Shattered Kingdoms

YO THAT ARMAH IS WICKED PISSAH DOOD

FRICKIN WAHLOCKS AH SUCH KWEAHS.

Fire a pistol often enough and you get calloused skin back above the webbing of the thumb and first finger.

Perhaps rogues would be able to tell a swashbuckler (shoulder muscles and movement - not just because they're carrying two swords), barbarian (scars on forehead from headbutting), and other adventurers or fighters, but perhaps not be able to differentiate between the various magic users, of which they'd know little in comparison?

Street Smarts. Some rogues have them. Others don't.

Can't figure out if that light-armor wearer is a swashie, shaman, rogue or scout? Those two swords in his hand didn't give it away, eh? You probably don't have street smarts.

Not sure if that heavy-armor wearer is a merc or barb? If you sneak up to him and he starts acting funny without actually looking at you, he's probably a barb. Otherwise, backstab away, what's the worst that could happen!
Note: If you backstab a barb, you probably don't have street smarts.

Point is, rogues, along with everyone else, should be able to figure this out for themselves without use of a skill.

GIve everyone detect alignment then.

I still maintain that figuring out somebody's class is probably one of the easiest things in the game to do. You don't even have to know that much about the game. It just takes a little logic, and maybe some detective work. If a rogue finds himself really, absolutely needing to figure out somebody's class, I don't think he should be denied that MINOR amount of gumshoo required to know it.

99% of the time the question is just "Barb or not barb?"

If it's a NPC, trip it and fight it. If it berserks, it's a barb.

If it's a player, ask other players. Look at his EQ. Look at the title (it's a legit source of info... it's people's reputations). Look at the way he speaks and acts. This is all stuff you can easily do yourself, without a skill.

God forbid a rogue misjudges his opponent and actually gets killed by the first counterstrike in 100 years. And then after that he never, ever falls for it again. Seems fair enough to me.

It only ever really happens against NPCs either way. To that I say, live and learn.