Voluntary Poverty 3.5

[Sargentpsychooo]

Hey guys, I am a pretty new player of DND and will be DM'ing my first game rather soon. One of my players want to play a monk and take Voluntary Poverty, from what I can see this combo is broken as hell. I don't want to outright ban him from taking it so I am trying to find ways to fix it like making it where he has to take all the vows and doesn't get the additional +6 to ac from the vow of peace. Any suggestions?

[Boggartbae]

I wouldn't change anything about it, because I don't think vow of poverty is too strong. It looks really good on paper, but they also won't get any magic items at all, so it balances out. Also remember that they have too be good, and have to donate their share of the treasure to local charities/temples, so the rest of the party can't just make bank.

If you want to make it more challenging, then anytime they forget their vow and loot a magic item/gold, then you could force them to seek an atonement spell or lose all the benefits from the feat (technically they would lose them permanently, because being exalted requires never slipping up or needing atonement ever, but that would be a bit too harsh imo)

[zlefin]

Vow of poverty isn't that strong in practice; it's rather weak compared to playing with the items in fact; and monks tend to be weak in general. so it may not be as much of a problem as you'd think.
why does it seem broken to you?

[Fouredged Sword]

Hey guys, I am a pretty new player of DND and will be DM'ing my first game rather soon. One of my players want to play a monk and take Voluntary Poverty, from what I can see this combo is broken as hell. I don't want to outright ban him from taking it so I am trying to find ways to fix it like making it where he has to take all the vows and doesn't get the additional +6 to ac from the vow of peace. Any suggestions?

Well VOP kinda sucks. Most players will get more bonuses and better bonuses from standard magic items and he will suffer mid and late game as he cannot reliably fly or any number of things the game assumes you can do.

The short of it, not broken. Make sure he actually takes a share of treasure to donate and doesn't just give his friends extra loot.

As a new dm i suggest you not mess about with exalted alignments. Vow of peace exspecially changes the game into a different sort of game than normal. I suggest you tell the player honestly that you don't want to open that can of beans just yet.

[CharonsHelper]

Vow of Poverty is okay for the first few levels, but later on it's pretty terrible. It simply doesn't stack up to what you can get with halfway decent gear.

The only way that you should ban it is if either

1. You don't like the fluff. (it's kinda silly and points out how bad D&D's economics are)

2. You plan to keep the group way below the suggested character wealth. This is the only way it could be considered OP.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Sargentpsychooo
Hey guys, I am a pretty new player of DND and will be DM'ing my first game rather soon. One of my players want to play a monk and take Voluntary Poverty, from what I can see this combo is broken as hell.

One thing you’ll learn about this forum is that monks aren’t very well-regarded around here, and neither is the Vow of Poverty.

It’s easy to see how a monk might look strong at first glance (all good saves, oodles of bonus feats, etc.) but sadly monks rarely live up to their promise in actual gameplay, and even less often at higher levels.

VoP likewise looks good on paper, and in some cases actually can be strong at early levels; but it fails to keep up as the game progresses, and often ends up hobbling characters at mid-levels and above. Most people on this forum would probably advise, with varying levels of vehemence, not to use VoP at all—or at least not to cut it back any further.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Even above the problems mentioned with VoP and monk stated above (and exalted feats in general), VoP has issues. If you go with Rules As Written and don't houserule, any character that takes VoP can't even look at a statue, read a sign, open a door, or enter a house due to it breaking their vows.

I'd suggest warning the character off of VoP, especially on a monk, even with houserules fixing the above to be a bit more common sense. Unless the player really knows how to work the system, he's more than likely going to seriously regret making that character choice, sooner rather than later.

[Grod_The_Giant]

They should get SOME benefit for taking the vow, since it costs two feats to get in. The Exalted bonus to AC is nice for a Monk who can't wear armor anyway... But "+2 AC in exchange for a feat" is a pretty reasonable trade. Everything else roughly tracks with buying "big 6" magic items, but, like, at a painfully slow pace.

