM
Hmm. I really like the idea of this one but am not entirely sure about the implementation. Does the spell resistance you gain as a result of the feat apply to anyone or just to the challenged enemy? If the enemy does (for some reason) repent sincerely, the challenge is (for lack of a better term) canceled, right? Do enemies and allies attacking the challengers get a save against Holy Smite or Unholy Blight? Are you and your challenged enemy affected by the spells? My guess is no and maybe I'm missing something, but it doesn't seem clear.

Balance-wise I have a couple of concerns. First, it's available at 5th level but initiates effects that duplicate 4th level spells (not normally available until 7th level). Not a huge deal, but I'd be inclined to push the BAB requirement up to +7 or +8. Second, SR 20 + level seems pretty high. Balors only have SR 28, after all. Perhaps 5 + level would be more appropriate, or a little higher if it only applies to the challenged enemy.

My major concern, however, is that it almost seems like more of a hindrance to the party than a boon. While a challenge is active, no one but you can attack the target without being affected by the feats. In some circumstances that might not be a bad thing, but I can see it being frustrating for the party. Perhaps it would be better if any evil creature attacking you after a challenge has been extended (including, I would assume, the challenged enemy) is affected by Holy Smite, rather than the more open-ended wording it has now.

Just my initial thoughts. I really like the idea though!

Mulletmanalive
2010-08-19, 11:01 AM
Strictly, the logic was to make you, though not your enemy, immune to interferance by magic. Also, Exalted feats are a devil to hold onto and Vile feats are mighty powerful so can they really BE overpowered?

My intention was to make it so that noone could directly interfere, though you could Aid Another, were you so inclined [representing the ring of cheering fans] rather than actually attacking either participant.

You'll note that i'm not expecting this to be used when you're up against a singular enemy, so there didn't seem to be any reason to make your party able to assist you directly; there is NO mythalogical or storybook precident for crowding around the target and ganking him with weight of attacks so i didn't see a need to allow it in this. Your party can clean up his minions while you hold up the badguy and all is good.

I think i should change it to "If you attack a target other than your challenged foe, you violate your oath. If your enemy attacks a target other than you, an enemy other than your challenged opponent attacks you or your allies attack your enemy, they suffer the effects of either Holy Smite or Unholy Blight, based on the alignment of the target attacked, with a CL based on your BAB."

Mephibosheth
2010-08-19, 11:21 AM
Ah. I get it now. Thanks for clarifying. And I like the change you made in the last paragraph. It definitely makes it clearer. I'm still a little bit concerned about the god-like SR, especially at 5th level. Admittedly, that was your intention. It still feels like a bit too much. Perhaps start lower and scale it with ECL?

DracoDei
2010-08-19, 02:04 PM
The full-round action thing basically means that whoever you challenge gets the first strike in most cases (in cases where they don't I call that rewarding good tactics). I think that MAYBE the SR shouldn't work against that opponent, except maybe against mind-effecting attacks, but I am not sure. The punishments on those who interfere seem fine. To take into account the possibility of your challenged foe fleeing, I think it should have a time-limit of 1 minute since the last time one of you attacked the other. Otherwise you get a very strong protection until you chase them down, which is overpowered, and only thematic in a certain subset of cases.

Mulletmanalive
2010-08-19, 02:30 PM
The full-round action thing basically means that whoever you challenge gets the first strike in most cases (in cases where they don't I call that rewarding good tactics). I think that MAYBE the SR shouldn't work against that opponent, except maybe against mind-effecting attacks, but I am not sure. The punishments on those who interfere seem fine. To take into account the possibility of your challenged foe fleeing, I think it should have a time-limit of 1 minute since the last time one of you attacked the other. Otherwise you get a very strong protection until you chase them down, which is overpowered, and only thematic in a certain subset of cases.

Oh, i like that. I'd really only intended it to be "until the end of the encounter" so it would still apply if it devolved into a chase scene or something...

