Mind Bender is this the "behind the scenes controller"

[Sir ThornCrest]

Kinda like Wizard of Oz. Tonights campaign will involve a good aligned lord being used as a puppet by an evil mind bender....Is there another mind control class or PrC that I should consider?

Thorncrest

 

[IcyCool]

Mind or body control?

Wizard. Sorceror. Cleric. Bard. Incubus/Succubus. Possessing Ghost. (Don't limit yourself to classes).

Control through urging or blackmail?

Charming Rogue. Brutally Intelligent Fighter in possession of ruler's child and using that situation to dictate the lord's actions, etc.

 

[Corlon]

Mind or body control?

Wizard. Sorceror. Cleric. Bard. Incubus/Succubus. Possessing Ghost. (Don't limit yourself to classes).

Control through urging or blackmail?

Charming Rogue. Brutally Intelligent Fighter in possession of ruler's child and using that situation to dictate the lord's actions, etc.

Possessing ghosts are the best, and you can always add some strange side affect like when they banish the ghost it drags the lords soul out with it and "eats" him.

That's a bit against the grain of the rules, but it really makes your characters wonder .

But yeah, go against what your characters would expect. If you've never really used an enchanter/mindbender before then go for it.

But in the "controlling people" business, there isn't really another prestige class to go for, unless you have path of magic, which is a 3.0 3rd party book.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Do not forget the possibility of a Doppelganger or similar body replacing techniques.

Also you could create a possessing Demon/Devil or artifact based around the general idea of a possessing ghost.

If you want to throw in an interesting and convoluted twist, you could have an Enchanter as a red herring who has been frustrated because his intended target can no longer be affected by Dominate Person. The Enchanter is part of an evil plot, but his plot has so far failed!

 

[Krafen]

Eberron has some interesting possession rules. Also, I love the twist you suggest Ridley's Cohort.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Thanks, Krafen.

The more I think about it, the more I like the red herring idea myself.

Can you imagine what this poor evil Enchanter is going through as his master plan fails over and over and over again? Sit in his shoes for a moment.

He fought off my magical spell. Again!

Lucky? Touched by the gods?

Maybe he is wearing a powerful talisman of protection?

Could it be one the trappings of office? I will try again when his is not wearing his crown or robe.

The Scepter is magical. But I do not see any Abjuration auras. Must be something else...

There is a lot of potential for subtle humorous details.

 

[kjenks]

Don't forget that skill checks can detect ongoing enchantments.

SENSE MOTIVE (WIS)
Check: A successful check lets you avoid being bluffed (see the Bluff skill). You can also use this skill to determine when “something is up” (that is, something odd is going on) or to assess someone’s trustworthiness.
[...]
Sense Enchantment: You can tell that someone’s behavior is being influenced by an enchantment effect (by definition, a mind-affecting effect), even if that person isn’t aware of it. The usual DC is 25, but if the target is dominated (see dominate person), the DC is only 15 because of the limited range of the target’s activities.

SPELLCRAFT (INT; TRAINED ONLY)
Use this skill to identify spells as they are cast or spells already in place.

Spellcraft DC Task
[...]
20 + spell level Identify a spell that’s already in place and in effect. You must be able to see or detect the effects of the spell. No action required. No retry.

 

[Nail]

There is a lot of potential for subtle humorous details.

Yoink!!

BTW, the tricky part is getting the PCs to discover/realize this before/during/after they kill/foil/ignore the frustrated evil enchanter. Most players will just fly by details like these.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Don't forget Psionicists! A Psion (Telepath) isn't bad at that stuff either, and there's that PrC Thrallherd.

Plus, as a psion, you can learn control body with a feat (I did it the other way around - a kineticist who took psionic dominate per feat) and make your enemies literal puppets for a short while.

Damn, I'm having fun with that power. Red Wizards are behaving very weird in the last time (like crossing their hands behind their back and jumping fead-first down the stairs )