Mord wrote:The more compelling argument is that in 3e, all those skill points you get as a Rogue actually do something because they work with an actual existent skill system. Additionally, in 3e by 7th level you have 3 Feat choices and an ASI, whereas in 5e you get either 2 ASI or 2 Feats. But none of this has to do with the Rogue per se in either system.
Some 3e skills are bullshit treadmills, almost every monster has Spot and Listen maxed out for instance, but you're at least +14 Tumble at level 7 and that is obviously a class feature where you don't take AoO for movement because that is DC 15 forever.
Use Magic Device is also a thing, and obviously a class feature in 3e. It literally replaces a bunch of mid-high level Thief features from AD&D and lets you use a few level-appropriate spells. That is a very powerful thing, at least sometimes. In 5e it's hidden in an archetype you might not want, and hopefully the DM gives you anything to use it on before the campaign ends.
3e Trapfinding means when you use Search as a skill, it doesn't cause you to stumble into traps, ever, which is a time saving at least. Spot being a class skill is nice, because you suffer less closet troll encounters. There's just more random damage and other problems hitting parties that lack a Rogue or equivalent. Search in 5e you don't even know what you're going to be rolling, it's all "ask the DM".
There's also stuff like how in 3e you can just buy a Ring of Blink, and a mass of acid vials, and spam rapid shot touch sneak attacks at +8/+8 vs (usually) AC 10, against things that have much less hit points than in 5th edition. A few more classical or neo-classical ways also exist to hit things most of the time with a 3e Rogue, instead of not doing that with a 5e Rogue.
Because 3e has very solid rules, and PC numbers that go up against target numbers that often don't, characters improve at things, become reliable at things, and with experience can mix abilities in ways that just always succeed at quite a lot of things that are functionally class features. At least where your class gives you sufficient slots to buy them.
As a player you get to choose what actions will just work for your character by building toward that.
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The problem with 5e? You can't really do any of that, and they didn't replace any of that with anything else you can do instead, certainly not at 7th level. Well, you did get +1 to hoping the DM lets you do stuff when you ask nicely since 1st level, but then it tells DMs to mostly ignore that and do what feels good instead.
The designers have had this "sweet spot" idea for 10 years now and they are so bad at it, first the treadmill of 4e and now the go nowhere of 5e.
There's good arguments to be made that 3e is a bit complicated for the payoffs you get with a lot of the classes, and too much of the design space doesn't have any competitive payoffs at all for dredging through it, and even the higher level rocket tag where the rockets are not equitably distributed. I don't believe the answer to any of that is 400 pages of "Mother, may I?".
PC, SJW, anti-fascist, not being a dick, or working on it, he/him.