Would 1 minute or "until the end of the encounter" work better? The latter would answer the question of what would happen if a change of heart occurred [as the encounter would likely end]?

You reckon the challenger should get, what? +10 on the level check for the SR? Negate it? The suggestion that you don't actually get SR against them, simply becoming immune to mind affecting?

DracoDei
2010-08-19, 03:03 PM
"End of Encounter" is easier to adjudicate in most cases (but specify that dramatic pursuit, not necessarily at high speeds, since "hide and seek" is dramatic, counts as part of the encounter), "1 minute from last attack" is more specific... chose whichever you like.


In case it wasn't clear, I LIKE the full-round thing.

+10 on the SR sounds fine, otherwise the benefits of the feat are sharply limited.

Also, for reasons of literary precedent, if you are attacked by someone other than the channeled during the duel, I would PERHAPS say that you should be allowed to forgo the spell effect in that specific case, in exchange for being able to forgo the effect in all future cases against your ally... or maybe negate both for the rest of the encounter to hand out some sweet moral bonuses and penalties to all allies and foes. Treachery is to be expected in such cases (which reminds me, you need a clause about foes instinctively realizing the danger, or it is too much of a "gotcha!"), and just having the guy get ZOT-ed is not as dramatic as the battle intensifying around the duel. Probably keep the effects on you and the designated foe though, so it STAYS a duel at its core, which is a good thing.

If you want to really Trope it out, replace the spells (at least at lower levels, and with the option of higher levels) with a free full BAB attack on the one interfering with the effects of Stunning Fist and Quickdraw (to throw a dagger, and even while wielding a 2 handed sword for instance) tacked on for free, but not limited to unarmed or melee range like stunning fist is. A hit should cancel the attack that provoked the whole thing, and maybe the stunning should even work on undead and constructs. This might require allowing multiple weapons instead of just one. In any case, consider allowing the attack (with all bonuses) to be granted to any ally with LoS to the one violating the duel. But the idea of a last minute save or Off-Hand Back-Hand would be, as I said, Troperific. If that would be overpowered, say that the reverse applies if one of your allies is the first to interfere in the duel.

Mulletmanalive
2010-08-20, 02:22 PM
I wanted to keep it a solidly divine or at least that bizarre divinity that the self-sacrifice of the Exalted represents so i've gone for the above. I've also added another feat that is meant to build on it, in theory allowing this challenge to be used to actually DEFEAT the big bad [though there will always have to be a reason to do this, such as a doomsday weapon that needs destroying, otherwise that's kill stealing, which is not good aligned at all :smalltongue:]

DracoDei
2010-08-20, 05:53 PM
Err... Glad I could help?

Mulletmanalive
2010-08-21, 12:24 PM
Sorry, there's basically a lot of text missing from the previous post because i was tired. Thanks for the help, Draco!

backpackjack
2010-10-19, 10:20 AM
Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163538) is one we've been using that focuses on casters, rather than melee characters. We're still tinkering with it.

Ziegander
2010-10-19, 01:12 PM
These are pretty nice, Meph. I did some rewriting and creating new Exalted feats of my own a few months back. Here we are:

Animal Friend [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Cha 15, Wild Empathy class feature
Benefit: The starting attitude toward you of any Animal type creature with up to 5 more HD than your character level is improved by one. The starting attitude toward you of any Animal type creature with up to 5 fewer HD than your character level is improved by two. Additionally, you may use your Wild Empathy feature on Magical Beasts with Intelligence scores of 3 or less and on Vermin.

Sanctified Shepherd [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Cha 19, Animal Companion class feature, Wild Empathy class feature, Animal Friend
Benefit: Any Animal type creature with an attitude toward you of Friendly or better and within 30ft of you gains benefits as if it were your Animal Companion and you may also command it to act as though it were. These benefits last for 1 round after the Animal has passed beyond 30ft of you.

