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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mannahnin" data-source="post: 8259120" data-attributes="member: 7026594">Except that the Grey Mouser is one of the greatest swordsmen in the multiverse.  Similar with Conan.I agree that thievery is very much core to the concept and to these two major influences on D&D, but the original Thief class crippled the archetype of the Mouser (and to a lesser extent Fafhrd and Conan; though AD&D gave Barbarians some thieving-related skills) to make it a supporting character who hides in the back of a party led by someone else.  To a certain degree WotC has made the Rogue more true to Leiber by making it a deadly combatant.The more direct inspiration for the TSR Thief (though Mouser is in there to a lesser extent) is probably Cugel the Clever, a sociopathic antihero constantly on the make, with no particular combat expertise but a heart full of larceny and pretensions of magical skill.</blockquote>