What would a Wood Elf rogue be like?

[vivsavage]

I'm creating some house rules to make certain race/class combinations more unique. I want elven rogues to be very different than, for instance, human rogues. Let's assume, for the moment, that all of my elves are from woodland settings. That being the case, what would be the purpose of the elf rogue within elven society? Here are some examples of where I'm coming from:

Dwarf Wizards: primary purpose is to help in delving new underground kingdoms. Spells are generally for use in working stone, sealing doors, creating new passages, inscribing runes, and so forth.

Elven rangers: the scouts and guardians of the fringes of elven kingdoms. They are snipers and messengers as well.

So what could I devise as the cultural rationale of elven rogues (and other classes)? What unique abilities would they have compared to traditional rogues?

[Arduin]

Their purpose would be to steal stuff from other elves and not get caught.

Elves tend to be chaotic...

[JediOre]

The real question at hand is how much wood could a wood elf steal, if a wood elf could steal wood?

[Breakdaddy]

If the rangers are scouts, the Rogues might be infiltrators. If you need to break into an impudent human's castle to get information on how he plans to tear down more of your precious homeland forest, the rangers might guide the rogues to the castle whereupon the rogues infiltrate and recon the fortification.

[MormonYoYoMan]

The real question at hand is how much wood could a wood elf steal, if a wood elf could steal wood?

All they could, and they would if they could.

[redwullf]

What would a Wood Elf rogue be like?

I don't know what he or she would be like, but I bet s/he'd be named "Sucrose Brightpony."

Because...you know...it's an elf.

Note: Check out the Dungeon Bastard on YouTube if this made no sense...

[serleran]

I would have them be nomadic pillagers, much like the Hun, armed with fast and light weaponry and suited for high-speed getaways, making optimal use of guerrilla warfare and living the embodiment of all those tales of the "whispering, haunted woods."

[TheMetal1]

So what could I devise as the cultural rationale of elven rogues (and other classes)? What unique abilities would they have compared to traditional rogues?

I'm thinking that Elven Rogues could be the explorers are go are more than willing to go beyond the confines of the woodland. Perhaps Elven history has been lost, but there are bits of information that point toward an ancient and vast kingdom of elves. The Elven rogues could be trained - hence the sneak attack, climibing, traps, hide, move silently and subsequently sent out to find out more information. This makes the Decipher script pretty important. The Cant could be envisioned as a sort of code language. I guess as I write this it sounds a bit like the Pathfinder society, but I do think it is different. Primarily because it is racially focused on elves and limited to Rogues.

[vivsavage]

Good ideas here! My reason for asking this question is that I want to re-skin various class/race combinations to make them more unique. For example, I want the elven rogue to be markedly different than a halfling rogue (et al).

The elven rogue might not be a lock picker but have something more culturally relevant. Hence my query about what an elven rogue would be like within his own society. I thought maybe they would be outcasts from elven society, living by waylaying forest travelers, or stealing from elven scouting groups as they sleep at night.

Dwarf wizards would be masters of stone and earth, casting spells to aid in the construction of dwarf kingdoms. Dwarf clerics might be battle leaders, healing the front line injured and blessing soldiers as they march into the fray.

Thus every class/race combination would be very different from one another, with different spell lists, abilities, and so on. Any ideas for any race would be greatly appreciated.