Spellcaster Spy Build

[RittenRemedy]

Hey everyone, I had an idea that I don't know how to carry out. So we love arcane trickster as a rogue with magic, but how would you go about building a primary spellcaster with spy skills?

The idea came from a character with the spy background. I thought someone who could use illusions but also semi-mundane skills like potions, poisons, rogue-like skills, and idk what else, but it sure sounds fun.

I think it could probably be done with any class, but depending on rolls, sorcerer might be the obvious choice? Not sure how to roleplay a bard or if dipping into rogue would be worth it. Any ideas?

[bendking]

Aberrant Mind Sorcerer with Actor. Done.
You could dip into Rogue if you really wanted expertise, though.

[Heavenblade]

Chainlocks can be A-MAZING as spies. Take misty visions and mask of many faces as invocations for all-day long lying and holograms and whatnot. (Also., eldritch blast is a gun now, cause SPIES).


Sprite familiar with voice of the chain master invocation (invisible scout who can tell you how a target feels with a touch? Yes please).

There are a couple more invocations that will help you in the social department (begueling influence if you didnt pick these skills up, the ones that let you sspeak with the dead or animals).

In the more spy-stealth kind of thing, you can take one with shadows in order to blend in under the nose of the enemy soldiers, and the levitate invocation in order to (JETPACK) bypass walls etc.


If you are a half elf (which are great in that kind of build), take the proidgy feat for more skilfulness in a skill of your choice.


All that....without talking patrons!
Fey are great for a more socially inclined warlock, hexblades will do wonders for a martial one...Im.surre giene-locks will have some shenanigans that will help spying on people.


Almost all of your abilities have a short enough recharge/ constant use that a refluff as "gudgets" is not unreasonable.

[Bobthewizard]

Aberrant Mind Sorcerer with Actor. Done.
You could dip into Rogue if you really wanted expertise, though.

This is probably the best bet with free subtle on enchantment spells at level 6. You could also consider Eloquence bard. They are pretty amazing too. Expertise in Persuasion and Deception and never rolling below a 10 gets you out of a lot of encounters.

[Zaltman]

Hex blade pact of chain 3. Whispers bard X. Mask of many faces + Mantle of Whispers + invisible familiar. Psychic blades and words of terror when you need them. The actor feat would just be icing on the cake.

[XmonkTad]

Trickery Cleric. You want to be able to have amazing perception and insight, at well as a bunch of strong spells like invisibility and disguise self when you need them. And of course, invoke duplicity for being sneaky in plain sight.

[kingcheesepants]

It really depends on what kind of flavor you're going for specifically. Some of the aforementioned classes (aberrant sorcerer, trickster cleric, warlock) definitely work. But it sounds like you want a decent number of mundane skills as well as full casting. That screams Bard to me. Just straight Bard gets you a bunch of skills and expertise in whatever you want, a spell list with plenty of illusion and utility spells and the ability to pick up literally any spell you feel you need via magical secrets. A subclass like eloquence paired with a high cha and expertise in deception means that you will basically never fail to deceive people (if that isn't a spy I don't know what is). Honestly the only thing a rouge has over a bard in terms of spying is maybe thieves tools? Sneak attack isn't really a spy thing and bards can pick up sneaking expertise just as readily and are better at all the social and diplomatic aspects of spying. A dip in sorcerer can get you telepathy (aberrant) and a few extra cantrips so that can definitely be worthwhile. But otherwise just Bard all the way. For roleplay, think James Bond or maybe a diplomat that does a little extra work for his country. People think of bards as musicians but they can be whatever you need.

[Nhorianscum]

Hey everyone, I had an idea that I don't know how to carry out. So we love arcane trickster as a rogue with magic, but how would you go about building a primary spellcaster with spy skills?

The idea came from a character with the spy background. I thought someone who could use illusions but also semi-mundane skills like potions, poisons, rogue-like skills, and idk what else, but it sure sounds fun.

I think it could probably be done with any class, but depending on rolls, sorcerer might be the obvious choice? Not sure how to roleplay a bard or if dipping into rogue would be worth it. Any ideas?

I'm a big fan of Knowledge cleric (Observant and Prodigy)

As far as gathering information goes it's hard to beat auto succeeding every roll and being able to straight up read minds.