Exalted Smite [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Smite Evil class feature
Benefit: Whenever you use your Smite Evil feature your weapon is considered Good aligned for the attack. Further, if you successfully deal damage to an evil creature with a Smite attack that creature must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10+1/2 Your Character Level +Your Charisma Modifier) or be blinded and sickened for 1 minute.

Improved Exalted Smite [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Smite Evil class feature, Exalted Smite, Character Level 5th
Benefit: You gain two additional uses of Smite Evil per day. Further, if you successfully deal damage to an evil creature with a Smite attack, if it failed the save from your Exalted Smite feat, that creature is also takes a -6 penalty to Strength, Dexterity, and Charisma for 1 minute.

Greater Exalted Smite [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Smite Evil class feature, Exalted Smite, Character Level 10th
Benefit: You gain two additional uses of Smite Evil per day. Further, if you successfully deal damage to an evil creature with a Smite attack, if it failed the save from your Exalted Smite feat, that creature is slain and cannot be resurrected by any means short of Miracle combined with True Resurrection.

Exalted Spell Resistance [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Cha 15
Benefit: You gain Spell Resistance against spells with the Evil descriptor and against all spells cast by Evil creatures equal to your Character Level +10. If you already possess Spell Resistance of an equal or greater value your SR is increased by 4 against spells with the Evil descriptor and against all spells cast by Evil creatures.

Favored of the Companions [Exalted]
Benefit: Once per hour, while performing an act of Good, you may spend an immediate action to gain a +2 sacred bonus to any one d20 roll.
Special: Once you take this feat, you may not take it again, nor can you take either the Servant of the Heavens feat or the Knight of Stars feat. Your allegiance is only yours to give once.

Sanctified Palm [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Cha 15, Improved Unarmed Strike
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls with your unarmed strikes against Evil creatures and deal extra nonlethal damage equal to your Charisma modifier to creatures with the Evil subtype. Whenever you successfully deal damage to a creature with the Evil subtype with an unarmed strike you regain hitpoints equal to your Charisma modifier.

Fist of the Heavens [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Cha 15, Wis 15, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist
Benefit: You gain two additional uses of Stunning Fist per day. Additionally, you may expend a use of your Stunning Fist feat to strike an Evil foe within 20ft with a holy hammer of light from the sky dealing 1d4 untyped damage/two character levels and forcing the struck creature and all Evil creatures within 10ft to make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10+1/2 Your Character Level+Your Charisma Modifier). If the struck creature fails it is stunned for 1 round. If another effected creature fails it is blinded for 1 round.

Knight of Stars [Exalted]
Benefit: Once per hour, after or in the middle of performing an act of Good, you may spend an immediate action to teleport up to 15ft in any direction. You are Invisible as the spell until the end of your next turn.
Special: Once you take this feat, you may not take it again, nor can you take either the Favored of the Companions or Servant of the Heavens feat. Your allegiance is only yours to give once.

Nimbus of Light [Exalted]
Benefit: You are capable of emitting holy light out to a radius of 5ft, and shadowy illumination out to 10ft. You are able to extinguish or reactivate this light at will as a free action.

You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on all Diplomacy and Sense Motive checks made when interacting with Good creatures as long as you are emitting holy light.

Finally, enemies that enter the shadowy illumination of your Nimbus of Light must succeed on a Will save (DC 10+1/2 Character Level+Your Charisma Modifier) or be subject to a Calm Emotions effect as the spell. Enemies in the bright light of your Nimbus of Light are automatically subject to a Calm Emotions effect as the spell.

Holy Radiance [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Cha 15, Nimbus of Light
Benefit: Undead and creatures with the Evil subtype that enter or begin their turns within the shadowy illumination of your Nimbus of Light are dealt untyped damage equal to your Charisma modifier. Undead and creatures with the Evil subtype that enter or begin their turns within the bright light of your Nimbus of Light are dealt untyped damage equal to twice your Charisma modifier.

