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As you know, many spells and wondrous items can make the rogue ancillary, if not unnecessary within a party because magic can accomplish the same things as a rogue's skills, only better.
What if there was a way to make the rogue so extraordinarily capable of using skills (in ways that far surpass the extent to which other classes are able to use those same skills) that the results are as powerful as magic?
Naturally, this would stretch some people's notions of verisimilitude for non-casters, but, really, that can't be helped. Frankly, the rogue has been labeled as the Skill Monkey for ages now, but skills become increasingly marginalized as spells and magic items become more plentiful and as characters go up in level. I'm thinking there's something that could be done to change all that.
I don't have a mechanic in mind yet (DCs, X/day, nothing), but I'm tantalized by the notion that a sufficiently skilled (and sufficiently lucky) rogue could perform the following (or similar) effects using the skills:
Skill – Spell(s)
Acrobatics – Feather Step/Air Walk
Appraise – Legend Lore
Bluff – Glibness
Climb – Spider Climb
Craft – Fabricate
Diplomacy – Charm Monster
Disable Device – Knock
Disguise – Alter Self
Escape Artist – Freedom of Movement
Fly – Fly
Handle Animal – Speak with Animals
Heal – Breath of Life
Intimidate – Fear
Knowledge – Legend Lore
Linguistics – Tongues
Perception – True Seeing
Perform – ???
Profession – ???
Ride – ???
Sense Motive – Zone of Truth
Spellcraft – Analyze Dweomer
Stealth – Invisibility, Greater
Survival – ???
Swim – Water Breathing
Use Magic Device – ???
Naturally, these spells may not be perfect fits by any stretch of the imagination, but hopefully you get what I'm going after. Maybe even the rogue could get access to effects that don't mimic these spells exactly, but are equivalent to their relative power/efficacy.
I welcome any and all thoughts on how to implement something akin to this. I'm also aware that this idea, though original to the best of my knowledge, could easily have been thought up already by someone else. So if something similar already exists, please point me in that direction. Thanks!
Well, there is the "Skill Talents" system that FGG came out with. They're sort of similar to this idea, though it's been a while since I actually looked at them so the execution may be different. I do like the idea that past 6th level (the transition into "epic fantasy") martial characters would be necessarily able to replicate magic just because of how skilled or talented they are.
I think part of the reason that rogues become so useless is, like you said, pretty much everything they can do can be replicated by magic at a certain point. The idea that martial characters have to be grounded in "reality" for a fantasy game is sort of frustrating in my opinion, and once martials start to get more goodies (like Fleet Charge in the Mythic system, or even the Bo9S outcries) they're suddenly too strong. I mean, why can't a rogue use Bluff in combat after an opponent's attack to pretend to be dead or dying? I had a player do this in a recent game, asked me if he could make a Bluff check to pretend that he had been killed by a Hammer of Chaos that had no effect on him; I said "Sure!" and it led to an interesting combat situation when he stabbed a dude passing by him.
I like the direction, and I hate having to houserule this kind of stuff so the rogues and fighters feel useful after level 6. I usually allow skill checks for things that are otherwise not within the parameters of a skill as written. High DCs, naturally, but why not reward that +21 Bluff?