Grim153's page

I'm looking to start up a low-level Pathfinder game (E6, to be exact), but I'm finding the standard expectations about armor aren't thematically appropriate for the game I'm trying to run. I'd like armor to be useful, whether it's light or heavy, but I'd like characters to be capable (even encouraged) to wear relatively little or no armor without being handicapped.

All I've been able to think of is something like the level-scaling Defense Bonus seen in some other D20 games like Star Wars, perhaps with a hybrid system where armor uses half its bonus as a Defense/AC bonus and half as damage reduction (Example: a chain shirt is normally +4 to AC, in this system it would be +2 Defense and DR 2/armor). The bonus to Defense/AC from armor would replace the person's class bonus to Defense/AC rather than adding to it, though I would likely add a feat tree that enhanced a character's ability to wear armor (similar to a talent tree of the Soldier in SW Saga Edition).

Anyone have any additional thoughts or ideas on the topic of low-armor campaigns?

I've always thought alchemy didn't get enough love in D&D. At low levels it could be pretty useful, but it was also rather expensive and, if your character isn't particularly strong/doesn't have an extradimensional space, it could be rather heavy to carry around all those flasks/bags/stones. Then at mid-to-high levels alchemy lost most of its usefulness; static save DCs, low damage, generally not worth using. Pathfinder hasn't changed this much so far, and even the alchemist (going just by the playtest, of course) can't really do anything special with alchemy other than make it really quickly.

I've thought that there should be ways of enhancing alchemy (not to mention having more variety of alchemy), through the use of feats/high skill/class features (and not counting the worthless Epic-level feat from the EPH... It would have been useful if you could take it at 6th level, not 21st). With the addition of the alchemist core class, it seems like the APG would be the perfect place to include such rules/feats/etc.

Anyone know if there are any plans for anything to make alchemy a bit more useful, for a bit longer? Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

Just downloaded the long-awaited Pathfinder RPG Beta, and I have a small problem with the PDF. Every other page, through the whole book, is blank. It's not just a plain white empty blankness, it still has the normal 'paper' background, and it has the tan sidebars and such (though no next in them), but there are no other pictures or text on those pages.

I'm reading the book with Foxit Reader, a less-bloated Adobe replacement, but I've read a lot of PDFs with it and never had this problem before.

Any ideas?

Just curious, will there be any rules or suggestions for running a Pathfinder RPG game in a setting with few (perhaps even NO) magical items? One of my biggest gripes with 3e/3.5e is the fact that it is extremely difficult to have a game, especially at mid/high levels, where the characters aren't decked out like Christmas trees. Without all magical loot, just about every challenge needs re-balancing.

So, what if I wanted to run a game where magical items tended to be rare and unique, except perhaps for scrolls and potions?

First off, this is my first post here. I'm greatly looking forward to seeing how the Pathfinder RPG progresses, and I like much of what I've seen so far. None of my regular group is looking forward to D&D 4e, and I have some reservations, so it'll be nice to have a '3.75e' compatible with all our old 3.5e stuff.

Now, on to the topic of this post: Alpha Release 1 and 2 both mention that Hit Die size are now linked to a class's Base Attack Bonus... Full BAB = d10, medium BAB = d8, poor BAB = d6. The Barbarian is mentioned as the only exception, with its d12.

But the Paladin has a d8 for HD, despite having a full BAB. Is this intentional, or a typo?