I'll first give some backstory for my character concept. Mordecai is an archaeologist. He has travelled far and wide to learn more about magical artifacts and explore ancient tombs. During one of his expeditions he came across a magical sword that belonged to the pharaoh of the tomb he was exploring. Sadly for him, the blade was cursed, making him a Hexblade Warlock. The way I want to build Mordecai is like a kind of Indiana Jones type character, always on the lookout for more treasure and knowledge.
I have come up with two builds, the main difference between them being one uses Pact of the Blade and the other Pact of the Tome. I’m really struggling with which build I should choose, since Pact of the Tome fits great thematically (a book full of research on spells. Also allowing to cast detect magic, comprehend languages and identify as rituals, spells an archaeologist would have great use for), but Pact of the Blade seems way more viable for Hexblade (mainly getting two attacks and more benefits with invocations).
Here are my two builds, V1 is with Pact of the Blade and V2 is with Pact of the Tome:
They both have pros and cons, but I just can’t decide which one I like more. I would love to hear your opinion on which build you think is better, or if you have your own build which blows these two out of the water.
Well... the first thing that jumps out at me is the odd pattern to your Scores. You were using Point Buy for Scores, and you raised your Intelligence for the Bladelock. For someone who is going to spend more of their time in melee, this seems like a strange choice. Then the Tomelock. You went big on Con there. You raised that pretty much as far as you could to start with. This seems a little backwards.
You have Warcaster on both of them. They only have one spell that needs Concentration, and that's an At Will spell, so who cares if it gets interrupted? How often will they be using Detect Magic in combat? Maybe this is something you have for later in your character's life, but it seems to me like ASI's would be more helpful to you in the short run.
You have no Pact Slot spells for the Bladelock, and you should be able to pick two more. You have one picked for your Tomelock, Armor of Agythes, a kind of nice defensive spell that punishes people who hit you. Your Tomelock is again, built better for fighting with their sword than your Bladelock. Shouldn't the Bladelock have the Armor of Agythes as well at least?
Everything else seems good. I do sort of wonder why TheHexblade as a Patron though. I guess it's a roleplaying thing. I'd have used The Celestial, The Fiend, The Genie, or the Great Old One for an Archaeologist myself. Pact of the Tome all the way then. Hexblades are combat machines and get into melee a lot. If you mess with your Scores a bit, either of those versions of Moredecai would be good. You just need to decide if you want to get into melee fights more, or concentrate on lore and exploration more. I'd go with the Tomelock.
You might consider posting a copy of this post in the Warlock class forum. People who hang out there may have much more experience and could help you better.
Thanks for the feedback! The reason I didn't add any spells is because I don't own them on DnDBeyond, namely green flame blade and booming blade. I do think indeed I need another look at my scores I need a 13 in INT or WIS for the ritual caster feat, that's why I used my race increase for INT. I'm also planning on using more concentration spells such as Hex and Invisibility, to make warcaster more useful.
I was indeed going with the Hexblade more for roleplaying purposes, but I'll have a look at the other patrons. My idea is to be more of a supportive role, maybe I'm just trying to much at once with one character.
Thanks for the feedback! The reason I didn't add any spells is because I don't own them on DnDBeyond, namely green flame blade and booming blade. I do think indeed I need another look at my scores I need a 13 in INT or WIS for the ritual caster feat, that's why I used my race increase for INT. I'm also planning on using more concentration spells such as Hex and Invisibility, to make warcaster more useful.
I was indeed going with the Hexblade more for roleplaying purposes, but I'll have a look at the other patrons. My idea is to be more of a supportive role, maybe I'm just trying to much at once with one character.
I firmly agree with Geann. The low-hanging fruit for your build is the same one I recommended to friend of mine who also has an archaeologist background, and that's a Tome Genielock, as Geann suggested. I recommend Dao, but you do you. You could pick another Patron, but Genie feels like the best fit for your backstory to me. You should change your invocations as well - Eldritch Sight is a waste of your time as a Tomelock, since Book of Ancient Secrets covers it. Just grab Agonizing Blast - there's a reason everyone grabs it.
Do you have access to Tasha's? Tasha's Custom Lineage is variant human but better. Highly recommended.
