My bard and Astarion work as a team to do the robbing. When you perform, crowds gather around you, so it’s very useful for redirecting prying eyes so Astarion can pick pockets.
Bards are objectively the best if you want the full breadth of options to move the story around. If you want to kick ass in combat or sling more spells, other classes are better at those aspects of the game, but Bards are going to give you a lot more to play with in terms of the RP.
Not spoiling anything either, but you can always try bard and change your class later, as there is a mechanic in the game for that.
I’ve never gotten over how annoying the food / injury system in Metal Gear Solid 3 was. I almost didn’t play it because 30 minutes in it pissed me off so much.