Gelatinous Icosahedron

 As so often happens, just as I zero in on The Way that I think will solve some glaring issue in the game, along comes a fresh insight or three to send me back to the ol' drawing board. I don't even recall precisely how this insight came to be in my head or whence it originated (it's drawn from more than one source, most likely), but here it is: Fighters in D&D get better at fighting as they level up. They can hit better ACs more often, thus dealing more damage, and they gain hit points in good amounts (dice willing, of course!). This enables them to take on stronger and stronger challenges in combat, as is their job. A 1st-level fighter struggles against orcs and goblins, but eventually becomes mighty enough to make these nothing but light exercise, and to feel confident going up against trolls and dragons. Magic-users in D&D get better at casting spells as they level up. They can cast more spells, they can cast better spells, and they can cast the same old spells...

 A while back I wrote about how the B/X fighter was underpowered relative to other classes, and offered some ideas to help bring it up to par. Perhaps even more underwhelming, though, is the thief class.  The thief, as an archetype and concept, has a lot going for it. Tricksters, opportunists, sneaks, knaves, and rogues of all stripes fit neatly under the thief banner. There's a lot of potential for players who relish the idea of succeeding by wit, cunning, and deceit rather than magic or combat prowess. The time-honored rule of awarding experience points primarily for treasure recovered rather than monsters slain or any other metric seems practically tailor-made for thieves. Unfortunately, the thief class as written in Classic D&D has some really glaring problems that make it a difficult and frustrating one to play. Many have complained about the class's d4 Hit Dice, a gripe which wholly misses the mark in my opinion. Thieves are not meant to be durable stand-up fighters....