Rogue builds (kits) for 2e

Rogues/thieves have it tougher in later editions in that their skills are less unique and less important.  In first and second edition, they are the only class with find remove traps and open locks skills.  (Bards and rangers have lesser versions of the remaining thief skills- rangers get hide in shadows and move silently, bards get hear noise, climb walls, read languages, and pick pockets).  In first edition, assassins are less skilled than thieves, and bards have a few thief levels before becoming bards.  Thief-acrobats of Unearthed Arcana have many tumbling skills including a form of evasion that is like the 3e version.

While open locks and find remove traps have obvious uses and are necessary skills for the completion of many “old school modules”, what use are rogues?

The kits in the Complete Thief’s Handbook (PHBR2) provides several templates for rogues.

The kits may be categorized as follows

Providing only role-playing or background information (may still get a few bonuses to certain actions):  Acrobat, Adventurer, Beggar, Buccaneer, Fence, Investigator, Smuggler, Spy, Troubleshooter

Specializing in certain thief skills: Burglar, Cutpurse, Scout (wilderness only)

Greater combat focus (providing combat bonuses):  Assassin, Bandit, Bounty Hunter, Swashbuckler, Thug

These kits do not provide huge “power-ups”.  Several of them have no special benefits or hindrances, some only have slight modifiers to the thief special abilities (pick pockets, etc)

As a side note, the role of thieves in BECMI or the Moldvay/Cook D&D rules is slightly different because thieves are much weaker getting only a d4 per level for hit dice.  They have armor restrictions but can use any weapon.  The BECMI rules also allow the equivalent of weapon specialization for any class.  (BECMI weapon mastery is not identical to 1e/2e weapon specialization).  Also the backstab multiplier never increases.  It remains at double damage.

In conclusion the 2e thief kits in PHBR2 offer several different builds for thieves centered around thief abilities and role-playing/campaign storyline with a much lesser focus on a thief’s role as a “back row” combatant in a standard dungeon-crawling melee.