Ultimate Face/infiltrator Character?

[Mandarin]

Alright, I am attempting to build what in my mind is the ultimate infiltrator. This character is built with the thought that 90% of combat can be avoided, the other 10% can be done easily by creating advantages. Obviously this would be heavily DM and campaign dependent but go with it.

Race- Tiefling
Background- Urchin
Starting Stats with a stat buy

Str-8
Dex-14
Con-14
Int-8+1=9
Wis-12
Cha-15+2=17

1 Rogue- This gives you expertise immediately to start your face journey, place into persuasion and deception.

2-6 GOO Warlock, Pact of the Chain, Pick up Actor Feat making your CHA 18, Mask of Many Faces invocations and whichever else for damage or utility after that (I am a big fan of voice of the chain master and sending my imp to the next area while I sleep to gather intel and not waste the groups time). This character is online.

7-11 Lore Bard- Cutting words and more skills/expertise along with precious level 1,2,3 spell slots and ritual casting! You also now get your cutting words recharged on a short rest matching the warlock style of resting. Push CHA up to 20.

12-20 Warlock. This is this characters time to shine.

This build is centered around an invisible imp that can go anywhere, does not sleep, and is basically constantly scouting, telepathically prompting you to pay attention when there is something/someone or importance. While the party spends its week of downtime doing odd and end activities, you are periodically resting your eyes in the corner while you learn every tidbit of information on the next section of the campaign... people, voices, patrol patterns, where people sleep, where they get their clothes washed, where their bank accounts are located. Everything.

When the party is ready to move, they look to you for intel and advice. With disguise self at will and Actor feat to be anyone, cutting words and hex to make it nearly mathmatically impossible to be found out you lead the way. Ritual casting allows you to cast comprehend languages where it is needed without worrying about a spell slot and tongues to overcome anything else... you speak telepathically if somehow all of that fails. Spells like Suggestion for those hard enemies that just need to go swim across an ocean or for that banker you followed home and need to replace without making a fuss. Locked door? No problem, you are a level 1 rogue after all. This character also still has eldricth blast and some damaging spells to help out in combat if necessary, If it were me I would take MAsk of Many Faces, Voice of the Chain Master, and Agonizing Blast.... I would beg the dm to let me find a hat of disguise at some point to drop Mask and take Misty Visions... becauser I have found a 15x15 at will silent image can change battlefields.

Alright so some things I have done with similar characters.

Taken out massive loans from a moneylender as someone else.
Convinced a banker to take out a loan for his best friend who was actually me (I killed his slaver friend)
Convinced a cult I was their leader (She was dead and buried) and had declared war on a different cult nearby.
Became the archbishop of a province (He died but nobody saw but our party... so wallah!)

You get the idea.

NOW, if have actually read the wall of text, or not. What would you do differently to optimize this type of build?

[Mandarin]

I am also open to other ideas if they think a totally different route is better!

[MikeRoxTheBoat]

Have you read the Social God guide here? I feel like that has a lot of insights for perfecting this type of character.

Otherwise, I actually had a similar build in mind for a Yuan-ti Pureblood Warlock Infiltrator. I always felt that Warlock + Mask of Many Faces + Actor was rife with opportunities for infiltration types.

Rogue/Bard might be the way to go if you're not planning on being in disguise the entire time. Mask of Many Faces is at it's best when you're real identity is something you don't even want your party to know (such as with Yuan-ti).

[Mandarin]

I did read it! I just felt like it did not cover the use of an imp+voice of the chain+actor+mask of many faces at all... And I am trying to figure out if it is optimized to have more warlock levels or just dip 3 and stick with bard. Or something I havent thought of.

[Rolero]

Have you considered Changelling for the race?
It basically comes with shapechange at will, free actor and advantage in bluff situations to pass for another person. Gives you two social skills for free and one tool with twice the proficiency. It is pretty much tailored to be a social god/infiltrator.

An extra level in Bard may come in handy as well, getting an extra 3rd level slot, an extra know spell and Magical Secrets to get whatever you need for another class list. I'll even recommend seven levels in bard to grab Polymorph or Greater Invisibility.
More levels in Rogue (up to 3rd) to get Cunning action and Mage Hand Legerdemain can do wonders for an infiltrator (besides the extra spells and cantrips)

Rogue 3 / Bard 7 / Warlock 10 can be a neat combo. If you don't care for 4th level spells or extra rogue talents, more Warlock will give 3 spells per short rest and 1 more invocation, but not much else.

I think that what a good infiltrator/social god needs is versatility and a good variety of perks to adapt to any situation.

[MikeRoxTheBoat]

I might actually go Bard 17/Warlock 3 for this. The four expertise should cover most of what you need, you can get Mask of Many Faces + Voice, while still eventually getting 9th level spells. 2nd level short rest spells slots could be used for invisibility, or possibly Alter Self if you wanted more security for your disguise, or something Mask of Many Faces can't cover (like tails). Seems like the best of everything.

Your plan works, though. Honestly, EB with Agonizing Blast will keep you relevant for everything if you take more Warlock levels, so you can do whatever at that point. The higher level short rest slots could also be helpful.

[Damon_Tor]

You're relying too much on magic, so in a setting where magic is common enough to be both expected and planned for you're going to have a bad time. Detect Magic can be cast perpetually by any wizard or cleric right at level 1, so you can bet if try using Disguise Self on anyone of any means whatsoever there's going to be somebody leaning over to tell him you reek of illusion magic. For this reason, a mundane disguise kit will (perhaps ironically) serve you better when it matters.

