|
Yes. The new Faiths and Philosophies booklet introduces the feat "Nature Soul" (gives you +2 on Knowledge [Nature] and Survival), which is a prerequisite for "Animal Ally" (gives you an Animal Companion from a small list, at Character Level -3).
Animal Ally
Your respect for nature is so great that you can form a deep and lasting friendship with an animal.
Prerequisites: Nature Soul, character level 4th, must not have an animal companion or mount that advances as an animal companion.
Benefit: You gain an animal companion as if you were a druid of your character level –3 from the following list: badger, bird, camel, cat (small), dire rat, dog, horse, pony, snake (viper), or wolf. If you later gain an animal companion through another source (such as the Animal domain, divine bond, hunter's bond, mount, or nature bond class features), the effective druid level granted by this feat stacks with that granted by other sources.
well I am not 100% sure, but there is some debate as to weather you can take the Sylvan bloodline animal companion through the Eldricht Heritage feat. The two controversies is that A) it's technically an archetype of a bloodline, and B) It counts as both the arcana AND the level 1 bloodline ability.
But the easier/less controversial way is to wait until level 7 and take the leadership feat. :)
Animal cohort versus animal companion has a pretty similar feel IMO.
I'm not sure which is honestly stronger. You can awaken your animal cohort if it doesn't already have an int above 3 and you can advance it with class levels.