Con man

[clash]

I am looking to play a conman in d&d. I know I will probably go some combination of bard/Rogue mc for the build, but I want more than just a party face witha high bluff check. I want a character that solves problems with cons and I am running short on ideas at the moment. There are lots of examples of cons in tv shows, but many of them I would find hard to implement in game or don't provide in game solutions.

Without the dm catering encounters to the character, does anyone have any ideas or examples of cons that could be used to solve in game problems?

[R.Shackleford]

I am looking to play a conman in d&d. I know I will probably go some combination of bard/Rogue mc for the build, but I want more than just a party face witha high bluff check. I want a character that solves problems with cons and I am running short on ideas at the moment. There are lots of examples of cons in tv shows, but many of them I would find hard to implement in game or don't provide in game solutions.

Without the dm catering encounters to the character, does anyone have any ideas or examples of cons that could be used to solve in game problems?

I would go Rogue Swashbuckler 9 at the very least. Expertise in Persuasion? Expertise in Persuasion and you can charm people? Hehehe.

Mastermind would also be good but that Swashbuckler is fantastic.

Charlatan or Criminal Valor Bard 3 /Swashbuckler Rogue 9 would work well.

[Specter]

The guide in my signature might help.

[smcmike]

The build is the easy part. A straight charlatan bard with expertise in social skills and using social spells, and you're golden.

The play itself is hard.

There is no way around the need for a cooperative DM. If your DM and your group just want to dungeon crawl, you aren't going to be setting up any real cons. You might be able to use your skills to mess with some enemies, and you might be able to run some downtime cons for petty cash, but a dungeon full of enemies that need stabbing isn't going to be solved with words unless your DM wants to play along.

When I hear "con," I imagine a LONG con - the sort of thing you base a plot around. So you need a goal that is susceptible to a long con. Wandering into town and running into some trouble doesn't really give you such a goal. Again, you need some plot help from the DM.

With the goal in place, the next step is finding some NPC marks. It's not a con unless you have a mark. So, step one - covertly gather information about someone who can help accomplish your goal. Find out what they want. Then, make it seem like you can give it to them.

[NecroDancer]

The guide in my signature might help.

This guide is AMAZING

[Sir cryosin]

A sorcerer with subtle spell meta magic. Can pull of all kinds of fun con using spells. Have your arcane focus be a crystal inlay ring. I don't see any cons that might be advantageous do in the middle of a battle other than your basics a illusions in distracting an enemy.

[Biggstick]

It really depends on what kind of cons you're considering running. Expertise in Deception and/or Persuasion are things that you're most definitely going to want, as well as a higher then average Charisma. Whatever you end up going, I'd suggest 2-3 levels of Warlock. What we're looking at to gain here is the level 2 Invocation Mask of Many Faces. This allows you to cast Disguise Self unlimited number of times allowing you to change your look in a matter of one action.

What you're really going to need is your group's buy in to not kill everything they see. If you have an idea of what the BBEG, or even one of his/her higher ranking stooges look like, you can convince the enemy underlings at the front of the dungeon that you're actually a part of the BBEG's crew and are on your way to see the boss. You might even be able to stir up some sort of rebellion within the ranks if you're persuasive enough.

There are a couple of ways to make your Pact RP wise too, but I'd be looking at Fiend or Fey personally. You've tricked the Fey or Fiend into granting you power. Later on down the line, you may or may not realize that it was actually you who was conned by the patron. This, plus levels in Rogue or Bard (for the Expertise), would definitely make for a compelling story that brings a conman feel to the character.

[PeteNutButter]

Bard seems like the obvious choice here. Depending on how you want to con people, you may want to invest heavily in illusion magic. What con artist wouldn't use illusion magic in a world where such magic existed?

Arcane trickster could also work here. Now you see me, now I'm invisible and my mage hand just stole the deed to your property and 10 of your slaves. On an unrelated note, are you interested in purchasing any slaves and a nice townhouse?

[RickAllison]

Lore Bard is a good base combined with Sorcerer 3 for Subtle.

[JakOfAllTirades]

The absolute best class for Con Man is the Warlock. At 2nd level you'll get Disguise Self and Silent Image at will. The Beguiling Influence Invocation gets you the Deception and Persuasion skills as well. The 1st level Pact abilities for the Fey and Old Ones pacts are also useful for a Con Man character.

Or just take a 2-level MC Warlock dip like everyone else. :smallyuk:

[Specter]

This guide is AMAZING

Why thank you, my good man.

