Governments, rebel groups, and merchant empires—all need maps to exert control and influence. You bring order to uncharted lands by transcribing their details with quill and parchment, thus creating a measure of understanding where there once was none. Perhaps you are drawn by the unfound, or you simply seek to bring order from chaos. Whatever your aims, a cartographer is an agent of discovery and control.

 

Adapted from "Backgrounds Reimagined", by Epinephrine

Skill Proficiencies: Investigation, Perception

Tool Proficiencies: Cartographer's tools

Languages: One of your choice

Equipment: Cartographer's tool, a scrap of a map to a place you have never been, a set of traveler's clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp

Suggested Characteristics

d8	Personality Trait
1	I don’t feel that I’ve truly understood something until I make a record of it.
2	I take great artistic pride in my work, often times preferring style and beauty over substance.
3	I’m driven by a wanderlust that led me away from my native land.
4	I am very passionate about my work – I once stabbed a man over an argument about proper map projection.
5	I’ve gained much perspective from my travels, and sometimes my native culture scarcely feels like home.
6	I like thorough definitions, sure things, and exacting clarity.
7	I’m not lost – I am exploring.
8	Discovery of resources for my people is of higher concern than the people native to that land.

d6	Ideal
1	Awe: The wide world holds many incredible and beautiful places. (Good)
2	Adventure: I am driven to discovery by a desire for new experience and excitement. (Chaos)
3	Greed: With discovery comes resources, and I stand to gain more than anybody. (Evil)
4	Civilization: Civilization and innovation propels us forward, and barbarism only holds us back. (Lawful)
5	Excellence: In all things, I take a certain pride in a job well done and mastery of one’s work. (Any)
6	Truth: Things must be represented the way they truly are, with no room for embellishment or obfuscation. (Neutral)

d6	Bond
1	My entire life has been spent looking for a place now lost to antiquity.
2	I once completed a set of maps which I will never give to the client who commissioned them.
3	I have a special love for the lands which I have surveyed, and I would fight for their preservation.
4	I am an established and respected member of my guild, and I value the esteem of my peers very highly.
5	I am obsessed with finding a new passage through the mountains or seas, and I have ideas for how to do it.
6	The marking of one location is absent from every map I make, because no one must learn of that place’s true whereabouts.

d6	Flaw
1	I tend to look at the bigger picture, and often overlook the small details.
2	I am easily distracted by the promise of information.
3	I am much more concerned with my legacy and prestige than the accuracy or quality of my work.
4	If I don’t deem something important, I ignore it entirely.
5	I can’t seem to put down roots, and I get anxious about being in one place for long.
6	I look down on people who have never traveled more than a few miles from where they were born.