Hooray for the traversal trait!

[Teridax]

Of all the news we just got from the latest Paizo blog, this one's my personal favorite:

Paizo wrote:

One new element we'll be introducing is the traversal trait. This new trait mostly applies to player-facing rules that reference Stride. When it applies, traversal allows the use of alternative movement types (burrow, fly, and swim) to be used in place of land Speed, akin to how Sneak works. Expect to see this greatly impact some abilities used by the envoy and solarian (to name a few).

One of the many things I love about 2e, both with Pathfinder and Starfinder, is the system's modularity and its ability to compress a lot of meaning and functionality into traits, akin to functions in programming. This new addition, in my opinion, is a shining example of this, and how powerful 2e's system design is. I've been wanting to see exactly this kind of trait in a game that has a lot of movement abilities, and am very happy to see this, as this will not only improve many mechanics in Starfinder, but could also benefit several in Pathfinder too. Thank you for this new trait, Paizo; I look forward to seeing it in effect!

[DMurnett]

If there's anything that makes it back from Starfinder to Pathfinder I hope it's this trait.

[Driftbourne]

DMurnett wrote:

If there's anything that makes it back from Starfinder to Pathfinder I hope it's this trait.

I wonder how things like that will find their way into PF2ed. In a home game, you can just decide to include the traversal trait in your PF2e game, but in organized play, you tend to need to own the source material to use it. I get the idea behind needing to buy a book to play a class or ancestry in it or use other new player options, but for something like a new trait it's more of a core rule issue I wonder if there will be some kind of compatibility document so SF2e and PF2e can share core improvements.

[Perpdepog]

I don't think it'd take much to port it back at all. Honestly this trait sounds like a codifying and shortening of the text, "you may use your burrow, fly, or swim speeds if you possess any of those movement types," or however it tends to get written into various feats.

I'm super alongside this, as well. Traversal sounds like it's going to mostly serve to cut down on text repetition, like how Dedication was altered to include the special rule for archetypes; I super love text being cleaned up and streamlined.
Granted, it's another trait to add to the pile, and not everyone's going to love that, but I am definitely on board.

[Squark]

I appreciate the trait and hope it makes it back into PF2 as well, but they do need to be a little careful. This shouldn't be applied to haste, for example, lest dragons consuming potions of swiftness massacre entire parties.

[moosher12]

I'm looking forward to applying this trait to my home rule document in relation to Pathfinder's equivalent abilities.

[Wei Ji the Learner]

Squark wrote:

I appreciate the trait and hope it makes it back into PF2 as well, but they do need to be a little careful. This shouldn't be applied to haste, for example, lest dragons consuming potions of swiftness massacre entire parties.

That just turns a combat situation into an roleplaying situation where the parties come up with ways to dissuade the dragon from going full ham.

I see it as win-win, personally, because it allows for truly awesome roleplaying design in systems.

:>

[Beady]

Squark wrote:

I appreciate the trait and hope it makes it back into PF2 as well, but they do need to be a little careful. This shouldn't be applied to haste, for example, lest dragons consuming potions of swiftness massacre entire parties.

I fail to see the problem

[Cleavis Morerats]

"Free tip from your friendly neighborhood goblin merchant. Selling to both sides is very profitable."

Cleavis cast bullhorn then shots out
"I got potions of swiftness for sale no questions asked."

"Worried about the ranged meta, I got you covered, I sell arrows too, and no questions asked."
Cleavis pauses to reconsider what he just said.
"Well, there is one question, how many do you want to buy?"