Rogue archetypal characters

[MerricB]

G'day!

I was wondering if people could post a few examples of archetypal rogue (thief) characters, along with the attribute that defines their competence.

Just to begin with...

Silk (from the Belgariad) is a good example of the Charismatic Rogue. He's skillful, sneaky, and entirely too good at getting people to do what he wants them to.

Han Solo (from Star Wars) has elements of the Charismatic Rogue, although it's not a great fit (him being Sci-Fi and all). He does sneak attack if Lucas allows him to, though.

I consider there to be a big difference between being an Intelligent Rogue and being good at a number of skills. The defining aspect of being a rogue (in any edition of D&D) is the ability to backstab/sneak attack and to a lesser extent Stealth and Thievery.

Mat (from Wheel of Time) is a Charismatic Rogue, although in 4e he'd most likely gain a few weapon-focused abilities.

Gord the Rogue (from Gygax), despite his love of deception, seems more like a Brawny Rogue to me in terms of how he handles combat and challenges. I don't get the feeling that his first reaction is to talk his way out of trouble - physical action is where he is.

The Gray Mouser (of Leiber) also seems more of a Brawny Rogue, but I'm not really an expert on the books and my memory is failing. Any comments from those who have read the books more than I have?

Cheers!

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Garret (from the Thief games) he would probably fall under Brawny Rogue, as he is good at using a sap and longsword. He probably has Ranger training as well given his use with the bow.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

Mat (from Wheel of Time) is a Charismatic Rogue, although in 4e he'd most likely gain a few weapon-focused abilities.

He pretty much gets warlord multiclassing at one point in time.

 

[hong]

Jen from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. 100% ninja, although she suffers from the Zhang Ziyi disadvantage that she must get her butt kicked at least once by the other leads.

 

[Henry]

The Gray Mouser (of Leiber) also seems more of a Brawny Rogue, but I'm not really an expert on the books and my memory is failing. Any comments from those who have read the books more than I have?

Cheers!

No disrespect meant to Gary, but if you've met Gord and Chert, you've met The Mouser and Fafhrd. He was a big fan of Fritz.

How about Skeeve and Aahz from the Myth series? While they were mages, Skeeve in particular was very much the crafty scoundrel (Intelligent Rogue) who through luck or sense of timing was able to come out on top of situations where his magic would not have worked. He really wasn't Charismatic (while his crew liked him, scant others did).

 

[AFGNCAAP]

As a resident Leiber fan...

I'd say Mouser, class-wise, probably would be a Brawny rogue, though he does try to use his wits & quick tongue to get the Twain out of trouble when feasible. But, despite this, he's certainly no slouch when it comes to combat.

But, he's not the examplar of a brawny character, IMHO, really. He had some strength, but his fighting style was more on grace and agility than brute force. He tended to skewer foes with Scalpel, running them through the heart and the like, while Fafhrd chopped away at his foes. And, since there's probably more material for the rogue class than we may have seen, there could be other builds that seem more appropriate (though inflicting deadly/painful wounds seems right up Mouser's alley).

Fafhrd would probably be a Ranger, with Grey Mouser as a rogue, if single-classing is the only option.

I think (if it's still viable in 4e), Fafhrd & Mouser would be multiclass characters. Fafhrd would probably be a Ranger/Fighter (esp. for the scout/archery bit for Rangers), while Mouser would be a Rogue/Ranger/Wizard (esp. for the swashbuckler stuff/two-weapon fighting style for Rangers). But, Mouser's use of magic was more like trying to just use the Arcana skill rather than blasting foes with magic missile or detecting magic.

On a related note, Bard (when it's made) may be viable for Fafhrd if it isn't a spellcaster/spellcasting oriented class.

 

[outsider]

James Bond fits the charismatic rogue role pretty well.

 

[AFGNCAAP]

No disrespect meant to Gary, but if you've met Gord and Chert, you've met The Mouser and Fafhrd. He was a big fan of Fritz.

How about Skeeve and Aahz from the Myth series? While they were mages, Skeeve in particular was very much the crafty scoundrel (Intelligent Rogue) who through luck or sense of timing was able to come out on top of situations where his magic would not have worked. He really wasn't Charismatic (while his crew liked him, scant others did).

Along the same lines, Barak and Silk from the Belgariad reminded me a bit of the Twain as well...

And, as a resident Myth Adventures fan...

I'd have to agree about Skeeve, though I don't think he'd have that many levels of Rogue; then again, I'd say he'd be a lower-level multiclassed Heroic character who happened to travel with a lot of multiclassed Paragon characters (not Epic, though—not too sure who'd qualify in that regard, maybe other than Isstvan). Haven't read the more recent books were Skeeve's trying to actually study magic, though.

 

[Ovinnik]

Kalam Mekhar, from Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series (which I highly recommend as some of the best epic fantasy available), is the quintessential brawny rogue. Two big knives (shortswords, really), used with catlike dexterity and enough strength to snap necks.

 

[MerricB]

Kalam Mekhar, from Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series (which I highly recommend as some of the best epic fantasy available), is the quintessential brawny rogue. Two big knives (shortswords, really), used with catlike dexterity and enough strength to snap necks.

Oh, I definitely agree - both with your assessment of Kalam, and your description of the Malazan books. Some of the best new fantasy out there.

Cheers!