Actor Feat vs Master of Intrigue

[Necrosnoop110]

General Question: What the big differences, if any, between the Actor feat and the Rogue Archetype Mastermind's ability Master of Intrigue? Or are they (practically) identical?

Specific Question: Can the Rogue Archetype Mastermind's ability Master of Intrigue mimic a specific unique creature or just a general type of creature? For example, can one use the Master of Intrigue ability to act as an imposter for the mayor of a given town or just use it to duplicate a "general" person that comes from that town? I am creating a character who's specialty is the ability to imitate specific people; is the Master of Intrigue ability enough or do I need/want the Actor feat?

Thanks,
Necro

[Man_Over_Game]

General Question: What the big differences, if any, between the Actor feat and the Rogue Archetype Mastermind's ability Master of Intrigue? Or are they (practically) identical?

Specific Question: Can the Rogue Archetype Mastermind's ability Master of Intrigue mimic a specific unique creature or just a general type of creature? For example, can one use the Master of Intrigue ability to act as an imposter for the mayor of a given town or just use it to duplicate a "general" person that comes from that town? I am creating a character who's specialty is the ability to imitate specific people; is the Master of Intrigue ability enough or do I need/want the Actor feat?

Thanks,
Necro

The Actor Feat gives you advantage on related Performance and Deception checks, where the Mastermind feature does not. Otherwise, they are pretty much identical. Mastermind DOES give you proficiency in the related toolsets, though.

Yes, with Master of Intrigue, you can sound explicitly like a specific person. If you just wanted to sound human, you probably wouldn't need to study them for a minute using a class feature.

An alternative way to perform a similar thing is by going Variant Human, picking up Actor, going Warlock 2 for the Mask of Many Faces invocation. It's Actor + Disguise Self as a cantrip. You can also go into the Great Old One for one-way telepathy.

You'd want to go Warlock if you're a more "selfish" character, using abilities that focus on your singular damage output. You'd have fewer skills but be able to make up for it with specialized magic. You'd want to go Mastermind Rogue if you're more of a "team player", using skills and support abilities while attacking with ranged weapons.

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As a homebrew, as a DM, I would add some kind of benefit if you had both Actor and Mastermind, since it makes sense if someone wanted to really specialize in that. Probably something like expertise on your Deception and Performance checks.

[Necrosnoop110]

An alternative way to perform a similar thing is by going Variant Human, picking up Actor, going Warlock 2 for the Mask of Many Faces invocation. It's Actor + Disguise Self as a cantrip. You can also go into the Great Old One for one-way telepathy.
Warlock all the way? Sorcerer levels for subtle spell? But I would miss out on expertise? What about the other social skills/dex skills that would be desirable? Deception, Intimidation, Performance, Persuasion, Insight, Slight of Hand?

[Man_Over_Game]

Warlock all the way? Sorcerer levels for subtle spell? But I would miss out on expertise?

You would miss out on Expertise, but keep in mind:

Expertise is between +2 and +6 on your skill.

Advantage is 2d20, keep the higher of the two, which is actually pretty close to +5 on your roll.

Expertise gives you an average of +4, and the Advantage gives you roughly a +5. They're almost the same in terms of power. You don't really need Expertise if you go with Actor, but they do stack if you do decide to get both.

If you want Expertise later, you could always grab 1 level into Rogue, but I wouldn't unless you're planning on being a weapon-oriented Warlock (which I generally wouldn't recommend anyway).

Subtle Spell is useful, but not necessary. Most of the time, you'll probably cast your spells while nobody is looking anyway.

I'd go full Warlock, maybe grabbing the Tome with the Rituals, which grants you access to all ritual spells, including things like Identify, Magic Mouth, Illusory Script, and Unseen Servant, all great for spy characters.