Battlefield Control

[cbaidchris]

Im interested in making a pc that's as the title states, a battlefield controller. some damage would be nice but mostly concerned with locking the enemies down to protect my party and perhaps augment them. Any build suggestions? Almost all 3.5 books are allowed, no web or magazine. Thanks.

[Medic!]

Crusader should fit the bill nicely. With a spiked chain, Thicket of Blades/Iron Guard's Glare, Defensive Rebuke, Vanguard Strike/Anything White Raven, and later on Defensive Sweep, Stand Still, Robilar's Gambit, etc etc etc.

At the end of the day life would look something like this:

If you move, I'm going to hit you. (Thicket of Blades)

If you don't move, I'm going to hit you. (Defensive Sweep)

If you hit me, I'm going to hit you. (Robilar's Gambit)

If you hit someone else, I'm going to hit you. (Defensive Rebuke)

If you hit me, I'm going to hit you even harder. (Furious Counterstrike)

If you try to move, I will stop you...then hit you. (Stand Still)

Then on my turn....I'm going to hit you, and repair a good chunk of the damage you just tried to do. (Any of several healing maneuvers)

EDIT: Crusader side-note, if you choose to go that route, I would talk to your DM about delaying their stance progression by 3 levels after the 1st stance is gained, so you gain a new stance when new stances are actually available.

[Waker]

If you want to be a BFC/Buffer, you could easily manage Conjurer or Transmuter into War Weaver (Heroes of Battle). War Weaver lets you buff your party with fewer spells and wasted actions, allowing you to spend the rest of the fight casting BFC spells like Grease, Tentacles or Wall spells.

[eggynack]

The best option is probably a wizard. Fill the world with all kindsa fogs, walls, webs, just about anything. You can't get much better. Alternatively, I've always felt that there was no problem so complex that it can't be solved with a druid. They get a pretty solid BFC arsenal, and an animal companion and summons to give that BFC some inevitability. Their list isn't quite as versatile where BFC's are concerned, but between entangle, impeding stones, wall of smoke, and spore field, you're not going to care much about that distance. Those are all at first level too. Ridiculous stacks of mobility impediment are loads of fun.

Edit: Also, the ever-cheesy greenbound summoning (LEoF, 8) gets your summons wall of thorns as an SLA. That's some power right there.

[cbaidchris]

These all sound like good options to consider. Anything on the sneakier side? I've heard beguilers can fill this role decently? I just want to know all my options.

[Waker]

Beguilers can be decent to a degree doing BFC with Illusions, but this requires both creativity on your part as well as a DM who goes along with it. Some DMs run their NPCs auto-disbelieving illusions and walking right through them or other shenanigans.
If you want something sneakier, you might consider looking at the PrC Unseen Seer (Complete Mage), which provides a boost to Divination magic, provides a decent amount of skill points and a few other benefits. The common entry for it is dipping one level of Rogue, though Spellthief or Scout are both acceptable.

[Chilingsworth]

The best option is probably a wizard. Fill the world with all kindsa fogs, walls, webs, just about anything. You can't get much better. Alternatively, I've always felt that there was no problem so complex that it can't be solved with a druid. They get a pretty solid BFC arsenal, and an animal companion and summons to give that BFC some inevitability. Their list isn't quite as versatile where BFC's are concerned, but between entangle, impeding stones, wall of smoke, and spore field, you're not going to care much about that distance. Those are all at first level too. Ridiculous stacks of mobility impediment are loads of fun.

Edit: Also, the ever-cheesy greenbound summoning (LEoF, 8) gets your summons wall of thorns as an SLA. That's some power right there.

You could combine druid and wizard with the Arcane Heirophant PrC from races of the wild. Yeah, kinda MAD, but a fun class.

[ArcturusV]

On the sneaky mundane side of life? I've had a really fun time playing a Trapper, by going CA Ninja with ranks in poison making and trap making. It's not Battlefield Control as you typically tend to hear it... but it's still an option. Between those two skills, my stealth, and Disable Device I would scout out potential battlefields before we get there, litter it with traps with debilitating effects, sabotage some items as appropriate, then sneak away again. You can't do it with a flick of the wrist... but I did find it insanely fun because you kind of get to go "Mad Scientist" and when something works out into the perfect ambush scenario you really feel some accomplishment for doing it.

Then again that's the lowest optimization suggestion in this topic so far. So keep that in mind. Probably not worth thinking about too much unless you got a group who wants to go Low OP, or isn't capable of High OP (As was the case in that group).

[eggynack]

You could combine druid and wizard with the Arcane Heirophant PrC from races of the wild. Yeah, kinda MAD, but a fun class.
The MADness seems a bit less pertinent than the theurgishness. It just doesn't seem like you get all that much by sacrificing caster levels for double whatevering. It's probably a better option than the whole wizard/cleric/MT thing, but it's a bit on the marginal side. I'd definitely prefer going with one or the other, possibly with a nifty prestige class designed for the purpose. Wizards definitely have a bunch of options, and druids have like three options, which might be enough.

[Vizzerdrix]

What ever the build, Make sure you bring along plenty of egg shell grenades, marbles, and shapesand.

Alchemical save or loose ftw!