Where is is stated a character can trade their two traits for a bonus feat?
Combat Reflexes! Always. It is a survival tool, a safety net, and the easiest way to make AoO in the surprise round possible.
Iron Will. It's almost guaranteed necessary for 90% of builds out there, so you might as well get it out of the way now.
Where is is stated a character can trade their two traits for a bonus feat?Ugh. If that isn’t the case, then I blame d20pfsrd.com. I got that rule from there like 3 years ago. I remember reading it there, because the players, myself included, in my first group, were completely new to Pathfinder, and needed help making our characters, and the GM neglected to mention traits. I remember being pissed when I read that not only are players supposed to get two traits, but that you could also trade them out for a bonus feat.
So if that isn’t the case, again, I blame d20pfsrd.com.
Ah, I see.
Traits were something that were introduced in the Advanced Player's Guide and are not "a given".
When you create your character for a campaign, ask your GM how many traits you can select. In most cases, a new PC should gain two traits, effectively gaining what amounts to a bonus feat at character creation. Some GMs may wish to adjust this number somewhat, depending upon their style of play; you may only be able to pick one trait, or your GM might allow three or more. Even if your GM normally doesn’t allow bonus traits, you might still be able to pick up some with the Additional Traits feat.
It's possible to miss-read the above and interpret it as meaning you can trade two traits to get 1 feat. It's not helped that the feat Additional traits gives you 2 traits meaning it is possible to trade a feat for 2 traits.
I was honestly asking where you had seen it because I could easily believe such a rule existed and had simply not seen it.
In most games I've played since traits came out (I remember going to my DM and asking if I could use this new thing called traits for my existing character) the norm seems to be that everyone gets 2 traits and can gain a 3rd trait if they take a drawback (These were introduced in the Ultimate Campaign Guide). If we are playing an AP then 1 of those two traits must be one of the campaign traits that goes with the AP. It's quite possible that your DM didn't know about traits because they had only read the CRB and probably not something called "The advanced players guide" for a game where everyone was just starting out.
