Freerunning talent clarification

Question

The Fantasy Flight Games SWRPG talent "Freerunning" found in the Cyphers and Masks and Endless Vigil sourcebooks states:

Once per round, before performing a Move maneuver, the character may suffer one strain. If he does so, he may use his Move maneuver to move to any location within short range (even straight up) as long as there is some sort of object to move across or a path to move along.

Can someone explain what exactly this talent does, specifically clarifying:

any location within short range (even straight up) as long as there is some sort of object to move across or a path to move along.

Answer 1

This talent allows you to ignore the restrictions of impassable and difficult terrain, albeit within a certain restriction (i.e. you cannot walk on air/fly - there must be something physical to traverse).

As an example, you could use this talent to scale the side of a small shear cliff (so long as it's height does not exceed short range), but you could not use this talent to get into an aircar that is flying at the same height above the ground, with no nearby structure, tree or other convenient physical object to scale.

Normally a character can spend a maneuver to move to do any of the following:

1. Aiming a weapon.
2. Moving one range band closer or farther away from an enemy (for more on range bands, see page 105).
3. Opening a door.
4. Diving behind cover.
5. Standing up.

Page 105 describes short range bands as follows:

Short range indicates up to several meters between targets. Many thrown weapons and small firearms are most accurate at short range. Two people within short range of each other can talk comfortably without raising their voices. Moving to another spot within short range is usually easy to do and generally only requires one maneuver.

Page 110 then describes difficult and impassable terrain as follows:

Difficult terrain is a catchall description of terrain that is hard to move through or over. It can include tight passageways, slippery ice, thick undergrowth, loose rubble, shifting sand, or waist-deep water (or any number of other circumstances). Essentially, it’s terrain that characters move through with difficulty. Characters entering or moving through difficult terrain must perform twice as many maneuvers to move the same distance they would in normal terrain.

Impassable terrain is a description of terrain that is simply impossible to move through via maneuvers. This includes sheer cliffs, walls higher than a character can jump, and deep pits. Impassable terrain is not always an insurmountable obstacle, but it’s an obstacle that requires special skills to circumvent. Depending on the impassable terrain in question and the resources at the character’s disposal, the GM may allow the character to overcome impassable terrain by using a skill, probably the Athletics or Coordination skill (see Chapter 3: Skills on page 52). During an encounter, this means the character must spend at least one action (and possibly give up one or more maneuvers) to accomplish this.