Taker of Vows - BoED Character Build

[Rubberband_Man]

Hey everybody! This is my first official post on GITP!

So I decided I wanted to make a character out of the book of exalted deeds who takes as many of the vow feats as possible. I was inspired by the Apostle of Peace PrC in the same book because it required vow of poverty, nonviolence, and peace, although I soon discovered it was kind of terrible. All it gets is turn undead, censure fiends (read: turn outsiders, and a calming touch which is enchantment, compulsion, AND mind affecting ability. Note, the crazy fast spell progression is a trap; AoP casting progression does not stack with other classes as he has his own (very limited) spell list. Because the earliest you can qualify is at level 7 (requires 10 ranks in concentration), the only thing that happens is you end up playing catch up on a terrible spell list for 10 levels.

Anyway, as a result I became really interested in the vows and I wanted to take the challenge of building a character with as many of them as possible. Now, I'm not necessarily looking to min/max, but something tells me that it's either min/max or die on this build so I'm open to the idea. This is more of a challenge than an actual character, but if I find a way to make it work, I may just play him.

Anyway, the vows are exalted feats that give special bonuses with some interesting tradeoffs.
The vows are:
Sacred vow - prereq for all the other vows, gives +2 bonus to diplomacy

Vow of poverty
Pros: gives bonus feats, AC bonuses, atk+dmg bonuses, dont need to eat or breathe, DR, resistances, you name it. However, it comes in a 20 level progression and you miss out on 2 bonus feats if you dont take it at first level. Table 2-3 Voluntary poverty on page 31 BoED.
Cons: The big drawback on this one is being poor. Can't use masterwork or magical items of any kind. Note, however that relics, described later in the book on page 36, are not technically magical. It's a little vague so best leave that one to the DM. Anyway, you can use simple weapons that are neither magical nor masterwork, normal nonmagical clothes, and a day's worth of food in a nonmagic sack. You can still be buffed by friends and receive benefits from items used on your behalf (your friend hands you a potion, you're allowed to drink it), but you yourself cannot own or use any kind of material possession of any significant value.

Vow of Nonviolence
Pros: +4 to the DC of any nondamaging, nonlethal, or otherwise harmless abilities, spells, and effects. Pretty sweet
Cons: You cannot harm humanoid or monstrous humanoid creatures. No lethal damage, no negative levels, no death effects. You can use nonlethal, however so its not so bad. If any of your teammates kill a defenseless creature within 120 ft they take a cumulative -1 to attack rolls for 1hr/lvl

*note: A lot of people seem to hate this feat because it pits the party against each other, making less morally bound characters have to keep to the one merciful soul in the party... HOWEVER; the feat states that they only take the penalty if they kill a DEFENSELESS OR HELPLESS foe. This means your party can stab away as long as the monster keeps stabbing back. So no Coup de grace's, woopty doo. It's not like a good party should be running around stabbing unconscious dudes anyway.

Vow of Peace
Pros: You get a 20ft radius calming aura (DC 10+1/2 lvl+CHA mod), +2 deflection, natural, and exalted AC bonuses (+6 total). Additionally, all of those AC bonuses that come from vow of poverty go up by +2 if you have that feat. Finally, all manufactured weapons have to make a fort save when they hit you or shatter instantly (DC 10 + 1/2 lvl + con mod). Also +4 on diplomacy.
Cons: Basically the same as vow of nonviolence, except now it extends to all living creatures, excluding undead and constructs.

*Vow of Peace requires both sacred vow and Vow of Nonviolence as prereqs

Vow of Abstinence
Pros: +4 to fort saves against drugs and poisons, assuming they are taken unwillingly
Cons: No coffee, alcohol, caffeine, or any such substance. Not too hard.

Vow of Purity
Pros: +4 to fort saves against disease and death effects
Cons: Cannot willingly come into contact with dead flesh including cooked meat and fallen comrades. You can fight undead, but you have to clean yourself with holy water right afterwards.

