single target mind control at low level

[Ettina]

What is the lowest level I can get a single humanoid to be under permanent or easily renewable mind control, using only items and/or class abilities (not races or templates)? Essentially I want my evil character to have a mind controlled minion on a permanent basis. I don't care if he's the only one I can control.
Item cost is no concern, but I want this mind control at as low a level as possible.

[With a box]

psion(telepath)5/ Thrallherd 1

Thrallherd (Ex)

A thrallherd who has just entered the class sends out a subtle psychic call for servants, and that call is answered. Essentially, the character gains something akin to the Leadership feat, but with some important differences.

Those who answer a thrallherd’s call are not referred to as cohorts and followers, but rather as thralls and believers, respectively. They do not appear because they admire the character and want to serve her, but because a hidden psychic resonance connects the thrallherd and her servants.

[Flickerdart]

A 6th level enchanter can trade his familiar for a cohort (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#cohort). The ability doesn't say how he gets the cohort because the SRD cuts out most fluff, but enchanters don't usually get people to serve them willingly.

[Segev]

Unearthed Arcana has rules for a Necromancer to trade his familiar for a skeleton minion that improves as he levels up.

In the SRD, charm person and hypnotism are first level spells. A sorcerer has a high charisma to back them and Diplomacy up (though the 3.5e sorcerer lacks Diplomacy as a class skill). PF's infernal bloodline grants Diplomacy, however, and also grants bonuses to the save DC of Enchantment spells.

For 3.5, the sorcerer or wizard can charm somebody, setting their attitude to Friendly, and then hypnotize them to make a request for which they're considered two categories more friendly towards you. Two categories above "friendly" is "fanatic." This fanaticism towards the request you've made explicitly lasts as a non-magical effect beyond the point that hypnotism wears off.

With these two spells, you can make people fanatically loyal to a particular behavior. Perhaps addicting them to being charmed by you would be a good idea. That way, should it ever wear off, even if they resent the control it gave you over them, they're begging you to reinstate the charm and certainly will willingly fail the save.

edit: To reitterate, this is at first level.

[Darrin]

A Specialist Conjurer 3/Master Specialist 2 can grab lesser planar binding from the Demonologist's spell list (BoVD). From there, you can grab a Formian Taskmaster, which gets dominate monster as an SLA. It can dominate a creature and direct it to follow all your orders. Lasts 10 days.

Or you can use lesser planar binding to grab a Mirror Mephit (Expedition to the Demonweb Pits), and create a simulacrum of whatever creature you want to control. Have the Mirror Mephit command it to treat you as its master. If you prefer more direct control, create a simulacrum of an Efreet, use a wish to create a Skull Talisman of ice assassin (Frostburn), use that to create a full-HD version of the creature you want to control.

[Evan Epis]

A Specialist Conjurer 3/Master Specialist 2 can grab lesser planar binding from the Demonologist's spell list (BoVD). From there, you can grab a Formian Taskmaster, which gets dominate monster as an SLA. It can dominate a creature and direct it to follow all your orders. Lasts 10 days.

Or you can use lesser planar binding to grab a Mirror Mephit (Expedition to the Demonweb Pits), and create a simulacrum of whatever creature you want to control. Have the Mirror Mephit command it to treat you as its master. If you prefer more direct control, create a simulacrum of an Efreet, use a wish to create a Skull Talisman of ice assassin (Frostburn), use that to create a full-HD version of the creature you want to control.

If I understand correctly, what you are saying is "you use Expanded Spellbook class feature of MS to get lesser planar binding as a 3rd level spell." ?

[Rebel7284]

There is a +3LA template in dragon that gives you leadership. ECL 4, but first level character

[Warrnan]

Not humanoid but you could pick up the ACF that trades your familiar to a half power animal companion. Grab the wild cohort feat too. Refluff this as your first attempt at mind control on childhood pets. Not mindless slaves but sentient companions devoted to helping and protections you. Perhaps you long ago Jedi mind tricked them. Haha.

Later take obtain familiar. Go nuts with charm person and other enchantments at low level and I'm sure you can convince a few npc's to help your cause. If needed summon monster would work too.

[Flickerdart]

There is a +3LA template in dragon that gives you leadership. ECL 4, but first level character
Unfortunately, that won't work - Fire-Souled merely grants the Leadership feat, and has no provisions for overcoming the normal restriction of "your cohort must be two levels lower than you." It won't be possible to get a cohort of level -1 or 0, so the earliest a Fire-Souled creature can get a cohort is ECL6 (level 3), same as if you took Leadership normally.

[Rebel7284]

Unfortunately, that won't work - Fire-Souled merely grants the Leadership feat, and has no provisions for overcoming the normal restriction of "your cohort must be two levels lower than you." It won't be possible to get a cohort of level -1 or 0, so the earliest a Fire-Souled creature can get a cohort is ECL6 (level 3), same as if you took Leadership normally.