Quell the Profane [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Str 13, Cha 13, Power Attack, Base Attack Bonus +3
Benefit: Whenever you score a critical hit against an Evil creature or a creature with the Evil subtype that creature must succeed on a Will saving throw (DC 10+1/2 Character Level+Your Charisma Modifier) or Cower for 1 round if of Evil subtype and be Frightened for 1 round if the creature is just of Evil alignment. Creatures of Evil subtype that succeed their saving throws are still shaken for 1 round.

Servant of the Heavens [Exalted]
Benefit: Each hour, as long as you've performed an act of Good this hour, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier times your Character Level and are immune to death effects for the rest of the hour.
Special: Once you take this feat, you may not take it again, nor can you take either the Favored of the Companions or the Knight of Stars feat. Your allegiance is only yours to give once.

Touch of Golden Ice [Exalted]
Prerequisites: Con 13, Cha 13
Benefit: Any evil creature you touch with your bare hand, fist, or natural weapon must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10+1/2 Character Level+Your Constitution Modifier) or must also succeed on that save at the beginning of their next three turns or take 1 damage to each ability score. Evil subtype creatures are also sickened on rounds in which they failed their saves.

backpackjack
2011-01-09, 10:55 PM
Wow, that Knight of Stars is quite nice. How would you define "an act of Good" in this context?

Prime32
2011-01-10, 05:29 PM
I should point out that only the 1st level bonus feat from VoP is called out as being exalted. The others are just "bonus feats".

ShriekingDrake
2011-01-10, 07:20 PM
I should point out that only the 1st level bonus feat from VoP is called out as being exalted. The others are just "bonus feats".

I don't share this interpretation. I think its clear that "Bonus Exalted Feats:" means, just that. The references, within the paragraph to "bonus feats" or "bonus feat" assume the antecedent of the original rubric--that is, they are short hand. I don't think it is reasonable (RAW or RAI) to interpret the paragraph to mean that one gets a bonus exalted feat at first level and at all even levels you can choose non-exalted feats.

backpackjack
2011-02-17, 09:40 PM
I should point out that only the 1st level bonus feat from VoP is called out as being exalted. The others are just "bonus feats".

Wow. That would dramatically improve VoP. Do you have any more support for this interpretation. I would not have read it as you did, but I'm intrigued.

GeekGirl
2011-03-04, 04:38 PM
I should point out that only the 1st level bonus feat from VoP is called out as being exalted. The others are just "bonus feats".
I would take the wording as a bonus exalted feat.

Bonus Exalted Feats:At 1st level, and ascetic gets a bonus exalted feat, and another at 2nd and every 2 levels thereafter...
Its listed under the Bonus exalted feat header, I wouldn't see how its interpreted any other way. The chart on the page after even says bonus exalted feat.

backpackjack
2011-03-05, 04:23 PM
I should point out that only the 1st level bonus feat from VoP is called out as being exalted. The others are just "bonus feats".

This is clearly a mistaken interpretation. If you're feeling ambiguous about it, look at page 31 of BoED and you'll see a chart that identifies each bonus feat as a "bonus exalted feat". I believe that closes the case.



Knight of Stars [Exalted]
Benefit: Once per hour, after or in the middle of performing an act of Good, you may spend an immediate action to teleport up to 15ft in any direction. You are Invisible as the spell until the end of your next turn.
Special: Once you take this feat, you may not take it again, nor can you take either the Favored of the Companions or Servant of the Heavens feat. Your allegiance is only yours to give once.

Anyone know what he means by "performing an act of Good"? Is that defined somewhere in BoED? Or is this some more general interpretation?

I also wouldn't mind seeing other good homebrew exalted feats. BoED and CoV left a lot of room to grow, or so it seems to me.

Jane_Smith
2011-03-05, 05:04 PM
Act of good likely means protecting the innocent, slaying a obviously foul/destructive/evil being (demons, raging ghosts, etc), or the like. Sense the feat seems suited for combat and stealth, im guessing the good deed in question to activate the feat would have to simply be approved by the dm after simple question - "What are you fighting for?"