"Better" may mean different things to different groups, so it depends somewhat on the play style of the GM and other players.
If you have a group that is heavy on the role-playing side, don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. It is sometimes a challenge for new players to speak "in character" because it feels a little embarrassing when you are new to the game or group, but getting comfortable with that aspect of role-playing can lead to some of the best in-game moments. Don't worry so much about trying to do an accent, or speak with some other affectation; just use your own voice but try to think about how your character would react in the given situation. Instead of speaking in 3rd person like "My character says...," just speak in the first person, "I am honored by your presence, Duke NPC". Check out role-playing podcasts that discuss 1st person vs 3rd person. Google "Fear the Boot" and peruse their role-playing show topics.
If you have a a group that really enjoys tactical combat, it's important to understand how your character's feats/spells/maneuvers can aid the other characters on the grid. You might want to do some Google search on class optimizations / builds. Read through the combat section carefully. Understand how flanking, feints, aid another and other in-combat maneuvers can give you or you allies bonuses. If you are a spell-caster, research the use of buff and de-buff spells beyond just damage dealing spells. As an example, "Grease" is one of the most powerful utility spells in the game.
In terms of helping the GM, listen to the descriptions given as the GM narrates a scene. Ask questions about the details of the objects and surroundings of the scene. Ask about your other senses (smells, sounds) as the GM may sometimes to forget these details and the interactive give and take of noting these small details can really help a GM's creative juices as well. Honestly, as a GM, I am brought up to another level when the players ask leading questions. Sometimes I don't have all the answers, but other times it suddenly occurs to me that I can add a clue that I might not have otherwise thought to include or gives me inspiration on how to to build more atmosphere.
Don't be afraid to ask questions of the more experience players, but remember that it is your character, so have him or her act as you wish. You don't always have to act in accordance to their advice or desire.
Lastly, thank the GM for their game. It takes a lot of prep work and it is often thankless. At the end of the night, note something in the session that you thought was really cool, or particularly fun about the session. If you are really comfortable and friendly with the GM, you can sometimes offer positively framed constructive critique, but this is a very tricky path to tread and you really need to have a strong trust relationship with that person.
Let them die or be a hero despite their flaws. Those who live by the [dice] die by the [dice].
By rolling characters, and choosing not to build for combat prowess, you clearly have a very specific and challenging game in mind. While I would recommend investigation into other systems that may better fit your needs; the situation you've set up here has a very traditional solution: the character attempts to do the quite difficult, as built into his/her narrative arc. The character will either succeed or fail on their own merits, making the story that much sweeter or bittersweet, as appropriate.
In the gaming tradition, characters were played as long as they lasted. Let the arc play out for this character, as his/her choices dictate. Any changes to the character would by definition be optimising, as you're now trying to accomplish a specific mechanical goal (likely combat prowess.)
To avoid optimising, tone down the monsters you throw at the party, to suit their skill and the narrative requirements. Alternatively, the player can look at Anger Management, the pathfinder handbook for barbarians, and on their next level up (assuming they survive so long) make a more informed (nay... optimised) choice as suggested by the options presented in the handbook. I choose to build to requirements because random chance has not been merciful to my prior characters (to avoid a rather more vulgar hardware related phrase.) A quick review of the document suggests that the addition of a mount can do quite a lot to compensate for the halfling's ... diminished capabilities. Provide an opportunity to quest1 for a Giant Gecko mount and a quiet retcon to the mounted fury archetype.
1 Bonus points if it alludes to the
QFG2 Saurus mount
Best Answer
Good News!
There's actually a template for that in the official rules - see here. That link contains all the information on creating a lycanthrope template for any were-thingy you can think of :)
The specific details for a were-rex follow.
specific details will appear below them like this.
T-rex's CR is 9, so were-rex has CR: 10
(not that important for a PC, but this shows how powerful/unbalanced such a PC will be...)
(emphasis mine) T-rex size is Gargantuan, so a proper base creature has to be at least Huge for this template (this is another hint that this can create balance issues). If you house(over-)rule this, you get: Size: Medium (humanoid form), Gargantuan (hybrid and dinosaur form) and Type: humanoid (dwarf, shapechanger).
So, AC: hybrid and dino form: +16 natural, –4 size. (Calculate the modifiers from Dex, feats, etc., and add them up as normal.)
Your dwarf gets afflicted, so he has Defensive Abilities: DR 5/silver in dino or hybrid form.
(Exactly what it says on the can.) Speed: 40 ft. (in dino form)
The bite damage normally adds 1.5 x Str modifer, but since T-rex has the powerful bite special quality, it is 2 x Str modifer instead.
Melee: bite BAB + Str + Size (4d6+(Str x 2)/19–20 plus grab) only in dino and hybrid forms
So:
Special Attacks: swallow whole (2d8+11, AC 17, hp 15)
SQ: powerful bite(Ex), Change Shape (Su), Curse of Lycanthropy (Su), Lycanthropic Empathy (Ex)
Senses: low-light vision, scent
Skills: Racial Modifiers: +8 Perception
So, the dwarf will get +2 Wis, –2 Cha. Also, in dino and hybrid forms, for each ability, take the higher one between the dwarf's and what's below:
Str 34, Dex 13, Con 21, Int 2, Wis 17, Cha 8
As you see, this will be an incredibly powerful upgrade for your dwarf. it may be a better idea to base the template on a Large T-rex companion instead of on the fully grown beast (see the first sidebar to the right here) - If you find it too difficult to calculate that yourself, ask in a comment and I'll add that here as well (don't have the time to get to that right now, though). Using the companion statistics will still make him a badass without giving him an unbalancing push to something which is more like a super-powered NPC than a playable PC...