Vow of Obedience
Pros: +4 to saves against compulsion spells and effects
Cons: You must unerringly serve your higher authority with no hesitation (if you don't have one, I assume you serve your own morals or disciplines)

Vow of Chastity
Pros: +4 to saves against charms and phantasms
Cons: No mo' booty :frown:


Now, like I said this is more of a challenge to create an interesting character that is functional. He doesn't have to be the best but I want him to be a character that I won't be bored to death playing.

I'm thinking monk or a monk-ish class would be a good way to go. The monk variant "wall-walker" replaces slow fall with a wall-run, making monks more fun if only marginally more functional. I would like to try to keep spellcasters out of the build just because most of the bonuses are to attack, AC, and saves, which a good spellcaster shouldn't be worrying about unless the party has screwed up royal, but druid could be a good exception. If you can think of a good way to make a spellcaster only do nonlethal then be my guest. Perhaps also swordsage/warblade/crusader? Some of those maneuvers can work relatively well with these vows.

Let me know what you guys think!

[TiaC]

Beguilers are good for this as their only damaging spells deal nonlethal. Druid and Incarnum classes are good with Vow of Poverty. Do Not take monk, they are one of the most item dependent classes in the game. Perhaps a grappling druid?

[Angelalex242]

Baseclass Druid. Go from there.

If you're going to take the Apostle of Peace prestige class, it's not all bad. Leveling up, however, can be problematic without killing or even harming a living thing. The notable thing about it is that it DOES give you level 9 spells over 10 prestige class levels, so there's that.

Then again, if you want to go all vows, you might be better off with Celestial Mystic or Emissary of Barachiel, or Prophet of Erathol, or Lion of Talisid (though Lions tend not to be pacifists). You could throw in Wonderworker if you want more exalted feats, but honestly, as a vow of poverty from level 1 type (accept no substitutes. If you're gonna use it, vow of poverty always comes first level), you'll have more exalted feats then you ever needed.

[eggynack]

Yeah, druid is the way to go here. It's the class that does the best with vow of poverty, and you really want vow of poverty if you seek to pick up the other vows. Most of the other feats just do nothing, rather than actively making you worse, but non-violence and peace are tricky. Still, you really want to be a caster if you seek to make those work anyway, because spells can do some pretty cool non-damaging things on occasion. For example, control winds might utterly destroy a battlefield, but as long as you stay at hurricane force or lower, you're not dealing any damage. All three of these feats have the potential to completely cripple a build, but druids can take a lot of punishment without being destroyed.

[sideswipe]

sub optimal but i played an all vows cleric. brother carthrite was one of my favourite characters i ever played.

if you take a spell casting class be aware. you will need your dm to allow you to use exp instead of costly material components.

druid is the class that is the least effected by the vows. and in fact the exalted feats in BOED have many nice druid gems.

[Coidzor]

I can't recall the specifics exactly, but doesn't Vow of Poverty conflict with Vow of Purity, because you can't have or use the holy water you need to bathe in after encountering Undead?

[sideswipe]

I can't recall the specifics exactly, but doesn't Vow of Poverty conflict with Vow of Purity, because you can't have or use the holy water you need to bathe in after encountering Undead?

you do not need to own the holy water. someone can use their holy water to let you wash yourself. in the same way someone can give you a potion that they brought. you cannot carry it or own it in any way. but if they own it and then use it on you that is fine.

also you can go to any chapel and ask to be cleansed.

it specifically says that you have to do it as soon as possible. not directly after the fight.

so after touching undead, the next time you are in known presence of holy water that you can use you must cleanse yourself, otherwise you break the vow.
if this takes 10 months of wondering a desert then so be it. you keep your vow. but if you then pass a chapel that has holy water and you forget, then boom vow gone.

[WinWin]

There is the unresolved debate that Apostle of Peace modifies Vow of Poverty due to the note in "Weapon and Armor Proficiency" that allows them to make use of magical protective items. The idea being that as the class has the prerequisite of VoP, the fact that exceptions are mentioned in their class description means that this broad class of items is no longer prohibited. I'm convinced, but others may want to argue the point.

