Playing as a Noble Warcat in a party of Humaniods

[JacT]

Hi,
I'm planning on playing a Noble Warcat that will take levels in Feral Hunter (I'll be following the Tiger species stat block, since there is no Warcat the book). My goal will be to collect lots of money so I can hire Druids to Awaken every Warcat that I come across and rescue from the evil Orcs.

Level 1 (20 point buy)
Size: Small
Str: 16
Dex: 16 (+4 Tiger, +2 Noble Great Cat lvl 1)
Con: 12
Int: 12 (it should be noted that there will be a Paladin with Int 5 in the party)
Wis: 18 (+2 Tiger)
Cha: 7
Feats: Multiattack
HP: 9
AC: 14 (+3 from Dex +1 from size)
Bite: +3 Attack, 1d4+3 Damage
2x Claw: +1 Attack, 1d3+1 Damage (+1 from half Str)

Since I'll be the only Noble Animal (and the only player/gm that will be following the Noble Wild rulebook), my biggest concern is that I'm properly balanced compared to the human characters (if I'm too weak I'll die in battle, and if I'm too strong the GM will smite me).

1 - Am I way too weak? My AC is less than that of my Wizard character when he was at level 1. When I do a full attack, my damage will average that of a 1d10+5 (should all of my attacks hit), but for a standard action attack I'll only be doing a 1d4+3, which is far weaker than the Paladin that do a 1d10+Str as a standard action.

2 - I'm concerned that Deeds cost XP to gain them... nothing else in pathfinder does this (which was a design decision), so this seems like it was unchanged when being brought over from D&D 3.5. I've read in the forums that when converting spells from 3.5 to Pathfinder, I should just take the XP value and x5gp. For a level 1 Deed that would be 625gp, which could get me a +1 AC or +1 Enchantment to my bite.

Is that the conversion I should use? I could go out and kill a CR 1/3 enemy to gain back that XP spent for a level 1 Deed, but 625gp is over half of the gold I'll earn on the way to level 2, so in that comparison it seems a bit steep.

3 - What about drinking potions and the such? If I need to drink a potion while in battle, it might be tough to get someone to pour it down my throat. My GM doesn't think an animal with Int 12 could physically open the potion with his claws/mouth and then proceed drink the potion (I think it'd take a full round to do that, but he's not buying it). Is there an ability or magic item that I could get to help with this? I know there's Grant Hands, but the Paladin will have to get to level 9 before he can cast it, and I'm not expecting to ever run into other Noble Animals that could give it to me as a Boon.

Your input is appreciated.

[Avoron]

Warcat

[Cuup]

1 - Yes, your AC does seem low. Are you sure you aren't forgetting some sort of Natural Armor? You can buy armor made for non-humanoids (for a small non-humanoid, it costs 2x the default price), so you could buy a set of "Studded Leather" that would cost you 50G. You mentioned when the Wizard WAS level 1. What's the APL? Your full attack (assuming everything hits) actually averages 1d12+5, just fyi. Damage seems OK.

2 - No clue what you're talking about here, actually. It doesn't look like you're referring to Gunslinger/Swashbuckler Deeds. Can you provide a link?

3 - Yeah, you don't have opposable thumbs, so you shouldn't be able to manipulate potions. Also note that as a cat, you only have access to the following Magic Item slots: armor, belt (saddle), chest, eyes, headband, neck, shoulders, and wrist. You can expand this list with the Extra Item Slot feat. I don't believe using this feat to give yourself access to hand slots will fix your potion dilemma, though. No hands will actually net you quite a few problems, the more you think about it: If you do get armor, you'll need someone to help you put it on and take it off every time, you'll need someone else to carry all your gear, simple/common dungeon features like ladders will become an actual obstacle, and opening doors will be almost impossible. Make sure you ask you DM how he plans to limit you based on this. At any rate, it might be a good idea to (as soon as you can afford it) hire a human servant, who will be responsible for helping you do all the things I mentioned. The CRB lists the cost of a Trained Hireling as 3Sp/day, or you can just buy a slave for 75G.

[Cussune]

Potion sponges I think are undine items from ARG, so if you can get access to seaside villages and such it may help. And Haunted Shoes give you unseen servant a couple times per day. Otherwise, yeah, hope your party members are happy to assist or hire a servant (fey sounds cool) to be your assisting hands.

EDIT
Hand of the Mage gives mage hand, but you'd have to be happy wearing an elf's mummified hand around your neck...

[JacT]

Avoron - I've looked at that, buy I'm not sure how to change the monster into a balanced PC.

Cuup -
1 - 2x the price for armor seems reasonable. In "The Noble Wild", the Lions and Tigers don't get Natural Armor (not until level 5 when they grow to a large size, which is a +2). I could look at the RP prices and exchange something for a +1 NA, that might be worth it (and Warcats are actually more of an Armadillo that furry).

2 - Deeds are a new feature added to "The Noble Wild", there isn't a link, so you'll need to have the book to really understand it.

3 - I've been wearing something like a Doggy coat, where I can put my head into it to put it on, and step on it and pull my head out to take it off. The coat has pockets to carry smallish items, though it's not as good as a backpack. I'm thinking of getting a little wagon that I can pull, and I can slip my head in to put it on, though I won't bring it into dungeons.

Cussune - A mummified hand will work for me, and the potion sponges sounds cool (we're actually starting out in a port town, so that's not unreasonable to buy).

Thanks guys,
I'm still concerned about the Deeds balance if there's anyone that's played Noble Wild before.

[KarlBob]

Here's a link to its product page, to clear up some of the confusion.