because some PF plays are just like bad soap operas, and the vampires in the True Blood show breath like crazy altough they are dead and don't need to breathe.
But really, if your internal Alchemist prefers not to breathe if he doesn't have to, tell it to your GM and he will most likely give you a bonus in some situations or whatever.
Well sure he has to every how many hours his con score is, but other than that why bother? There doesn't seem to be an upside to doing so.
"Breath Mastery: At 1st level, the internal alchemist can control his breath and the flow of vital energy within his body. Without preparation, he can hold his breath for a number of minutes equal to his Constitution score (after this, he must begin making Constitution checks or risk suffocation); by spending a full-round action preparing himself, he can increase this duration to 1 hour per point of Constitution. The alchemist can survive...
The alchemist is holding his breath. You know what it's like to hold your breath for 30 seconds to a few minutes. Imagine what that would be like for 8 - 20+ hours :p Would make talking and all sorts of stuff difficult.
At least that's my interpretation.
From a psychological aspect, it's kind of like a bad habit. Yeah, an Alchemist CAN hold their breath for obscenely long periods of time and even though they can last a long time without air, the need to breathe is a natural reflex in the body, and not breathing would probably be like a very bad itch needing to be scratched.
Same rule applies for Vampires. They don't NEED to breathe, but the action of breathing is very familiar to them, plus it helps them blend into human society, to point where it's probably like a bad habit (like when a person from one region moves to another region and picks up that region's accent).
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to point where it's probably like a bad habit (like when a person from one region moves to another region and picks up that region's accent).
If ye aks me dere ain't nuffin' bad about pickin' dem askents.
On a more serious note. Speaking requires exhalation which requires breath intake. Sure, internal alchemists can be the ultimate Vow of Silence monks(they get monk feats to boot) to the point where such sounds as sighing and sharp intakes of breath due to excitement are lost as well, but vocalizing is a pretty powerful incentive to keep breathing.
Psychology of Breathing stuff
Just because an act doesn't have to be done doesn't mean it isn't. Most people breathe (the ones who don't are generally dead) but even in a fantasy world why couldn't it just be a comfortable/familiar/expected sensation (even if the act? state? of not breathing isn't uncomfortable).
Mechanics and psychology all too often don't fit with each other. Real people don't choose optimal paths very often and neither could/should/would/need fake people (unless we're all Mary Sue-ing up in hurr).
I disagree on two things, one I doubt it would be uncomfortable, hold your vreath for 3 seconds, you barely notice, thats how the internal alchemist feels in three hours. Two, he could still probably talk, it only forces a little air out to talk and you can still hold your breath while doing it (go ahead try it), so if the alchemist is a loudmouth go ahead and knock an hour off his time (sure he can just restart it whenever but meh)
Stuff
I don't think there is any information given anywhere that compares not breathing for 1hr/level to any sort of normal holding of breath so there's absolutely no point in debating on that point since it comes down to individual interpretation.
However I disagree very much about the "using only a little oxygen". Listen to a comedian or anyone on stage and you will hear the short intake of breath they use to continue talking without long pauses. There's a reason why talking while exercising is harder too. The amount of oxygen you lose when talking is directly proportional to the loudness at which you speak. A person yelling forces more air through his vocal cords (at higher pressure/velocity) than someone whispering.
So in order to be able to speak normally while not breathing for hours as an Internal chemist there are two situations that I can think of to explain (with a reasonable acknowledgement of anatomy [though admittedly I'm not an expert]): 1) The ability greatly increases lung capacity. 2) The ability somehow allows you to suffuse every cell of your body with oxygen.
1) Would likely force your body to deform to compensate for the expanded lung capcity
2) Would require that when talking that there is some sort of efficient way to "reverse the flow of air" back into the lungs/vocal cords without also losing oxygen (only CO2 perhaps?)
I'd be more inclined to just go with simpler explanation: you have extreme control over your body's metabolism and your cells can operate on much lower oxygen levels than normal people. That still requires that you maintain oxygen levels in your lungs.
Then again I'm not DMing a game where this is an issue and this is just internet soap boxing.