Dragon Magic has a note about Initiate Feats that allow divine casters to meet qualification for feats normally restricted to Cleric. This can be an effective means of expanding the AoP spell list. Law Inviolate (RoD) is a good example of an inititate feat that has spells that work well with Sacred Vows.

[Gemini476]

Baseclass Druid. Go from there.

If you're going to take the Apostle of Peace prestige class, it's not all bad. Leveling up, however, can be problematic without killing or even harming a living thing. The notable thing about it is that it DOES give you level 9 spells over 10 prestige class levels, so there's that.

Remember, you don't need to kill anything to defeat an encounter. And defeating the encounter is what gives you XP - you get the same XP from knocking them unconscious with non-lethal damage as you get from killing them. (This gets a bit tricky with undead and constructs, but yeah.)

[sideswipe]

Remember, you don't need to kill anything to defeat an encounter. And defeating the encounter is what gives you XP - you get the same XP from knocking them unconscious with non-lethal damage as you get from killing them. (This gets a bit tricky with undead and constructs, but yeah.)

with vow of non violence/peace it states you can fight constructs and undead normally.

[Rubberband_Man]

Baseclass Druid. Go from there.

If you're going to take the Apostle of Peace prestige class, it's not all bad. Leveling up, however, can be problematic without killing or even harming a living thing. The notable thing about it is that it DOES give you level 9 spells over 10 prestige class levels, so there's that.



I actually did the numbers on this. If you qualify as soon as possible (level 7) and start taking levels with no dips, you get level 8 and 9 spells one level earlier than most casters. Level 8 spells at 15 and level 9 spells at lvl 16. In addition, the apostle of peace's spell list is kinda terrible. Not a single damaging spell, and almost no battlefield control spells. Literally everything they have is a heal or a buff, and all the buffs they do have are pretty useless. It'd be worth it if it just gave you normal casting progression for your previous class, but the spell list is just not worth it.

Anyway, I think monk could be a good fit here for a melee vow taker. Its true that they usually need the most items, but all these vows buff the stuff that he would normally have items for anyway. AC, attacks, it even specifically mentions stunning fist in the vow of nonviolence. Remember, I'm not looking to min/max I'm just trying to make it halfway functional. I'm a little biased because I just like monks and I dont think they are as terrible as everyone thinks, but I think some kind of variation on the formula of just taking the first 4 levels of monk could work. VoP gives you a bonus exalted feat every other level, so taking the vows and also getting normal feat progression isnt too difficult, and the right feats can totally make up for the monk's shortcomings.

*EDIT*
Just looked at the magic item proficiency Apostle gets. That might be worth one or two levels.

[Angelalex242]

Well, see, the 'no damaging spells' thing is...KINDA THE POINT of an Apostle of Peace. They're supposed to get by without ever harming a living thing. That's literally the point. That's why they call it an Apostle of Peace.

[Rubberband_Man]

Yea, but it doesnt prevent you from doing nonlethal which is what I'm trying to go for. I'm tryin to make a melee guy with this. The apostle might be worth it just for the magic item proficiency, but even the buff spells he has dont buff strength or damage. So you're not only useless to buffing yourself, but you're also useless for buffing the party

[Angelalex242]

You continue to comically miss the point. The apostle of peace doesn't WANT to debuff enemies, buff his allies, or do damage. He wants to prevent the fight from happening at all. The minute somebody draws a weapon or casts a spell, he's failed his objective.

[eggynack]

You continue to comically miss the point. The apostle of peace doesn't WANT to debuff enemies, buff his allies, or do damage. He wants to prevent the fight from happening at all. The minute somebody draws a weapon or casts a spell, he's failed his objective.
That doesn't really stop the spell list, or the class as a whole, from being generally mediocre. The only saving grace to the class is that you can bypass vow of poverty, and pick up just about any magic item in existence.

