Commentary Regarding the Thief

James Maliszewski has a few things to say in regards to the thief as a class.

And, whilst I can understand his reasoning, and I find he has several solid points to make, I am still going to keep the class around in my games.

One of the comments to his post, however, was a tiny eye-opener...

"The OD&D Thief was the first "Skill" class - determined by its abilities to perform particular non-magical skills. As the other classes caught up with non-weapon skills, the double damage of the thief came to fore as a defining element of the class, transforming it into the lightly-armored, sometimes invisible striker that inhabits MMORPGs." - Jeff Grubb

This, in my opinion, is what to avoid. I don't want a thief who is a better fighter, I want a master of stealth and a dungeoneering specialist, not a combat wunderkind.

The combat specialist is, and should remain, the fighter (and his varied sub-classes).

And, on that note...

Next time: The Fighting Men.