In Second Edition
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, the
Rogue group was composed of the
Thief and
Bard classes, with the addition of the
Ninja from
The Complete Ninja's Handbook. The group was characterised by rapid experience progression and pick-and-mix abilities.
In the new Third Edition, the Rogue is the new name for the old
Thief class, and is distinguished principally by having a
skill number of 8 and the
sneak attack ability, combined with a very nice skill list including a few exclusive skills relating directly to lawbreaking and the like. This device unifies the old
percentile-based thief skills with the new skill system which replaced the old
proficiency system.