[The Glyphstone]

As has been mentioned, the posters here have a very dim view of Monk and Vow of Poverty.

The short version is that since you said you are new to D&D, know that Magic Items Are Very Important. For anyone who is not a Sorcerer or Wizard or Cleric, your magic items are what enable you to be of any use in a fight whatsoever once you have reached a level higher than 5 or so. Taking Vow of Poverty, in addition to the mundane hassles, permanently bars you from using magic items of any kind, the big bonuses it gives are just barely enough to keep the character from total helplessness compared to the items he would be permitted to own at the equivalent level. He will also lose out on lots of versatility for things like being able to fly under his own power instead of begging the party wizard to cast Fly on him, utility powers that Vow of Poverty simply doesn't give.

[Sargentpsychooo]

Vow of poverty isn't that strong in practice; it's rather weak compared to playing with the items in fact; and monks tend to be weak in general. so it may not be as much of a problem as you'd think.
why does it seem broken to you?

How Is it not, at 5th level where I plan to start them. He gets a +5 to ac, he normally has an AC of 16 so +5, 21 and +1 for monk so 22. Also at higher levels he gets more and more bonuses to ac

[MaxiDuRaritry]

How Is it not, at 5th level where I plan to start them. He gets a +5 to ac, he normally has an AC of 16 so +5, 21 and +1 for monk so 22. Also at higher levels he gets more and more bonuses to acBy 5th level, the monk could buy two 1st level pearls of power to give to the party wizard for +8 AC (mage armor and shield), with enough money left over for lots of other things.

Magic items grant tons of stuff that VoP never does -- such as the ability to teleport, run extra fast, shapeshift, fly, burrow, burst through enemies with a flying punch, etc etc etc etc etc. Plus, if you convert the benefits of VoP to their value in gp, wealth by level comes out way ahead. If you invest in different bonus types, you get considerably higher numbers via magic items, and that's not even looking into the fact that magic items give you options, which monks in particular are sorely lacking.

Plus, the mechanics are highly self-defeating: www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?261049-Vow-of-Poverty-is-a-really-stupid-feat

[PhantasyPen]

How Is it not, at 5th level where I plan to start them. He gets a +5 to ac, he normally has an AC of 16 so +5, 21 and +1 for monk so 22. Also at higher levels he gets more and more bonuses to ac

22 AC is LOW. I can get that at level 3 with most characters. Before you try to nerf see how it plays. ALWAYS.

[Nifft]

By 5th level, the monk could buy two 1st level pearls of power to give to the party wizard for +8 AC (mage armor and shield), with enough money left over for lots of other things.

Shield benefits the caster, but it doesn't benefit the Monk.

[OldTrees1]

How Is it not, at 5th level where I plan to start them. He gets a +5 to ac, he normally has an AC of 16 so +5, 21 and +1 for monk so 22. Also at higher levels he gets more and more bonuses to ac

Starting as low as 5th level the party will start to encounter foes that cannot readily be engaged in a mundane fashion.
A raptorian archer attacks the monk: The monk needs a ranged weapon (that improves with level) or flight. VoP forbids both.
An extraplanar threat emerges: The monk needs extraplanar transportation. VoP forbids having or paying for such.
The Red Wyrm lives in its lair above a lake of lava on the plane of fire: The monk might get resistance from VoP but resistance is not going to be enough.

These are merely some examples of encounters the Monk may want to engage with but VoP stops them from doing so.

[rigsmal]

The only time I'm leery of Vow of Poverty is when someone tries to stick it on their familiar or animal companion. As others have said, it's typically not as strong as a level-appropriate complement of magical equipment. I like the combination of Vow of Poverty and any strong caster class, e.g. cleric or druid. Monks, on the other hand, need magic items, especially at higher levels, to even consistently put down damage, much less do anything else.

