Vow of Poverty Rogue: Robin Hood!

[sengmeng]

I was looking through the Book of Exalted Deeds and thought that the funniest character archetype for the Vow of Poverty would be that greedy, greedy rogue. However, rather that Robin Hood, I may do a one-level dip in monk and get the Ascetic Rogue feat to do major damage with fists, and just hope that the stench of un-optimization washes off with enough rogue levels. Or, maybe no Monk levels and just do it straight Rogue, but I'm still not sure. The other problem is the exalted feats... there aren't very good ones for a rogue. Certainly not the ten that the Vow nets you. Normal weapons are ok for the Vow, but I was thinking of clubs, quarterstaff, and sling, the three 0 gp weapons. Is there any optimization to be done for this highly improbable concept? What is a non-Monk way to beef up unarmed strike, preferably with just feats, not multiclassing?

[Greenish]

What is a non-Monk way to beef up unarmed strike, preferably with just feats, not multiclassing?Superior Unarmed Strike from ToB. Improved Natural Attack.

One level of monk isn't horridly unoptimized. Taking VoP on a skillmonkey is.

[BIGMamaSloth]

monk dip for rogue can be a good idea. take carmendine monk (I think that's what it's called) for int bonus to ac. if your going for skillmonkey you're going to have a respectable int anyway, right?

[BobVosh]

Aww I was hoping for a vow of poverty range user build. Possibly something with arcane archer.

Anyway: Check with your DM if you can keep lock picks with VoP, as it is like a 35 gold item.

[sengmeng]

Aww I was hoping for a vow of poverty range user build. Possibly something with arcane archer.

I can still sling, baby

[marcielle]

VoP + rouge= Nope
You are denying yourself your own best ability: UMD

Monk dipping is fine with almost anything that has ascetic line feats but VoP is only ever worth it in low to no magic settings.

[sengmeng]

VoP + rouge= Nope

I don't see what red makeup has to do with any of this

[Greenish]

I don't see what red makeup has to do with any of thisPresumably it's too expensive. Such vanity certainly goes against the spirit of VoP.

[marcielle]

Wearing makeup use to be associated with low morals. Exalted feats pretty much require you to be a paragon of virtue.

[Soranar]

You don't need to go unarmed strike (not exactly robin hood's style anyway).

The Vow allows simple weapons so slings, daggers and crossbows are fair game.

Pros and Cons of each

-Throwing weapons work very well for a master thrower build but have limited range
-you can use them in melee too so you are more versatile than a standard ranged build (and you can use TWF + Quick Draw to gain more attacks)

-Slings require less feats than crossbows and have unlimited mighty but their range is only marginally better than knives

-Crossbows gain half your DEX to damage and increase your sneak attack range to 60 ft, also lets you concentrate on a single STAT and it increases your AC (+ you're not using a shield anyway so both your hands are free)

-Finally crossbows also work well with the Robin Hood theme

Note: If you're going to dip monk for WIS to AC, you might want to dip ninja instead (you get another d6 of sudden strike damage and no alignment requirement so you can get chaotic good which is closer to your Robin Hood theme).

[Safety Sword]

Wearing makeup use to be associated with low morals. Exalted feats pretty much require you to be a paragon of virtue.

Surely you can still use Wings of Covergirl though?

Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's the Human Paragon Class Levels.

[Callista]

I don't see why you couldn't optimize it well enough to make it survivable. After all, in a real game, you don't really want to top out the power level--just make a useful and interesting character who can survive the game, right? Rogues and their skills are useful enough to count unless everybody's going for ridiculous power levels.

I think it'd be cool to combine with monk; but I don't see why you'd really need to, because there are zero-cost melee weapons you can use to sneak attack... heck, just clock somebody in the head with your begging bowl (i.e., improvised sap) if you're hard up for weaponry. Rocks also don't cost anything, so if you need a ranged attack, throw rocks at people. Holy rocks of divine power, of course. :)

[MeeposFire]

Presumably it's too expensive. Such vanity certainly goes against the spirit of VoP.

What if we use human blood?








Oh wait exalted never mind.

[Callista]

Well, Exalted people can use their own blood, if they so desire. But that would just be gross, and bad strategy besides. Way too many things have Scent.

I know, the paragon-of-virtue thing seems extreme; but think of it as a challenge. Unless you've got a jerk of a DM, it can really be fun to have your character wiggle out of bad situations without either compromising his morals or leaving somebody in danger. Seems like the more Good-aligned you are, the more clever you have to be to stay that way. Clever rogues are a good thing, so hey, go for it.

[Zaq]

Aww I was hoping for a vow of poverty range user build. Possibly something with arcane archer.

Anyway: Check with your DM if you can keep lock picks with VoP, as it is like a 35 gold item.

There's a skill trick that solves this. Clever Improviser.

[Greenish]

-Slings require less feats than crossbowsYou mean they have less feats.

[Groverfield]

idk, the rouge might help with any disguise attempts you make to get into a keep dressed as a the fairest of maidens for you to get in and make off like a bandit