Vow of Poverty worth taking on this build?

Seeing as I can only carry 20 ib without getting encumbered I'm wondering If I should take this eventually.

Tengu/ Monk lvl 1(Sensei)

STR 7(6), DEX 14(15), CON 13(10), INT 13(14), WIS 18(21), CHA 7(8)

Age: Middleaged

Current equipment:

Broadsword, nine ring 4 lbs.
Sling(improviced bullets) 0 ib
Monk’s outfit 2 lbs.*
Backpack, 2 lbs.
Everburning torch 1 lb.
3x Trail rations 3 lb
Waterskin 4 lbs
Blanket 3 lbs
Belt pouch 1/2 lb

With the above I'd be at 19,5 ib anyway.
So I might from the regular gear add this without getting encumbered:

Rope dart
Dan bong
Chalk —
Earplugs —
etc.

I could also go for the claw attacks instead of exotic weapons.

1)How would you suggest equip a character like this? (for lvl 1 and for lvl 12)
2)Would the vow be worth it since he can carry so little?
3) This is a 20 sp build right?
4) should I go exotic weapons or Claws?
5) Any other advice you'd give

P.S. lvl 1 is going to be tough...

W/ this character you're going to have a really difficult time actually doing damage. If you want to keep the stats as is, you should focus on combat maneuvers as you can use that high Wisdom to disable the enemies if not damage them that much. If the game is going to high levels, you'll start to see diminishing returns on combat maneuvers though.

Yes, level 1 will be tough.

I've never found an instance where Vow of Poverty is worth it. Yeah, you don't have much carrying capacity, but there are lots of nifty magical items that are quite light (and there are several fairly cheap options to increase carrying capacity). I would much rather be able to own more than one magical item (you can't even have two rings!) than get those extra Ki points. I would recommend basically any of the vows over Vow of Poverty.

It might work in certain games, such as a very low magic setting, but even then being able to own at least two nice things is far too valuable to give up.

You would end up falling behind the group, significantly (as everyone else has a dozen nice magical items and you have only one), and I know I would find that very annoying if I were playing the character, and some of your group members may feel you aren't pulling your weight.

But more than anything, have fun! :)

Which Vow of Poverty are you talking about?

The Pathfinder Vow of Poverty from Ultimate Magic is never worth taking in my opinion. The only upside is 1 ki point per level and the downside is huge. It also doesn't come into play until 4th level unless you have a way of getting a ki pool early.

If you are talking about the Book of Exalted Deeds Vow of Poverty, then I will tell you I do not mix editions of the game regardless of what some players and developers say. Also, there is so much controversy over that vow that there are entire threads devoted to just that. I played a paladin/monk with a vow of poverty once and he was okay. The DM could not take me down but I could not do much in return. Usually it amounted to me being the last man standing and having to pull other's bacon out of the frying pan.

Either way my advice to not go down the Vow of Poverty route as neither is worth the price.

Thanks, good to know, I was mainly considering picking it due to the "Mystic wisdom".
Though being a Tengu I'd already get Ki * 1,25 so at lvl 12 I'd have 15 Ki points(Povertry would make it 22 Ki points)
Guess I got plenty.

@Strannik

I assume you're referring to the fact I lost "fury of blows"?
If it's only due to the Strength you mention I won't do much damage I don't see a big problem at lvl 2+:

"Insightful Strike (Ex): At 2nd level, a sensei may use
his Wisdom bonus in lieu of his Strength or Dexterity on
attack rolls and combat maneuver checks with unarmed
strikes or monk weapons. This ability replaces evasion
and the bonus feat gained at 2nd level.
"

So that -2 Strength modifier on my attacks should change to a +5 or 6 when replaced by the Wisdom modifier.
And the CMD at lvl 2 would grow from 15 to 20

CMB should take awhile to get over the -2

@Hendelbolaf

Was refering to the one from Ultimate magic

I would not take it, I dont think its worth it.

Thanks, good to know, I was mainly considering picking it due to the "Mystic wisdom".

Though being a Tengu I'd already get Ki * 1,25 so at lvl 12 I'd have 15 Ki points(Povertry would make it 22 Ki points)
Guess I got plenty.

@Strannik

I assume you're referring to the fact I lost "fury of blows"?
If it's only due to the Strength you mention I won't do much damage I don't see a big problem at lvl 2+:

"Insightful Strike (Ex): At 2nd level, a sensei may use
his Wisdom bonus in lieu of his Strength or Dexterity on
attack rolls and combat maneuver checks with unarmed
strikes or monk weapons. This ability replaces evasion
and the bonus feat gained at 2nd level.
"

The problem isnt hitting, its damage. You might hit with an unarmed attack or a claw, but it wont make any difference if you only do 2 damage.

Any feats that could make up for this?

No there are no feats, but you should get hold of a Amulett of Migthy Fists with the Aigile enchantment as soon as possible.
Up till then it will be quite depressing though. You might consider going DEX over wisdom though, if you wanna go the Agile weapon route.

Any feats that could make up for this?

Not really as this is one of the big flaws with the monk in my opinion, very hard to take down, but does little for output in return.

My suggestions would be to look at Elemenetal Fist or some way to add damage to you unarmed strike.

If others in the party are willing then Teamwork feats like Outflank and Precise Strike could help to add some damage or to help a fellow party member do more damage.

Potions of Bull's Strength or a belt to at least get you to 10 so there is no penalty would be good as well.

Look into Monk of the Lotus. I doubt it works with Sensei...but it would help.

Edit: It appears to work with Sensei. :)

Hmm... Quite the amount of drawbacks from a low STR.

How about going for effects on my attacks rather than dmg and have the rest of the party finish off the opposition?
The Sensei Is a bit of a supporter anyway.

I guess I should save this character for another time rather than try him out as my second character.

The problem isnt hitting, its damage. You might hit with an unarmed attack or a claw, but it wont make any difference if you only do 2 damage.

This. I've played w/ a guy who used the Sensai archetype in a very similar build. He had no problem hitting the bad guys but to almost no effect. If he had been tripping, disarming, or grappling them at least he would have been annoying the enemy instead of just jabbing for almost no damage. The enemies couldn't hit him and tended to ignore him, so his character basically did nothing but take up 5 ft in the battle.

@EldonG

Looks like a good option, though the GM would have to allow me to play 2 archtypes.

@Hendelbolaf

Teamwork feats wouldn't be a bad idea

The loss of magic items while under the vow of poverty is game breaking. Don't take it.

A STR penalty on a martial build is pretty brutal, you don't seem to have started play yet, is there a reason you can't adjust the stats so the STR is at least a 10?

For a Tengu Sensi, I'd look at the Kusarigama and the Seven Branched Sword. The Seven Branched Sword can make enemies flat-footed rather than prone with a trip (if you have a Rogue in the party, they'll love you).

The Kusarigama will let you disarm, trip, and grapple from reach .

Look at the Qinggong monk archetype as well, swap out something for True Strike then use True Strike to seriously buff up your next CMB check.