As far as archetypes go, the Rogue is one of the deep classics of fantasy RPGs. The sneaky, or at least underhanded scrapper, the Rogue takes a unique approach to combat. While other classes get various ways to affect their damage - and basically all other weapon-based classes get a second attack when they hit level 5 - Rogues focus on the massive, explosive strike: the Sneak Attack.
But there's another major theme to Rogues that is less combat-specific. They're the "expert." While they share a bit of this with Bards, Rogues have a theme based around being really good at ability checks. They get four class proficiencies, in contrast with the two most classes get, and then they get things like Expertise and the insane Reliable Talent to make them unassailable in their capabilities.
Notably, Rogues also get an additional Ability Score Increase (Fighters get two) compared to other classes, but given that most Rogues really only have to focus on Dexterity as an ability score, they might be the class that is most capable of picking up feats.
I've played a Rogue briefly in The House of Lament, though in terms of combat, we did a rather small amount of that - indeed, in the mad rush to the end of the adventure, rather than fighting each group of monsters, the Monk and I instead took the dolls holding the ghosts of two children whom we were trying to save and just rushed to get out the door as soon as possible (while it made for a truly insane combat, it did work). Still, I don't know that I've had a ton of personal experience in really getting the true sense of how the class feels.
I did have a Rogue in my original campaign, though it has been a long time since we played that.
Still, on paper, the Rogue manages to feel very different from the other classes. There are scenarios where they get totally screwed - such as if a Rogue got poisoned, and thus would never be able to get Sneak Attack - but they have some fun tools at their disposal.
And damage-wise, they're quite strong if they can consistently get that Sneak Attack in. I did a little napkin math calculation a month or two ago and realized that, if they use a bonus action for two-weapon fighting, or if they have a feat like Crossbow Expert, they might have the highest damage potential of any weapon-based class (not that they get an extra sneak attack, but the other attack makes it far more likely that one of their hits gets it).
I think that maybe the only thing that I feel strongly enough needs adjustment is the level at which they get their second subclass feature. After level 3, you don't get another subclass feature until level 9, which feels like a long time to wait. Artificers are getting their third subclass feature at that point. Swapping some things around, such as perhaps their second Expertise feature, which comes at level 6, might let them get a little more uniqueness.
Now, let's talk subclasses.
Rogues get three pretty solid (conceptually) subclasses in the PHB. The Thief and the Assassin, I think, manage to actually give us two "quintessential" archetypes for the Rogue, with, I would say, equal claim to being the "classic" archetype for the class.
The Thief has some early-entry oddities that might need to be ironed out. Personally, I find any of the "you get advantage on an ability check if you move slowly" features feel odd, in large part due to the fact that ability checks are generally more of an out-of-combat thing. Yes, a Rogue does often make Stealth checks (the one that thieves get advantage on) in the middle of a fight, but it seems like this is only obliquely telling you "if you're not in initiative, you always have advantage on Stealth checks."
I might also redesign Second Story Work to simply give the Rogue a climb speed, which seems in keeping with more recent subclass design. Use Magic Device and Thief's Reflexes are both strong abilities that I don't really have any problem with.
Now, Assassins - they start off extremely (maybe too) strong at level 3, but the level 9 and level 13 subclass features are... just nothing. I mean, literally they are the sort of thing that I think any character should be able to do. The features essentially tell you "hey, remember that you can do these skill checks." So, these need to be totally tossed out and redesigned. As I see it, the Assassin should be a slightly more combat-focused Rogue - not that they're going to be standing toe-to-toe with their enemies like the Swashbuckler, but I think having ways to enhance the damage they do in some way would be cool.
One thing there's not a lot of in 5E is "bleed" damage. An assassin, in my mind, would use hindering attacks that make it harder for their targets to ultimately survive. So, I think you could maybe design something where, when you deal your sneak attack damage, the target gets a wound that will keep bleeding, perhaps requiring a Con save to stop the bleeding.
Another option would be to build out a more robust poison damage system, though I hesitate to suggest this given the absurd number of creatures in 5E that are immune to poison damage (including but not limited to basically all fiends and all undead).
Meanwhile, the Arcane Trickster is, I think, pretty good as-is. It has an identity that is sufficiently distinct from the other two, and is mechanically pretty sound.
Part of me actually wants to suggest the Swashbuckler could fit within the PHB - Rogues don't all have to be sneaky, and this would be a way to show that. I don't know if they'd have room for four subclasses in the PHB, but on the other hand, if they can do more than four for Clerics and Wizards, why not for other classes?
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