Plot a course for adventure! Cartographers are Artificers who master the craft of maps and magical ink to lead allies through danger. These premier navigators are crucial for any treacherous expedition, whether upon an elemental airship, nautical vessel, or part of an overground caravan. 

With Eberron: Forge of the Artificer, you can forge one of these reconnaissance savants who can turn the tide of battle, strategically position the entire party, and release spell-guided strikes to send their foes packing. 

Let’s dive into this new battlefield navigator subclass and explore a character build that’s ready to play tonight! 

• Cartographer Artificer Features
• Selis d’Lyrandar, Cartographer (Build)
• Lines on the Wind

Micheal Broussard

Chart Your Own Course

The character we feature in this article is an example of the type of hero you can build with the Cartographer Artificer subclass and other options from Eberron: Forge of the Artificer.

When the time comes to set off on an adventure, the character you craft is entirely up to you—but one thing is for sure, your maps will carry your crew into legend soon enough!

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Cartographer Artificer Features

DAARKEN

Cartographers are a unique type of Artificer who unlock abilities to streamline exploration, buff their allies, and expand their movement options.  

From portals to magical maps they can hand out to party members, their support abilities are compounded by the sheer creativity that stems from the Artificer's core class features. 

Level 3: Tools of the Trade 

You gain proficiency with Calligrapher’s Supplies and Cartographer’s Tools, which outfit you for the job. 

This feature also speeds up prep work by halving the scribing time for Spell Scrolls, allowing you to bank utility and buff spells that you might not prep for everyday adventuring, like Aid or Feather Fall. 

Level 3: Cartographer Spells 

The feature adds always-prepared spell options with a healthy mix of damage, support, utility, and healing: 

Spot, Support, and Supply. Faerie Fire and Guiding Bolt can help secure Advantage on your and your allies' attacks. Healing Word keeps your party on their feet without costing your action. 

Find and Fix. Clairvoyance, Locate Object, Locate Creature, Mind Spike, and Scrying help you track targets and gather intel. Teleportation Circle can considerably cut down on travel time between known locations in the late stages of your campaign. 

Level 3: Adventurer’s Atlas 

One of the cornerstone abilities of the Cartographer subclass! After each Long Rest, you can hand out a number of magical maps to your party (and perhaps keep one for yourself). Anyone holding one of these creations receives +1d4 to Initiative rolls. 

The map holders also always know each other’s locations as long as they are on the same plane, and can target one another with effects that normally require sight (still respecting range). This bypasses fog, walls, and other Total Cover or Heavily Obscured situations for ranged healing or buff spells, like Healing Word and Haste. 

This feature is the focus of most of your other subclass features, and connects and protects your party even further as you level up. 

Level 3: Mapping Magic 

The Illuminated Cartography benefit of this feature is another staple of the subclass, allowing you to cast Faerie Fire without a spell slot a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier per Long Rest. This feature synergizes with later features and helps you help your team know where to point their weapons. 

You also get the Portal Jump benefit, which allows you to spend half your Speed to teleport up to 10 feet, or to a space within 5 feet of a map holder within 30 feet. What's better is that there's no limit to how many times you can use this benefit, which makes skirting Opportunity Attacks, Difficult Terrain, and elevation changes a cinch. 

Level 5: Guided Precision 

Once per turn, add your Intelligence modifier to one damage roll of one of your Cartographer spells or to an attack that hits a creature affected by your Faerie Fire. Also, taking damage can’t break your Concentration on Faerie Fire. 

This shores up your offense and defense in battle. You won't have to spend actions re-casting Faerie Fire, and you'll also get to output more damage! 

Level 9: Ingenious Movement 

Whenever you use Flash of Genius, you or a willing creature you can see within 30 feet can teleport up to 30 feet as part of that same Reaction.  

If an ally fails their save against a Mind Flayer’s Mind Blast, you can use Flash of Genius to cause them to succeed AND teleport them away from the mind flayer's hungry tentacled mouth! 

Level 15: Superior Atlas 

The Cartographer's capstone feature is a buff to the whole party! Whenever a map holder drops to 0 Hit Points, they can use the Safe Haven benefit to destroy the map and jump to twice your Artificer level Hit Points and teleport next to you or another map holder.  

This is even better when you take into consideration that there is no maximum distance. The party could be venturing into the Nine Hells and the Cartographer can leave a map with a friendly NPC in a safe location. If a party member holding a map gets knocked out, they can be teleported to safety! 

Each map holder can also cast Find the Path for free once per Long Rest—excellent for heists, escapes, or when you're all lost in a megadungeon. 

Selis d’Lyrandar, Cartographer (Build)

DAARKEN

This build plays like a navigator, both in battle and while exploring the wide world. They focus on preparation—distributing magical maps after Long Rests and painting targets in Faerie Fire early in combat—but they've also got the tools to fix whatever problem comes their way.

A Legend Charted Across Sky and Sea

Selis d’Lyrandar's story begins on the tropical shores of Stormhome, where elemental airships were as common as seabirds. While many heirs of House Lyrandar trained to call upon the winds, Selis was drawn to where the winds could take them.

Their studies led them to Sharn, where they fused their Lyrandar heritage with the craft of an Artificer. Now their maps carry them forward on untold adventures, a crew of loyal Lyrandar house members as support. Together, they set their sights on the unexplored horizons.

Playstyle Priorities

Focus Fire. While the opening move for most combats will be trying to paint as many targets as they can with Faerie Fire, they've got the damage to back it up. Reliable cantrips, Guiding Bolt, and other damage-based spells from the Cartographer Spells list make the most out of the extra damage gifted by Guided Precision. 

Preparation is Half the Battle. Beyond distributing magical maps and magic items crafted with Replicate Magic Item, you can also spend your downtime crafting Spell Scrolls that contain emergency spells like Aid, Healing Word, Invisibility, or Expeditious Retreat.  

Ride the Lightning. Call Lightning from your Cartographer Spells list, and the spells from the Mark of Storm Spells list make the elements available to your beck and call. Shock your foes, detonate a thunderclap in their midst, or use the wind to blow them around whilst you fly away. 

Lines on the Wind

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Build Information

Origin and Ability Scores

Artificer (Cartographer) Build Guide

Forge Your Legend

With Eberron: Forge of the Artificer, it's time to tune up your tools, prep your plans, and step onto the battlefield with creativity as your greatest weapon. 

Using the new and updated character options from this book, you can invent a character bound for legendary adventures! Will you be a dragonmarked heir bound to follow their house’s destiny? Perhaps a swashbuckling corsair who scours the vast skies for adventure? It’s up to you to decide! 

Mike Bernier is the Content Marketing Manager for D&D Beyond, where he helps bring the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons to life. When he isn't adventuring across the multiverse in search of his next great story, Mike can be found gaming, hiking with his partner, or cooking something delicious while his dog waits for him to drop a bite.