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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kaomera" data-source="post: 3589729" data-attributes="member: 38357">In short:Because of the nature of the class system and D&D's reliance on "niche protection". A bit of each.In most D&D groups (and I would argue that this includes the "archetypal" style of D&D play, although I really have no special authority upon which to make such a distinction), definitely yes.D&D as a genre-whole does not. However each edition of D&D up to 3.5 arguably does, IMHO.I think you're mostly correct in your reading of the archetype. However, one thing you need to look at is the comparison between the Rogue's skills and those of any other class. This becomes even more distinct pre-2e, when the Thief could do things no-one else could do (and hear things no-one else could hear...). I think that backstabbing / Sneak Attack is too much of a focus when it comes to Rogues / Thieves. Not needlessly so, given the combat focus of D&D, but it still is, IMHO. The problem is that playing a character with little or nothing to add to combat is boring for most players (regardless of how much else they may bring to the table). The other end of this problem is that it is largely uninteresting for most players to watch the Rogue's player make rolls to open a lock, disarm a trap, or scout ahead of the main party. However, in traditional D&D (IMHO) these things are of major importance in nearly every dungeon the party might go into. Now, you could easily fold these abilities into other classes. For example I have often thought it rather strange that the Fighter, which I would expect to be a bit of an action-hero, not only has the worst skills, but that stealth skills and the like are left completely off of their class skill list. From this I would peg an "Action Hero" class as very near to the Rogue as written (except that hit dice are d20s and bonus damage dice are gained by reciting catch-phrases instead of flanking...).</blockquote>

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