So all the current Paizo adventure paths (Curse of the Crimson Throne,etc.) are still DnD 3.5 and not yet the new Paizo 3.5 right?

@5 (RPG Ike) – I am the only player in any of my campaigns who has ever used any item creation feat other than Scribe Scroll, Brew Potion, or Craft Wand. the low XP costs (relative to the gold costs) of using those three feats never seemed to bother my players (until they were 100xp short of levelling, in which case they all cried me a river. Too bad, says I. Enjoy your Wand of Cure Serious Wounds and get over it). I feel that the benefit of having up to twice the amount of magic items makes up for the small lag in XP. Also, it keeps the use of certain spells under control. Costing XP instead of gold means that the decision to make an item or use a spell falls on the caster, whereas switching to a gold cost allows the burden to be shared by the party. Some DMs, no doubt prefer the sharing aspect. No problem there, Whatever floats your boat. I prefer to think that the player must manage their own resources, and that it is easier to adjudicate XP rewards than it is to adjudicate gold rewards, at least for me. From a roleplaying aspect, I like the “personal power cost” aspect of XP costs (your powers are weak, old man!) versus the “magic shopping” feel of gold rewards. I also like that item crafters can make items for the party in exchange for gold and both the crafter and the purchaser can come out ahead. There are no magic shops in my campaigns, and if a player really wants a specific item it is usually faster, cheaper, and easier to take a feat and make it him/herself. Thar’s just me, though, and not a judgement on the rules of the game or the stylistic choices of DMs as a whole. Me likey the XP cost, in short.

https://secure.paizo.com/download/pathfinder/PZO1110BE-PrestigeEnhancement.zip

That’s not really a flat DC, it’s an opposed roll where the opponent gets to take 15. The effect should be to make it harder for enemies to grapple PCs in the first place, but once they do — hoo boy. If they have +6 on you between size, Strength, and BAB, you can never escape.

What did you like about the XP costs for spellcasting and magic item creation? In my experience it has really hamstringed the use of those feats and spells for many players.

At least for item creation, I read here that you can spend 25% of all the gold you ever earn on item crafting and you’ll only be about half a level behind.