Cartographers are wanderers, exploring the world to discover and map out the forests, mountains, rivers and seas, hidden hamlets and migrating herds, returning to cities to draw up their discoveries and sell their notes to map makers and booksellers, or illustrate and sell themselves. They belong to an international network of guilds, offering shelter, support and access to local mercantile networks.
You learned your trade by apprenticing to another wandering cartographer, picking up a variety of survival skills.
- Skill Proficiencies: Proficency in Survival. Your choice of History,Investigation,Nature, or Perception
- Tool Proficiencies: Cartographer's Tools, Calligrapher's supplies, and Painter's supplies
- Languages: One of your choice
- Equipment: A set of either Cartographer's tools, Calligrapher's supplies, or Painter's supplies (one of your choice), 2 leather map cases, 10 sheets of blank parchment, inks and a pen. A scrap of a map to a place you have never been. A letter of introduction from your guild, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a pouch containing 15 gp
As a member of the guild network in good standing, you have access to the support of your guild fellows. The guild provides access to local scribes and artists who will buy your map notes, broker contracts to map specific regions, as well as provide useful information on the local environment - particularly shortcuts, landmarks, threats and opportunities - and may also provide basic supplies and shelter for needy members. Your DM will determine what’s available at any particular outpost.
As wanderering artisans, you may be away from civilisation for many months - guild dues of 5g per month are due biannually and can be paid at any branch.
Suggested Characteristics
Cartographers are defined by their life of travel and discovery.
| 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 in faraway lands, 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 and the use of resources for my people are of higher concern than people or creatures native to that land |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Awe. The wide world holds many incredible and beautiful places, and I’m happy to share these places with others. (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 a few ideas about 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 travelled more than a few miles from where they were born. |
| d3 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Greed. I’m only in it for the money. (Evil) |
| 2 | People. I’m committed to the people I care about, not to ideals. (Neutral) |
| 3 | Aspiration. I work hard to be the best there is at my craft. (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | The workshop where I learned my trade is the most important place in the world to me. |
| 2 | I created a great work for someone, and then found them unworthy to receive it. I’m still looking for someone worthy. |
| 3 | I owe my guild a great debt for forging me into the person I am today. |
| 4 | I pursue wealth to secure someone’s love. |
| 5 | One day I will return to my guild and prove that I am the greatest artisan of them all. |
| 6 | I will get revenge on the evil forces that destroyed my place of business and ruined my livelihood. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I’ll do anything to get my hands on something rare or priceless. |
| 2 | I’m quick to assume that someone is trying to cheat me. |
| 3 | No one must ever learn that I once stole money from guild coffers. |
| 4 | I’m never satisfied with what I have—I always want more. |
| 5 | I would kill to acquire a noble title. |
| 6 | I’m horribly jealous of anyone who can outshine my handiwork. Everywhere I go, I’m surrounded by rivals. |
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