[MrSinister]

I have always wanted to play a character "cursed" with all the vows and forced to take them as he leveled up. Playing a beguiler and using dirty tricks while still following the vows to the letter as written could be fun. You don't deal any lethal damage but you can charm your way out of anything or charm others into the killing for you. Do the vows say anything against using charm person and such spells like that?

Beguiler and Mindbender combo, using thralls/followers to murder everything because you, personally, cannot.

Just my different spin.

[Renen]

Vow of Nudity!!!! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?45529-Nude-Bard-Sublime-Chord-Heartwarder-Vow-of-Poverty-Build)

[Gemini476]

That doesn't really stop the spell list, or the class as a whole, from being generally mediocre. The only saving grace to the class is that you can bypass vow of poverty, and pick up just about any magic item in existence.

Did you miss the touch attack no-save no-SR Calm Emotions? That thing wins fights on its own.

[eggynack]

Did you miss the touch attack no-save no-SR Calm Emotions? That thing wins fights on its own.
That is a reasonably strong ability, but it, combined with its spell list, can't really compete with a serious spell list. It's also somewhat unclear whether it's permanent/instantaneous, or if it adopts its duration from the spell calm emotions. The latter case could be somewhat problematic.

[Rubberband_Man]

Did you miss the touch attack no-save no-SR Calm Emotions? That thing wins fights on its own.

Yea, except that its a mind affecting compulsive enchantment, which everyone and their dog are immune to.

As for missing the point on not fighting, I like the idea of the merciful adventurer. He stands there and tries to calm down his opponents/diffuse the situation until the exact moment when they attack him and he proceeds to turn them into a pretzel. I like the interpretation that the vow of peace not only means being peaceful, but spreading peace to those that would cause destruction. They have a whole section on it called Waging Peace.

[Rubberband_Man]

I have always wanted to play a character "cursed" with all the vows and forced to take them as he leveled up. Playing a beguiler and using dirty tricks while still following the vows to the letter as written could be fun. You don't deal any lethal damage but you can charm your way out of anything or charm others into the killing for you. Do the vows say anything against using charm person and such spells like that?

Beguiler and Mindbender combo, using thralls/followers to murder everything because you, personally, cannot.

Just my different spin.

Unfortunately, this is a no-no. It specifically says in VoNV and VoPe that you cannot incapacitate a foe with the intent to let an ally kill or harm them. :smallannoyed:

[Rebel7284]

There are several ways to add domains that you can use with Apostle of Peace to greatly expand that spell list. Check like a third of complete divine for examples. :)

[Coidzor]

Unfortunately, this is a no-no. It specifically says in VoNV and VoPe that you cannot incapacitate a foe with the intent to let an ally kill or harm them. :smallannoyed:

That's OK, you just use the BoED rules to Diplomance-Mindrape them into being Goody-Goody mindslaves. :smallbiggrin:

[Rubberband_Man]

That's OK, you just use the BoED rules to Diplomance-Mindrape them into being Goody-Goody mindslaves. :smallbiggrin:

This guy gets it.

[Coidzor]

This guy gets it.

Yeah, I love me some diplomancy. Though I also acknowledge that it's completely broken, which is why I've been looking around for diplomacy fixes that rein in diplomancy without completely eliminating it, per se.

Though in the case of the Apostle of Peace, well, they don't really have any other options, so it's one of those situations where the question "is it really cheesy if it's the only way to make the game functional if you do this thing?" comes up. XD

[otakumick]

For some reason I'm now envisioning some sort of Ardent Peacesnake with bloodline levels and Southern Magician or Alternative Source Spell... Haven't given it a real thought towards a build, but I bet it could be done rather interestingly.

[otakumick]

Just took a look at rainbow servant... while I liked my little thought, I don't think it would work by raw seeing as it advances an arcane class. Oh well, at least it was just a thought and not something I was planning on playing in the near future.

[WinWin]

Just take Inititate of Mystra. Use Anyspell to cherry-pick save or suck spells. Consider your spell list expanded.

edit: You'll still need a spellbook. A Blessed Book with a resistance enhancement counts as a defensive item. A Wizard Cohort with the spells you need also works, you'll just need to pump your spellcraft in order to use their book. There used to be a way to scribe in 3.0, Amanuensis and Blood Magus' blood component, but that does not work anymore.

