How about some love for the strong, not dextrous rogue?

[Joker]

An alternative to ditching MS/Hide is upping MS/Hide and getting a cleric to cast Iron Silence on you (Lvl2, hour/level, ignores penalties for MS and Hide for armor). Or a wand version.

But this is a good idea. Consider it stolen and there's nothing you can do about it.

Zing!!

Truly, I shudder to think of the damage output of PA'ing/SA'ing/Two-handing rogue.

 

[Sejs]

Another option to play to your strengths would be to take a level or two in Ranger. Or Urban Ranger if you're using UA. You don't take a big hit on your skill points, get martial weapons, boost to your BA, etc, etc.

 

[Driddle]

Considering rogues have good Reflex and plenty of skill points, once you have Improved Initiative, a strong, not-so-dextrous rogue could be played just about like any other rogue.

I was thinking the same thing. Even with an average intelligence, he's still getting plenty of skill points to spread around ... and build up his strength-related skills beyond even those of an equally strong fighter.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

This one is too easy.

The primary class features of the Rogue are (1) Sneak Attack, and (2) skill points.

Having a high Str and a unremarkable Dex is not a hurdle to exploiting either of those class features.

Your Hide, Move Silently, and Tumble will lag ever so slightly. It is not as if every Rogue chooses to be sneaky, so this not necessarily a problem at all.

The Rogue is a very flexible class and could plausibly focus on any of the 6 stats as a theme:

Dex -- sneaky, tumbling, ranged attacks?
Str -- melee, big damage sneak attacks
Con -- survivalist
Int -- all the skills in the world, especially Search
Wis -- Spot & Listen, elf? dip in arcan class for familiar (Alertness, +3 Listen for bat?)
Cha -- faceman: Bluff, Sense Motive, Diplomacy, Gather Info

 

[Marchen]

I'm a pretty big fan of the fighter/rogue character type.

 

[Three_Haligonians]

PHB II has the Telling Blow feat which lets you add any sneak attack dice you have onto the damage of a crit.

You could take that, and then take all the feats and abilities you can find on improving your chances to crit (and confirming the crit). That way, instead of a sneaky rogue who tries to flank or otherwise get the drop on someone, you could play a tough rogue who hits hard - its a good way to describe the "dirty-fighting" rogue someone mentioned earlier.

J from Three Haligonians

 

[Sledge]

Thanks for all the ideas so far. A lot of suggestions to pick up fighter type classes which kinda defeats the point, but may be necessary. Telling blow seems like a good idea too. Take a weapon with a high crit range and improved crit/keen... could work quite well.

 

[Archade]

I can see a strongish (str 16+) rogue being interesting, playing more of a thug than a burglar.

- take the feat Martial Weapon Proficiency (greatsword) feat at 1st level
- work towards improved feint
- invest in magical armor (which is pretty cheap) for AC
- look at prestige classes normally set aside for fighters, but take them later because your bab advances slower - although the street fighter might be good.

 

[Wik]

The rogue in our group has a 15 str, a 16 Int... although, she has a high dex as well (hey, she rolled well!). She focused on skill choices, and her strength has come in handy multiple times so far.

She didn't focus on power attack, though, but used her high dex to make her ranged attacks better.

In combat, you should focus on power attack, coupled with a two-handed weapon. As a rogue, your choices are limited, so I'd just go with a spear (plus, you can throw it). Javelins and daggers are great choices for your ranged weapon; avoid crossbows.

The high int means you can take a smattering of skills beyond your essential skills. Were it me, I'd make sure I spent two or three skill points a level on different skills, like forgery, knowledge/local, appraise, and the like, so that when the GM makes that annual "make an appraise check" or "make a handle animal check" you're prepared.

Really, I think high int and str are GREAT for rogues, although I would think Dex is more important overall.

Your disable device must be through the roof -which is always good (why play a rogue if you suck at finding/disabling traps?). Any of those skill-boosting feats that improves your search or disable device checks would be great - keep your numbers high, and become the awesome trap-disabler!

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

I tried playing a rogue who was strong and who liked to give open battle to the enemy.
It didn't work out, and my rogue was killed.

I think the battle-rogue is a great idea. I would put characters such as Zorro and the Scarlet Pimpernel into this category, and the lure of such a character is strong. Yet somehow, they always seem to get fried by something in actual play.

EDIT: On the other hand, based on what I'm seeing of the Sneak Attack, if Lidda comes after you, you're done for. A rogue like Lidda knows it's all about surprise and striking correctly the first time. So if I ever play any more rogues, they will be Lidda types.