Chapter 1 - Non-weapon Proficiencies
Cartogaphy Non-weapon Proficiency
This proficiency grants skill at map making. A character can draw maps to scale, complete with complex land formations, coastal outlines, and other geographic features. The character must be reasonably familiar with the area being mapped.
The DM makes a proficiency check in secret to determine the accuracy of the map. A successful proficiency check means that the map is correct in all significant details. If the roll fails, the map contains a few errors, possibly a significant one. A roll of exactly 20 means the map contains serious errors, making it useless.
A character with cartographic proficiency is skilled in making maps, making him essential to any group of adventurers exploring unknown territory. A cartographer is a keen-eyed artist with a well-developed sense of distance and depth, whose perception of the physical world is so exacting that with amazing accuracy he can copy onto a sheet of paper whatever he looks upon. He can also copy other maps professionally, and this makes him a valuable addition to the retinue of the aristocracy and other landholders.
In mapmaking, time is important when considering the detail and accuracy of the resulting product. Outdoors, this is best left to the DM to decide in accordance to the type of terrain and the detail the players desire. Underground in a dungeon setting, however, accuracy and detail are much more important; often the survival of an entire adventuring party will depend on a single map. Once again, the DM must decide how long it will take to map any particular area, but this should take a minimum of one round plus the time it will take the cartographer to pace out the area. Another round or two should be added for increased detail or specific notes.
A cartographer need only make an ability check on three occasions: when he maps a very unusual area, when he attempts to copy another map, and when he attempts to read a map that he has not manufactured himself. If he fails in the first, it is assumed that he has made a blunder that has rendered the map useless; if a failure is indicated in the second, he cannot read the map because symbols have been used that he is not familiar with, or the map lacks a legend or a key.
In a fantasy setting, map symbols are unlikely to be universally known.
A small travel kit consisting of a waterproof leather case (with stiff sides so that it may be used as a drawing surface), two bottles of ink, a half-dozen quills and a like number of parchment sheets will cost the cartographer about 25 gp. Additional colored inks and drawing instruments should be available in most cities.
It is not necessary for the reading/writing proficiency to have been taken prior to selecting this skill. However, if the mapmaker cannot read or write the languages he knows, his maps, while accurate, will have keys understood by himself only. This skill grants a +2 bonus to all navigation and orienteering skill checks.
