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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7894747" data-attributes="member: 29398">I achieve much the same result via different mechanics; also not all languages (particularly &quot;monster&quot; languages) even have a written form.&nbsp; All arcane casters, however, are automatically literate in their native language, otherwise how could they write/read their spellbooks?True, but I think you'd still be able to recognize it as a map most of the time.&nbsp; And keep in mind there's also magic that can help, in particular the Comprehend Language spell.Hard to imagine a PC who's never seen a map, particularly after a few trips into the field.There's also schematic maps, representative maps, pictorial maps, line maps, etc.; so yes, they can vary greatly.&nbsp; Depending on what's being mapped, they can also vary immensely in their accuracy.I completely agree that not all PCs are literate.&nbsp; But even then, illiterate people all the way back to Neanderthals can still draw and interpret pictures - and a map, in its basest sense without any written labels, is a picture.Nothing's automatic, of course, but I'd always give an illiterate PC a half-decent chance of recognizing something to be a map and a much smaller (but rarely zero) chance of being able to interpret any of it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 7894747, member: 29398"] I achieve much the same result via different mechanics; also not all languages (particularly "monster" languages) even have a written form. All arcane casters, however, are automatically literate in their native language, otherwise how could they write/read their spellbooks? True, but I think you'd still be able to recognize it as a map most of the time. And keep in mind there's also magic that can help, in particular the Comprehend Language spell. Hard to imagine a PC who's never seen a map, particularly after a few trips into the field. There's also schematic maps, representative maps, pictorial maps, line maps, etc.; so yes, they can vary greatly. Depending on what's being mapped, they can also vary immensely in their accuracy. I completely agree that not all PCs are literate. But even then, illiterate people all the way back to Neanderthals can still draw and interpret pictures - and a map, in its basest sense without any written labels, is a picture. Nothing's automatic, of course, but I'd always give an illiterate PC a half-decent chance of recognizing something to be a map and a much smaller (but rarely zero) chance of being able to interpret any of it. [/QUOTE]

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