I'm trying to make a sacred shield for a game I'll be joining but the players seem to think Bastion of Good won't affect all damage like the ability implies. I tried finding credible proof of this but nothing's come up. Does Bastion of Good reduce damage from sources like traps, breath weapons, magic damage, etc. like it implies? Or is it only physical damage?
It affects attacks that the target of the ability (who must be evil) makes on your allies. It does not specify type of attack.
So if a dragon does a breath attack Bastion of Good would reduce the damage to anyone other than me caught in the blast?
If they are within 10 feet of you, and the dragon is evil, yes.
As the ability says, you need to put it on a target (evil) enemy. The damage from that enemy's attacks gets reduced. So traps are out, since you cannot tag an object with it.
Attack implies an attack roll in Pathfinder language. If something doesn't need an attack roll, Bastion would not work. That is why the others said dragon breath won't be halved.
Still, an ability that halves melee damage is incredibly useful at higher levels. While I see a nuke doing 70 damage, halved by save and reduced by resistance 10 down to 25, there is little to block the 200 damage a fighter at the same level can dish out with his combined attacks (crits tend to come between 50 and 90).
Attack implies an attack roll in Pathfinder language. If something doesn't need an attack roll, Bastion would not work. That is why the others said dragon breath won't be halved.
I used to think that too, but it's wrong. From the prd Magic section:
"Some spell descriptions refer to attacking. All offensive combat actions, even those that don't damage opponents, are considered attacks"So in Pathfinder, if it's offensive, it's an "attack".
It depends on if ignoring DR would count as a benefit on damage rolls.