Being on somewhat of a divine kick, I was originally going to make this a post on role-playing paladins. I decided to be a bit more specific and instead outline the knightly code of chivalry as I understand it. It's up to you to decide how much of this applies to your character. Paladins, in my opinion, should follow all of this without exception; indeed, throughout the post I will be referring to the subject of the code as a paladin (I'm writing this with paladins in mind). However other lawful good characters should consider following most (if not all) of this as well.
It's difficult to find a good source on chivalry without troves of redundancies and virtues irrelevant to the D&D world. I tried to sum up everything I felt was relevant with as few redundancies as possible. Some are more important than others (courage, for instance), but all are important.
Charity
In second edition D&D, paladins were required to tithe at least 10% of their earnings and were not allowed to retain any more wealth than was needed to support themselves in a modest manner, pay all hirelings a reasonable wage, and build/maintain a small keep or castle. While 3rd edition eliminated this restriction on the class, a paladin still should not see the need to retain much wealth. Whatever excess you have could probably be better spent by the local church or orphanage than it could be by you.
Charity, in its broader definition, is an unlimited loving-kindness towards all others. In its most extreme form such love can be self-sacrificial. This definition leads to our modern views of it as benevolent giving.
Compassion
By definition, compassion is sorrow for the suffering or troubles of others accompanied by a sincere desire to help. This virtue defines the good alignment and all good characters, lawful, chaotic and everything in between, are excepted to practice this at all times.
Courage
The ability to confront fear, pain, hardship or death, courage is a crowning virtue for not just paladins, but almost all alignments and classes. In addition to confronting physical hardships as mentioned above, courage is also acting by your conscience in the face of popular opposition, shame or discouragement.
It is important to remember that courageous and suicidal are not synonymous. Not all battles need to be to the death and not all retreats are cowardly. Even though a paladin should not be afraid to die, the cause of righteousness is better served if you live to fight evil another day than if you die fighting evil (plus you have your companion's lives to think about!).
Courtesy
In the Middle Ages, knights were among the nobility. As such, they were expected to know and respect all courtly manners, etiquette, titles, etc. While paladins in D&D are not necessarily required to be members of the nobility, they should at least be aware of the customs (it's only polite!). At minimum, I would say this means paladins should have ranks in knowledge (nobility) and diplomacy, despite how useless the former can often seem in many campaigns.
Devotion
The paladin and cleric classes both were originally based off the knightly orders during the Crusades. While there are many instances of corruption, in general crusaders were paragons of the Christian faith. While Christianity most likely doesn't exist in your D&D world and paladins need not devote themselves to any deity (devotion to righteousness is enough), those that do should approach their faith with the same zeal that they would approach any path or task. A paladin should be so devout that they inadvertently make the high priest of the temple look bad.
Diligence
Diligence is the act of doing all things efficiently and relentlessly to the best of one's ability in order to achieve success in every endeavor. A paladin should strive for perfection in all things and should always be finding ways to improve their abilities. They should view every task before them, even the mundane, as a personal test of their progress.
Hope
A paladin is the shining beacon in the midst of chaos. A paladin's strength lies not only within their own abilities, but also in the belief that a constant, unseen force far greater than them guides them along their path. A paladin does not so much fight for a cause as alongside one. Alone, deep in the darkest of dungeons or lost in the infinity of the planes, a paladin is never without an ally.
Humility
A paladin should always maintain a humble view of oneself. Modesty and reverence are not the traits of the weak but of the strong, for it takes great strength of will to reign in one's pride. Even a 20th-level paladin is still a servant to the 0-level commoner standing next to him/her. Humility is paramount to a virtuous character; pride leads to evil acts more often than any other vice.
However, a paladin must be wary not to give in to false humility, which is the baseless deprecation of one's self. This is not humble; rather, it is derogatory to one's own character and promotes pride in others.
Integrity
At the foundation of the Golden Rule (treat others as you would want to be treated) is the idea that morality is based on a consistent framework without arbitrary exceptions. That consistency is more commonly called integrity. A paladin should act as the model for all that is morally and socially ideal. A paladin does not steal unless they believe everyone in the world should be thieves, nor do they lie unless they believe everyone in the world should be liars.
If ever a paladin is to kill someone, they should be standing, facing him/her and armed. A paladin resorts to stealth only in the cause of good and then only as an absolute last resort. A paladin does not tolerate evil or illegal acts of others (friends included) but a paladin is always quick to forgive. A paladin deals fairly in all transactions and keeps all oaths, promises and contracts unless forcibly prevented from doing so.
Justice
Justice is more than protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty. It is the constant and firm will to give your due to your cause and your neighbor. Justice towards men disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good.
A paladin should be equitable and respectful, conciliatory and forgiving. A paladin was never appointed judge, jury and executioner, for that would be arbitrary and unjust. Rather, a paladin is the hand of the common good and a paladin's decisions should always reflect the best interest of society as a whole.
Loyalty
Many paladins are in service to a lord, organization or deity. Even if the paladin did not swear an oath of service, they should treat their service almost as if they had. A paladin is respectful and obedient to their superiors. However, an oath of service works both ways. A paladin should never feel obligated to commit an evil and/or chaotic act, even if ordered. Should this happen, a paladin may inform his/her superior that they did not fulfill their end of the oath thereby voiding it.
Mercy
Mercy is kindness in excess of what may be expected or demanded by fairness. It is refraining from punishing or harming offenders that are in one's power. Mercy is a blessing both for the giver and for the taker. A paladin never kills as a means of punishment. A paladin always honors requests for surrender (even if the paladin is 100% sure the enemy is only buying time to betray him/her later). A paladin believes that no villain is beyond redemption.
Patience
The ability to endure delays and difficulties without resorting to anger or complaint, patience is important for all paladins. A paladin should know first-hand that combating evils and injustices are never simple or easy tasks, therefore a paladin should know the folly of "taking the easy way out". A paladin recognizes that even impossible tasks are possible if one has patience.
It is important to note that patience does not mean being content doing nothing (that's called laziness).
Prudence
The charioteer of the virtues, prudence (more commonly known as wisdom) is the exercise of practising sound judgement in practical affairs. It is using practical reason to discern one's true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it. Though prudence itself does not involve performing any action, all virtues are regulated by it.
Temperance
Few virtues could be sustained in the face of the inability to control oneself. Temperance, or restraint, is generally defined as control over excess. A paladin should moderate their attraction of pleasures and keep all desires within the limits of what is honorable. A paladin does not give in to gluttony or lust, nor do they covet that which is not theirs.
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