So you were ancients not Devotion?
So you preemptively murdered the warg then. Did you kill the owlbear too?
In my views it is perfectly reasonable to assume you break your oath when sneak attacking someone, even goblins and hobgoblins.
That being said I did try to play a paladin also and I was told once I broke my oath without being told the reason, and I couldn't figure out what I did wrong. So I won't be playing paladin in full release even though I like the class, sadly. If they want the paladin class to be playable (other than oathbreaker) I think there should be a warning on actions and conversation options that leads to breaking the oath.
Correct, ancients oath. Yes I killed a Warg, no I didn't kill the Owlbear. Owlbears are classified as just another beast now, so I'd only kill it if it was attacking someone. Warg's are "monsters" and that makes a difference, and the term murder doesn't apply. Ancient's oath doesn't ban you from killing. It's actually fairly complex, if you understand that light is a spiritual metaphor. You aren't breaking it by killing germs when you cast laying on of hands to remove a disease. There's an implied prioritization. You preserve life when you kill a "monster" hell bent on destruction. Free willed people are more important than "monsters". It reminds me of that line from Stargate Atlantis when the doctor says "No, Commander Shepard's role is to preserve life too... He just uses a different set of tools.".
As for sneak attacking, ya that would break the classic devotion oath... which is why I didn't take it. Oaths can be met in more than one way. I was encouraged when I saw that you could watch the goblin prisoner get killed without penalty, but the higher fulfillment of the oath where you stand in front of the crossbow was rewarded with approval from Gale. And think of Shadowheart. I'm sworn to the light, she to darkness. Killing a priestess of darkness both kills a person and defends the light, so it's a contradiction that must be resolved by looking at other aspects of the oath. The highest would be to stay with her, prevent the ultimate completion of her mission, and lead her down a redemption arc (here's hoping she has one). But lesser choices should NOT necessarily make you an oath breaker.
I like your idea about warnings Solarion, but it would still keep me from playing when I encountered some dev trying to force me to live according to a clumsier standard.
The biggest problem with Paladin in D&D is that the devs will assume your motivation and reasoning. And you cannot argue with them.
So an act that seem prefectly moral and just to you, just gets a great big NO from the game.
This is why Paladins require EXTRA attention when writing their dialogue and choices. You need to account for different reasonings for the same act.
I couldn't agree more.
