Mouseferatu
Hero
I've been rethinking this, and upon further consideration, I'm not convinced I'd give the avenger any sort of "add another ability score to AC" ability at all.
The avenger already focuses on Dex where the paladin focuses on Strength. That means that, with stat bumps to a single stat, both his offense and defense are going to rise fast. Assuming a "normal" paladin wears heavy armor, improving it as he gains levels and can afford better--and that an avenger wears studded leather, and bumps his Dex up as he goes--the result is going to be a relatively even AC. Oh, the paladin may be able to afford his plate a little bit before the avenger can get his Dex all the way to 20, but it'll only be by a few levels. Once they hit 8th, the studded leather-wearing avenger and the plate-clad paladin only have a 1 point AC difference. And the avenger's got a better initiative modifier and is just as good at ranged weapons as he is at melee.
Under most circumstances, I'd agree with you. But the use of such weapons was a pretty iconic aspect of the class in its prior incarnation. Allowing the avenger the use of one or two such weapons, but not granting him a Charisma-based bonus to AC, as I'd originally done, may not seem like much of a change, but I think it's actually the most balanced trade-off we've yet discussed in this thread.
(That said, I wouldn't be opposed to a caveat stating that the Great Weapon Master feat cannot be applied when the avenger is using Dex, since it's pretty clearly implied to rely on the wielder's Strength. Between that, and the fact that your traditional Strength fighters can take the Great Weapon Fighting combat style, I think the big burly guys still have some good stuff to call their own.)
The avenger already focuses on Dex where the paladin focuses on Strength. That means that, with stat bumps to a single stat, both his offense and defense are going to rise fast. Assuming a "normal" paladin wears heavy armor, improving it as he gains levels and can afford better--and that an avenger wears studded leather, and bumps his Dex up as he goes--the result is going to be a relatively even AC. Oh, the paladin may be able to afford his plate a little bit before the avenger can get his Dex all the way to 20, but it'll only be by a few levels. Once they hit 8th, the studded leather-wearing avenger and the plate-clad paladin only have a 1 point AC difference. And the avenger's got a better initiative modifier and is just as good at ranged weapons as he is at melee.
Under most circumstances, I'd agree with you. But the use of such weapons was a pretty iconic aspect of the class in its prior incarnation. Allowing the avenger the use of one or two such weapons, but not granting him a Charisma-based bonus to AC, as I'd originally done, may not seem like much of a change, but I think it's actually the most balanced trade-off we've yet discussed in this thread.
(That said, I wouldn't be opposed to a caveat stating that the Great Weapon Master feat cannot be applied when the avenger is using Dex, since it's pretty clearly implied to rely on the wielder's Strength. Between that, and the fact that your traditional Strength fighters can take the Great Weapon Fighting combat style, I think the big burly guys still have some good stuff to call their own.)