I could see an argument for Vow of Poverty monk being functional at early enough levels, though in a fight between said monk and one fitted with WBL-appropriate magic items of their choice, the latter would win.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Starting as low as 5th level the party will start to encounter foes that cannot readily be engaged in a mundane fashion.
A raptorian archer attacks the monk: The monk needs a ranged weapon (that improves with level) or flight. VoP forbids both.
An extraplanar threat emerges: The monk needs extraplanar transportation. VoP forbids having or paying for such.
The Red Wyrm lives in its lair above a lake of lava on the plane of fire: The monk might get resistance from VoP but resistance is not going to be enough.

These are merely some examples of encounters the Monk may want to engage with but VoP stops them from doing so.Even something as low level as a swarm makes it impossible for a VoP character to contribute, as the character can't toss alchemist's fire or even use a lit torch. And forget about incorporeal creatures, such as an allip or ghost.

[Grod_The_Giant]

How Is it not, at 5th level where I plan to start them. He gets a +5 to ac, he normally has an AC of 16 so +5, 21 and +1 for monk so 22. Also at higher levels he gets more and more bonuses to ac
Which is about equal to a guy in +1 Plate with a heavy shield who did NOT invest in defensive feats. Said guy also might have a few healing potions and a masterwork weapon or two, which our monkish friend does not.

Remember, VoP is a tradeoff. You're spending feats to get, and giving up an entire huge swathe of options. Flip through the magic item section of the DMG; look at the wealth by level table on 135, and think about all the things you'd like to have that our poor... poor friend can't have.

[Zanos]

How Is it not, at 5th level where I plan to start them. He gets a +5 to ac, he normally has an AC of 16 so +5, 21 and +1 for monk so 22. Also at higher levels he gets more and more bonuses to ac
5th level wealth is 9,000 gp. With that, a fighter could easily afford:
A +1 Weapon (2,300 gp)
+1 Full plate (2,650 gp)
+1 Heavy Shield(1,170gp)

Assuming 12 dexterity, that fighter already has 10+9+1+3 = 23 AC, and still has nearly 3k gold to spend on other stuff, like healing belts, potions, and the like. Wealth goes up as you level up as well. AC in the low 20s is not high at level 5 either. Let's look at some CR 5 monsters:

Greater Barghest, +13/+8 to hit.
Troll, +9/+4 to hit
Hydra, +8 to hit
Bearded Devil, +9/+4 to hit
Dire Lion, +13/+7 to hit
Large Elemental, +12 to hit
Very Young Red Dragon, +14/+9 to hit.

23 AC is probably around where you going to want to be if you want your armor to provide any kind of consistent protection against threats at this level.

VoP assumes that other PCs will have normal access to magic items with their wealth.

[Sargentpsychooo]

I just found out that he plans to break the voluntary poverty even more by just having the other players let him borrow magic items for combat, then giving them back to them. I don't plan on allowing it, but from my thoughts of voluntary poverty being broken shows me that I have a long way to go. Sooo what are your opinions?

[Soranar]

Your average monk has 1d8 + 2 hitpoints per level.

So your standard orc warrior (CR 1/2) , with a greataxe (1d12+3) can kill him outright with a crit until level 3 or 4. Higher if he's already injured (which is likely)

Crits seem unlikely but considering how many melee attacks your standard melee character will engage in, that's a lot of dice to roll and a crit is an automatic success (which just ignores AC)

So the chances your AC x monk survives for any amount of time is actually quite low. And that's just CR 1/2 encounters, it gets much worse than that as you level up.

So no, a MAD 3/4 BAB melee character with very little offensive power is not an issue at all. He can rarely one shot the orc while the orc is likely to one shot him.

[Eldariel]

How Is it not, at 5th level where I plan to start them. He gets a +5 to ac, he normally has an AC of 16 so +5, 21 and +1 for monk so 22. Also at higher levels he gets more and more bonuses to ac

A 12 Dex Fighter in a Full Plate has 19 AC on level 2. Add Heavy Steel Shield and he has AC 21. Make both of them +1 and he has AC 23, all before level 5. And without requiring all those high stats. That's really not high. A normal Monk can get Mage Armor from the Wizard (Pearl of Power I) and reach AC 22 without VoP. Vow of Poverty Monk he can't fly, he can't teleport, he can't penetrate various kinds of damage reduction ever, etc.

