I played a dex pally level 1-14. Halfling ancients. It was super fun. Maxed my dex, +1 leather (not even studded) shield and short sword and I was super-tanky. Tiny little tank.
"Grotesquely overpowered" is rather melodramatic. You add your CHA mod to Light armor or no armor. Realistically you're looking at +2 or +3 on top of the usual light armor calculation for a typical character until 12th level.
Remember the concept of 'bounded accuracy'? Going from AC 17 (Dex 16, Studded, Shield) to AC 20 (+Cha) at level 3 is in fact a big deal. It would be fine if it required you to keep your off hand empty (no shield, no two weapon fighting).
"Grotesquely overpowered" is rather melodramatic. You add your CHA mod to Light armor or no armor. Realistically you're looking at +2 or +3 on top of the usual light armor calculation for a typical character until 12th level.
Remember the concept of 'bounded accuracy'? Going from AC 17 (Dex 16, Studded, Shield) to AC 20 (+Cha) at level 3 is in fact a big deal. It would be fine if it required you to keep your off hand empty (no shield, no two weapon fighting).
So a subclass feature that functionally puts them marginally ahead of where a typical Paladin will be by 3rd level (Splint Mail is only 200 gp, assuming the DM doesn't lay out a set of Plate for them), then evens out for about another 10 levels is somehow completely upsetting the concept of bounded accuracy rather than falling well within its parameters? I don't see it. This is not upsetting some great and inviolable point of balance, it's keeping Paladin AC in the same zone it usually is in until you get into 3rd tier play, at which point "balance" is largely down to DM management. The gain in saving throws is an even trade STR for DEX, and Initiative is not super important and still dictated far more by the d20 than the bonus.
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I played a dex pally level 1-14. Halfling ancients. It was super fun. Maxed my dex, +1 leather (not even studded) shield and short sword and I was super-tanky. Tiny little tank.
Remember the concept of 'bounded accuracy'? Going from AC 17 (Dex 16, Studded, Shield) to AC 20 (+Cha) at level 3 is in fact a big deal. It would be fine if it required you to keep your off hand empty (no shield, no two weapon fighting).
So a subclass feature that functionally puts them marginally ahead of where a typical Paladin will be by 3rd level (Splint Mail is only 200 gp, assuming the DM doesn't lay out a set of Plate for them), then evens out for about another 10 levels is somehow completely upsetting the concept of bounded accuracy rather than falling well within its parameters? I don't see it. This is not upsetting some great and inviolable point of balance, it's keeping Paladin AC in the same zone it usually is in until you get into 3rd tier play, at which point "balance" is largely down to DM management. The gain in saving throws is an even trade STR for DEX, and Initiative is not super important and still dictated far more by the d20 than the bonus.