I've just been mulling over how to make rogues a bit less reliant on backstabbing recently, and was thinking of ideas how to work around that. So far I have two ideas:
1) - Give them Precise Strike as the Duelist
I really like this idea, as it allows them to have consistent damage without having to rely on allies. I don't think it would be overpowered either, since the damage is a lot lower than what you'd gain when sneak attacking, and you'd be limited to using only a single one handed weapon. A +20 to precision damage at level 20 does sound a bit sweet, doesn't it?
2) - Give them Bombs as the Alchemist
Since the Vivisectionist archetype stole sneak attack from the rogue, why shouldn't the rogue strike back? Bomb alteration discoveries could be made into rogue talents. I'd imagine this kind of rogue would skulk about using delayed bombs and would be super at infiltrating and sabotaging enemy equipment.
What else could work?
You could give the rogue full BAB and the option to take Feats in place of Rogue Talents, perhaps count rogue levels as fighter levels for qualification.
You could give them Flurry of Blows but allow it to work with all simple one-handed weapons.
Interesting...