Help me round off this Vampire Champion!

We're starting a new campaign shortly (Blood Lords, no spoilers please). I'm putting the finishing touches to my character, but there are a few things that I'm on the fence about and I'd love your input!

So far I have an Ancient Elf Champion, with the following things locked in:

• Using the (cowardly) 2 Free Attribute boosts instead of the usual Elf selection to avoid a Constitution penalty.
• Using the Start As Undead rules to begin with the Vampire dedication (moving it into a Free Archetype feat slot at Level 2).
• Going Iniquity Cause for maximum explosions (with a slim possibility of Obedience instead).
• Taking Exemplar Archetype from Ancient Elf, and the Barrow's Edge Ikon (It's just too thematic for a vampire to be draining life force - we're ignoring the Vitality trait on Drink of my Foes).

The idea is that we have a heavily armoured character who can still zip around the battlefield with a lot of agility, like your classic vampire knight. Touch of the Void and Drink of my Foes should give him enough durability to offset the self-damage from the Iniquity Cause, while Elf Ancestry feats grant a lot of speed, reactions, and mobility.

Where I'm struggling is with skill training, and by extension weapon selection. Let me explain.

I'd love to use a sword and shield. The extra AC from it is very nice (and I'm pretty certain that not being hit and therefore being unable to use my Champion's Reaction isn't a problem - either I'm up a chunk of HP, or I get to blast someone, or I Shield Block if defence is more important). Trouble is, that sort of requires that I train into Crafting - relying on the party for shield repairs is an option, of course, but they'll all have their rest activities too, and besides, it's more characterful to maintain your gear yourself.

And I only have five Trained skills (0 INT is a pain, huh).

• Religion from the Champion classic
• Athletics from my god (Scal)
• Acrobatics from my background (Martial Disciple)
• Two free picks.

Of those free picks, I'd love to have all of the following:

• Crafting (for shield repairs)
• Medicine (because it's super important, and Battle Medicine would be another source of extra healing)
• Intimidate (feels weird to not have it on a fearsome vampire, and it's good in combat)
• Diplomacy or Deception (Actually contributing out of combat is nice, and they unlock the Manipulative Charm feat at Level 4 for more of that)
• Nature (poorly rated for the campaign, but unlocks the Nocturnal Kindred feat at Level 4, which looks awesome)

With that in mind, I could swap Crafting for Medicine if I went with a two-handed weapon of some kind; a polearm would give me reach and a damage boost, while a Bastard Sword would give d12 damage and the ability to still fight while free-handing it if needed. And then I still have to pick a "contribute outside of dungeoneering" skill.

Khopesh and Shield

Pros:

• More likely to survive the early campaign
• Defensive Advance (Level 1) and Quick Shield Block (Level 8) are incredible tools
• Option for two-weapon fighting feats at a much higher level
• Khopesh plus a Shield Augmentation gives Trip, Disarm, and Shove (plus Grapple from Vampire Teeth)

Cons:

• Needs investment in Crafting (and probably the Quick Repair feat for multiple attempts)
• Battle Medicine isn't really feasible.

Guisarme (Khopesh on a stick)

Pros:

• d10 damage dice
• Reach
• Trip at reach
• Frees up feat slots at 1 and 8 for Vicious Vengeance and Advanced Deity's Domain

Cons:

• Needs two hands, making other manoeuvres harder
• Fewer defensive options

Bastard Sword (No theme here, it's just good)

Pros:

• d12 damage dice, and corresponding healing increase from Drink of my Foes!
• Frees up feat slots like the polearm
• Free-hand option
• Battle Medicine becomes a real option

Cons:

• Need to release the two-hand style for manoeuvres
• Fewer defence and control options than other choices

I'm still flipping back and forth between these options in my mind. My default is still Shield, because frankly I find them cool and they're mechanically a lot of fun. But the Guisarme would make things a lot easier feat- and skill-wise, and the Bastard Sword would let me Battle Medicine in a pinch while still fighting.

I still don't 100% know what the rest of the group is taking for skills, but I know at least two of them want to take Diplomacy and one of the others is a Rogue so we should at least have coverage.

Any advice, opinions, or thoughts would be much appreciated!