Ok, WebSpyder, let me just double check that we are on the same page. I am talking about her current stats compared to the "recommended stat spread", which she apparently had before, and her current gear compared to what she should have going by the rules...
i.e. going by the gear she should start with, and the recommended stat spread, she should have +4 to hit with simple weapons, and +2 to damage, and an AC of 16, with scale mail and a shield, and can get a crossbow with +2 to hit, and +0 damage. However, she doesn't get a crossbow, and has been given chain shirt instead of scale mail (probably because a) they didn't want her to have disadvantage on stealth checks, because she is a trickery cleric, and b) martial classes don't start with chainmail like they should, so everyone gets to jump down a notch on the armor). The effect there was that she only had an AC of 13, 15 with a shield. Then the data showed them that Shadowheart kept dying, so they changed her to dex-based. I assume this is to fix the AC, giving her 15, 17 with a shield (and it is decent specifically compared to what she could have using La'zael's half-plate, that the player has access to at game start, not compared to what she would have at start in a normal 5e campaign), but the trade-off was that they dumped her str stat, giving her shitty melee damage, but better ranged damage, but they haven't given her a ranged weapon. Clearly from an rp perspective she should be a melee character, which is awkward if she gets a malus from her shitty strength. They have tried to fix this by dumping her charisma stat and raising her str to 12, whereas they could have fixed this by giving her elf weapon training, so she'd be proficient with short swords...
That is what I am griping about, the design decisions made to try to fix a problem they originally created, not that trickery cleric makes more sense as a dex build, I have no problem with this, I agree that it does, but then they should have given her elf weapon training and a short sword instead of giving her a mediocre strength score to try to compensate. They should be playing to her strengths, not trying to shore up her weaknesses. If we could customize these characters ourselves to a certain degree, as the OP suggests, we could make better decisions still in keeping with the characters rp theme, that aren't bad.
Where are you getting this extra +2 to hit from? There aren't separate to hit and damage bonuses in 5e. With a 14 DEX and a 12 STR she has either +1 to hit and damage with non finesse weapons or +2 to hit and damage with ranged and finesse weapons. 5% difference between the two. That's it. I haven't the first clue where you're getting +4 with simple weapons from. I will add though that I 100% agree she should just have elf weapon training over the silly cantrip. That's just a poor character choice.
Further: From the description in the PHB for Trickery domain clerics -
They prefer subterfuge, pranks, deception, and theft rather than direct confrontation.
Sure, you can play any way you like but "fronm an RP perspective" no she should not be a melee character.
