>>534834340
>If it's literally just the power of believing in yourself
It's not. A Paladin is not merely a supremely confident person who starts channeling divine magic one day because they believed extra hard. Oaths are self-binding sacred vows to uphold a set of principles. Oath tenets are explicitly restrictive in nature because they embody a Paladin's higher calling - the utter conviction in a specific cause greater than themselves. To dilute their meaning to vague principles like "protect the innocent" (Oath of Devotion) or "protect the little birds and squirrels" (Oath of the Ancients) is to dilute the meaning of being a Paladin - someone beyond a religious Fighter or a devout Cleric.