The spell Protection from Evil and Good has the following in its description:
Until the spell ends, one willing creature you touch is protected against certain types of creatures: aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead.
In a previous session, a player insisted that the wording "against certain types" meant that when one cast the spell, one selected the type of creature that the protection worked against – and the spell was basically worthless against the other listed creatures during that time.
For instance, if the spell were cast to protect the tank from a Vampire (undead), then the tank would not be protected against the Vampire's demon (fiend) minions.
This seems to be an overly specific interpretation of the spell.
Does the 'Protection from Evil and Good' spell protect from all listed entities, or just one?
Best Answer
The use of the plural form "types" and the word "and" both indicate that the spell protects against the whole list
The spell states (emphasis mine):
If the spell were intended to only grant protection against one type of creature it would say something like this:
This is also supported by the fact that the spell makes no indication that the caster is supposed to choose a type. A phrasing I would very much expect to see if it were intended to only include some of the types listed. Such a phrasing appears in other parts of the rules such as with protection from energy and spirit shroud (emphasis mine):