It’s odd that D&D has traditionally treated thieves/rogues as “skill monkeys” when they basically get a small cadre of tricks at first level that they just gradually get better at as they advance. Meanwhile, spellcasters get a new spell to add to their bag of tricks all the time, growing more and more fantastical as they go. I feel like rogues don’t get enough love.

For one thing, it’s strange how bad thieves are at their job in AD&D. Do you think you have a 10% chance of hearing noise thru a door? You may be a 1st- or 2nd-level thief!

If you cooked up a plan that relied on sneaking around in the shadows, would you try it knowing that you have almost no chance of success? A 1st-level thief had a 15% chance of moving silently and a 10% chance of hiding in shadows. At 3rd-level that improved to a still-unlikely 27% and 20%. Meanwhile, a 3rd-level wizard could walk around invisible, and a 3rd-level cleric could silence everyone within 15 feet with no chance of failure!

I improved the thief class in my fix for AD&D 2nd Edition, but this attempt goes further.

The Basics

In the old days of AD&D 1e/2e, thieves got the following class features/skills:

1. Pick pockets
2. Open locks
3. Find/remove traps
4. Move silently
5. Hide in shadows
6. Hear noise (changed to detect noise in 2e)
7. Climb walls
8. Thieves’ cant
9. Backstab
10. Read languages (4th level)
11. Use scrolls (10th level)

Some of these have now been considered to be redundant, so a modern list might look like this:

1. Sleight of hand
2. Open locks
3. Search
4. Set/remove traps
5. Stealth
6. Climb
7. Thieves’ cant (or trade argot)
8. Backstab
9. Read scrolls

And to these, I would add several more potential skills to be gained during advancement:

1. Evasion
2. Disguise/forgery
3. Coup de grace
4. Uncanny agility
5. Dagger fighting
6. Hide in plain sight
7. Silver tongue
8. Swashbuckler
9. Viper strike
10. Jack-of-all-trades

Using a Skill

Rather than use the old percentile system, we’ll say that rogues get a bonus (to a 1d20 skill check) that starts at +2 and grows +1 at every level. The DM sets the difficulty for these skills on a case-by-case basis, with a typical situation being a 10.

Search, stealth, and climb would be available to any character; but without having it as a trained skill, they wouldn’t get any bonus, nor would that bonus improve as they advance. (And a heavily armored character would not be able to move quietly.)

Advancement

At first level, a rogue would have these skills:

• Sleight of hand: You can pick pockets, cut purses, swipe and palm small objects.
• Open locks: You can pick non-magical locks.
• Search: You are good at finding mechanical traps, secret doors, hidden objects.
• Set/remove traps: Given adequate time and materials, you can create snares and simple mechanical traps and disarm or remove them.
• Stealth: You can move silently and hide in shadows.
• Climb: You can climb virtually sheer walls. Make a check every 30 feet or fall.
• Thieves’ cant: You can speak with other rogues. With a skill check, you can get the gist of any language you could reasonably be familiar with, spoken or read.
• Backstab: If you attack a similar-sized opponent who is unaware of you with a 1-handed melee weapon, any hit is an automatic critical hit plus your level as damage.

Note: a backstab is normally done from behind, but there are circumstances where that doesn’t need to be the case, such as invisibility, blindness of the opponent, viper strike [see below], etc.

As you advance in level, you gain a +1 on each of the above skill (except backstab, which already levels up).

Rogues gain skills haphazardly. At every odd level (3, 5, 7, 9…), the DM should randomly offer you a choice of one of two skills you don’t already have. If you decline both, then when you achieve another level, you can choose any of the below that you don’t have. Some of these assume you’re using a luck system.

• Coup de Grace: If maximum damage from your backstab could kill a bloodied opponent (half hp), you can spend a point of luck, and–if you hit with an attack–kill the opponent.
• Dagger Fighting: You’re practiced in melee with a dagger in one hand and another one-handed weapon in the other (no shield). You can choose either a +1 to AC or an extra attack with the dagger against the same opponent. When you gain another attack, you don’t get an additional attack with both weapons. You’re also proficient at throwing daggers and knives.
• Disguise/Forgery: You’re adept at disguising yourself so as not to be recognized and even, given time and access, impersonating another person. You can also forge official documents. In both cases, make a skill check for each non-casual encounter. Your impersonation will not stand up to examination by someone who knows the person well.
• Evasion: When you’re hit in melee but before you know the damage, you can spend a point of luck to evade the blow, but you end up several feet away (Random square around your starting point.)
• Hide in Plain Sight: If you’re with at least two humanoid allies, you can seem less threatening/interesting, and creatures with low to high (5-14) intelligence will generally not target you in combat, unless you’re doing something conspicuous (about to attack, starting a fire, etc.).
• Lucky: You start every day with 1 point of luck.
• Read scrolls: You can read enough of the Imperial language (or other language of magic) to use spells available to a wizard or cleric equal to your level, but only with a skill check when you cast it; on a natural 1, the spell backfires, causing a minor wild magic effect.
• Silver Tongue: With time (30 minutes or so), you’re so persuasive that you effectively have the ability of Charm Person by spending a point of luck. If successful, it lasts 1 day, after which the person is merely friendly (unless cheated).
• Specialist: You get a bonus of +3 to one of your starting rogue skills (sleight of hand, open locks, stealth, etc.).
• Swashbuckler: Daring feats only cost you 1 point of luck instead of 2. You can also spend a point of luck to tuck and roll after a fall (up to 15 feet) to avoid falling damage.
• Uncanny Agility: Get advantage on agility-based checks. If you have acrobatics skill, you can climb most walls, cross roofs, and catch hand-holds as parkour; on a failed check, you must get down. (1d6 damage on a natural 1.)
• Viper Strike: You can perform a backstab-like attack face-to-face, as long as it’s the very first attack of a combat encounter. You create your own surprise.