[Rubberband_Man]

Yeah, I love me some diplomancy. Though I also acknowledge that it's completely broken, which is why I've been looking around for diplomacy fixes that rein in diplomancy without completely eliminating it, per se.

Though in the case of the Apostle of Peace, well, they don't really have any other options, so it's one of those situations where the question "is it really cheesy if it's the only way to make the game functional if you do this thing?" comes up. XD

See, I feel like a nonlethal melee build could still exist with diplomacy as the first and foremost strategy. You ask the villain to stop being evil, diplomacy'ing him, then bargaining with him, and finally just annoying the daylights out of him. You continue to stand in his way until he is forced to either surrender or attack, at which point, you catch his fist and headbutt him unconscious. Then you hand him over to the authorities. Everyone seems to think that VoPe and VoNV totally prohibit you from violence of any kind, but really all it says is no lethal damage and no killing helpless/defenseless opponents. You can either fight enemies unconscious and take them prisoner, or have your party kill them where they stand, you just cant knock them out then slit their throats, which a good party shouldnt be doing anyway.

[Soranar]

Personally I find the best use of vow of poverty is combined with a build designed to work with it.

A druid, out of the box, worth fine with the vow (you lose some, namely access to immunities and such from magic items, but you have the easiest time compensating for it).

So, with a druid, the only downfall is roleplay requirements and they honestly fit well with vow of poverty (you're already a nature freak to begin with, it's not that much of a stretch to be poor).

But the vow doesn't give you much of anything in this case.

You other options aren't legion, but there are some

soulbow optimization : basically use the vow to further optimize your mind arrows

-pros: surprisingly effective
-con : roleplay wise it's very much in the world of theoretical optimization and you're only good at the one thing (and prepare to say: I shoot my mind arrows... a lot)

incarnum classes

-pros : fairly effective
-con: not much, a lot like a druid honestly just not as strong or versatile (perfect for a tier 3 game). A lot of DMs are wary of incarnum because it's almost a completely new system and few are familiar with it

warlock

my personal favorite, because of the way the vow is written its bonus applies to your eldritch blast

Since I know this option best, having played one, here's what I did to use it

Race: Muckdweller
Template: Necropolitan (for the immunities and the extra hitpoints)

Stat wise you don't go for CHA since you already have a penalty to it, instead rely on the invocations that don't use DCs and focus on DEX since everything else is non essential. Your AC becomes insane with a natural +6 (never mind your size modifiers) and you never miss unless you roll a 1

roleplay wise it can be tricky to justify but it's hilarious, also your squirt ability is DEX based so it's incredibly efficient

eventually you want to get underfooted combat (to use enemies as cover), you can also use giantbane or giantkilling stance (I forget the name, requires 2 feats though) to obtain +2 to hit and +4 to damage vs anything 2 sizes bigger than you (basically everything)

you can also get a familiar through obtain familiar, many can become a flying mount for you if you take improved familiars due to your size

[eggynack]

But the vow doesn't give you much of anything in this case.

I'm not really sure how you figure. Druids get exalted wild shape and exalted companion, which are two of the most powerful exalted feats in the game, something of a natural weapon focus, which works well with stuff like touch of golden ice and sanctify natural attack, and magic, which makes words of creation pretty sweet. Druids get lots of benefit from vow of poverty, in other words, though not as much as not vow of poverty.

