Henry
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BelenUmeria said:So let's switch this around. What if a fighter chose to have a good charisma at the cost of a slightly smaller con score? Are we supposed to give them something to balance that too?
I'd say no, because the archetype of a negotiator exists in the rules; now, if the player wanted a high-charisma leader-type who was more of a born leader than a fighter, then I'd point them toward the Leadership feat, as well as the Trustworthy feats, and the skill focus: diplomacy.
However, in the case of a swashbuckler archetype, dodge does not work well, because it it designated for one opponent (I see images of Jose Ferrer facing off against a dozen armed men and picking one of them as his dodge opponent, and I can't recocile it), and Combat expertise hurts a swashbucking fighter's already meager ability to do damage. Comparing the fighting ability of the two of them, the heavy fighter will go up against his foe and power attack for a two-for one tradeoff, making damage capability render his staying power less relevant. On the other hand, a swashbuckler already begins with a penalty to their ability to dispatch a foe, in the form of smaller weaponry; add to that their AC bonus at the expense of a further to-hit penalty, and the swashbuckler cannot keep up. He can't slay and enemy faster than the enemy can slay him, round for round.
In other words, broad as the rules are, they can't cover every single eventuality and archetype that comes up; that's why the PHB even makes the suggestion in chapter 6 that DM's may want to work with their players to give-and-take on certain skills and abilities.
As for tailoring the adventure to the PC's, I certainly agree, and you could remind that swasbuckler about environmentaly surroundings, using chandeliers, rope riggings, precarious barrels, etc. to damage their foes via high-flying heroics, but there's also no reason a PC could fulfill an effective role AND have a character concept not covered by the existing classes through use of a little tweaking, either.