Wizard Vows

[Kromm]

Staying on-topic this time:

Originally Posted by Dragondog

Vow: Wizard Weapons Only - The only weapons you use are staffs, daggers, and knifes.

Vow: Wizard Armor Only - The only armor you use is textile armor.

Both of them seem to each be as restrictive as No edged weapons [-10]

I could get behind -10 points for the first Vow. It is indeed about as restrictive as Vow (No edged weapons) [-10]. Given that Vow (Always fight unarmed) [-15] is canonical, and found in many GURPS sources across a couple of editions, no Vow that restricts weapons – however tightly – yet permits armed combat should ever be more severe than -10 points. Rather than go into the false precision afforded by counting weapons or gauging relative effectiveness, I would simply say this:

• A Vow not to use one specific weapon is a quirk. Example: "Never use a dagger, for it is the weapon of assassins." -1 point.
• A Vow not to use a small class of weapons is minor. Examples: "No swords" (nothing sharp used with Broadsword, Knife, Main-Gauche, Rapier, Saber, Shortsword, Smallsword, or Two-Handed Sword) or "No heavy battlefield weapons" (forbids crossbows, flails, greatswords, lances, longbows, polearms, spears, warhammers, etc.). -5 points.
• A Vow not to use a large class of weapons would be major. Example: "No edged weapons" or "No ranged weapons." -10 points.
• Only a Vow to use no weapons at all, ever would ever count as "great." -15 points.

Treat a Vow only to use a small class (e.g., "Only swords" or "Only heavy battlefield weapons") as major [-10] and one only to use a large class (e.g., "Only edged weapons") as minor [-5]. Err on the side of fewer points. Vowing only to use daggers and staffs, or for that matter only to use the rapier, still allows some weapons, so it's -10 points.

Armor-related Vows are trickier. I would take everything down a class for wizards:

• A Vow never or always to wear one specific item is a quirk. Examples: "Never wear a helmet, because it blocks magical energies" or "Always wear a helmet, because it filters out distracting evil thoughts." -1 point.
• A Vow not to use the best armor is minor. Examples: "No metal armor" or "No heavy battlefield armor" (forbids anything with DR 4+). -5 points.
• A Vow not to use any armor at all would be major. -10 points.

This isn't symmetric with the weapons case because there are skeevy ways to get DR without armor in fantasy, and wizards are among their foremost users: Armor spells, Bracers of Force, Ironskin Amulets, Robes of Protection, etc. I'd only give -15 points for this Vow to a warrior, or to a wizard who eschewed not just armor but DR.

Collectively, this would make your wizard Vows worth -15 points, which is about the limit for Vows. I would not let gear-related Vows stack up to -20 points or worse for anybody.

Originally Posted by Dragondog

By RAW, Vows cannot be broken.

There are no game mechanical penalties for breaking a Vow, as they cannot be broken.

This is not strictly true. You can break a Vow and there is a game-mechanical penalty: You have to pay off the Vow, because it's now clear that you don't take it seriously. If you can't afford to pay it off, then the GM gets to withhold points until it's paid off . . . or just give you a new disadvantage to replace it, like Reputation (Oath-breaker) or reduced Magery. That's what "If you want to end a Vow before its stated time, the GM may exact a penalty" is getting at.