[Soranar]

the problem is that you blow 2 feats (sacred vow + vow of poverty) to obtain... 2 good feats

and while you're at it you prevent yourself from obtaining magic items (druids have access to magical clasp that work in wildshape form

so you don't gain much and you lose a lot


but because you're a druid that's ok because you're still a bear riding a bear that summons bears

[eggynack]

the problem is that you blow 2 feats (sacred vow + vow of poverty) to obtain... 2 good feats

and while you're at it you prevent yourself from obtaining magic items (druids have access to magical clasp that work in wildshape form

so you don't gain much and you lose a lot.
Yeah, but what class gets more? Two for two plus a bunch of stuff ranging from crap to reasonable is just about the best deal I'm aware of. Most classes trade two feats for basically no feats. If VoP doesn't give much of anything in this case, then it doesn't give much of anything in any other case, which might be an accurate summation. Ultimately, tallying everything up, I would give the real feat value the exalted feats given to a druid by VoP somewhere at 5 or 6 feats. Wild shape and companion are both one, words of creation is most of one, stuff like nymph's kiss and touch of golden ice is maybe a half each, and the rest kinda adds up to a feat or two, if you squint. It works out something like that, anyway.

[bekeleven]

you do not need to own the holy water. someone can use their holy water to let you wash yourself. in the same way someone can give you a potion that they brought. you cannot carry it or own it in any way. but if they own it and then use it on you that is fine.

also you can go to any chapel and ask to be cleansed.

Vow of Poverty:


To fulfill your vow, you must not own or use any material possessions, with the following exceptions: You may carry and use ordinary (neither magic nor masterwork) simple weapons, usually just a quarterstaff that serves as a walking stick. You may wear simple clothes (usually just a homespun robe, possibly also including a hat and sandals) with no magical properties. You may carry enough food to sustain you for one day in a simple (nonmagic) sack or bag. You may carry and use a spell component pouch. You may not use any magic item of any sort...

[Endarire]

Perhaps Psion (I prefer Shapers) or Druid. Buffs, healing, and summons would work well for you in this case.

I recommend you be Warforged if it fits mechanically/aesthetically, since it gives you immunities. The -2 WIS/CHA may hurt, but it's surmountable and probably worthwhile in this build.

[Rubberband_Man]

I just realized how easily this build would qualify for the saint template. Lawful good, 3 exalted feats at level 6... I mean the saint template is super broken but people always forget about the requirements and just take it at level 1 with a level adjustment. This guy actually qualifies and has a good reason to be called a saint

[Inevitability]

the problem is that you blow 2 feats (sacred vow + vow of poverty) to obtain... 2 good feats

What's the difference with Fighter feat chains? :smalltongue:

[Rubberband_Man]

Ok, So I think I found a pretty good build. I havent run any of the numbers on it yet, and I haven't given him his abilitie scores yet. I think he could be a fun character to play, seeing how long you can go without clocking someone in the face.

Here's what I came up with:

Monk 4/ Cleric 3/ Apostle of Peace 2/ Justiciar 8/ Apostle of Peace 3

or alternatively if you can get your DM to go Saint

Monk 4/ Cleric 3/ Apostle 2/ Saint 2/ Justiciar 8/ Apostle 1

Feats:
Human - Sacred Vow
1- Vow of Poverty
3- Track
6- Skill Focus(gather information)
9- Superior Unarmed Strike
12- Snap Kick
15- Freezing the Lifeblood
18- Fists of Iron

VoP Bonus exalted feats:
1: Vow of nonviolence
2: Vow of Peace
4: Vow of Abstinence
6: Vow of Chastity
8: Vow of Purity
10: Vow of Obedience
12: Intuitive Attack (possibly take this one sooner)
14: Nimbus of Light
16: Holy Radiance
18: Gift of Faith
20: Servant of the Heavens

Like I said, not a perfect build but he could be pretty effective. Not entirely sure about the feat selection, I kinda put this together a little quickly. If you guys have a better feat progression or class progression feel free to edit this one. Remember, the challenge here is to build a MELEE class with all the vows. Dips into casters are ok, but the focus should be on melee. I used cleric just because it fit the flavor more, but it could have also been rogue or ranger.

With a few items and buffs this guy could be pretty damn fun, even if he isn't the most well optimized.

Optimize away!

[Rubberband_Man]

Did a little more reading and Unarmed Swordsage may be a better way to go for the first seven levels. Many of the abilities gain from the vows give a great big boost to special ability DC's, which should mostly apply to the maneuvers/stances. Only problem is that Unarmed swordsage is not very well explained and it depends a lot on what your DM gives you.

