Temask atlas

Suggested rework of Maps and Wilderness Navigation

Maps help avoid becoming Lost.

Map Creation:

Map creation requires Cartographer's Tools and either of:

• Cartographer's Tools proficiency
• Survival proficiency

Modifiers:

• if you have Cartography Tools proficiency, add both your Proficiency Bonus and your Wisdom Bonus
• if you have Survival proficiency, add either your Proficiency Bonus or your Wisdom Bonus

Spells or effects with a duration of 1 hour or greater can be applied (eg a Divination wizard's Portent, but not Guidance).

The roll can be made with Advantage under these circumstances:

• you have the Keen Mind Feat
• you are at a Look Out or Watch Tower from which you can observe all the terrain you are mapping
• you fly
• you share senses with a Familiar which flies
• you use Arcane Eye, Scrying, or similar spell
• you collaborate with someone else with proficiency in either Cartographer's Tools or Survival

Making the Map Making test with advantage takes three times as long as normal.

The map you create has a Map Bonus equal to your Proficiency Bonus at the start of the session in which you conduct the reconnaissance to make the map. All extant maps at the time of introduction of this mapping system are reset to a bonus of +2 (the Proficiency Bonus).

You can map a number of tiles equal to the outcome of your Map Making roll. Each tile covers a 1 square kilometre area.

• if you have Cartographer's Tools proficiency, every mapped tile is a valid Destination
• if you have Survival proficiency, you may make a mapped tile into a Destination by counting its cost twice for the purposes of how many tiles you may map
• if you have Cartographer's Tools proficiency and Navigator's Tools, you may designate a Bearing from a mapped tile by counting its cost twice for the purposes of how many tiles you may map

You cannot split tiles to map an area 1/2 a tile wide to double the length of your map. Tiles are mapped in their entirety.

To map remote map tiles you have not traversed (in person or via proxy), make a Perception test. The DC is equal to 10 + the distance in kilometres to that tile. A Spyglass grants Advantage on this test.

The Map Making test consumes:

• 1 sheet of parchment
• 1/100 bottle of ink per tile
• 1 minute per tile

An Outpost occupies one tile (regardless of its real size). The 30 tiles around any Outpost (3km radius) are automatically mapped (at a +2 Map Bonus; the Proficiency Bonus) by professional NPCs in the process of constructing the Outpost and its Watch Tower. Every Outpost has a Watch Tower to enable rapid, long-range communications since magic may not always be relied upon. A sentinel in the Watch Tower scans the nearby terrain and other Watch Towers within line-of-sight for changes (eg fire, flood, travellers, monsters, signals). A Watch Tower is equipped with a Spyglass.

Wilderness Navigation:

When you travel along roads, you do not need to make a Wilderness Navigation test.

When you travel along tiles which have been mapped on one or maps you carry, you make your Wilderness Navigation test with a Map Bonus equal to the minimum Map Bonus of any map you use.

When you travel along unmapped tiles which are adjacent to mapped tiles, those tiles are effectively mapped at half that map's Map Bonus (round down).

You make a Wilderness Navigation test to move to a specific Destination, or to follow a Bearing. A Bearing is not a Destination. Following a Bearing requires Navigator's Tools.

To make a Wilderness Navigation test, roll 1d20, add the minimum Map Bonus which applies, then:

• if you have Survival proficiency, add both your Proficiency Bonus and your Wisdom Bonus
• if you have Cartography Tools proficiency, add either your Proficiency Bonus or your Wisdom Bonus
• otherwise, add your Intelligence or Wisdom Bonus

The roll can be made with Advantage under these circumstances:

• you have the Keen Mind Feat
• you are at a Look Out or Watch Tower from which you can observe all the terrain you will traverse
• you fly at least half the travel time
• you share senses with a Familiar which flies at least half the travel time
• you use Arcane Eye at least half the travel time

If you travel exclusively along mapped tiles:

• make your Wilderness Navigation test with the full, minimum Map Bonus
• you move your Overland Speed if you meet the DC of 15
• your Overland Speed is reduced by 5 for every point by which you fail the DC

If you travel along unmapped tiles adjacent to mapped tiles or you follow a Bearing:

• make your Wilderness Navigation test with half the minimum Map Bonus (round down)
• the DC rises by 1 (above the base of 15) for every three such tiles you traverse
• you move your Overland Speed if you meet the DC
• your Overland Speed is reduced by 5 for every point by which you fail the DC
• if you fail the DC by 5 or more, you become Lost

If you travel along unmapped tiles:

• make your Wilderness Navigation test with no Map Bonus
• the DC rises by 1 (above the base of 15) for every unmapped tile you traverse
• you move your Overland Speed if you meet the DC
• your Overland Speed is reduced by 5 for every point by which you fail the DC
• if you fail the DC by 5 or more, you become Lost

Lost:

When you are Lost:

