Cartographer’s Tools

Cartography is the science and art of creating maps. These maps are useful to help ensure you never get lost out in the woods, document hidden treasures or keep track of all the places you've seen. Maps are highly valued among traveling merchants, nobles and even other adventurers.

Using Cartographer's Tools

Proficiency with cartographer's tools allows you to create accurate maps to make travel easier for yourself and those who come after you. These maps can range from large-scale depictions of mountain ranges to diagrams that show the layout of a cave level.

Contents

Cartographer's tools consist of a quill, ink, parchment, a sunstone, calipers, and a ruler. Proficiency with this kit allows you to add your proficiency bonus to any checks you make for creating or studying maps. The tools weigh 2 lbs and cost 15 gp.

Skill Checks

If you have proficiency in cartographer's tools, you can use your tool proficiency to give yourself advantage on certain skill checks
● Arcana, History, Religion
You can use your knowledge of maps and locations to unearth more detailed information when you use these skills. For instance, you might spot hidden messages in a map, identify when the map was made to determine if geographical features have changed since then, and so forth.
● Nature
Your familiarity with physical geography makes it easier for you to answer questions or solve issues relating to the terrain around you.
● Survival
Your understanding of geography makes it easier to find paths to civilization, to predict areas where villages or towns might be found, and to avoid becoming lost. You have studied so many maps that common patterns, such as how trade routes evolve and where settlements a rise in relation to geographic locations, are familiar to you.

Crafting a Map

To craft a map, you must have proficiency in the use of Cartographer's Tools and you must know the region for the map you wish to draw. You can be actively traveling through the region and drawing your map. At the end of the day, the Cartographer must spend 1 hour to finalize their map requiring no check.

Types of Maps

Over the course of an adventure, there may be chances to draw maps of all sizes. Below are the different standards for map sizes along with how quickly one can walk across their depicted regions on foot.
Map Sizes Map Scale Cave (1 sq. = 10ft.) Town: (1 sq. = 100ft.) Jarldom: (1 hex = 1 mi.) 2 hexes/hr.,18 hexes/day Kingdom: (1 hex = 6 mi.) 1 hex/3 hr., 3 hexes/day Continent: (1 hex = 60 mi.) 1 hex/ 3.33 days. Exploration Normal Pace 30 sq./min. 3 sq./min. 3 hexes/hr., 24 hexes/day 1 hex/2 hr., 4 hexes/day 1 hex/ 2.5 days Fast Pace 40 sq./min. 4 sq./min. 4 hexes/hr., 30 hexes/day 1 hex/1.5 hr., 5 hexes/day 1 hex/2 days Slow Pace 20 sq./min. 2 sq./min.

Being able to travel the world is key to being a good map maker, and it helps provide a sense of understanding when it comes to geographic terrains. By understanding how geography works, this will allow a map maker to help guide their companions through the wilderness, the mountains and other environments.

Travel Speed

While traveling across the lands, and you are working on your maps and have your Cartographer's Tools on you, you can help the Navigator by keeping them appraised of the terrain and providing suggestions on where to move across the geography. By succeeding on a Wisdom (Cartographer's Tools) check at the beginning of every day, you can increase the pace you are traveling from Slow to Normal, or from Normal to Fast without losing the benefits from traveling at the original pace. The DC is determined by 10 + half the number of people traveling (including yourself).

Pacing

Slow Pace: +5 on Navigation checks Normal Pace: - Fast Pace: -5 on Navigation checks Typically, Navigation checks are based off of a Wisdom (Survival) check, but it also includes using Navigator's Tools while out at sea or another check, per the DM's discretion.

Becoming Lost

If you and your companions become lost, you can make a free check at the end of the day to determine where you are on your maps, you must be working on your maps and have your Cartographer's Tools on you.
You must succeed on a Wisdom (Cartographer's Tools) check versus the DC of the Terrain. Upon successfully making the check, you are no longer lost and the party can reorient themselves. You can repeat this check at the end of every day you are lost.
If you are proficient in Survival checks, you can double your proficiency bonus for this check.

Assisting

While you are working on your maps, and have your Navigator's Tools on you, you can help the Navigator while traveling. The Navigator, even if it is you, has advantage on their Navigation checks against the DC of the Terrain.