That's just the problem; you get some numbers but lose out on a lot of versatility and the further it goes, the worse it gets (almost everything has DR later on and Monk doesn't have any ways other than magic items [particularly Necklace of Natural Attacks] that enhance their unarmed strike to be able to pierce the cold iron/adamantine/silver based DR - and Monk damage is typically pretty low and reliant on multiple attacks so DR hurts twice as much). The only other way to make it work is to be a Druid or have a Druid solely supporting.

The fact that he can never fly is a tremendous strain on the party and he'll never have access to Freedom of Movement, items improving his damage size category (seriously, Necklace of Natural Attacks is absolutely crucial for Monk to even remotely function), items giving unique benefits like rerolls (e.g. Luck Blade or Amulet of Second Chances [Magic Item Compendium]), items giving other bonus types than basic (e.g. Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone, Luck Stone, Iridescent Spindle Ioun Stone), etc. It just covers the absolute basics but leaves you hanging on many of the key immunities and utility effects and loses out to items hard in the long run. Thus, allow him but caution him.

[Fouredged Sword]

A good baseline for AC is level+13 to be relevant and level+23 being as where you get diminishing returns. Bellow level+13 and your ac will not matter at all and may as well be zero, so you should REALLY have different defenses. Over level+23 and most things need a nat 20 to hit making more ac useless.

A 23 ac is about where a front line party member like a monk SHOULD be at level 5 as that is level+18, about half way betwen being irrelevant and adding more than is useful.

[Nifft]

I just found out that he plans to break the voluntary poverty even more by just having the other players let him borrow magic items for combat, then giving them back to them. I don't plan on allowing it, but from my thoughts of voluntary poverty being broken shows me that I have a long way to go. Sooo what are your opinions?

He can't do that. He'd lose the feat the first time he tried, and after losing the feat he'd get nothing in return.

This is explicit in the feat description.


https://i.imgur.com/vJHNlJp.png

[PhantasyPen]

I just found out that he plans to break the voluntary poverty even more by just having the other players let him borrow magic items for combat, then giving them back to them. I don't plan on allowing it, but from my thoughts of voluntary poverty being broken shows me that I have a long way to go. Sooo what are your opinions?

VoP specifically doesn't allow this type of thing. The only exception is potions, which a friend can hold for you and let you drink from.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I just found out that he plans to break the voluntary poverty even more by just having the other players let him borrow magic items for combat, then giving them back to them. I don't plan on allowing it, but from my thoughts of voluntary poverty being broken shows me that I have a long way to go. Sooo what are your opinions?
Doing so would be breaking the vow.

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, 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. You may not, however, "borrow" a cloak of resistance or any other magic item from a companion for even a single round, nor may you yourself cast a spell from a scroll, wand, or staff. If you break your vow, you immediately and irrevocably lose the benefit of this feat. You may not take another feat to replace it.
You can have someone cast a buff on your behalf, but you can't use on of their items, regardless of whether or not you give it back. You get munane simple weapons, basic nonmagical clothes, and a day's worth of food-- that's it, that's all you can own. In fact, by the strictest RAW, you can't even open a door-- doing so would be "using a material possession" not on the whitelist, although that's obviously an unintentional reading.

Also note that

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

[Fouredged Sword]

And besides, you need to be EXALTED GOOD. Cheating out of the negatives of a vow is not exalted good and would therefore make you lose out on the feat anyway.

The only class that is close to as useful with vop as without isna druid who can use his own spells and abilities to do everything. Still not as good as a druid with magic items.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Everyone else has already explained why VoP sucks and you shouldn't be worried about your player taking it. They're not wrong.