I didn't backsolve your statline to make sure you're using point buy rather than rolling stats, but using point buy, I strongly recommend leaning into the standard three stats for a Warlock, despite your backstory - you need them to live, and surviving through combat long enough to even attempt ability checks matters more than being good at the ability checks. That means, in general, point buying to 15/15/15 in cha, dex, and con, and then applying racial mods, although some races can leave you in an odd spot by doing that. Anyway, I'll show you two different takes on that, based on variant human and TCL, for level 5 (I'll be ditching War Caster, since you don't need it as an Eldritch Blast dude):
The above trick works with any half feat for Charisma, Dexterity, or Constitution, so don't feel forced into this feat in particular. TCL can do the same thing since you have a feat and an ASI to work with, or you can do this:
TCL: 15/15/15 -> 17/15/15 -> 18/15/15 (first half feat) -> 20/15/15 first ASI. That'll leave you fragile until level 8, with -1 AC and -5 to -7 hit points as you go, also -1 to dex and con saves, but the benefit is early access to accurate and damaging eldritch blasts, and if you pick up any spells that care about your Charisma, they'll better at landing, whether that's a spell attack or penetrating a save.
Note on half feats: Warlocks can make excellent use of Skill Expert because Hex lets you debuff a target's ability checks in a chosen ability. One classic example is taking Skill Expert (Athletics) and then Hexing strength to push people over, but you can mix things up if you want. Skill Expert (Persuasion) will carry you far.
Thanks for the extensive feedback! Sadly I don't have access to Tasha’s, but my birthday is coming up in just over a week. If I get Tasha’s for my birthday I’ll probably also buy the dook digitally.
I thought I could maybe use the Half-Elf as my race. Using point buy and my racial bonuses I can get a stat spread like this: 8/13+1/14+1/12/10/15+2. I don’t get a feat at level 1, but I do get darkvision and two skill proficiency. I like having a bit more in INT, since I have a lot of proficiencies in INT skills such as Arcana, Investigation and History, all of which fit quite good thematically for an archaeologist. My two starting invocations would be Agonizing Blast and Book of Ancient Secrets. Sound good?
Thanks for the extensive feedback! Sadly I don't have access to Tasha’s, but my birthday is coming up in just over a week. If I get Tasha’s for my birthday I’ll probably also buy the dook digitally.
I thought I could maybe use the Half-Elf as my race. Using point buy and my racial bonuses I can get a stat spread like this: 8/13+1/14+1/12/10/15+2. I don’t get a feat at level 1, but I do get darkvision and two skill proficiency. I like having a bit more in INT, since I have a lot of proficiencies in INT skills such as Arcana, Investigation and History, all of which fit quite good thematically for an archaeologist. My two starting invocations would be Agonizing Blast and Book of Ancient Secrets. Sound good?
I guess it depends how firmly you want to embrace archaeology as something you're genuinely good at, as opposed to being passionate about - I would think your backstory of being incompetent enough to get hit with a curse forcing you to have a warlock patron is more appropriate to the latter, which would imply a lot of Charisma and not much in the way of genuine smarts. I like to simultaneously write my backstory such that my build fits it and make my build such that my backstory fits it, since regardless of how you write your backstory, you have to actually survive battle to credibly exist. It's a dangerous world out there. So if I were trying to commit to someone genuinely good at Arcana, Investigation, and History, I'd look into finding a way to make Wizard or Artificer fit, so it makes inherent sense that my character is good at these skills, but is also competent at their core class competencies. For example, it would be trivial to reflavor Artificer to fit the ancient curse motif you have going (especially since Artificers prepare spells). I would personally probably go Battlesmith, and portray the defender as an ancient temple statue come to life to protect and serve me - much like the new UA lets actual Warlocks have stone statue pets as a patron boon.
Your core statline is ok, just make sure you don't snuggle up to combat. Giving up on physical stats (AC, hit points, dex saves, con saves, initiative, and stealth) for mental (wis saves+perception+insight is excellent) is quite a net loss in durability. Half-Elves make excellent warlocks, particularly with Devil's Sight + Elven Accuracy + Darkness, but the visibility trick to keep yourself alive is tricky at level 1. A lot of builds are like that, where something that comes along later than level 1 completely changes the build. Heck, look at Moon Druids.
Indiana Jones is kind of a dumb jock of an archaeologist, I think leaving your intelligence at 12ish is fine, in favor of focusing on sex appeal (charisma) and athleticism (Dex, con).
