(Dragon #63)

Roger E. Moore and Thomas Armstrong bring us a fighter-thief hybrid with plenty of outdoors skills, available to humans, half-orcs and half-elves. Being useful outdoors is great but does the Bandit pull its weight underground?

What does a bandit get?

• Fighter Subclass. All the fighter goodies including multiple attacks. Limited to chainmail and medium weapons (no polearms or two-handed swords).
• Surprise = Best Scout. 4-in-6 chance to surprise enemies and only a 1-in-6 chance to be surprised—making them exceptional party scouts. This is their standout feature. Elves and halflings also have a 4-in-6 surprise chance but must sneak 90 feet ahead of the group and wear light armor to do so. Bandits have no restrictions on their surprise chance.
• Climbing. Can climb walls like a thief of equal level, though heavier armor imposes penalties (best check Thieves Table II in UA).

The Downside

• Outdoor skills. Abilities like hiding, trapfinding, tracking, and covering tracks are limited to outdoor use. While tracking and covering tracks have decent success rates, the others are unreliable at early levels and rarely useful in dungeon-focused games.

Why add the class? 

Even in dungeon-heavy campaigns, the Bandit excels as a scout. They will surprise your foe and prevent your group being ambushed. They are hardy enough to handle frontline combat just fine. Does the game need a sneakier, less durable, but easier-to-qualify ranger without alignment restrictions? Maybe. For now, it tentatively earns a spot on the "best of" list.