The Gaming Den

So I was thinking about playing a F&K Barbarian in an upcoming, higher level campaign, and I was flipping through my MM, and the Bezekira (Hellcat) caught my eye.

My question is, would it be a CR8 creature, and then take a level of barbarian and be a "1st level" PC and a CR9 creature? Should it be CR7 and ought I to lower the HD to 7 as well?

Thoughts? Which method, 1 or 2?

Method 1 fits the outline given in Races of War. CR 7, +1 for being a PC, so it begins life as an 8th level character, which is convenient because it has 8 HD.

On the other hand, it doesn't strike me as a great 8th-level character. Pounce is cool, scent is cool, invisibility is cool, telepathy is cool, and Spell Resistance 19 is quite cool (though it won't scale as you level)... but I don't think it all adds up to what one expects an 8th-level character to do in a Tome-level game.

The lack of hands is also an issue, denying you access to magic weapons or even basic ranged attacks.

I'm pretty sure you'd just run it as SR 11 + HD in a Tome game. Otherwise, as you said, it quickly becomes worthless.

For the first method, you actually don't need a level of Barbarian to start playing the character. You can run it just fine as an 8th level PC with no class levels.

Stat breakdown looks like +8 Str, +6 Dex, +4 Con, +2 Wis, +2 Int or Cha, which seems fine at 8th level.

Outsider HD are pretty good, though. That's full BAB, all good saves, and 6+Int skill points. The closest PC comparison is Ranger HD, which would only drop your Will save.

But yeah, you'll want to choose feats and magic items carefully, because like Angel said, there are a lot of basic problems with being a big cat in a world designed for people.

Also, since RoW Barbarian abilities are based on your levels in Barbarian, if you take your 9th level as Barbarian, it will be handing you 1st-level character abilities. That's harsh.

See if you can hit up Frank for one of his monstrous prestige classes to fill you out.

you could try fiendish brute.