The Campaign Cartographer - A Player Role

The Campaign Cartographer - A player Role.

The Campaign Cartographer, is one of four Player Roles that have Game Duties, in addition to the responsibility of playing a Character in the Campaign.  Simply put, the Campaign Cartographer is responsible for keeping a record of the mechanics of things in the Game World.  For instance, recording travel times, distances, directions, locations as well as collecting site drawings and maps, as well as making maps. 

They are also responsible for recording the descriptions of locations, goods and services, maps; both collecting them from the DM and writing them themselves, and although a scribble will be provided, in most cases and during gameplay, by the DM, actual detailed maps will be provided by the DM as soon as feasible, for towns, cities, ruins, countryside, etc, however,  detailed info on travel is the responsibility of the Cartographer. 

The Campaign Cartographer receives Bonus Character XP at the DM’s Discretion.  The Gazette must be brought to each game and avaialbe for each character and the DM to review.

Directions are hand written, for instance, things tend to extrapolate from Place, so it is often best to title each page as a place and move into deeper description from there.  The Page for Kneeling has been added as the first page of the Campaign Cartographer’s Gazetteer.    

Common important areas of detail for locations are;

Description taken from the DM’s Description, and given verbally, this can be added too as the characters experience more around the location; ie, the town where we all get pickpocketed.  The town of the Mosquitoes.  It can acquire nicknames given by the players like “Stirgehaven” or “Stinkwater”

Location; meaning where in the world is it.  Kneeling is a semi permanent settlement that is often located on the southern edge of the Kneehi Bog.   

Demographics pertaining to the societal makeup of the location.  Kneeling is mostly inhabited by Halflings, though there are dwarves and humans, few elves have made the place their home. 

Organization is where the location can be described as a wilderness area or a Mine, or a township.  For instance, Kneeling is  a semi-permanent community that is organized by a group of Hunters.  It has sprung up around some very talented fishermen and hunters and when they say the township needs to move, everyone follows them. 

History, is a collection of stories for the most part. This is collected from people that can be spoken to throughout the campaign.  Points of interest that are recorded are almost always helpful when looked back upon.

Travel and Directions; will be where the Cartographer records how long it took the party to get there, and how long it took them to get to where they were going when they left there, and by what means, on foot, boat, horse, etc.  For instance, while Kneeling exists as a series of huts thrown together on land and over the swamp, travel to and from Kneeling is wild, meaning there are no roads.  It may have taken the characters 3 days by skiff to get to the eastern edge of the Bog, but where the hell is that?  It takes the party another 5 days on horse to find a road in the woods that leads them to a Hamlet two days later..

Services will describe what services are or were available.  Is there a smith, a healer, a trader, etc. 

Goods will describe what can be acquired there, like Pennyslip wine, or Black dragon Leather, or Bog Freshy. 

Persons of Interest will list who can generally be found there, like Olo the Healer, or Elkhart the Fisherman and guide.  Take care not to go into much detail as that should be done by the Monster Librarian. 

Places of interest can list the significant places of that location like the Gator Hatchery, the Water Witches Hut, or the Dragon pens.

The Cartographer is a student of spaces, distances and ways, not of people or monsters.  And that while it is important for the Cartographer to note that Alfinal lives in Kneehi Bog on the Kneehi Bog page of his gazetteer, a listing for who and what Alfinal is, remains the purview of the Monster Librarian. 

And finally this is just a partial list of things the cartographer can add to the page over time.

Included on the page of Kneeling, might be a drawing of the Dragon pen’s by the DM, and the sketch of a map by the DM for the layout of the Village.  There might be a general drawing of the swamp in relation to things visible on the horizon, like Mountains, and forests, with a general Compass notation.

Inspirational Imagery might also be provided by the DM to help with Visualization.