As to your original question though? You should definitely ban it.
Not because it's too powerful, but the exact opposite.
Not only does VoP not keep up with normal magical gear if you follow WBL at all, monks are - contrary to first impressions - one of the most gear-dependant classes in the game.
They're pretty much the worst choice to take VoP on because monks are also one of the weakest classes in the game. Sure, they look nice on paper, getting lots of abilities and cool-sounding stuff... but it doesn't actually do all that much in practice.

Sure, you can attack unarmed and don't wear armor or a shield, but that's where it ends. You still need gear to improve your attacks (Amulet of Mighty Fists, Necklace of Natural Attacks), you'll still want to wear items that grant resistances, improve saving throws, grant immunities or give you abilities such as battlefield teleportation, concealment, saving throw rerolls, options against swarms or incorporeal enemies and a ton of more situational things that normal players solve with cheap one-shot gear.


And besides, you need to be EXALTED GOOD. Cheating out of the negatives of a vow is not exalted good and would therefore make you lose out on the feat anyway.
This is another good point. Being exalted is a pain in the ass. Being exalted in a party that's not all exalted (or at least all good) is nearly impossible in the mid- to long term.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

They're pretty much the worst choice to take VoP on because monks are also one of the weakest classes in the game. Sure, they look nice on paper, getting lots of abilities and cool-sounding stuff... but it doesn't actually do all that much in practice.Hell, one of the monk's two capstones (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/monk.htm#perfectSelf) does very little except make you immune to beneficial spells that affect humanoids, such as enlarge person, which is a very necessary buff to keep a monk competitive in the endgame. It doesn't really do anything to protect against the negatives, either, as your saves should be pretty high at that point, and as such, charm/dominate person is pretty much a nonissue.

The other (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/monk.htm#slowFall) is the final upgrade to an ability that (even at level 20) is inferior to a 1st level spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/featherFall.htm) in every single way. The magic item of which (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rings.htm#featherFalling) only costs 2,200 gp.

[Zanos]

I just found out that he plans to break the voluntary poverty even more by just having the other players let him borrow magic items for combat, then giving them back to them. I don't plan on allowing it, but from my thoughts of voluntary poverty being broken shows me that I have a long way to go. Sooo what are your opinions?
Going to reinforce what the others have said that VoP specifically disallows this kind of thing, but also add that it sounds like the player is going for VoP in bad faith to begin with. Have you played with this guy before?

[King of Nowhere]

I would say the only good reason to get a vow of poverty is story fluff. And hey, we have a guy with VOP at our table and his vow is a constant source of amusement for everyone. We joke all the time on how someone may surreptitiously kill a relative of his so that he'll inherit and lose his powers without knowing why, or throw at him gold coins covered in glue. Of course those methods won't really make him lose powers, not unless you have a nazi sadistic DM, but still. We also joke on how he is supposed to gift his loot to the poor:
"please, sir, I have no food to eat"
drops enchanted armor on him
"have this, good man"
In fact the "give loot to charity" makes no sense at high levels. So this guy gives 50000 gp to the poor? that's enough to buy a small city by RAW. That's another of the scenes we envisioned
goes in a dark alley. Drops dragon loot. walks away
people behind him start killing each other for the loot. dozens die
him, oblivious to what is happening behind his shoulders "I love helping people!"
On the plus side, there will be no more poor people in the city. Most of them died triying to get a share of the loot. So, a good outcome after all!
(EDIT: for the purpose of realism, we solved the issue by having less loot, dividing it among the others, and letting this guy give a reasonable amount to charity; say, 50 gp to share among the poor, which is still a nice sum but won't break the economy)
And we also envisioned the part about lending magic items; of course it would ruin the vow, but that scene comes with incredibly improbable justifications (no, I am not wearing armor; I am merely carrying it for my master. Incidentally, putting it on is the most comfortable way to carry it. How is that my fault if I get benefits for it?")
We are not hardcore powergamers so the fact that he's weaker doesn't matter much. He's also a primary caster, so again it does not matter much.