You can, however, get a bunch of loyal followers immediately.

Fire Souled Magic-Blooded Star Elf
1. <Any class> 1 - Feat: Extra followers

Be fair and generous.

Leadership score = 1 Level, +8 Cha, +1 fair and generous = 10

5 level one followers x 2 for extra followers means you have a ten people following you around loyally.

Edit: if you optimize it further:
Spend all your ECL 4 gold of Cloak of Charisma +2, Age to old, and write great renown into your background and take a class that gives special powers (sorcerer?)

Leadership score becomes: 1 Level, + 10 Cha, +1 fair and generous, +2 Great Renown, +1 Special Power = 15.
40 level one followers
4 level two followers
2 level three followers

[Flickerdart]

Oh yeah, followers. I kind of forgot that those existed!

[Segev]

Some of these are good for continuing to get stronger minions as you level up. The lowest level remains, I think, though, a wizard, sorcerer, or psion using (psionic) Charm (Person) and/or Hypnotism.

[atemu1234]

A 6th level enchanter can trade his familiar for a cohort (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#cohort). The ability doesn't say how he gets the cohort because the SRD cuts out most fluff, but enchanters don't usually get people to serve them willingly.

Interesting. Leadership cohort?

[Ettina]

Unearthed Arcana has rules for a Necromancer to trade his familiar for a skeleton minion that improves as he levels up.

In the SRD, charm person and hypnotism are first level spells. A sorcerer has a high charisma to back them and Diplomacy up (though the 3.5e sorcerer lacks Diplomacy as a class skill). PF's infernal bloodline grants Diplomacy, however, and also grants bonuses to the save DC of Enchantment spells.

For 3.5, the sorcerer or wizard can charm somebody, setting their attitude to Friendly, and then hypnotize them to make a request for which they're considered two categories more friendly towards you. Two categories above "friendly" is "fanatic." This fanaticism towards the request you've made explicitly lasts as a non-magical effect beyond the point that hypnotism wears off.

With these two spells, you can make people fanatically loyal to a particular behavior. Perhaps addicting them to being charmed by you would be a good idea. That way, should it ever wear off, even if they resent the control it gave you over them, they're begging you to reinstate the charm and certainly will willingly fail the save.

edit: To reitterate, this is at first level.

A wizard can only cast a 1st level spell once per day at level 1, so they couldn't layer charm person and hypnotism. A sorcerer can cast 1st level spells three times a day at level 1 (and knows two first level spells), but that would give them only 2 hours of charm person the first day and three hours on consecutive days, which is not quite as much control as I'd like. Sure, you could layer multiple hypnotism suggestions over time, but it's a slow process.

However, charm person's duration is one hour per level, so by third level, the sorcerer could cast it five times a day for three hours each (fifteen hours total). Not quite permanent, but assuming the target needs rest, he could spend his entire waking hours charmed.

At fourth level, the sorcerer gets one more 1st level spell per day, but more importantly, he also gets three 2nd level spells, which means he could use extend spell (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/metamagic-feats/extend-spell-metamagic---final) for three upgraded charm persons per day. At fourth level, charm person lasts four hours, and doubling that makes it last eight hours. So, eight hours of control three times a day is a full 24 hours. Or, you could save one or two 2nd level slots by casting charm person for four hours without metamagic. So you could use one extend spell to make sure you can get eight hours sleep safely (with your minion guarding, or else just not turning on you if he happens to wake up). During waking hours, you can get by with unenhanced charm person unless you expect not to get the opportunity to recast soon enough. That leaves you the option of casting some second level spells, which is nice.

So, I'm liking this. At 3rd or 4th level, you can get near-permanent charm person, plus occasional hypotism to force them to do stuff even when not charmed.

[Flickerdart]

A wizard can only cast a 1st level spell once per day at level 1, so they couldn't layer charm person and hypnotism.
Only a non-specialist wizard with exactly 11 Intelligence fits the wizard you describe. A wizard who is a specialist (and hasn't traded away the bonus spells for ACFs) or has 12+ Intelligence gets bonus spells per day, and a wizard with 10 or less Intelligence can't cast 1st level spells at all.


Interesting. Leadership cohort?
Yep, it says "follow the normal rules of Leadership." It's not a great trade if you can take regular Leadership since you can trade out your familiar for a feat using a flaw, but there are cases (such as when your flaws are all used up, or you need a 'mental domination' fluffed cohort rather than a 'follow the hero' fluffed cohort) where it's useful.

[Crake]

A wizard can only cast a 1st level spell once per day at level 1

A wizard with at least 12 int (most people start at at least 15 int though) would get an extra spell slot from high int, so MOST wizards will have 2 1st level spells per day. People with 11 int wouldn't, but then, what is a person with 11 int doing as a wizard.