For the same reason, don't expect an invisible imp to go unnoticed around anyone important: See Invisibility is a relatively low level spell so you can expect anyone important to have someone nearby him with that spell active most of the time. A Nondetection spell is an important part of your arsenal for this reason (as is Magic Aura for fooling Detect Magic and Paladins). Really important persons will have truesight or someone near them with truesight, so even shapeshifting won't help you against major figures. There's a sort of irony that a mundane disguise kit will serve you better in these situations.

I feel like you should push rogue to 11 for reliable talent. Being able to have a minimum dice roll of 10 on any deception or stealth check is massive, it effectively removes all chance at failure for your expertise skills. It's stronger than cutting words IMO because it requires no action on your part.

That's not to say magic isn't important, and Mask of Many Faces is great for quickly changing appearances in an unlimited way, but I wouldn't go all-in on the warlock, 3 levels is plenty, especially because the warlock doesn't have Magic Aura or Nondetection. Your rogue levels can get you most of the spells you need via Arcane Trickster while just a dip in Warlock gets you Mask of Many Faces. I'd also grab at least three levels of sorcerer for subtle casting metamagic, which is always a good idea. You can also extend the duration of your spells with the extented metamagic, useful for stretching Nondetection across a long rest, or to reduce your need to excuse yourself to the restroom to refresh Disguise Self during a dinner party.

Another spell many people don't think of as important for a dedicated infiltrator: Enlarge/Reduce. Being able to effectively disguise yourself as a goblin or ogre can be useful, though the ruse can never last more than a minute (two with extended metamagic).

[Mandarin]

You're relying too much on magic, so in a setting where magic is common enough to be both expected and planned for you're going to have a bad time. Detect Magic can be cast perpetually by any wizard or cleric right at level 1, so you can bet if try using Disguise Self on anyone of any means whatsoever there's going to be somebody leaning over to tell him you reek of illusion magic. For this reason, a mundane disguise kit will (perhaps ironically) serve you better when it matters.

For the same reason, don't expect an invisible imp to go unnoticed around anyone important: See Invisibility is a relatively low level spell so you can expect anyone important to have someone nearby him with that spell active most of the time. A Nondetection spell is an important part of your arsenal for this reason (as is Magic Aura for fooling Detect Magic and Paladins). Really important persons will have truesight or someone near them with truesight, so even shapeshifting won't help you against major figures. There's a sort of irony that a mundane disguise kit will serve you better in these situations.

I feel like you should push rogue to 11 for reliable talent. Being able to have a minimum dice roll of 10 on any deception or stealth check is massive, it effectively removes all chance at failure for your expertise skills. It's stronger than cutting words IMO because it requires no action on your part.

That's not to say magic isn't important, and Mask of Many Faces is great for quickly changing appearances in an unlimited way, but I wouldn't go all-in on the warlock, 3 levels is plenty, especially because the warlock doesn't have Magic Aura or Nondetection. Your rogue levels can get you most of the spells you need via Arcane Trickster while just a dip in Warlock gets you Mask of Many Faces. I'd also grab at least three levels of sorcerer for subtle casting metamagic, which is always a good idea. You can also extend the duration of your spells with the extented metamagic, useful for stretching Nondetection across a long rest, or to reduce your need to excuse yourself to the restroom to refresh Disguise Self during a dinner party.

Another spell many people don't think of as important for a dedicated infiltrator: Enlarge/Reduce. Being able to effectively disguise yourself as a goblin or ogre can be useful, though the ruse can never last more than a minute (two with extended metamagic).

That literally flipped me on my head reading that. I have been in many campaigns and have yet to have a DM devious enough to employ half of what you are suggesting. I see your point.

Ok, so rogue level 11 is pretty bonkers... which means I probably wanted to take advantage of sneak attack instead of eldricth blast. Also when do I get the level 3 warlock in? It sounds like that character would not really come "online" until late game? How would you structure the build, feats ect?

Roler: I have something to admit that is rather embarassing... I had no idea changeling was an official race. I just read up on it and am ordering eberron. Looks pretty legit. I am going to tinker with some more rogue builds... I just hate getting away from that imp... having an invisible spider that doesnt sleep that can telepathically speak to me across any distance and I can see and hear through his senses is... or at least has been INVALUABLE to gathering intel... I get excited to rest for the night knowing in the morning I am going to have a LOT more knowledge of the bad guys.

[Man_Over_Game]

Changeling isn't quite "official". It can't be used in Adventure League games. It's like halfway between 'official' and 'Unearthed Arcana'. So 'kinda' official, but not 'official' official. If that made any sense.

There's no reason it has to be a Warlock familiar. A mouse or a squirrel should work just as well. Most places aren't going to care if a mouse runs by. Picking up Ritual Caster can get that for you, along with things like Identify, Alarm, Magic Mouth, Rary's Telepathic Bond, and a bunch of other stuff.

[Sigreid]

I would do 2 levels of warlock for the disguise invocation and mastermind for the ability to fool magical divination.

[Man_Over_Game]

I would do 2 levels of warlock for the disguise invocation and mastermind for the ability to fool magical divination.

You don't need to rely on the Mask of Many Faces invocation when the Mastermind is able to deftly put on disguises using a skill check that they have Expertise in and can take 10 with.

It'd be the equivalent of having 5 languages and then still deciding to take Tongues. Sure, it's an upgrade, but...was it worth it?

[Sigreid]

You don't need to rely on the Mask of Many Faces invocation when the Mastermind is able to deftly put on disguises using a skill check that they have Expertise in and can take 10 with.

It'd be the equivalent of having 5 languages and then still deciding to take Tongues. Sure, it's an upgrade, but...was it worth it?

What can I say? I like the instant change of the invocation.