D&D 3.5 - Complete Mage [OEF]

CHAPTER 1
FUNDAMENTALS
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1st—Charm Person: An age-old staple for controllers, who
never tire of this spell. Since giving orders to charmed human¬
oids relies on an opposed Charisma check, bards and sorcerers
are particularly good with this spell. A controller continues
taking additional charm spells throughout her entire career,
including charm monster and the mass versions of each.
2nd—Suggestion/Cloud of Bewilderment (Spell Compendium):
Bards almost always choose suggestion at this level, reveling
in the multitude of creative ways that they can bind creatures
to do their will. Sorcerers and wizards, on the other hand,
choose cloud of bewilderment to take a number of opponents
out of the fight. Sorcerers and wizards can take suggestion as
a 3rd-level spell.
3rd—Puppeteer (Spell Compendium)/Slow: Bard controllers
like nothing more than to make fools out of their targets,
which puppeteer succeeds in doing admirably. As a sorcerer or
wizard choosing between hold person and slow at this level, keep
in mind that hold person can immobilize a single humanoid
target, but slow severely inhibits one creature of any type per
caster level.
4th—Bestow Curse: Sorcerer and wizard controllers are loath
to pass up this spell even in favor of lesser geas (which makes a
great second choice), since they understand the potential of a
painfully restrictive “permanent” curse.
5th—Dominate Person: At last, the tried and true spell that lets
any controller achieve her full potential. Although its effects
are restricted to humanoids, you shouldn't have trouble finding
a thrall that can offer decent resistance against any enemy.
6th—Mass Suggestion: Never underestimate the power of
mind control on a massive level to turn enemy forces against
each other. The geas spell comes a close second at this level, but
it requires a 10-minute casting time. Still, it might be worth
the time to have a creature of any number of Hit Dice serve
you for days.
7th—Mass Hold Person: A powerful spell with no upper
limit on the number of creatures it can affect, as long as they
remain within 30 feet of each other. Use of this spell does
pose the question of how comfortable the party is attacking
and potentially slaughtering defenseless foes. Perhaps one of
your dominated creatures can do the dirty work.
8th—Otto's Irresistible Dance: A wonderful spell that turns
a single powerful creature into a capering pincushion. Not
only can you make your regular attacks, but everyone in melee
range can take an attack of opportunity against the dancing
creature as well (without the slightest fear of reprisal for 1d4
+1 rounds).
9th—Programmed Amnesia (Spell Compendium): Here you
are on the verge of choosing between dominate monster or
mass hold monster, when along comes a spell that lets you
permanently rewrite the memory of any creature to make it
believe that its entire purpose in life is to secure and protect
your safety. Why control your enemy when you can turn him
into a loyal friend?
Spells to Avoid: A controller has to keep her purpose in
mind to avoid accidentally choosing ineffectual spells. Focus
on effects that actually control (or significantly hinder) targets
rather than simply changing their behavior, especially if you
have a limited number of spells known.
Confusion: Despite how much fun this spell is to cast, the
affected creature's actions are completely out of your hands.
Its behavior randomly changes every round, and it might even
attack you, defeating the purpose of the spell.
Hypnotic Pattern: Any spell that merely fascinates creatures
is not going to help you if even one party member is holding
or draws a weapon.
Tasha's Hideous Laughter: Although this spell can affect any
creature, hold person is a better choice. Tasha's hideous laughter
grants a +4 bonus on the saving throw to any creature that
does not share your type and even then does not render
opponents helpless.
GENERALIST
You understand that a single well-chosen spell can frequently
save the day With that in mind, you are selective when deciding
which spells to learn or memorize. None of your choices
are redundant, with each spell serving an individual purpose
and thereby increasing your overall utility to an adventuring
party. You see little use in pursuing one spellcasting approach
when they can all be useful.
Personality: Generalists are sagelike in their approach to
problem-solving, carefully deliberating over the best course
of action. They understand the need for haste in the face of
danger, but find themselves more perturbed by rushing than
frightened by an impending threat. Anything worth doing
is worth thinking about rationally, and a solution can always
be found. Generalists prefer to solve minor problems with
intellect alone and so are greatly valued by adventuring parties.
The generalist prides herself in always being prepared
and maintaining a level head despite setbacks.
Strengths: Generalists are not only ideal repositories of
knowledge but exceedingly resourceful spellcasters as well.
Their repertoire has been specifically tailored to augment,
help, or inform adventurers in virtually any situation they
encounter. A generalist has learned how to take what she
knows and make it last. This archetype is the most likely to
craft alchemical and magic items for the party, since generalists
value feats that allow them to do so more than any other
arcane spellcasting archetype does.
Weaknesses: A generalist encounters her greatest difficulty
when called upon to excel in one particular area, since her
spellcasting abilities can be spread too thin. A shrewd generalist
shores up this deficiency somewhat with scrolls, wands, or
wondrous items. This solution quickly becomes cost-prohibitive
for the generalist, as she loses increasingly large amounts
of XP to make increasingly powerful magic items.
Best Classes: Wizards who do not choose a school of
specialization are best suited to become generalists. Although
a discriminating sorcerer who makes thrifty spells known
choices can attempt the role of generalist, it is hard to compete
with a wizard, who has the potential to learn every arcane
spell she comes across. A wu jen (Complete Arcane) makes a
better generalist than a sorcerer for the same reason. Both
the wizard and the wu jen, however, must craft magic items
to compete with the sorcerer's volume of spells per day.
Best Prestige Classes: The archmage prestige class is
definitely worth the high-level prerequisites for generalists,