Cartographer
Characters who grew up as an apprentice under, assistant to, or who practiced the works of a cartographer and scribe, will have the chance to have this particular Extra Skill. For it pertains primarily to the knowledge of maps & how they are measured, drawn, charted, labled, marked, and so forth. Thus while the character never has to be the one writing and drawing the maps, they do need to have been exposed to the process for long periods of time. This time would need to be vastly longer if the character is learning on their own without a mentor.
With the knowledge and experience of a Cartographer under their belt, characters with this skill can expertly read maps & terrain without any rolls, & accurately determine their location & destination. This could result in accurately reading the exact distance and measurement (even making up for errors on the map writer's part), quickly spotting landmarks both on the map and not, locating and following paths both obvious and secret, and can identify if a map is fake, genuine, and it's likelihood of being accurate in general. In addition, with the appropriate tools, materials and time to do so, characters can write, draw, and otherwise create their own maps of the world, dungeons, and so forth for easier navigation without any rolls (unless rushing the job).
Furthermore the character with this skill will have a +1 modifier to their direction sense proficiency if traveling without a map, but having read a map of the location before, and also have a +1 modifier when navigating labyrinths. When reading maps with secret notes, ciphers, legends, clues, etc., so long as it's visible and not hidden by magic, characters with this skill can attempt to find and decipher them with an Ability Check with a +1 to their roll. Finally characters with this skill can make educated guesses of what monsters are likely around certain routes, markers and locations when checking the map (a monster lore check with a +1, but made by the DM as the type of monster is unknown until the roll is made. If the roll succeeds, the DM gives the accurate information. If it fails, the DM gives innacurate information instead).
With the knowledge and experience of a Cartographer under their belt, characters with this skill can expertly read maps & terrain without any rolls, & accurately determine their location & destination. This could result in accurately reading the exact distance and measurement (even making up for errors on the map writer's part), quickly spotting landmarks both on the map and not, locating and following paths both obvious and secret, and can identify if a map is fake, genuine, and it's likelihood of being accurate in general. In addition, with the appropriate tools, materials and time to do so, characters can write, draw, and otherwise create their own maps of the world, dungeons, and so forth for easier navigation without any rolls (unless rushing the job).
Furthermore the character with this skill will have a +1 modifier to their direction sense proficiency if traveling without a map, but having read a map of the location before, and also have a +1 modifier when navigating labyrinths. When reading maps with secret notes, ciphers, legends, clues, etc., so long as it's visible and not hidden by magic, characters with this skill can attempt to find and decipher them with an Ability Check with a +1 to their roll. Finally characters with this skill can make educated guesses of what monsters are likely around certain routes, markers and locations when checking the map (a monster lore check with a +1, but made by the DM as the type of monster is unknown until the roll is made. If the roll succeeds, the DM gives the accurate information. If it fails, the DM gives innacurate information instead).