Hexblade is not a very well rounded subclass, other than letting you attack with charisma it’s hard to put a finger on any other “cool table moments” it provides (other than RPing an evil necromancer with the Shade? Wtf). All they really do is “melee stuff, but with attitude.” Genie, on the other hand, is VERY packed with diverse and interesting features and spells. Flying, hidden pocket planes, interesting spell selection, elemental resistance, wishes… Be a genie, buy Tasha’s.
Pact of the Talisman or Pact of the Tome are both good and interesting, Pact of the Blade not so much. You don’t need your whip to be a spell focus (especially because if you aren’t a Hexblade, you’re not holding a shield in the other hand), and other than that, no real features to find. Book of Ancient Secrets for Tome is GREAT at making you a versatile exploration caster, and the new Far Scribe invocation is also amazing for plot-heavy campaigns or open world sandboxes. And Gift of the Protectors?! OMG tome invocations are too good… Tome is my clear preference. But if your party already has a Wizard who will be fighting you for ritual scrolls, go Talisman instead, which is very thematic with Genie, has a useful baseline ability, and several useful-but-not-essential invocations.
You can be a melee warlock using GFB and BB WITHOUT maxing charisma (shocking, I know!). Start with a 17 Dex and 16 Cha, with other points in Con and maybe a little intelligence. Use a Finesse weapon (whip!). Bump Dex to 18 at 4 with Skill Expert or Piercer, and to 20 at 8 with an ASI. Increase Charisma in Tiers 3 and 4, either with ASI to get to 20 quickly, or a little slower with Fey Touched, Shadow Touched, etc. to pick up some welcome extra spells to pad out your limited pact slots.
16 in your casting stat is FINE, if you mostly use Dex-based attacks, and mostly use spells for RP, exploration, or party support (buffs, heals, and terrain spells that don’t attack or ask for saves). There are plenty of those on the Warlock list, especially as a Genie (Spike Growth! Fly. That kind of stuff). Even if you have to cast Eldritch Blast now and again with a 16 or 18 Charisma... that's only 5-10% lower hit chance than a 20, and you get multiple attack rolls with the spell, so you'll survive. Just don't go all-in on expecting save-or-nothing spells like Hold Monster or something to take effect with a 16, stick to non-attack-non-saves, or to spells that will at least do half damage or some effect when the enemy saves.
You might consider multiclassing into Rogue a little bit, to pick up some Sneak Attack dice and more dungeoneering competence, or Fighter for Extra Attack and cinematic turns using Action Surge. Melee Genie Warlocks, like most Warlocks, don’t suffer much from slowing down for a few levels of fighter or rogue, because warlock pact slot progression isn’t very fast anyway.
I'm pretty convinced on the Genie, I've had a look at the subclass and it fits the theme of archaeology perfectly. Couldn't you also use Message instead of Far Scribe, perhaps picking it as one of your extra cantrips with Pact of the Tome? I don't know if I'll be multiclassing, but if I do I'm definitely picking up some levels in rogue. But now I'm again torn between two builds, making a warlock only build that's more supportive or a warlock/rogue multiclass than can take on baddies head to head... :(
I did overlook non-Hexblades lacking Martial weapons, though, when I recommended a Whip. A Dagger will serve just as well, if you can't pick up the Martial proficiency elsewhere along the way.
Message is fine for talking to the group, its a great way to let a character scout ahead a short ways, or for the party to justify table talk while they formulate a plan while spread out. But Sending, from Far Scribe, is a horse of a different color, letting you speak with NPCs or party members around the world, or even on different planes! It's great for shortening/enhancing quests that involve some back-and-forth and coordination with NPCs. The ability to do it with your penpals as much as you want without slots or components is a great way to keep tabs on important NPCs.
I'm pretty convinced on the Genie, I've had a look at the subclass and it fits the theme of archaeology perfectly. Couldn't you also use Message instead of Far Scribe, perhaps picking it as one of your extra cantrips with Pact of the Tome? I don't know if I'll be multiclassing, but if I do I'm definitely picking up some levels in rogue. But now I'm again torn between two builds, making a warlock only build that's more supportive or a warlock/rogue multiclass than can take on baddies head to head... :(
Split the difference and multiclass into Mastermind rogue. That way you can play a fast talking, knowitall, hoarder, and packrat of trinkets, gewgaws, and artifacts. You have an extra dimensional storage closet for your collection and you can also quip as a bonus action Help to support your party. Combining a blade cantrip with sneak attack is big fun, believe me.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
I might also suggest the Inquisitive Rogue... then you can focus on Int & Cha, with decent to good stats in Wis and Dex (Perception and all things Rogue-ish are your friends). Dump Str, get Con as high as you can with what's left.
