Falling from Grace (TCG)

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A lot has been made of the power of the chivalric ideal to control one's destiny and outlook on life. In fact, it is expected that the code chosen be followed to the letter. even to the point of extremes-like single-handedly charging the ancient red dragon when there is no hope of success.
However, as is bound to happen sometime in a knight's life, he may "fall from grace". Even a momentary lapse of will can cost a knight dearly.
It cannot be emphasized how much a breach of trust and faith it is to fail to perform honorably. However, there are degrees of failure, and not every transgression is a world-shaking event. In order below are some of the punishments common in such circumstances. and the level of transgression required to receive said punishment.
==Loss of Personal Honor==
A knight who has shown minor cowardice in battle (by avoiding a battle, etc.) or who has offended a lady, has suffered a loss of personal honor. He has been marked as spiritually impure, and the DM is encouraged to inform the knight that he is now displaying tendencies towards neutral or evil. The player should be informed of this change. and such failures become idle gossip in the kingdom very quickly. Further failings will result in an actual alignment change and force the knight to deal with all the negative effects of such transformations.
Recovering from such a transgression often involves nothing more than a courageous stand in the next battle, or championing said lady in the upcoming tournament. While the stain is not permanent and alignment can return to normal, further transgressions. even if normally only minor, are now treated with even less tolerance and might cause the loss of one's family honor (see below).
==Loss of Family Honor==
Outright cowardice in the line of duty that does not result in the loss of the battle or the striking of any women, are the sorts of things that not only incur the penalties stated above under "Loss of Personal Honor", but also can have longlasting effects on the offending knight's entire family line.
Besides flagrant alignment violation, the knight's liege-lord is fully within his rights to repeal the oaths of fealty sworn from such an obviously dishonorable character. The revoking of lands, the freezing of assets, and the bitter scorn of the general populace are usually humbling enough to the fallen knight.
Some fallen knights choose to repent their sins through the performance of some great quest, or by entering into a monastery where, after serving their god for many years, penance might be granted.
Other knights might opt to renounce the same titles they have lived by, having had a more permanent change of heart, and become knights-errant, or rogue knights.
==Loss of Royal Honor==
Now, the knight's crimes are getting serious by anyone's standards. The knight has fled the scene of a battle, demoralizing his forces to the point of turning the course of the battle, or the knight has harmed or slandered a lady of noble birth-a chaste daughter of the realm!
Including all of the punishments detailed under the "Loss of Personal and Family Honor" sections. the knight and quite possibly his entire family line is likely to be banished forever from the kingdom. As enemies of the realm, and to save the face of the ruling lord, the knight risks imprisonment or execution if he returns.
Nothing short of saving the king's daughter from the clutches of ultimate evil can win back the fallen hero's lands. By default. since they no longer have any lord to serve or lands to represent, all such knights become rogue knights. This knight's family crest becomes a beacon of distrust that haunts him the rest of his life.
==Heinous Crimes Against The Gods or The King==
This particular category is the most serious because such things do not occur accidentally. Such hei- nous crimes are premeditated and all the more despicable. This type of crime is distinguished by the fact that it must be so awful that the knight in question's alignment is now irrevocably shifted to evil.
Using our progressive examples. this time the knight has actually led his lord's forces into an am- bush, turning sides and helping to slaughter his own men, or the knight has captured, ransomed, and possibly even killed the king's own daughter.
Now, all of the penalties dis- cussed above are just for starters. This horrible criminal's life is now forfeit. Banishment is proclaimed. but hardly necessary, as the cul- prit is no doubt long gone after the deed. His crest, should he remain bold enough to present it, attracts bounty hunters and loyal aveng- ing knights until the scoundrel is caught and brought to justice.
Such a knight is the worst kind of rogue, a Black Knight, and this is the kind of man great chivalric villains are made of.