[Guy Lombard-O]

It really depends on what kind of flavor you're going for specifically. Some of the aforementioned classes (aberrant sorcerer, trickster cleric, warlock) definitely work. But it sounds like you want a decent number of mundane skills as well as full casting. That screams Bard to me. Just straight Bard gets you a bunch of skills and expertise in whatever you want, a spell list with plenty of illusion and utility spells and the ability to pick up literally any spell you feel you need via magical secrets. A subclass like eloquence paired with a high cha and expertise in deception means that you will basically never fail to deceive people (if that isn't a spy I don't know what is). Honestly the only thing a rouge has over a bard in terms of spying is maybe thieves tools? Sneak attack isn't really a spy thing and bards can pick up sneaking expertise just as readily and are better at all the social and diplomatic aspects of spying. A dip in sorcerer can get you telepathy (aberrant) and a few extra cantrips so that can definitely be worthwhile. But otherwise just Bard all the way. For roleplay, think James Bond or maybe a diplomat that does a little extra work for his country. People think of bards as musicians but they can be whatever you need.

I'm not fully up to speed on the Aberrant sorcerer and some of the new Tasha's stuff, but it's hard to imagine a better answer than the Lore Bard.

You'll have proficiency in any 6 skills and expertise in 2 of them by 3rd level, and another 2 expertise at 10th level. Plus you have Jack of all Trades for half-proficiency in all the rest, and at 14th you also get Peerless Skill. So you'll definitely have the skills issues covered, almost as well as a rogue.

But the Bard spell list is built for spying, and magical secrets gets you anything you feel is missing. Want to physically sneak into places? Invisibility, Enhance Ability and Dimension Door (and eventually Etherealness or Teleport) are on the list, and you can pick up Pass Without Trace as a MS. Want to talk your way into a place? Cha is caster stat (like many others here) and expertise comes built in, but Charm Person, Enhance Ability, Suggestion are all on the list, and you can cover up your involvement in the intrusions with Disguise Self, Mislead and Modify Memory. Or don't even bother going into a place physically, but rather use Clairvoyance, Mislead or Scrying. If it's communications and observations you want, use Comprehend Languages, See Invisibility, Tongues, Sending, or True Seeing. Find the person or thing with Locate Object or Locate Person or Find the Path. For information inside people's minds, use Charm Person, Detect Thoughts, Zone of Truth, Suggestion, or Dream (and I guess eventually Glibness). Infiltrate or exfiltrate whole groups with Seeming.

I'm sure some of the other caster classes can do a lot of this, but I doubt any of them have access to all of them along with so many skill proficiencies & expertises.

A couple feats I'd suggest to bolster spellcasting during the social aspects would be Metamagic Adept - Subtle Spell, and possibly the Telepathic feat.

[RogueJK]

Hex blade pact of chain 3. Whispers bard X. Mask of many faces + Mantle of Whispers + invisible familiar.

I'd do similar, just going Archfey Chainlock instead of Hexblade, since we're focusing on spying and not specifically combat, and Eloquence Bard instead of Whispers, since I think Silver Tongue and Universal Speech will be more broadly useful than Mantle of Whispers and Words of Terror. (Hexblade + Whispers or Hexblade + Eloquence would be a bit better in combat, though.)

Actor and Metamagic Adept (for Subtle) are good feat options. Fey Touched is another good choice, being a CHA half-feat, plus getting you access to an additional 1st level Enchantment/Illusion spell known with a free daily casting, plus Misty Step for short-range teleportation break-ins.

Telepathic could be quite handy as well, but you could do Great Old One Chainlock instead of Archfey/Hexblade for nearly identical abilities to Telepathic without spending a feat (Detect Thoughts spell, and telepathic communication - albeit at 30' instead of 60').

For race, Yuan-Ti Pureblood, Autumn Eladrin, Fierna Tiefling, or even Ghostwise Halfling could be good choices.

[Willowhelm]

I had a character with a similar concept. This was pre-tasha so might go a different way now but 2 levels of hexblade to get mask of many faces (plus other goodies) and the rest lore bard (stealth, perception, insight and persuasion expertise! magical secrets!). It worked out very well. Spy background. Also had at will detect magic as a drow... fun times.