If you want to keep up the "it should be in a museum!" be sure to add Athletics as one of your Expertise skills, although I wouldn't do that until 6th.
I'd also start at level 1 as the Rogue (for more skills), and then the Lock of your choice. Tomb is the way to go, by the look of things.
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I'll first give some backstory for my character concept. Mordecai is an archaeologist. He has travelled far and wide to learn more about magical artifacts and explore ancient tombs. During one of his expeditions he came across a magical sword that belonged to the pharaoh of the tomb he was exploring. Sadly for him, the blade was cursed, making him a Hexblade Warlock. The way I want to build Mordecai is like a kind of Indiana Jones type character, always on the lookout for more treasure and knowledge.
I have come up with two builds, the main difference between them being one uses Pact of the Blade and the other Pact of the Tome. I’m really struggling with which build I should choose, since Pact of the Tome fits great thematically (a book full of research on spells. Also allowing to cast detect magic, comprehend languages and identify as rituals, spells an archaeologist would have great use for), but Pact of the Blade seems way more viable for Hexblade (mainly getting two attacks and more benefits with invocations).
Here are my two builds, V1 is with Pact of the Blade and V2 is with Pact of the Tome:
Mordecai V1 https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/HuubBr24/characters/52254277
Mordecai V2 https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/HuubBr24/characters/52361786
They both have pros and cons, but I just can’t decide which one I like more. I would love to hear your opinion on which build you think is better, or if you have your own build which blows these two out of the water.
Well... the first thing that jumps out at me is the odd pattern to your Scores. You were using Point Buy for Scores, and you raised your Intelligence for the Bladelock. For someone who is going to spend more of their time in melee, this seems like a strange choice. Then the Tomelock. You went big on Con there. You raised that pretty much as far as you could to start with. This seems a little backwards.
You have Warcaster on both of them. They only have one spell that needs Concentration, and that's an At Will spell, so who cares if it gets interrupted? How often will they be using Detect Magic in combat? Maybe this is something you have for later in your character's life, but it seems to me like ASI's would be more helpful to you in the short run.
You have no Pact Slot spells for the Bladelock, and you should be able to pick two more. You have one picked for your Tomelock, Armor of Agythes, a kind of nice defensive spell that punishes people who hit you. Your Tomelock is again, built better for fighting with their sword than your Bladelock. Shouldn't the Bladelock have the Armor of Agythes as well at least?
Everything else seems good. I do sort of wonder why The Hexblade as a Patron though. I guess it's a roleplaying thing. I'd have used The Celestial, The Fiend, The Genie, or the Great Old One for an Archaeologist myself. Pact of the Tome all the way then. Hexblades are combat machines and get into melee a lot. If you mess with your Scores a bit, either of those versions of Moredecai would be good. You just need to decide if you want to get into melee fights more, or concentrate on lore and exploration more. I'd go with the Tomelock.
You might consider posting a copy of this post in the Warlock class forum. People who hang out there may have much more experience and could help you better.
<Insert clever signature here>
Thanks for the feedback! The reason I didn't add any spells is because I don't own them on DnDBeyond, namely green flame blade and booming blade. I do think indeed I need another look at my scores I need a 13 in INT or WIS for the ritual caster feat, that's why I used my race increase for INT. I'm also planning on using more concentration spells such as Hex and Invisibility, to make warcaster more useful.
I was indeed going with the Hexblade more for roleplaying purposes, but I'll have a look at the other patrons. My idea is to be more of a supportive role, maybe I'm just trying to much at once with one character.
I firmly agree with Geann. The low-hanging fruit for your build is the same one I recommended to friend of mine who also has an archaeologist background, and that's a Tome Genielock, as Geann suggested. I recommend Dao, but you do you. You could pick another Patron, but Genie feels like the best fit for your backstory to me. You should change your invocations as well - Eldritch Sight is a waste of your time as a Tomelock, since Book of Ancient Secrets covers it. Just grab Agonizing Blast - there's a reason everyone grabs it.