• you don't know which map tile you are in
• all tiles traversed between the tile where you made your Wilderness Navigation test and your current tile cannot be mapped by this traversal, but may be remapped if revisited from a Destination
• unless you have Navigator's Tools or Keen Mind Feat, you don't know which direction you are facing
• visible landmarks, celestial bodies, etc. are reference points you can use to describe your relative facing but "back the way we came" is terrain dependent (eg, following a ravine is clear, but walking through a forest is not)
• you can move one tile in any direction at half your Overland Movement speed; this raises the Wilderness Navigation DC by 1
• if you enter a tile which is mapped on any of the maps you carry, make a Wilderness Navigation test with a Map Bonus equal to the maximum Map Bonus of maps that tile is mapped on; if this succeeds, you recognise your location on the map and shed the Lost condition
• Ration consumption is doubled while lost; related effects apply normally (eg, an Outlander can forage for 3 people instead of 6; 2 Goodberries are required to nourish a creature for a day; etc.)
• creatures with insufficient Rations enter starvation and mark a Death throw
• each day spent within a single tile lowers the Wilderness Navigation DC by 1
• surviving a week within a single tile results in the construction of a Camp, complete with a Watch Tower and the benefits it provides (so long as the map tile chosen contains stone, wood, and all necessary materials). A 3km radius is automatically mapped and the party can venture from this Camp, return to it, and make maps. Until they reach and recognise a map tile in the main navigation network, they cannot travel to Destinations on any map made prior to founding their isolated Camp.

Worked Examples:

A party sails 3km North up Arkett River into Akeula Lake then 10km North East to the Blue Pride then investigates its surrounds thoroughly before returning home.

• A party member "A" lacking Survival or Cartography proficiency makes no map.
• A party member "B" with Survival proficiency rolls a 7, ends up with a 10, and cannot map the whole trip. Instead, they detail the 10 tiles nearest the Blue Pride. This map has a +2 Map Bonus.
• A party member "C" with Survival proficiency rolls a 15, ends up with a 18, and can map the 13km trip, with Arkett and the Blue Pride counting double cost as Destinations. They detail 3 additional square kilometres around the Blue Pride. This map has a +2 Map Bonus.
• A party member "D" with Cartography proficiency rolls a 7 and ends up with a 10. They record a Bearing (North; 3km) for 2; a Bearing (North East; 10km) for 2 and have 6 left. They record a Bearing to the orange glow (East; 25km) for 2 and then detail 4 squares near the Blue Pride. This map has a +2 Map Bonus. Valid Destinations are automatically: Arkett and the mouth of the river (the first Bearing); the mouth of the river and the Blue Pride (the second Bearing); the Blue Pride and the orange glow (the third Bearing); 4 tiles in the marsh.
• A party member "E" with Cartography proficiency rolls a 20 and ends up with a 23. They map squares leading East from the Blue Pride until they can't see clearly from the haze of distance. They roll a 16 on their Perception test, so they can only map 6 tiles beyond their personal experience. Each mapped tile is a valid Destination. This map has a +2 Map Bonus.

The following week, a party conducts a follow-up expedition using the maps created by the pioneers to try to reach the orange glow.

• Map "B" provides a +2 Map Bonus to reach the Blue Pride so the team can sail at full speed if their Navigation check made at +2 meets DC 15. They have a 35% chance to get Lost (before counting Survival proficiency, Wisdom bonus, and rerolls).
• Map "C" provides a +1 Map Bonus on two Bearings to reach the Blue Pride so the team can sail at full speed if their Navigation check made at +1 meets DC 19. They have a 65% chance to get Lost (before counting Survival proficiency, Wisdom bonus, and rerolls).

They arrive at the Blue Pride later than expected, but successful. They look to the East.

• Map "D" provides a +2 Map Bonus to reach 6 tiles as Destinations. The team can reach any of these tiles at their full Overland Movement speed if their Navigation check made at +2 meets DC 15. However, the 4th tile turns out to be quicksand, so they stop safely in the 3rd tile.
• Map "E" provides a +1 Map Bonus to follow a Bearing through the marsh. Their Navigation check will be made at +1 Map Bonus but their DC is 22 (15 base + 7 (25km total - 3km already walked = 22km; /3 = 7)). If they attempt this, they will get Lost in the marsh if their result is 17 or lower. With Advantage and a good modifier, this is possible, but it's still a substantial risk.

At this point they spot another shipwreck in the marsh, 4km away in a tangential direction. They head toward it without a map. Their Wilderness Navigation check is made with no Map Bonus against a DC of 18 (15 base +3 unmapped tiles (the first tile they traverse has a Map Bonus of +1 because it is adjacent to a mapped tile, so it does not raise the DC). The shipwreck contains sea charts made by a level 15 character, so they grant a +5 Map Bonus within the mapped area... which is nowhere near here.