[Talionis]

I think all of the casters can benefit from a one level dip in Rogue. Getting expertise at level one in two skills is very helpful and does not great throw off progression and is easy to fluff.

[Witty Username]

Warlock can do very well with mask of many faces alone.

Illusionist wizard can also do well. It will have less on going abilities but get in/get out is very good.

In either case 2 levels in rogue are very helpful for nuts and bolts spy abilities.

I think the best would be Bard Lore or Whispers are both effective for this idea.

For non warlocks I would recommend a disguise kit.

[aadu]

Low INT infiltration Bladesinger.

[kazaryu]

I'd do similar, just going Archfey Chainlock instead of Hexblade, since we're focusing on spying and not specifically combat, and Eloquence Bard instead of Whispers, since I think Silver Tongue and Universal Speech will be more broadly useful than Mantle of Whispers and Words of Terror. (Hexblade + Whispers or Hexblade + Eloquence would be a bit better in combat, though.)

Actor and Metamagic Adept (for Subtle) are good feat options. Fey Touched is another good choice, being a CHA half-feat, plus getting you access to an additional 1st level Enchantment/Illusion spell known with a free daily casting, plus Misty Step for short-range teleportation break-ins.

Telepathic could be quite handy as well, but you could do Great Old One Chainlock instead of Archfey/Hexblade for nearly identical abilities to Telepathic without spending a feat (Detect Thoughts spell, and telepathic communication - albeit at 30' instead of 60').

For race, Yuan-Ti Pureblood, Autumn Eladrin, Fierna Tiefling, or even Ghostwise Halfling could be good choices.

Chainlocks can be A-MAZING as spies. Take misty visions and mask of many faces as invocations for all-day long lying and holograms and whatnot. (Also., eldritch blast is a gun now, cause SPIES).


Sprite familiar with voice of the chain master invocation (invisible scout who can tell you how a target feels with a touch? Yes please).

There are a couple more invocations that will help you in the social department (begueling influence if you didnt pick these skills up, the ones that let you sspeak with the dead or animals).

In the more spy-stealth kind of thing, you can take one with shadows in order to blend in under the nose of the enemy soldiers, and the levitate invocation in order to (JETPACK) bypass walls etc.


If you are a half elf (which are great in that kind of build), take the proidgy feat for more skilfulness in a skill of your choice.


All that....without talking patrons!
Fey are great for a more socially inclined warlock, hexblades will do wonders for a martial one...Im.surre giene-locks will have some shenanigans that will help spying on people.


Almost all of your abilities have a short enough recharge/ constant use that a refluff as "gudgets" is not unreasonable.

for an actual spy, i'd probably go goo lock. the ability to telepathically talk to someone? no need to worry about slight of hand or passing messages at all. just straight mind to mind. Message can go along way toward accomplishing this, but it still requires casting. also awakened mind isn't magical, so it wouldn't even set off the most basic of magic detection. it *also* can act as a free 'tongues' if you're willing to reveal your telepathic ability. i don't think there's any warlock subclass that can match the pure utility that awakened mind gives.

then at level 6 you have the classic 'oh no, you caught me. uno reverse!' that you see in spy movies all the time. someone is trying to take you out, you dodge their initial attack, then strike back harder.

at level 10 your mind can't be read. all of this is *classic* spy stuff. (altohugh immunity to mind reading coming in at level 10 is kidna late.....but, eh, i mean if you've survived that long.....better late than never. can probably afford to give up that ring of mind-shielding that has presumably kept you alive. free up that attunement slot.

[KorvinStarmast]

Spellcaster Spy Build
Use a bard, either Lore, Whispers, or Glamor. It is useful to remember that a huge part of being a successful spy is that those upon whom you are spying don't suspect you.

Two level dip into any warlock for two invocations won't hurt:

Mask of Many Faces
You can cast disguise self at will without spending a spell slot.
Eyes of the Rune Keeper
You can read all writing

but are not necessary)

There's a fine lore bard + rogue spy team that you may find useful. I won't try to summarize it; the whole article is so good I downloaded it to a pdf.

Tailor, Tinker, Soldier, Spy: the Bard as a Spy, Cryptography and the Fantasy
Espionage Team

(It is originally from Emily Dresner's blog). The author is someone who understands how a spy team works.