Summary
- RPGs offer players the opportunity to play as a thief character, engaging in stealthing and hunting for hidden riches.
- Games like Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and Quest for Glory allow players to play as a thief while also exploring other skills and abilities.
- Games like Skyrim and Baldur's Gate 3 provide players with the option to specialize in thieving skills, becoming deadly threats from the shadows.
RPGs are all about choices, prompting players to engage in dialogue with other characters, make decisions during quests to change the direction of the plot, and create their own character and build. Classes such as warriors and mages remain hallmark elements, as is the roguish thief class.
With their aptitude for stealth and their sticky fingers capable of relieving others of their valuables, thieves are a nearly essential part of a well-rounded RPG team, and with these games, any player is free to master the art of larceny.
7 Seven: Enhanced Edition
A Unique Isometric Experience Starring a Thief
Seven: The Days Long Gone
- Released
- December 1, 2017
- Developer(s)
- IMGN.PRO, Fool's Theory
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
Set on the imaginative fictional island Peh, players take on the role of master thief Teriel, sent on a mission to stir up some trouble within the Vetrall Empire. The isometric stealth-focused gameplay may not measure up to games like Dishonored or Assassin's Creed, but Seven is still a fun hidden-gem that gamers in search of something new are certain to enjoy.
Playing as the thief character, players will engage in familiar thief gameplay, such as stealthing and getting the jump on enemies, as well as hunting for hidden riches.
6 Dark Messiah Of Might And Magic
One of Arkane Studio's Earlier Titles Features Fun Thief Skills
Dark Messiah Of Might And Magic
Discover a new breed of Action-RPG game powered by an enhanced version of the Source Engine by Valve. Set in the Might & Magic universe, players will experience ferocious combat in a dark and immersive fantasy environment. Swords, Stealth, Sorcery. Choose your way to kill.
Cutting-edge technology: Experience an enhanced version of the famous Source Engine created by Valve. Discover the fresh perspective of a view with complete body awareness, realistic movements, physics rendering, and a complete first-person melee combat system in a fantasy setting.
Never-ending action: Challenge the forces of evil in 12 huge levels and learn to master over 30 weapons and an arsenal of devastating spells.
Evolve your character: Extend your gameplay experience without being limited to a single discipline. Learn powerful new spells and attacks using Dark Messiah's unique Skill Evolution System as you progress through the game.
Revolutionary multiplayer mode: Get ready to battle with up to 32 players in the revolutionary Crusade mode, which will enable players to gain experience and new skills across dynamic online campaigns. Enlist with the humans or the undead and choose among five complementary character classes.
- Released
- October 24, 2006
- Developer(s)
- Arkane Studios, Ubisoft Annecy
- Platform(s)
- Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360
Though Arkane Studios is known for game series such as Dishonored, they were also responsible for creating Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, an action RPG that sees players controlling an apprentice of a wizard on an expedition to retrieve a powerful artifact.
Although they are under the tutelage of a caster, the player is by no means locked into a caster class, and instead is free to focus in on other skills, such as those necessary for being a proficient thief. These stealth skills allow them to sneak up on unaware enemies and take them out before they realize the player is right behind them.
5 Quest For Glory
Retro Gamers Can Play a Thief Without Sacrificing Other Skills.
Quest for Glory: So You Want to Be a Hero
- Released
- October, 1989
- Developer(s)
- Sierra On-line
- Platform(s)
- MS-DOS, Amiga ST, macOS
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Strategy
Though slightly on the older side of gaming, Quest for Glory is still a fun adventure RPG for those that don't mind retro game esthetics and gameplay. What's more, PC players can easily enjoy the entire series, as it is available to purchase in one single bundle via Steam.
Each Quest for Glory game features a brand-new adventure awaiting the player, with new threats to face in each one. The players themselves have the freedom to choose from one of three classes: fighter, wizard, and thief, each granting players specific abilities that will determine how they play, but players could also choose to buy specialties locked to other classes, which was revolutionary for the time.
4 Arcanum: Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura
Thieves Are Bolstered by Their Choice of Magic or Technology.
Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
An Industrial Revolution in a World of Magick: Imagine a place of wonder, where magick and technology coexist in an uneasy balance, and an adventurer might just as easily wield a flintlock pistol as a flaming sword. A place where great industrial cities house castle keeps and factories, home to Dwarves, Humans, Orcs and Elves alike. A place of Ancient runes and steamworks, of magick and machines, of sorcery and science. Welcome to the land of Arcanum. Character Design allows you to customize your character any way you choose. Whether you choose magick or technology, the Arcanum world adapts and responds to your character's development. Classless, point-based attribute system allows for limitless creativity in guiding your character's development. 8 basic stats, such as Strength and Charisma. More than a dozen derived stats, from Poison Resistance to Character Speed. 16 Primary skills, including Gambling and Healing. 80 Spells with 16 Colleges of Magick. 56 technological degrees within 8 disciplines. Extraordinary Adventure Features. Explore a world as vast as it is mysterious-it would take over 30 real-time hours to traverse the land of Arcanum. Meet more than 300 unique characters and monster types across this huge land. Many means exist to solve the myriad quests, from dueling to discourse to thievery. Take on a band of ogres in real-time, or plan your strategy through turn-based combat - you decide. Accurate day and night cycles affect the gameplay, from combat to thieving skills. Automatic character management lets action-oriented players delve into the quest at hand. Create your own worlds or play the included multiplayer scenario online cooperatively or competively.
This classic RPG was released back in the early 2000s, with gamers of that era still fondly recalling their time spent in the titular land of Arcanum, a place where magic and technology coexist. The game opens with the player surviving the crash of a zeppelin called Zephyr, which was beset by assassins during its maiden voyage.
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Players are given the option of one of four classes, with one such being the thief. In A rcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, thieves can choose to focus on magic or technology to further their skills of larceny and stealth, making it a wholly unique experience.
3 Divinity: Original Sin 2
Stealth, Lockpick, and Pickpocket in this Immersive RPG.
Divinity: Original Sin 2
The second installment in Larian Studios' epic original RPG series, Divinity: Original Sin 2 features an impressive, unique world where magic users tap into Source, a naturally occurring substance in the world that unfortunately draws the attention of monsters called Voidwoken that are starting to overrun the world. It is up to the plucky protagonist to put an end to them.
As is custom with Larian games, players can choose to play as one of the Origin characters, or create their own from a wide range of races and classes, with one such being a rogue class. Though the class starts off as a standard rogue, players can choose to specialize in certain rogue traits such as thievery, making pickpocketing and lockpicking much easier.
2 Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Even With no Predetermined Classes, Players Can Craft a Thief Through the Skill Tree.
Skyrim
One cannot mention RPGs without thinking of the excellent Skyrim, a game which broke ground upon its release. Skyrim allowed players to put points into attributes rather than locking themselves into one chosen class, allowing them to be a jack-of-all-trades if they wished, but this doesn't mean players can't focus their build into one option.
All players need to do to make a thief is focus on buying skills in the pickpocket, lockpicking, and sneak branches, allowing them to pilfer goods from people and locked chests without being detected, and make a swift exit before anyone realizes they have been robbed. These skills will allow players to emulate the perfect thief class, though they should also invest in some combat skills, lest they end up a dragon's dinner.
1 Baldur's Gate 3
Thief Stands Out as the Rogue's Best Subclass.
Baldur's Gate 3
- Released
- August 3, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, macOS
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Larian's smash-hit D&D RPG proved a must-play for any fan of the genre, with its impressive attention to detail, lovable cast of characters, and the amount of choices players can make, with each action provoking a reaction within the plot.
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As one might expect from a D&D themed game, players can choose their class and a subsequent subclass, with rogues able to focus on magic tricks, assassination, or larceny. The thief subclass stands out as possibly the best rogue subclass, as now only does it make sleight of hand tasks easier, they can do more bonus actions during their turns. This means thieves have far more action economy than most other classes, and it can make them deadly threats from the shadows during combat.
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