The 8 travelers are the 8 playable characters in Octopath Traveler that are encountered in the land. The player chooses one character to start with, and will gradually encounter the other 7 throughout their travels. Only a max of 4 travelers can be active in the player's party at any given time. Taverns are used to change the active roster and advance the story of a particular character, if they have some story activity in the town.