Long ago, I posted a totally revised Thief class. I am not alone in thinking they could use a bit of an overhaul. Though I am a bit partial to my own suggestions.
Thief Ideas
Sure... thief overhaul... sounds good to meh...
Maybe they should get some of that super hide 
If by thief overhaul, you mean we drop a U-haul on every thief's head. Then we lift it up, check their pulse, and drop it on them again, just to make sure.
The only thing about the whole traps using materials thing is that TRAPS EXPIRE. Its hard enough to set them up, wait 6 hours to GATHER MATERIALS that you already have to do to wait for another trap. You would think thats not very long, but when your mech doesnt last forever, think of having to go get more materials for it. If they ever cost materials, they should be permananent, or be very easy things to get.
Second, if you want a tough fighter rogue without pry/steal, play a ninja.
Trap master sounds cool though. But no material cost. That would be lame. Everyone would wait outside of town to kill thieves while they stroll on their way to get trap materials.
So when is that super hide getting implimented?
Thieves aren't supposed to be cold-hard killers. They're out for themselves, and only themselves. They have the ability to make a nuisance of themselves, with or without your knowledge. But NEVER should a thief open combat with dirt kick, and stand face to face with a giant-sized warrior, and come away alive, much less unscathed.
Thieves have the exact abilities they need to become what they were intended to be. Some thieves (Azantar) have done well at the "Kill everybody" game. But a lot of that is skill on the player's side. Thieves were not intended to be like ninjas, with a one hit kill.
In short:
If you want a thief to be like a warrior... Roll a Warrior.
If you want a thief to be like a ninja... Roll a Ninja.
If you want a thief to be a "Trapmaster"... Roll a Thief.
Traps, if mastered, will not take too long to set up again.
Thieves have out-melee'd warriors at 50 before. It's not impossible.
Thieves do not make 'creative' use of the traps they possess.
People need to fear thieves, and not just for losing their sack.
I hate losing my sack more than dying. 
Thieves do not make 'creative' use of the traps they possess.
On one of my thieves I tried taking some less popular traps because as I was reading through the help files some very cool combinations occured to me. Of course in reality, most thief friendly areas have a lot of room to manouver and a thief can only have two traps up at a time, so some of the more intricate trap combinations will almost never work. I think thats why people stick to the stuff that "works". Not to mention thieves are often fighting multiple opponents and have other pk ppl in the area who might accidentaly set off a trap.
Of course when the thief gets their target blackjacked in a room with one exit, then you see the magic happen.
I'd still like to see a path for thieves, I think a trapmaster would be very cool indeed.
The traps are fine. It's in the 'creative' use of them that they become much more important. Take the time to experiment/implement new 'uses' for traps that exist currently. But then again, this is true for every skill/spell in the game.
On one of my thieves I tried taking some less popular traps because as I was reading through the help files some very cool combinations occured to me.
Same for me.
1 extra trap would be cool. But I can see it being overpowered.
The traps are fine. It's in the 'creative' use of them that they become much more important. Take the time to experiment/implement new 'uses' for traps that exist currently. But then again' date=' this is true for [i']every skill/spell in the game.
A problem that may yet exist, though, is that many of these other traps have a very high failure rate from what I've heard. Haven't played one myself, as thieves aren't my style at ALL, but when I've been told from multiple sources that these other traps fail at around 15 out of 20 times against an opponent with 0 saves, they can't really be used effectively in a world where almost everybody HAS decent saves. Combined with the difficulty of setting traps, these other traps become very, very limited in use.
If this has been addressed, I remove my objection.
You speak the truth. I experienced a heinous failure rate with my last thief, and I did a test that showed antimagic failing 17/20 times on someone with no saves. I have the log if people don't believe me ;p
Were you traps mastered? Spell casters master spells for a reason...
Thieves need nothing. Not a thing at all. Thieves are killers who are based around stealth. Yes, STEALTH!!!!!!! You cannot and will not be able to stand toe to toe with players who know how to fight. Nor should you. The skill being a strong killer with a thief comes from picking your moment. True skill is being able to create the moments that you want.
Malanith is right too - there are some VERY creative ways to use certain traps, but you have to think outside the box....
If all you want to do is antimagic;chestbuster;backstab;chestbuster don't count on getting many kills on skilled players.
L-A
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My traps were either mastered or in the 97-98 region.
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I never said thieves NEED anything to be effective, they are already very effective. I agree with this totally. I was just saying that it might add another, more interesting side to thieves if they were a bit more customisable. I never said they needed to be beefed up, and I certainly never said they should be able to set more than 2 traps.
If you read my last post, I actually said:
I AM NOT SAYING THIEVES SHOULD GET MORE THAN 2 TRAPS AT ONCE
All I suggested is that maybe a bit of customisation within the guild would allow for a bit more diversity, rather than the standard formula 90% of thieves use: antimagic, blackjack, backstab, flee into damage.
I mentioned the 2 traps limit thing because it made a lot of thief traps basically unusable. Antimagic and 'flee' traps are so important to PK, that you can't afford NOT to use them - and there are your two traps gone. No one ever really uses any other the other booby traps, with the rare exception of enfeebler.
The solution to this is NOT to give thieves more traps at one time, and I never said it was. I see customisation and taking a look at traps as a possibility.
I don't mind people disagreeing, I am all for hearing people's opinions. But please disagree with things I actually said.
Trapmaster
Loses the ability to disguise himself, doublesheath, and throw[edge]
Gains 2 selections from mechanisms and can set up to 3 traps at a time.
Trapmasters traps always function as if they were 2 levels higher.
This is where people are getting 3 traps from.