Dragon Companion

[Trask]

One of my players in my game is an Inquisitor who knows what he wants. He is the animal domain (feather subdomain) and he is going to get an animal companion at level 4, and hes taking it with the monstrous companion feat and other such boons. He wants to know if there is a way that his companion can be a dragon/dragonkin/dragon related creature. I know a wyrmling is far too powerful for a level 4 companion but I was wondering if anyone had access to (or homebrewed) some kind of drakeling companion or a half dragon creature. Something that isnt too powerful for a level 4 companion. About the same power level as the roc companion version. Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks.

[Honest Tiefling]

Swap it out for a familiar? The familiar list includes the pseudodragon, the faerie dragon, and one other from an adventure path.

[Trask]

I feel like the pseudodragon is a bit too weak for a level 4 characters new companion. But I could perhaps beef the stats a bit and call it a drakeling or somesuch

[Ssalarn]

Paizo actually just dropped a book with dragon companion options. Blood of Dragons or something like that? Might be worth looking into.

***Edit***
Legacy of Dragons, that's what it's called.

[Honest Tiefling]

I feel like the pseudodragon is a bit too weak for a level 4 characters new companion. But I could perhaps beef the stats a bit and call it a drakeling or somesuch

I think the Pseduo is a fine FAMILIAR, which is a totally different thing then a companion. A companion is a meatshield, familiars often (but not always) give extra utility or help with positioning.

If the guy is going for a draconic companion that fights with him on the battlefield, I wouldn't alter the pseudo dragon, because it has telepathy, the ability to understand draconic, some good skill modifiers, etc. that would be wasted or unbalanced in trying to make it a competent fighter. If you go this route, I'd start with something more in line with what is desired in terms of stats and go from there.

Sslarn makes a good point, since the description from the website is "Ways for characters to enlist drakes and lesser dragons to serve as allies, improved familiars, and even flying mounts." Seems pretty recent, but well, you can't really argue with his suggestion.

[Trask]

I dont think he needs it to be a meat shield. He just really likes the concept of an intelligent dragon companion. A reskinned pseudodragon might be perfectly fine but I might beef it up a bit considering its a little weak. Im thinking about him finding the egg and perhaps caring for it and it hatches when he reaches level 4, where it would then be his companion. As time went on it would get stronger and such.

[Serafina]

As mentioned above, Legacy of Dragons contains rules for Drake Familiars.
They are not true dragons, but they are intelligent, can fly, and get a breath weapon.
They do start out as Tiny, though AFAIK they grow to small at 5th or 6th level, and they grow all the way up to huge over the course of 20 levels.

Now, the book only comes out tomorrow and won't be on the SRD for a few weeks as usual,
More importantly, they are all gained via archetypes, and the Inquisitor doesn't get one.
However, we do know that they mostly work like animal companions - a scaling table similar to what animal companions get, they get feats and special features and so on.

So, here's something you can do:
Make up a statblock for a "Drake animal companion". Say, something like this:
Starting Statistics:
Size: Small Speed: 30 feet AC: +4 natural armor Attack: Bite 1D4 Ability Scores: Str 14 Dex 14 Con 12 Int 8 Wis 10 Charisma 12 Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, Scent
7th-level Adjustments:
Size: Medium Speed: 30 feet, fly 60 feet (poor) AC: +2 natural armor Attack: Bite 1D6, 2 Claws 1D4 Ability Scores: Str +4, Dex -2, Con +2, Int +2 Special Qualities: Breath Weapon (cone or line) 1D6/2HD, usable once per minute, Energy Resistance=HD

Then you use that until you can take more inspiration from Drake Companions. Work out what the player is willing to give up to get one - likely the Domain, good choices are from Second/Third Judgment, Stalward, Greater Bane and other high-level class features, among with maybe one of the lower-level class features.
Again, I haven't read the book, it's not out yet - all the other archetypes who get drake companions apparently do trade out other class features for them instead of just getting a 1:1 swap with animal companions. So they're probably stronger, making that a reasonably fair trade, but since Drakes start out tiny and take a while to even get to medium size, trading out lower-level features seems fair.

[Ssalarn]

I also bought this $0.99 3pp release (http://paizo.com/products/btpy8vrl?Class-Acts-Cavalier-Archetypes) awhile back, and it has Drake companion stats. It's intended for the cavalier but I don't see any issue with converting it for other classes, and it has the distinct benefit of being intended as a mount and this rideable at lower levels.