Hell, a grey or fire elf gets +2 int, allowing them to have 20 int at level 1, which would give them TWO bonus spell slots. Add on elven generalist, that makes 3, and bam, your wizard now has 4 spells per day at level 1, same as a sorcerer with 12-18 cha.

[Segev]

I'd start off by looking into the prices for hirelings; they're actually not that high. Charm your intended bodyguard, then hypnotize him into wanting to work for you. Make him the reasonable offer, and have a fanatically loyal hireling.

And yeah, with at least a 12 in int, you can cast 2 1st level spells a day.

And you're right, a sorcerer can do it even more. The key to this formula is what you hypnotize them into wanting to do. Your DM probably won't let you get away with something too generic, but specific things that require at least some measure of reasonable ongoing commitment from you as well should probably be kosher.

[Twurps]

A mindbender gets 'eternal charm' at lvl4.
Can't remember how many levels it takes to get into that PrC though.

[Flickerdart]

A mindbender gets 'eternal charm' at lvl4.
Can't remember how many levels it takes to get into that PrC though.
You need to be able to cast charm person and have arcane caster level 5. Since it's a Complete Arcane PrC, this means you need to continuously qualify, so all the CL boosters of the "when you cast a [Fire] spell" variety don't work because they are not constant.

However, there are always shenanigans: a 1st level wizard infected with lycanthropy to gain 4+ HD can take Practiced Spellcaster, earn 4 levels in Mindbender, and then cure herself of lycanthropy to become a Wizard 1/Mindbender 4.

[Segev]

To really play that route, however, you're probably better off going for Wizard 1 (for hypnotizm), then Psion (Telepath) and head for Thrallherd (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/prestigeClasses/thrallherd.htm). Use a combination of Practiced Manifester and Practiced Spellcaster to get your ML and CL up to snuff and take a single level of Mindbender at some point for the telepathy. The rest of the class is just plain done better with spells and Thrallherd. Fill out with Cerebromancer as space in the build permits.

[Troacctid]

To really play that route, however, you're probably better off going for Wizard 1 (for hypnotizm), then Psion (Telepath) and head for Thrallherd (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/prestigeClasses/thrallherd.htm). Use a combination of Practiced Manifester and Practiced Spellcaster to get your ML and CL up to snuff and take a single level of Mindbender at some point for the telepathy. The rest of the class is just plain done better with spells and Thrallherd. Fill out with Cerebromancer as space in the build permits.

Losing two manifester levels for telepathy seems unnecessary for a Telepath, as the Mind's Eye variant gives it to you naturally as an ACF at 5th level.

[Segev]

Losing two manifester levels for telepathy seems unnecessary for a Telepath, as the Mind's Eye variant gives it to you naturally as an ACF at 5th level.

You're right; I always forget about that. The 1 ML might still be worth it for hypnotism, especially playing all the way up, though. The ability to give long-lasting fanaticism to causes of your choosing is very good, and I do not believe psionics has an equivalent. (You can do StP Erudite to pull it off, but you have to wait a few levels and...well, I just always think StP Erudite is Doing It Wrong. So I never recommend it.)

[Afgncaap5]

Money's no object for items? Is third party a problem?

I once received a set of PDFs through DriveThruRPG called the "Core Specialist Wizard" series from a company called Misfit Studios, and the one on Enchanters included an item called a Thrall Collar. It costs 54,000 gp for a domination effect with a will save of 23+ (it gets stronger over time.) The book had some fun ideas (hypnotism as a Skill check, for instance) but I've never seen it in practice. Still, if money's no object and 3rd party isn't an issue, it might work out.


People with 11 int wouldn't, but then, what is a person with 11 int doing as a wizard.

Well, if the person's a Bugbear named Chuk, probably running a magic shoppe with some buddies.

[Ettina]

A wizard with at least 12 int (most people start at at least 15 int though) would get an extra spell slot from high int, so MOST wizards will have 2 1st level spells per day. People with 11 int wouldn't, but then, what is a person with 11 int doing as a wizard.

Hell, a grey or fire elf gets +2 int, allowing them to have 20 int at level 1, which would give them TWO bonus spell slots. Add on elven generalist, that makes 3, and bam, your wizard now has 4 spells per day at level 1, same as a sorcerer with 12-18 cha.

You're absolutely right. I completely forgot about bonuses for having a higher casting stat.

[Inevitability]

Technically, you can take Precocious Apprentice (Sanctum Dominate Person) at first level. DP is a 3rd-level spell on the Thayan Slayer list, and Sanctum reduces that to 2. Note that it depends on a certain reading of the rules.

Pick the feat that lets you take 10 on caster level checks, command your victim to voluntarily fail the next saving throws once he is under your control, and go nuts.