Squires are young nobles who are apprenticed with a Cavalier while they learn to be a knight. As a cavalier, your responsibility is to train, lead, and protect your squire as you help him or her grow into the role of a cavalier. Generally, your squire will follow your commands, though your GM may roleplay the squire's own needs, beliefs, and personality, which may make this interaction more complex.
Squires function as level 1 cavaliers except that they haven't yet learned the Leadership ability. As low-level fighters, they are still learning basic combat skills, so they avoid direct combat unless you order them to fight. Otherwise, they generally fill a supporting role, much like familiars.
Squires are always under your protection. As long as they are adjacent to you, they use your saving throws. While adjacent, you may also choose to soak up all but 1 hit point of damage inflicted on them, taking the damage yourself instead.
If your squire dies or is released from service (usually because they are ready to be knighted), you contact your order to find a new candidate in a city or large town. This usually takes about two or three days. If your squire is killed due to negligence or an act contrary to your oath as a cavalier, you may be required to atone for your actions with a priest before being able to acquire another squire.
Squires start with three basic abilities that they know. At 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th, and 19th level they learn a new ability to aid your combat abilities. The following abilities are available.
Your squire may use the saving throws of other allies if adjacent, not just yours.
Whenever you are killed, dying, stunned, or otherwise unable to take actions, your squire gains the full benefit of your challenge and order abilities against all creatures that attacked you in the previous round. This benefit lasts until you are again able to take actions or until your opponents are killed. If your squire is similarly incapacitated, you gain advantage on attack rolls and a +2 bonus to damage against those who attacked him. This lasts the same duration as above.
When performing any equipment-related actions in combat, you may use your squire's actions for an action you may normally have to perform yourself. For instance, your squire may use her movement action to equip your shield, load a crossbow, or retrieve an item from your pack or from the ground. Furthermore, your squire is well-trained in swapping weapons back and forth. Any item your squire is holding is considered to be held by you, allowing you to use one of her melee weapons for an attack of opportunity, to drink a potion she is holding, etc.
Your squire knows the covering defense technique. If your squire takes total defense, you may add her shield bonus to your AC.
As long as you and your squire are within 30 feet, you both gain the benefit of the danger sense ability. As such, you gain advantage on rolls made to avoid the effect of traps, or rolls made to avoid being surprised by a foe.
Your squire may attempt to field repair a damaged item. The item must be non-magical and a common piece of equipment familiar to your squire. Repairing an item requires a DC 12 Intelligence check. If successful, the item retains the same number of integrity points but functions as if it has two more. So, a broken item with one integrity point, will again function fully as if it had three. Destroyed items cannot be repaired in this manner.
Your squire is experienced in maintaining equipment. The hardness of your weapons and armor is five points higher than normal, making them harder to sunder or be damaged.
With your squire's assistance, you can put armor on or take it on at double the normal speed.
If you and your squire both take a full-round action to rest in the middle of the fight, your squire can help refresh you and keep you going in combat. Doing so suppresses the effect of fatigue for the duration of the fight. During this time, you still count as fatigued, though suffer no penalties from it. After combat ends, all effects return to normal.
As long as your squire is adjacent to you, you may move out of a threatened square without drawing an attack of opportunity. However, this only works if you remain in threatened range of your enemy. If you move out of range all together, you provoke an attack of opportunity, as usual. Alternately, you may swap places with your squire without provoking an attack of opportunity, provided one of you still remains threatened.
Your squire knows the saving shield technique. As a reaction, your squire can use her shield to grant you a +2 shield bonus to AC.
As a bonus action, your squire can attempt an aid you or an ally, if adjacent. This grants a +1 bonus to attack or AC. Your squire can also aid in a skill check, in the same way any player can.
As long as you are adjacent to your squire you function as a team with two members. Any teamwork tactic you know, is automatically activated for the two of you as long as you stay adjacent to one another.