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True, though with most point buy distributions you will end up with a 12 in either Dexterity or Intelligence, so it would only be +1 AC.

Never mind. Earlier comments about Hide Armor Expertise were before the nerf.

Saeviomagy and others: I think the reason for the difference in our assessments comes down to one thing: my choices are based on the idea of a Thief who can operate equally well in melee or at range, without much dependence on party members, and even if there isn't a whole lot of helpful...

Oh, the speed isn't much more, granted. I'm more impressed by the bit about not needing to make an Athletics check. No chance of failing and making no progress or even falling, and it means that one of the big reasons for a Thief to have a high Strength score is removed.

Sadly, the text is "Until the end of your next turn, enemies you flank provoke opportunity attacks from you if they shift." I "usually see" that too -- but only in my sweeter dreams. Our group just doesn't do that much. We also have a high enough mortality rate that anyone who does work well...

The only thing is, I'm not sure that using Acrobat's Trick twice, consecutively, in one turn would count under the double move rules. Can someone remind me of the exact wording of the most recent version of "double move"? (I'm assuming it's been updated at some point since the PHB.) Catch...

Regarding falling at the end of the move -- what if you used it twice, as if a double-move? Would you fall before you had a chance to take the second action to continue using it? And would you automatically fall, or would have the option to make an Athletics check to catch yourself, assuming...

It's less damage to the primary than if you used the damage bonus from Acrobat's Trick instead. That's possible. But if you are really up there in melee with a flanking buddy, prone won't get you any more CA than you already have from flanking. The big advantage (and not that big) would be...

Below is an armchair expert's guide to the Rogue's Tricks that an Essentials Thief has exclusive access to. They are listed from best at the top to worst at the bottom. Because I haven't used them in an actual encounter, I welcome anyone who has done so to step in and offer suggestions...

BTW, Occam -- have you had a chance to try out Tactical Trick? To me, that appears to be slightly better than Ambush Trick. Obviously the move part is better because it gives a bit more than just "you move" -- it lets you avoid OAs in some cases. At the start of combat, you may not be able to...

A lone opponent may be a bad target for a variety of reasons -- it's a minion, it's out of range, it has cover, or it's just not the one the party is focusing fire on. Note that a Slayer can get very nearly the same damage every time with no conditions, no constrained actions, higher AC, hit...

My own dice are probably what you refer to as "marbled". They can be difficult to read at some angles and in some light, but I find that to be true of most dice on the table. The DMs in our group don't seem to have a problem with them. I guess generally they just trust us. I bought them...

Actually, yes. The name "Pickles" would be much more appropriate for a Paladin. Barbarians should have names like Nathan, Malachi, or possibly Buddy Holly.

That sounds a bit strange to me. If they were truly that naive about the rules, I would expect them to be mistakenly using Dex for their MBAs, rather than using Str and wondering why they miss.

I think you are kind of missing the point. The Thief DOES have to do something to earn that CA from Ambush Trick -- he has to pick an opponent that has no adjacent allies. That could be very much non-trivial. Tactical Trick has the same issue you are concerned about, though the flavor doesn't...

That would be good. At a minimum, there really ought to be support for spears and hammers. I know, Knights do hammers, but Knights and Slayers also both do heavy blades, so clearly the idea was never to define them by their weapons, per se.

What you want are the Official Numbered Polyhedra of the 2011 Nuclear Winter Olympics (TM, PDQ, Esq., et alia) They can be recognized by the hologram etched into their DNA using the latest quantum hydrodynamic encryption and four barrel dual carbonation. I mean, that's if you want to be hip.

You are remiss to leave out Roger Zelazny, beginning with his book Trumps of Doom, featuring Merlin, son of Corwin. Most of the princes and princesses of Amber don't even bother with spells, because they are so much trouble to prepare.

Or better, get Bow Expertise. As the proficiency bonus for bow is only +2, you kind of need it, and your target will be isolated often enough to get the +1 for having no adjacent creatures. It's a shame that Slayer features like Power Strike are melee-only. Otherwise you really could do a lot...

Escape Artist's Trick and Sneak's Trick look promising for getting CA, too. I'm not clear, but it looks like Escape Artist's Trick could be used in the way that Deft Strike was pre-Essentials -- hide around a corner, pop out using the move portion, attack with CA because still "hidden", then...