[arrowed]

Why not take a page out of Redcloak's book and make a fake of the Macguffin? If you grab a Disguise kit proficiency, you could try faking your way through the ranks of bandits ("Yes, I am your chief!"), and maybe other scenarios too. Depending on your DM, you could try your hand at manipulating random adventurers into doing your job for you, and then do the D&D equivalent of a suitcase scam* to avoid paying them. Maybe try talking the BBEG/ NPC/ BBEG's underling into a (rigged) card game with high stakes. Also :haley: might be good inspiration.
*Not sure what the proper name is, but the one where you pay them with real money in a suitcase and then get your ally to switch the suitcase with an identical one full of fake money (a transmuter would be useful here).
I hope this helps, I am very bad at cunning plans myself.

[smcmike]

Why not take a page out of Redcloak's book and make a fake of the Macguffin? If you grab a Disguise kit proficiency, you could try faking your way through the ranks of bandits ("Yes, I am your chief!"), and maybe other scenarios too. Depending on your DM, you could try your hand at manipulating random adventurers into doing your job for you, and then do the D&D equivalent of a suitcase scam* to avoid paying them. Maybe try talking the BBEG/ NPC/ BBEG's underling into a (rigged) card game with high stakes. Also :haley: might be good inspiration.
*Not sure what the proper name is, but the one where you pay them with real money in a suitcase and then get your ally to switch the suitcase with an identical one full of fake money (a transmuter would be useful here).
I hope this helps, I am very bad at cunning plans myself.

Yeah, every good con needs a MacGuffin. Think like a DM - you are setting plot hooks for NPCs. You are usually relying on the greed of your mark. I like the idea of playing naive - you've got your hands on a clue to something big, but you don't know what to do with it. If the mark thinks he's scamming you, he's less likely to realize that the opposite is occurring.

One thing to consider - most good long cons require multiple players. You can do a lot with disguise and the Actor feat, but sometimes you need an actual accomplice.

[Shining Wrath]

You'll need a bag full of props - things that let you bluff or intimidate. Costume Jewelry, items that look like powerful magic items, and the like.

[clash]

Why not take a page out of Redcloak's book and make a fake of the Macguffin? If you grab a Disguise kit proficiency, you could try faking your way through the ranks of bandits ("Yes, I am your chief!"), and maybe other scenarios too. Depending on your DM, you could try your hand at manipulating random adventurers into doing your job for you, and then do the D&D equivalent of a suitcase scam* to avoid paying them. Maybe try talking the BBEG/ NPC/ BBEG's underling into a (rigged) card game with high stakes. Also :haley: might be good inspiration.
*Not sure what the proper name is, but the one where you pay them with real money in a suitcase and then get your ally to switch the suitcase with an identical one full of fake money (a transmuter would be useful here).
I hope this helps, I am very bad at cunning plans myself.

I like these ideas, lus the bag of props, All very useful. I agree about needing the team to be in on the cons, but we will likely be using premade campaigns so the dm wont be able to base the plot around cons very much. So I will need to stick to smaller cons.

[ad_hoc]

My caution is to not try to structure the game around having the spotlight all of the time.

The other characters will each have their own thing that they do, they need spotlight time too.

Social interaction is 1/3 of the game. That is plenty of time to run your cons.

[Wondermndjr]

Two levels of Conjurer Wizard.

The ability to make any small object out of thin air, AT WILL? Already visibly magical? Could be something obviously valuable (gem-encrusted ring)? The ability to make it vanish, also at will? What more could a con man want?

Think of all the cons you could do with this. Sell someone a fake love potion, do a shell game where the ball simply disappears from under the cup, go to pawn shops and sell gems and such. Combine with disguise self, since this ability doesn't even require concentration, and you can con people left and right. Best part is, the duration is an hour, so you have a good amount of time to escape from whoever you're messing with.

[MBControl]

I'll let you handle the build. I agree the charlatan background is the way to go. Always good to have a non-existent alias to blame everything on.

I have looked at the same build myself. I agree it is difficult to build, but I think it may have a lot to do with having a party that will be willing to participate. I went online and researched famous cons. Frankly one of the best parts in any con movie is the planning stage when the team is throwing around con names like the St Louis Switch, Two Cats in a Tree, or The Lucky Penny. I plan to have my character talk in con man terms like that all the time, often with made up names like those ones. I was going with the a throwback style character from movies like the sting.

There are some real life tricks and cons that are basic enough to run on NPCs. One of the oldest and most common is salting the mine. Back in the day, when salt was mined, land owners would load shotguns with salt, and blast it into the earth. This would give prospective buyers a false read of the true value of the mine. This technic doesn't have to be used with only mines. It simply dressing something up to give it a false value.