[Endarire]

Unarmed Swordsage is basically Swordsage (as written) except:

GAIN a Monk's Unarmed Strike ability (Swordsage Level = Monk Level for this case, and a Monk/'Unarmed Swordsage's levels should stack for unarmed strike progression)
(if your GM allows it) GAIN Flurry of Blows or/and Stunning Fist

LOSE Light Armor Proficiency

@OP: What's the great appeal of taking so many vows?

Also, about going Sacred Fist (Complete Divine), assuming text trumps table? You're unarmed, you're casty (just scribe a few holy symbols in your flesh), and you're potentially powerful. Summon creatures, heal your party, buff allies, and lay the occasional nonlethal damage smack down on foes. You're kinda like a God Wizard, but divine, unarmed, WIS-focused, and in this case, Exalted.

[Hurnn]

Vow of Poverty:

you really should have finished the paragraph:

"though you can benefit from magic items used on your
behalf—you can drink a potion of cure serious wounds a friend
gives you, receive a spell cast from a wand, scroll, or staff, or ride
on your companion’s ebony fly."

[Rubberband_Man]

Unarmed Swordsage is basically Swordsage (as written) except:

GAIN a Monk's Unarmed Strike ability (Swordsage Level = Monk Level for this case, and a Monk/'Unarmed Swordsage's levels should stack for unarmed strike progression)
(if your GM allows it) GAIN Flurry of Blows or/and Stunning Fist

LOSE Light Armor Proficiency

@OP: What's the great appeal of taking so many vows?


Yea, Unarmed swordsage has the potential to be really good, but it depends on how much of a jerk your DM is. TECHNICALLY it only says to get the "unarmed strike progression" of a monk. Taking this literally it could be said that ALL you get is increased damage, with no IUS, flurry, stunning fist, or anything else.

As for the appeal, I just think it would be pretty cool flavor-wise. The vows give some crazy good bonuses, and the only ones that actually require some kind of major change to playing style are VoP, VoPe, and VoNV. However, with Apostle of Peace and an Unarmed/nonlethal build these requirements are bypassed easily enough. I was considering also making this guy take a roleplay vow of silence, where he's also not allowed to speak. I imagine this guy being like Gandhi if he had trained at a Shaolin Monastery. Totally passive-aggressive, until the very moment when he needs to non-lethally kick some ass.

*edit*
Additionally, Vow of Peace gives extra bonuses if you have Vow of Poverty, and once you have that little feat chain, you might as well go the whole 9 yards

[atemu1234]

Also you can go to any chapel and ask to be cleansed.

I'm just imagining a half-orc monk just going into a chapel and bathing in the baptismal font. Thanks a bunch for that imagery :smalleek:. Just imagine the following dialogue:

(Half-Orc enters chapel, wearing a bathing suit and carrying a towel. Priest comes up to him.)
Priest (Trying to be helpful): Do you need directions to the bathhouse?
Orcy (Now his name): Nah, here will do.
Priest (Slightly worried now): What do you-
Orcy (jumping into the font): Ahh...
Priest: Sir, the baptismal font is not for-
Orcy: Pass the soap, would you?

[dextercorvia]

Just take Inititate of Mystra. Use Anyspell to cherry-pick save or suck spells. Consider your spell list expanded.

edit: You'll still need a spellbook. A Blessed Book with a resistance enhancement counts as a defensive item. A Wizard Cohort with the spells you need also works, you'll just need to pump your spellcraft in order to use their book. There used to be a way to scribe in 3.0, Amanuensis and Blood Magus' blood component, but that does not work anymore.

To take Initiate of Mystra, you must either have 3 levels of Cleric, or 3 levels of a class that requires a deity and uses the cleric spell list.

In order to use Anyspell, you need a domain slot.

Apostle of Peace fails at requiring a deity, casting from the cleric spell list, and having a domain slot.