Rogue

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Rogue is a character class found in Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder, although the general archetype (usually by different names) can be found in almost every RPG ever made. Rogues are sneaky, backstabbing, thieving assholes, but they're just so useful you can't help but keep them around.

Rogues have a variety of skills that make them useful in various situations and, if they get a backstab, cause incredibly high damage, but they suffer from low hit points and shit armour. This may sound good, and they are pretty decent, but they're dead weight in a party with wizards, clerics, druids, erudites, or any other tier 1(to tier 3 in case of pathfinder) class. Similarly, they also become utterly fucking useless in combat when something with heavy fortification, an elemental, a construct, an ooze, a plant, or an undead show up. Pretty much, if it's immune to criticals, the rogue can only pout as he/she/it/hermaphrodite becomes a useless skillmonkey, unless he/she/it/hermaphrodite starts diving into splatbooks looking for ways to bypass crit and sneak attack immunity. Most embarrassingly they can't sneak attack anything with concealment, which includes anything not standing in at least torch light.

Given the power of their sneak attacks, many builds revolve around turning invisible after performing an attack. This may sound pretty sweet, but said builds also often revolve around one specific kind of weapon (ice, radiant, etc.) and so a clever DM can simply not provide any of said weapon. Serves you right for min-maxing, I guess.

Their skillmonkeying is more useful in Pathfinder, where they now have a lot of exclusive skill uses that other classes used to be able to do well enough with the right buffs, and they get rogue talents that give them a little more unique flavor. Yet ultimately they are outdone by the Investigator in the skillmonkey/utility part. The Investigator hybrid class has an even bigger skill list, is more reliant on Int, can buff himself with alchemy and may add 1d6(later 1d8) to his skill/attack/save rolls at will. The rogues now also have the advantage of far fewer enemies having sneak-attack immunity. Nowadays it's mostly just elementals and oozes. Have a Japan-flavored alternate class in the ninja, which changes out some of those skillmonkey powers for ki pool and general insane badassery. Each can crosstrain in the other's special abilities.

Rogues in 4th Edition

See Bloody Path.

5th Edition

Rogues in 5e get a d8 hit die, lots of skills (not quite as many as a Bard, but with more powers to make them the more reliable skillmonkeys) and are much better in combat than their 3.5 predecessors. This stems mostly from the fact that their backstabs now trigger on advantage or an adjacent ally instead of only when the opponent is flatfooted, meaning that they have the potential to get sneak attacks almost every round. Also helping them out is the Cunning Action, which lets them use a bonus action every turn to hide or disengage from an enemy, making them very skilled at hit-and-run kidney shankings. Plus, RAW, nothing in the Monster Manual is immune to sneak attacks (Most DMs would probably houserule that you can't backstab an ooze or a ghost, though). At 3rd level, the rogue chooses between the Thief, a more skill-oriented path, the Assassin, which is essentially the PrC from 3.5, or the Arcane Trickster, who gets spells, cantrips, and a lot of skill with Mage Hand.

The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide adds the Swashbuckler (we Inigo Montoya now!) and Mastermind (brainy super-villain type rogue) archetypes.

The Gothic Heroes UA Article adds the Inquisitive, which is similar to Pathfinder's Investigator, and is basically Sherlock Holmes with a little Van Helsing added in for flavor. Ear for Deceit and Eye for Deception makes them more adept at sensing when somebody is lying and at finding hidden creatures and objects. Insightful Fighting lets them make a Wisdom vs. Charisma check to gain the ability to launch Sneak Attacks against a creature without actually needing combat advantage to do so. Steady Eye increases their bonuses granted by Eye for Deception. Unerring Eye lets them intuitively sense when they are within of a shapechanged creature or an illusion. Finally, Eye for Weakness increases the Sneak Attack damage they do when they use Insightful Fighting by +2d6.

The Classes of Pathfinder 1st Edition
Core Classes:	Barbarian - Bard - Cleric - Druid - Fighter - Monk Paladin - Ranger - Rogue - Sorcerer - Wizard
Advanced Player's Guide:	Alchemist - Antipaladin - Cavalier Inquisitor - Oracle - Summoner - Witch
Advanced Class Guide:	Arcanist - Bloodrager - Brawler - Hunter - Investigator Shaman - Skald - Slayer - Swashbuckler - Warpriest
Occult Adventures:	Kineticist - Medium - Mesmerist Occultist - Psychic - Spiritualist
Ultimate X:	Gunslinger - Magus - Ninja - Samurai - Shifter - Vigilante

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