Rogue tactics

Playing a rogue can present a challenge for those who haven't played it in its current form. Following are tips based on your style of play.

General
Whoever has the best Spot skill should be out in front trapspotting. This will usually be you, but sometimes a ranger spec'ed a stupidly-high Spot skill or there's another rogue in the party. In this case, you can let the other guy lead, or both stay more or less even ahead of the party. Four eyes are better than two. Share anything in DM text prefaces with "(Spot)" or "(Listen)" if you think it'll benefit the party.

After a fight, if you have points in Heal or Repair (and if you have bonuses to Int and Wis, why wouldn't you sink a couple points in?) you should stabilize your party if anybody fell. You can let your cleric do the heavy lifting on the healing burden, but keeping them from dying saves everybody time and trouble, and they'll be more likely to throw you that +1 chain shirt when it drops in their treasure and not yours.

Scouting Rogue
In a fight, if you're going with the ranged aspect, get high up and pick off enemies from a perch. If you do this, be aware of the possibility that enemies are getting to you anyway. If they are, GET DOWN. Your melee classes can't help you if you and the enemy are 30' above their heads. If you can't prepare or don't have high ground available to you, stay in back and call for help when you need it. Try not to draw the attention of monsters, as you probably are not well-equipped to deal with them face-to-face. If you do, you can block, try to use Diplomacy to get rid of whoever's attacking you, or call a melee class for help.

Backstabbing Rogue
If you're going with the backstabby rogue, stay out of the front in the beginning. Let your paladins, fighters and barbarians pick up the initial rush, then come around, stab the enemies and move away. Your melee fighters in the party have better armor and more hit points - let them take the damage. Remember that certain monsters (undead, slimes and constructs, for example) don't take backstab damage, so go with your Plan B. You can continue to backstab, but don't count on those large bonuses you get with the rest of your enemies. You might want to go into some sort of ranged mode to help support them.

Pulling with Bluff
When soloing, you'll often want to simply bypass groups of monsters or have a hireling charge them while you flank. For the patient types, it's also possible to slowly pare down a group using Bluff at long ranges, drawing one enemy after another towards you. Unlike the combat use of Bluff, by the time the enemy arrives it'll be hostile, but should be alone, out of its comrades' hearing, and if it can't spot you will be initially drawn to the spot where you used the skill and thus vulnerable to a sneak attack if you've repositioned. This tactic is less valuable against primary ranged attackers, who will usually stop short and pound the targeted spot or you with their ranged attack. When doing this, remember the effective range of Bluff is shortest-distance and that the skill does not require line of sight; you can sneak up to target an enemy and then retreat around corners to pull.