Rogue

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Lore & Background

The abilities of the thief class were drawn from various archetypes from history and myth, but clear debts from modern fantasy literature can be traced to characters such as J.R.R. Tolkien's Bilbo Baggins, Fritz Leiber's The Gray Mouser, and Jack Vance's Cugel the Clever. In his article "Jack Vance and the D&D Game", Gary Gygax stresses the influence that Vance's Cugel and also Zelazny's Shadowjack had on the thief class. D&D fan Gary Switzer shared the idea for a thief class with Gary Gygax over the phone; development was done in Switzer's roleplaying group, primarily by D. Daniel Wagner, one of the writers of The Manual of Aurania, the first non-TSR D&D supplement. The thief was first published in the Game Players Newsletter #9 (June 1974). The thief class was then included in the original 1975 Greyhawk supplement. They had 4-sided hit dice under the new combat system introduced in that supplement.

In Their Own Story

In 1st edition the thief was the only character class that any nonhuman type, such as an elf, dwarf, or halfling, could achieve unlimited levels in. The thief's hit dice improved to a d6. In 1st edition, thieves were swiftest to earn new levels. At the same time, thieves were sharply limited by having their essential skills (such as Open Locks and Move Silently) defined as beginning at a flat chance of success of perhaps 10-20% regardless of most circumstances, and requiring perhaps ten levels to reach the point where they had much confidence in using them. In the later (Moldvay and Mentzer) editions of the Basic Set, they could be any of the three available alignment options (Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic). Thieves had to be Human, as this edition treated non-human races as distinct classes. They retained the same abilities (with the same high failure rates at low levels) as in the Original and Advanced games, and at higher levels gained additional abilities, such as the ability to read any nonmagical writing (including dead languages and secret codes) and casting magic-user spells from scrolls, both with a high success rate.

Reader's Guide

In 2nd edition the term "Rogue" first appeared, used to describe the group of classes made up of those individuals "living by their wits day to day-often at the expense of others." In the core rules, these "rogue" classes were the thief and the bard. Thieves could be of any alignment other than lawful good while bards had to be at least partially neutral. The thief was the robber, the thug, or the "expert treasure hunter". They specialized in the acquisition of goods, stealth, and disarming traps. Unlike in 1st edition, 2nd edition allows thieves to specialize in skills so that they needed only a few levels to master two skills. The thief became known as the rogue in 3rd edition. Spies, scouts, detectives, pirates, and sundry ne'er-do-wells, as well as thieves and just about any other character who relies on stealth or a broad range of skills, are stated to fall under the rogue class. The rogue class is given 8 skill points per level, higher than any other character class. The rogue has the ability to deliver a sneak attack whenever an opponent loses its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (i.e., when the opponent is flat-footed or flanked or cannot see the rogue). The Iconic rogue is Lidda, a halfling female. Fourth edition Rogues are skirmishers, focused on getting to where the enemy does not want them and hurting them by applying extra "sneak attack" damage to enemies that grant combat advantage to them. The Rogue was introduced in the fourth edition Player's Handbook, and initially came in two types; Artful Dodgers and Brutal Scoundrels. The Thief was added in Heroes of the Fallen Lands and uses a very different approach to roguish skirmishing. The rogue is included as one of the standard character classes in the 5th edition Player's Handbook. The Rogue's focal point in 5th edition is its aptitude for skill checks. It gains proficiency in more skills than any other class. Its core features include sneak attack, which rewards a player for gaining advantage on an attack roll. Players may choose from three different Roguish Archetypes at third level: Thief, Assassin, and Arcane Trickster. Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (2015) added Mastermind and Swashbuckler to the list of Rogue archetypes.

Did You Know?

• The thief was first published in the Game Players Newsletter #9 (June 1974), before appearing in the original 1975 Greyhawk supplement.
• In 1st edition, thieves were the only class that any nonhuman type (elf, dwarf, or halfling) could achieve unlimited levels in.
• The term 'Rogue' first appeared in 2nd edition to describe the group of classes including the thief and the bard.
• The iconic rogue in 3rd edition is Lidda, a halfling female.
• In 5th edition, players may choose from three Roguish Archetypes at third level: Thief, Assassin, and Arcane Trickster.