Map-making with what skills?

[RObiN-HoOD]

Hi!
Assume that a PC wants to draw a map of the area passing by, and assume that he has all the right materials (inks, scrolls, books, pens etc), what skill checks and with what DCs should he be allowed to do that?

 

[Hypersmurf]

Assume that a PC wants to draw a map of the area passing by, and assume that he has all the right materials (inks, scrolls, books, pens etc), what skill checks and with what DCs should he be allowed to do that?

Profession : Cartographer would certainly be an excellent start

But it would depend what sort of result he was after.

If he wants to say "Over there there were mountains, and it took us two days to get from City A to City B", then that's not too hard. (My favourite map ever is the Highbulp's Map to the Dragon, from the Dragonlance Chronicles...)

If he wants more exact distances and directions - after 20 miles the road turned north-north-east; the mountains were 45 miles to the west - I'd require some Intuit Direction checks. I think the skill required for deciding which way is north would also be of use in quickly estimating long distances. Others might disagree.

If he wants perfect contour lines, every bend in the road mapped, every jag of coastline accurate... well, that requires magic, or a lifetime of devoted effort. And lots of ranks in Profession : Cartographer and Knowledge : Geography.

Those are my first thoughts, at any rate.

-Hyp.

 

[dcollins]

Sword & Fist p. 55 notes a skill of Knowledge (cartography).
It does seem like a Profession might be as, or more, appropriate.

 

[el Voz]

During the 1st half of the 1800's, the military had there engineers make the maps. Cartography does not necessarily translate as a skill that one uses to put real life contours to paper.

I would use the profession: Engineer skill to understand the terrain & Craft: cartography skill to put it on paper.

As to the DC, that is tricky. Alot depends on the time being alloted to make the maps. A person can only draw so fast. The more time the PC has the easier it is to do a good job. You may want to use the DC guideline in the perform skill description. Just convert it to maps.

 

[Malin Genie]

Song and Silence lists Profession (Cartographer) as one of the prerequisites for the Royal Explorer PrC, so 'officially' I think it would be a Profession skill.

 

[Acmite]

This is what my guy has...

One of my characters has the following skills that I chose in order to make "pretty" maps:

Craft: Cartography (duh), Knowledge (Geography) (so he knows basics landforms, and can figure out what makes sense, etc), Craft: Drawing (pretty maps, remember), Profession: Scribe (pretty writing on pretty maps).

I thought Craft made more sense than Profession, but that's because I actually wanted to be able to make maps, not just be able to make money off of maps. I thought scribe+drawing made a good combination in order to make maps a work of art.

As far as engineering goes.....I don't know the historical precedent, but I'm a geologist and traditionally we have been largely responsible for much of the "engineering" maps that have been around for the last 200 years or so. These maps tend to be very functional, but are not the "mythical, pretty maps" we commonly associate with fantasy settings. In the past, more time was spent on the artistic aspects, but nowadays if you want a good pretty map you go to cartographer. If you want a map that will do more than show you where things are (ie: to navigate with it, etc) you go to a topographical map or something along those lines, and those are made by geologists and engineers.

My character also has ranks in Knowledge: Engineering, but I don't see that as part of his map-making.

That's my two copper ingots.

 

[Oracular Vision]

Just use them all

Profession: Mapmaker to make maps

Knowledge: Maps to read maps and understand them fully

Profession: Engineer to make understand dungeon and building schematics if they are part of a map or on a scroll

Seems good enough...

I don't see any need for any synergy bonuses across these.

People really did make maps and buy and sell them for a living in the middle ages. Cartographer is a newer term and does not belong in middle-ages use, or 3rd edition. Its like having: Profession: automaker, instead of Profession: Cartwright.

From Merriam-Webster:
car·tog·ra·pher
Pronunciation: kär-'tä-gr&-f&r
Function: noun
Date: circa 1847
: one that makes maps

 

[CullAfulMoshuN]

Cartography is definately a profession, making scale maps requires alot of skill and speciallised knowledge. However anyone with reasonable artistic skills can attempt to copy a map, and on the same note, knowing how to make a map doesn't means its pretty.

Like some of the previous suggestions I would lean towards these skills:

* Profession (Cartographer) - Ability to make acurate maps.
* Craft (Painting) - To produce asthetically pleasing maps.
* Craft (Caligraphy) - To produce beautiful and easy to read names.
* Knowledge (Geography) - To remember details from other maps and area descriptions to fit maps accurately into the bigger picture or produce a map from memory.

I don't believe Profession (Scribe) would be of benefit as it represents an ability to duplicate books accurately, and Profession (Engineer) is more related to schematics and diagrams of artifically made structures than over land maps.