Well... all in all, paladin seems more locked to an oath than an allignment. You can chaotic neutral your way around town.
E.g. oath of devotion can use the rod to raise a certain husband as a zombie, oath of the ancients can't.
Oath of the ancients is explained well enough (protect the natural order. Zombie is not natural). Oath of devotion makes it sound like you're forced to play as lawful good. As long as you're not actively and acutely evil, though...
I guess this is what happens when we're not devoted to something solid for roleplay purposes? I really don't know.
Honestly, the way to get around any oath is to just have a companion do the talking.
I tested this in various spots. For example, OoD Pally breaks his oath when you decieve Minthara into thinking you're with the Absolute, but if your lead character is someone else, it doesn't.
