Having played several rogues over the years, I have found a few successful builds. My Old spring attack elf rogue from 3.5 with a ring of Blink and a ghost touch weapon was usually the character with the least damage taken in the party.
A well played, well made rogue can stand shoulder to shoulder with fighters all day. Evasion and uncanny dodge usually means taking less damage than fighters. Protection from evil scrolls will keep you from making will saves.
In Pathfinder TWF, Weapon finesse and gang up are a strong combination. I've found gang up gets me lots more sneak attacks. Judges often keep NPC's out of flank situations, gang up nerfs that. Buy Agile weapons to add 5-8 points of damage per strike. (about equivalent to 2d6) For serious cheese, Dazzling display followed by dastardly finish(9th) will kill anything in two rounds!(with luck). Major Magic rogue talent with Chill touch in your off hand will deliver 3xlevel touch attacks per day.
It's really about party balance, not individual power. Plus, Rogues get to play the whole game, other classes are just waiting for the fight to start.
I often play rogues because I hate being in a party without one. I recently played a module with my Rogue5/Halfling Opportunist3. We walked through, found every trap, every secret door and every opponant before they found us. We completed our primary missions, all faction missions and only got in 1 fight. I could not sneak attack the opponant but I contributed. When I judged the same module, the party had a ninja, no rogue. They failed the primary missions, half the faction missions and 1 PC died, all with a larger party. They lacked the necessary skills for success.
