Rip-dungeon-apart character

[PnPgamer]

I was wondering about a character that would revisit a dungeon the party has visited and take a few extra things that require more time than just spot and grab. Like such a stone slab that was part of an dm intended puzzle and decorated with pictures and ancient text, but must be chiseled out of the wall. Another example would be tear apart a trap in the wall that the party rogue (could be you) did disable, and sell the parts for a slight profit. All this would be my characters downtime activity mostly.

I do not mean a character that just goes full hoarder and tear everything down, like curtains, wooden doors or anything of the like. I mean something that has

What skills and abilities I should go for? What type of class? What professions?

I am looking for general non-system dependant answers mostly, but we are currently playing 5th edition of dungeons and dragons, so something out of there can be mentioned.

 

[sigfile]

For 5E, for downtime activity in a location with no threat, classes and skills really don't matter. You just want to be able to reliably disassemble stuff without breaking it. Proficiency in carpenter's tools and mason's tools would cover most everything you might need. That would be a dungeon-delving way to flavor the "Crafting" component of downtime activity.

 

[Voort]

(also assuming 5E) Skill-wise, History and Investigation would be most useful for appraising valuables. For profession (background), the Guild merchant variant seems appropriate. Since this combo needs decent Intelligence, I'd recommend a Wizard, Eldritch Knight, or Arcane Trickster.

 

[Redthistle]

Another consideration would be transportation of heavy and Large or larger objects, so hiring workers with Animal Handling and Vehicles (Land) might be necessary.

 

[Orlax]

Truthfully if you are doing this you would be full hoarder. The way an oddity shop, or consignment shop, or thrift store (however you want to think of the business) works is my having a large volume of trash others might consider treasure. You would tear down those curtains and wooden doors (so long as they are of a reasonable quality you could sell for an exorbitant price) because that's how you keep the business going.

I'd definitely say some kind of merchant background. Something that gives you a connection to a system of buyers and sellers. You are essentially a free range picker that gets interesting items and sells them either to interested patrons, or to other more established brick and mortar shops that will buy the item from you and hold onto it till they can find a buyer (but those guys will usually want a discount of the price you'd be looking to get because that's the price they are going to sell it at).

That leads me into my next point: persuasion and insight, this guy better have it.

I'm thinking some kind of rogue is your best bet here. The number of skills you are going to want is fairly high, and with expertise you can be really good at selling and appraisal. Considering int will be big for the character I'd suggest arcane trickster.

 

[Coyote81]

I think a mutliclass character with 3 levels of Lore bard and the rest in Cleric knowledge domain would make you into a very good seeker of knowledge. Someone who has the skills and the thirst to acquire and study all the things you want to dismantle from a dungeon. Once per short rest you can invoke divinity and become proficient with a tool or skill for 10mins, sometimes this is all you need to get through a rough patch. A background representing a scholar would be perfect.

 

[PnPgamer]

thanks everyone for the feedback.
The thing would also be that there would be as little as possible of DM opposition on this, logic wise. Could guild artisan directly be an archeologist type?

 

[Coyote81]

thanks everyone for the feedback.
The thing would also be that there would be as little as possible of DM opposition on this, logic wise. Could guild artisan directly be an archeologist type?

I could see a guild artisan being a Antiquarian. Maybe specializing in archaeological goods.

 

[Redthistle]

Double-posted, therefore deleted.

 

[Redthistle]

thanks everyone for the feedback.
The thing would also be that there would be as little as possible of DM opposition on this, logic wise. Could guild artisan directly be an archeologist type?

None of the 20 listed categories (PHB p132) fits what you're describing. I would recommend cobbling together a mix of Guild Artisan and Sage for the PC's background.