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<blockquote data-quote="Epic Meepo" data-source="post: 3885224" data-attributes="member: 57073">There's already been a WotC-published novel that features a martial controller: In the Sell Swords Trilogy of novels, the fighter/assassin Artemis Entreri wields a magic sword that can generate blinding walls of ash. IIRC, the author explicitly used the phrase &quot;control of the battlefield&quot; in reference to this ability on at least one occasion (during one of the fights against wererats; I'd need to have the books on hand to be more specific about which one).Granted, this example of battlefield control involves a magic item, not a class ability. But the effect (walls of ash) is essentially a sort of smoke screen. So it would seem that smoke screens created by non-magical means (such as smoke sticks) are a form of martial control. That would make a grenadier a martial controller.By grenadier, I mean someone with greater than normal proficiency wielding &quot;weapons&quot; like alchemist's fire, caltrops, smoke sticks, tanglefoot bags, and thunderstones; not someone who manufactures more-potent than normal alchemical items on the spot.As pure speculation unrelated to any hints in novels, I would also guess that controlled demolition also counts as battlefield control. So a martial controller might be able to destroy cover with weapon attacks, direct controlled cave-ins at foes by knocking out support pillars, and the such.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Epic Meepo, post: 3885224, member: 57073"] There's already been a WotC-published novel that features a martial controller: In the Sell Swords Trilogy of novels, the fighter/assassin Artemis Entreri wields a magic sword that can generate blinding walls of ash. IIRC, the author explicitly used the phrase "control of the battlefield" in reference to this ability on at least one occasion (during one of the fights against wererats; I'd need to have the books on hand to be more specific about which one). Granted, this example of battlefield control involves a magic item, not a class ability. But the effect (walls of ash) is essentially a sort of smoke screen. So it would seem that smoke screens created by non-magical means (such as smoke sticks) are a form of martial control. That would make a grenadier a martial controller. By grenadier, I mean someone with greater than normal proficiency wielding "weapons" like alchemist's fire, caltrops, smoke sticks, tanglefoot bags, and thunderstones; not someone who manufactures more-potent than normal alchemical items on the spot. As pure speculation unrelated to any hints in novels, I would also guess that controlled demolition also counts as battlefield control. So a martial controller might be able to destroy cover with weapon attacks, direct controlled cave-ins at foes by knocking out support pillars, and the such. [/QUOTE]

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