Do you have access to Tasha's? Tasha's Custom Lineage is variant human but better. Highly recommended.
I didn't backsolve your statline to make sure you're using point buy rather than rolling stats, but using point buy, I strongly recommend leaning into the standard three stats for a Warlock, despite your backstory - you need them to live, and surviving through combat long enough to even attempt ability checks matters more than being good at the ability checks. That means, in general, point buying to 15/15/15 in cha, dex, and con, and then applying racial mods, although some races can leave you in an odd spot by doing that. Anyway, I'll show you two different takes on that, based on variant human and TCL, for level 5 (I'll be ditching War Caster, since you don't need it as an Eldritch Blast dude):
VHuman: 15/15/15 -> 16/16/15 -> Resilient (Constitution) -> 16/16/16 -> 18/16/16 from level 4 ASI.
The above trick works with any half feat for Charisma, Dexterity, or Constitution, so don't feel forced into this feat in particular. TCL can do the same thing since you have a feat and an ASI to work with, or you can do this:
TCL: 15/15/15 -> 17/15/15 -> 18/15/15 (first half feat) -> 20/15/15 first ASI. That'll leave you fragile until level 8, with -1 AC and -5 to -7 hit points as you go, also -1 to dex and con saves, but the benefit is early access to accurate and damaging eldritch blasts, and if you pick up any spells that care about your Charisma, they'll better at landing, whether that's a spell attack or penetrating a save.
Note on half feats: Warlocks can make excellent use of Skill Expert because Hex lets you debuff a target's ability checks in a chosen ability. One classic example is taking Skill Expert (Athletics) and then Hexing strength to push people over, but you can mix things up if you want. Skill Expert (Persuasion) will carry you far.
Thanks for the extensive feedback! Sadly I don't have access to Tasha’s, but my birthday is coming up in just over a week. If I get Tasha’s for my birthday I’ll probably also buy the dook digitally.
I thought I could maybe use the Half-Elf as my race. Using point buy and my racial bonuses I can get a stat spread like this: 8/13+1/14+1/12/10/15+2. I don’t get a feat at level 1, but I do get darkvision and two skill proficiency. I like having a bit more in INT, since I have a lot of proficiencies in INT skills such as Arcana, Investigation and History, all of which fit quite good thematically for an archaeologist. My two starting invocations would be Agonizing Blast and Book of Ancient Secrets. Sound good?
I guess it depends how firmly you want to embrace archaeology as something you're genuinely good at, as opposed to being passionate about - I would think your backstory of being incompetent enough to get hit with a curse forcing you to have a warlock patron is more appropriate to the latter, which would imply a lot of Charisma and not much in the way of genuine smarts. I like to simultaneously write my backstory such that my build fits it and make my build such that my backstory fits it, since regardless of how you write your backstory, you have to actually survive battle to credibly exist. It's a dangerous world out there. So if I were trying to commit to someone genuinely good at Arcana, Investigation, and History, I'd look into finding a way to make Wizard or Artificer fit, so it makes inherent sense that my character is good at these skills, but is also competent at their core class competencies. For example, it would be trivial to reflavor Artificer to fit the ancient curse motif you have going (especially since Artificers prepare spells). I would personally probably go Battlesmith, and portray the defender as an ancient temple statue come to life to protect and serve me - much like the new UA lets actual Warlocks have stone statue pets as a patron boon.
Your core statline is ok, just make sure you don't snuggle up to combat. Giving up on physical stats (AC, hit points, dex saves, con saves, initiative, and stealth) for mental (wis saves+perception+insight is excellent) is quite a net loss in durability. Half-Elves make excellent warlocks, particularly with Devil's Sight + Elven Accuracy + Darkness, but the visibility trick to keep yourself alive is tricky at level 1. A lot of builds are like that, where something that comes along later than level 1 completely changes the build. Heck, look at Moon Druids.
Indiana Jones is kind of a dumb jock of an archaeologist, I think leaving your intelligence at 12ish is fine, in favor of focusing on sex appeal (charisma) and athleticism (Dex, con).