So, yeah, unless the guy cheats outright, his vow won't give him enough benefits.
As for monks, they are not that terrible, they have some nice utiliy, good versatility and good survivability, and they can be decent supporting characters. But they are not strong. A fighter deals much more damage and has much higher AC. The only thing the monk survives well are spells, if you are not playing at too high optimization levels. That's another common joke at our table; the front line of the party is my monk and a warrior, and we keep saying that we're screwed if our enemies figure out that they must hit him with spells and me with weapons and not the reverse.
Ultimately, monks are decent at doing lots of things, but good at none. they suffer too much from MAD. if they could use their WIS for hit rolls, damage, and grapple checks, they'd be great. but no. They must either buff their WIS, meaning even if they hit they will deal no damage to speak of (I mean, a 10th level monk will deal 1d10+6 damages if he invested in STR; a barbarian easily dishes out 2d6+20, without power attack). Or they must buff their STR, but then their stunning fist will be useless.

So, no, worry not about this guy being overpowered. Though, if everybody has the same level of experience you and him seem to have, he may just be
because the others would be even worse optimized. Let him take the vow if he desires, but ask him to play the part. it can be a fun gaming experience.
Though, if he plans to cheat on his vow, he's probably the bad kind of gamer. In that case, he'll leave the group as soon as he realizes he cannot do what he pleases; if he does, let him go. if he is that kind of player, better to lose him

[AvatarVecna]

First things first: how much gp benefit is VoP worth?

AC bonus is calculated as Bracers Of Armor, without the "epic x10" cost multiplier for +9 and +10

Bonus Feats won't be calculated, since their value will vary a lot based on the character, and most characters can't find a use for every exalted bonus feat anyway.

Endure Elements is a simple continuous spell effect. "Caster Level 1" times "Spell Level 1" times "base 2000" times "duration 0.5" makes 1000 gp worth.

Exalted Strike will just be a simple magic weapon with no masterwork cost. I also won't try and find the potential value of counting as good for DR purposes.

Sustenance is as the Ring of Sustenance.

Deflection is as the Ring Of Protection.

Resistance is as the Cloak Of Resistance.

Ability Score Enhancement will be calculated as the stat-boosting items, without the "x10 epic" cost multiplier.

Natural Armor will be calculated as the Amulet Of Natural Armor.

Mind Shielding is as the Ring Of Mind Shielding.

Damage Reduction is difficult to calculate. Extrapolations based on equivalent items leads me to assign 9k for DR 5/magic, 76k for DR 5/evil, and 300k for DR 10/evil, and only the DR 5/magic feels like it's worth the cost, so I'm gonna look into spells granting DR to see if they stack up better. Doing the DR via items mimicking spells, I found a spell granting DR 10/evil that would cost 120k to have continuously, and a DR 5/evil spell that would cost 24k, so I'll use those costs instead.

Greater Sustenance will be calculated as a continuous "Waterbreathing" effect, since that's the version that would let most characters be effectively immune to breathing. If there's a spell or item granting a more universal "immunity to breathing" effect, let me know.

Energy Resistance is calculated based on the vague formula available via the Ring Of Energy Resistance. Resist 10 is 12k, Resist 20 is 28k, and Resist 30 is 44k. Adding 10 adds 16k, so adding 5 would cost 8k. This puts Resist 5 at 4k, and Resist 15 at 20k. Since we get it for all five major elements, that's 20k when we get Resist 5 All, and 100k when it upgrades to Resist 15.

Freedom Of Movement is as the Ring Of Freedom Of Movement.

Regeneration is as the Ring Of Regeneration.

True Seeing is calculated as an item granting a continuous "True Seeing" effect.

1st lvl WBL 480is assuming max wealth in the wealthiest class (aristocrat).