The Spanish Prisoner is the most infamous. Most probably recognize it as the Nigerian Prince Email scam. Simply asking for a something know, with the promise of a massive return later.

Think fake newspapers made to confirm a lie, much like the wire scam used radio broadcasts in The Sting.

The Pig in a Poke con actually originated in the Middle Ages. One would offer to sell a small pig in a bag (poke). You take the money and split, as the mark realizes they just bought a mangy cat in a bag. Cat's are bad eating compared to the pig.

If you have a willing party member, coin matching game is really fun and easy.

Research this stuff on line and focus on the more simple and elegant cons. They will be more slick to run in game, I think. I got most of these from wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_confidence_tricks

[Zanthy1]

I have a story from a session I DM'd:

An inn keeper was expecting a large shipment of brewing ingredients from a foreign supplier, was paying a lot of money for it (5000 gold). He hired the party for 2500 gold to rob the merchant on his way to town, so that he could get the product at half the cost. They could not let the merchant know he was involved, and he did not want them to kill the merchant, as he was a loyal supplier and did give better prices than most for his better product overall.

The players set out, and have no real idea of how to do it. They decide on having the monk run through and taunt the guards, luring them away and the rest of the party would sneak in and steal the goodies. Monk runs in, punches the merchant square in the nose, and bolts. He gets less than 30 feet away before one of the 2 guards shoots him with a crossbow, rolling a Nat 20, which immediately dropped the monk into bleedout. (did I mention the party is level 1?). The party panics. The rogue stays with the wagon, the warlock disguises self and, with the fighter, march into the clearing. They bluffed there way into saying that they had been hunting the monk for various incidents, and that they were representatives of Lord Farquad, of Dulac. They take the monk, clap him in irons and request that the merchant file a report of the incident. Merchant sets to work and a light conversation ensues about what Lord Farquad's men are doing this far East (Dulac is a North Western city, somewhere far on the opposite side of the Eastern border where this interaction happened. Lord Farquad is obviously, a fake). While the warlock and the merchant are talking, the fighter does a sweep of the cart, as their mission is to investigate smugglers. he planted some fake jewelry, and "finds it.

At this point the merchant is flabbergast, as he had no idea of what the jewels are, but the warlock assures him that it is probably just a misunderstanding, but unfortunately policy dictates he must confiscate the goods and bring them to their office. He fills out a receipt and says that Lord Farquad himself will be at the station to settle all this mess, and with that the warlock and fighter, with monk in cuffs ride off with all the goods la-dee-da.

The last part (and i apologize for the long post), merchant shows up later and demands his goods. The Wizard (who came late to the session) disguised himself as a noble, and ended up distracting the merchant from his qualms by giving him a knighthood in the far off city, with lands and servants. the merchant left immediately to the cold, Northern city to claim nobility with a false paper from a made up lord.

[smcmike]

One very venerable MacGuffin for con men - alchemy. Everyone in every time period wants to get rich quick, and the transmutation of base metal into gold is the ultimate dream (short of immortality, which is another possible lure for alchemical scams).

So, the trick is to convince the target that you've got access to the secret of the alchemy, but you need something to make it happen - some upfront cash, perhaps.

[Socratov]

Well, In my opinion you should at least have bard in your build. You will want to take a couple of other spells, so getting lore bard would be considered optimal. The fact that with Lorebard, and for instance half elf, you will have practically any skill you will ever need.

Now, sometimes you will want to use a spell in a situation where you can't afford to be pointed at as the caster. At this point subtle spell form sorcerer might be a great option (subtle spell friend anyone?), so 3 lvls of sorcerer will go a long way, and while it will delay your lore bard features, it will prove invaluable. Just be sure not to pick subtle spell metamagic and wild magic sorcerer together: they won't always mix all that well. Oh, and before I forget, the first lvl will have to be bard. If you really want consave proficiency, get an odd score on Con and get take the Resillient(con) feat. Be sure to use your magical secrets to stel the very best spells in terms of illusion and enchantment.

As for strategy and tactics: 1. preparation is key. 2. turning an enemy into a friend gives double value for 1 action 3. Violence is always an option, make sure it's rarely the first. 4. again, just for emphasis, preparation is key. if you are running a con, know your mark. study weaknesses. Never get caught with your pants down. 5. don't get caught. (that is, until plot demands it)

Oh, and a word to the wise, misty step is nifty and contingent spell can make for a great way to make sure that your insides don't get to meet the sunlight just yet.