Question about a character concept

[Vasrock]

Hey there, everyone! I hope you are all well! I have a character concept that I need a little help fleshing out.

I’m getting ready to play Dragonheist, and I’m looking into playing some sort of party face/master manipulator. I was thinking of going mastermind rogue for both flavor and abilities, but college of whispers bard also caught my eye.

I’m a somewhat new player, meaning I have some playtime under my belt, but not more than a years worth. Does anyone have any suggestions? Doing point buy or standard array for stats. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks again!

[Vekon]

Hey there, everyone! I hope you are all well! I have a character concept that I need a little help fleshing out.

I’m getting ready to play Dragonheist, and I’m looking into playing some sort of party face/master manipulator. I was thinking of going mastermind rogue for both flavor and abilities, but college of whispers bard also caught my eye.

I’m a somewhat new player, meaning I have some playtime under my belt, but not more than a years worth. Does anyone have any suggestions? Doing point buy or standard array for stats. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks again!

To me, being a face means having a very high Charisma score, expertise in Charisma skills, and having (magical)effects that improve your ability to make others see your way, or put you in favorable light.

Being a manipulator is quite similar with more a focus on getting people to do what you want, and making them believe they're doing the correct thing, even if it isn't.

The Bard is generally good at all of those things, and the College of Glamour does it quite well. So long as you're able to play some sick tunes every now and again. Its 3rd level feature is a real treat when you can use it. And overall the subclass stays good when initiative is rolled.

[Particle_Man]

Just to throw another option in there, sorcerer is able at third level to use metamagic that allows a spell (say charm person) to be cast without verbal or somatic components.

[Man_Over_Game]

Hey there, everyone! I hope you are all well! I have a character concept that I need a little help fleshing out.

I’m getting ready to play Dragonheist, and I’m looking into playing some sort of party face/master manipulator. I was thinking of going mastermind rogue for both flavor and abilities, but college of whispers bard also caught my eye.

I’m a somewhat new player, meaning I have some playtime under my belt, but not more than a years worth. Does anyone have any suggestions? Doing point buy or standard array for stats. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks again!

It's important to know what roles need to be filled for your party. Being a Face sounds like it always needs Charisma, but being an Inquisitive Rogue may provide more for a team with their utility and RP elements than a Swashbuckler if a team already has a Paladin and a Sorcerer.

So consider these aspects for what your team already has without including you:

Lots of attacks (Mastermind Rogue)
Lots of Melee combatants (Glamour Bard, Inquisitive Rogue)
Lots of Ranged combatants (Swashbuckler Rogue/Paladin/Valour Bard)
Low damage (Whispers Bard)
Low healing (Valor Bard, Glamour Bard)
Small party (Lore Bard)
Large Party (Glamour Bard)
Lack of skills (Lore Bard/Inquisitive Rogue)
Lots of magic (Any Rogue)

I've seen high Charisma Sorcerers use their Charisma as a combat stat as they just hate on everyone. But the opposite is also true; just because you have low Charisma doesn't mean you cannot dominate RP elements. A Sherlock Holmes-like Inquisitive Rogue may not be charismatic, but he doesn't have to be to get people to obey him. Sometimes, just being good at what you do and being unique is more than enough.

Focus on what your team needs the most, and you'll stand out more.

If you do not know what your party consists of, I'd probably say the Bard of Whispers is the most classical, diverse form of a manipulator in the game, rivaled by Great Old One Warlock for Disguise Self and a "super Message" at-will, and the Mastermind Rogue.