Originally Posted by DnDestruction
I am fascinated with the idea. I was pondering doing the same thing, but I'm not too certain that all of my regular group would wish to play, so I never got around to it. As for alchemy, the only hinderance that I would really put on it, is that if they abuse their alchemic powers too much, the military will be very displeased, and so will many other people.
The majority of alchemists would be in some way tied to the military, either for support and research or direct support for battle. Those that aren't are normally shunned.
Also, make whatever Scar is a prestiege class. Remember that he was a soldier and a nomad before he started trying to knock off all the state alchemists. My advice is that you should do kind of what has been done to wizards: force them to specialize only more so. This is why there is a crimson alchemist, a flame alchemist, etc.
In the case of Scar, much like what I am doing with Armstrong, are a class that I am now calling (although this may change soon) the Alchemic Warrior. They are not true alchemists, but they use their limited understanding of it to support their abilities in combat. Like the fighter who takes one or two levels in Sorceror or wizard to add a few combat-oriented spells, the Alchemic Warrior has little alchemy to make them better at combat (Armstrong) or just make others easier to kill (Scar).
In the case of Alchemists, they can be just about anything. However, as I am working it, they can only use a small number of Transmutations skillfully. It is from the Transmutations they normally use that they would get their name from.
One more thing:Don't forget about automail and stuff. And it's very important that you have different classes of alchemists. The flame alchemist(who's fighting Fullmetal tonight, but I've already seen it) is much different than Edward and his brother who are more general alchemists, basically they are like the sorcerers of alchemy, and Mustand and the others are more like the wizards. Edward though, is a prodigy which is why he so much more powerful.
I am incorporating automail into it. Because of its alchemical properties plus the fact it is metal, I say that Automail gives a +2 Equipment bonus to strength. It also can be sundered. In the case of Mustang and Ed, they are both Alchemists. The alchemy they use and their outlooks is what sets them apart. Plus, If you notice, Ed studies and reads just as much as any sort of Intelligence based class would. Hes just unusually intelligent for his age.
Don't forget some of the cool classes and prestiege class that are non-combat. Like that Brigadeer General Hughes: He was awesome with knives and guns, but maybe that too was a prestiege class.
Hughes is a Soldier, an advanced (the D20 Modern word for Prestige class) class that is skilled at combat with a specific weapon. In the case of Hughes, he is a Soldier that specializes in knives. There are plenty of advanced classes I can use from D20 Modern. I'm just adding some more for flavor. Heres an example: From seeing how Lieutenant Hawkeye acts and fights, I would peg her as a Gunslinger, another type of advanced class.
I also like your idea for checks, but I don't really know, I've never seen alchemy fail in the show, maybe consider something else.
Ah, but if you remember Eds fight with the brothers tied to the suit of armor, he was unable to draw the spear from the ground because it took too long. This is what I use the skill check for. If you had enough time to do the Transmutation circle, you could easily just take 10 and have it be done. I can see the Alchemy (be it Knowledge or not) skill seeing checks in combat much like the Concentration check, except with Alchemy, your trying to draw the transmutation circle you are using without screwing it up.
ANyway, I'm glad to know that other people have thought of the same thing. Please, let me know how it turns out. ;)