While most people only think of cartography in terms of decoding maps to find buried treasure the skill can also be used to create maps of your surroundings. Sea charts can be used by fisherman, either to plot a circular course to bring them back to shore at the end of their fishing trip or to sail to an area where they might find sunken treasure.
Introduced in publish 105, cartography can also increase the dig radius from the treasure spot on treasure maps as follows:
- 0 to 50.9 skill gives a 1 tile radius (in other words, you must dig the exact correct spot of the chest)
- 51 to 80.9 skill gives a 2 tiles radius
- 81 to 99.9 skill gives a 3 tiles radius
- 100 skill gives a 4 tiles radius
So, how do you get started on the road to becoming a grand master cartographer? First visit the local mapmaker and ask him to teach you, for a small fee you’ll gain skill up to around 30. You’ll find this individual in one of the following locations:
| Britain | The Oaken Oar | 10o53’S 7o1’E” |
| Buccaneer’s Den | Pirates Provisioner | 55o11’S 99o50’E |
| Jhelom | Sailor’s Keeper | 173o4’N 9o0’E |
| Moonglow | The Scholars Goods | 49o13’N 142o2’W |
| Nujel’m | Seaborne Ships | 36o2’N 167o16’E |
| Papua | Pier 39 | 14o24’S 9o29’W |
| Serpent’s Hold | Supplies | 154o57’S 118o58’E |
| Skara Brae | Superior Ships | 57o13’S 50o20’W |
| Trinsic | Britannia Provisions | 103o16’S 37o20’E |
| Vesper | The Majestic Boat | 70o24’N 117o33’E |
| Yew | Great Oak Vessels | 51o30’N 49o0’W |
| Zento | Rokuon Cultural Center and Shops | 32o0’N 45o33’W (Makoto Jima) |
Tools and Resources
You will need:
- Mapmaker’s pens, these can be bought from the Mapmaker or crafted by players using the tinkering skill. A pen made by a grandmaster tinker will have more uses before it breaks.
- Blank maps or scrolls (town maps bought from the Mapmaker can be overwritten).
- Blank scrolls can be bought from Mapmakers, Mages, Real Estate Brokers and Scribes or crafted by players using inscription skill from woodpulp (made by cooks from bark fragments).
Your location when creating a map is always the center of the map. The map will vary in range and quality depending on your skill. Double click your mapmaker’s pen and select the type of map you wish to create from the menu.
| Minimum Requirements for Making Maps | |
| Map Type | Required Skill |
| Local Map | 0 |
| City Map | 25.0 |
| Sea Map | 35.0 |
| World Map | 50.0 |
| Tattered Wall Map | 50.0 |
| Eodonian Wall Map | 65.0 (recipe required) |
| Star Chart | 00.0 |
You will write many, many maps to gain in skill, beginning with local maps, then city maps, seacharts and finally world maps. This will take you to 99.5 skill, but the last .5 must be gained from decoding treasure maps.
In addition to writing maps, you will obviously also wish to read them, and of course dig up the treasure at the revealed location.
| Minimum Requirements for Reading Maps | ||
| Map Level | MapDescription | Skill Level Required |
| 1 | Stash | 27.0 |
| 2 | Supply | 70.0 |
| 3 | Cache | 90.0 |
| 4 | Hoard | 100.0 |
| 5 | Trove | 100.0 |
Wall Maps
The tattered wall map is made from a selection of completed treasure maps. These must all have been both decoded and completed by the cartographer. When double clicked it opens up to display a map of Britannia. You will need:
- 10 level 1 (stash) Maps
- 5 level 3 (cache) Maps
- 3 level 4 (hoard) Maps
- 1 level 5 (trove) Map
The Eodonian wall map can only be crafted by those who have read the recipe. This recipe is a potential reward from the quest Exterminating the Infestations. When double clicked it opens to display a map of Eodon. You will need:
- 50 blank maps or scrolls
- 1 Unabridged Atlas of Eodon (purchased from Professor Ellie Rafkin in Sir Geoffrey’s camp)