Hexblade is not a very well rounded subclass, other than letting you attack with charisma it’s hard to put a finger on any other “cool table moments” it provides (other than RPing an evil necromancer with the Shade? Wtf). All they really do is “melee stuff, but with attitude.” Genie, on the other hand, is VERY packed with diverse and interesting features and spells. Flying, hidden pocket planes, interesting spell selection, elemental resistance, wishes… Be a genie, buy Tasha’s.
Pact of the Talisman or Pact of the Tome are both good and interesting, Pact of the Blade not so much. You don’t need your whip to be a spell focus (especially because if you aren’t a Hexblade, you’re not holding a shield in the other hand), and other than that, no real features to find. Book of Ancient Secrets for Tome is GREAT at making you a versatile exploration caster, and the new Far Scribe invocation is also amazing for plot-heavy campaigns or open world sandboxes. And Gift of the Protectors?! OMG tome invocations are too good… Tome is my clear preference. But if your party already has a Wizard who will be fighting you for ritual scrolls, go Talisman instead, which is very thematic with Genie, has a useful baseline ability, and several useful-but-not-essential invocations.
You can be a melee warlock using GFB and BB WITHOUT maxing charisma (shocking, I know!). Start with a 17 Dex and 16 Cha, with other points in Con and maybe a little intelligence. Use a Finesse weapon (whip!). Bump Dex to 18 at 4 with Skill Expert or Piercer, and to 20 at 8 with an ASI. Increase Charisma in Tiers 3 and 4, either with ASI to get to 20 quickly, or a little slower with Fey Touched, Shadow Touched, etc. to pick up some welcome extra spells to pad out your limited pact slots.
16 in your casting stat is FINE, if you mostly use Dex-based attacks, and mostly use spells for RP, exploration, or party support (buffs, heals, and terrain spells that don’t attack or ask for saves). There are plenty of those on the Warlock list, especially as a Genie (Spike Growth! Fly. That kind of stuff). Even if you have to cast Eldritch Blast now and again with a 16 or 18 Charisma... that's only 5-10% lower hit chance than a 20, and you get multiple attack rolls with the spell, so you'll survive. Just don't go all-in on expecting save-or-nothing spells like Hold Monster or something to take effect with a 16, stick to non-attack-non-saves, or to spells that will at least do half damage or some effect when the enemy saves.
You might consider multiclassing into Rogue a little bit, to pick up some Sneak Attack dice and more dungeoneering competence, or Fighter for Extra Attack and cinematic turns using Action Surge. Melee Genie Warlocks, like most Warlocks, don’t suffer much from slowing down for a few levels of fighter or rogue, because warlock pact slot progression isn’t very fast anyway.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
I'm pretty convinced on the Genie, I've had a look at the subclass and it fits the theme of archaeology perfectly. Couldn't you also use Message instead of Far Scribe, perhaps picking it as one of your extra cantrips with Pact of the Tome? I don't know if I'll be multiclassing, but if I do I'm definitely picking up some levels in rogue. But now I'm again torn between two builds, making a warlock only build that's more supportive or a warlock/rogue multiclass than can take on baddies head to head... :(
I did overlook non-Hexblades lacking Martial weapons, though, when I recommended a Whip. A Dagger will serve just as well, if you can't pick up the Martial proficiency elsewhere along the way.
Message is fine for talking to the group, its a great way to let a character scout ahead a short ways, or for the party to justify table talk while they formulate a plan while spread out. But Sending, from Far Scribe, is a horse of a different color, letting you speak with NPCs or party members around the world, or even on different planes! It's great for shortening/enhancing quests that involve some back-and-forth and coordination with NPCs. The ability to do it with your penpals as much as you want without slots or components is a great way to keep tabs on important NPCs.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Split the difference and multiclass into Mastermind rogue. That way you can play a fast talking, knowitall, hoarder, and packrat of trinkets, gewgaws, and artifacts. You have an extra dimensional storage closet for your collection and you can also quip as a bonus action Help to support your party. Combining a blade cantrip with sneak attack is big fun, believe me.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
I might also suggest the Inquisitive Rogue... then you can focus on Int & Cha, with decent to good stats in Wis and Dex (Perception and all things Rogue-ish are your friends). Dump Str, get Con as high as you can with what's left.
If you want to keep up the "it should be in a museum!" be sure to add Athletics as one of your Expertise skills, although I wouldn't do that until 6th.
I'd also start at level 1 as the Rogue (for more skills), and then the Lock of your choice. Tomb is the way to go, by the look of things.