Lvl
WBL
VoP
VoP as WBL percentage


1
480
16000
3333%


2
900
16000
1777%


3
2700
26000
962%


4
5400
28000
518%


5
9000
30500
338%


6
13000
43500
334%


7
19000
48500
255%


8
27000
58500
216%


9
36000
71500
198%


10
49000
86500
176%


11
66000
102500
155%


12
88000
153500
174%


13
110000
176500
160%


14
150000
226500
151%


15
200000
294500
147%


16
260000
300500
115%


17
340000
409500
120%


18
440000
739500
168%


19
580000
803500
138%


20
760000
901500
118%




Now, taking all of this into account, you have to ask yourself if the additional value you're getting is worth two feat slots and the ability to choose what your "money" is being spent on. Ignoring the fact that I don't think the extra value is worth two feat slots once you get to 9th lvl (since that's the point where it's helping you less than a mage who took Craft Magic Arms/Armor and Craft Wondrous), let's consider just how bad it is to not get to assign things as you please: the various armor bonuses the Vow grants you aren't exactly assigned optimally.

At level 9, you're spending the equivalent of 53000 gp on +7 Armor (49000), +1 Deflection (2000), and +1 Natural (2000), for a total of AC +9/FFAC +9/TAC +1. You could instead spend 52000 gp on +4 Armor (16000), +3 Deflection (18000), and +3 Natural (18000) for a total of AC +10/FFAC +10/TAC +3, with an extra 1000 gp left to spend by comparison. Obviously, that's not a huge difference in final effect, but it does a decent job of illustrating that by making the costs more even between the various bonuses, you can get more effective bonuses for cheaper. Similarly, at level 15, you're spending the equivalent of 91000 gp on +9 Armor (81000), +2 Deflection (8000), and +1 Natural (2000), for final benefits of AC +12/FFAC +12/TAC +2. You could instead spend 89000 gp on +5 Armor (25000), +4 Deflection (32000), and +4 Natural (32000), for final benefits of AC +13/FFAC +13/TAC +4, with an extra 2000 gp left to spend. Once again, this is objectively better AC bonuses for objectively less money, even if the benefits in both directions are fairly minor.

Beyond just optimal spending, sometimes characters won't necessarily want every bonus. Maybe instead of spending 120k gp on +8/+6/+4/+2 attributes, a character might want to spend 124k on +6/+6/+6/+4, or 128k on +8/+8, or even 116k on +10/+4. Characters might want to not have resistance to certain elements due to their rarity (acid/sonic) in exchange for extra resistance to more common energy damages (fire/cold/electricity). The flexibility inherent to gold pieces would let them choose that, while VoPs are stuck with what the chart says they get. You can't get stuff early or late. You can't choose to get less of X for more of Y. You can't choose to get stuff not on the chart, and you can't choose to not get stuff on the chart. Being locked into these specific things is, IMO, not worth the extra value, especially since it's missing a lot of things I would consider important for most characters, such as some kind of magic item bonus to skills, Spell Resistance, Miss Chance, some measure of ability to fly, the ability to choose armor/weapon enchantments other than "another +1", and so on.

[Fouredged Sword]

And +5 weapons and armor are 1 spell each with hours per casting durations. People add extras to weapons and armor and let greater magic vestment and weapon spells grant flat bonuses.

[Menzath]

I second just about everything everyone has said. And I think if a fighter purchases a tower shield they can get to about 22ac from level 1.

But yeah just look this guy in the face when another player hands him an item, and when he uses it get a nice grin on your face and calmly tell him he lost all his vow bonuses. (Hopefully you warned him before game that if that happens that's exactly what you'll be doing, cause thems the rules)
Then tell him he can either get an atonement, or take the time to retrain those feats. It's not the end of the world, and can make for a more driven and interesting character.

[Grod_The_Giant]

AC bonus is calculated as Bracers Of Armor, without the "epic x10" cost multiplier for +9 and +10
This one kind of varies by class-- for a Wizard, Sorcerer, or Monk, pricing it as a Braces of Armor is accurate; for anyone who can use light armor, it's probably more accurate to treat it like a mithril chain shirt. And I'm honestly not sure how best to stack it up against heavy armor.