D&D: The ‘Artificer Cartographer’ Playtest – A Lot Of Teleporting For A Mapmaker
There’s a new Artificer subclass in town. But for a subclass all about making maps, it sure does teleport around an awful lot.
It is a big week for Eberron enjoyers. A new Unearthed Arcana puts the Magitech world back in the spotlight again, which I’m always in favor of. It is a revised version of the Artificer, which will soon be debuting in a book titled Eberron: Forge of the Artificer. Along with the tweaked Artificer, we got nine new magic items, twenty eight new feats, a new spell. And more to the point, a brand new subclass for the Artificer.
The Artificer Cartographer is a new take on Artificer specialization. And it’s one that I was excited to read after watching the WotC preview video.
Because, to hear the designers talk about it, this subclass – like all Artificer subclasses, was designed with a special purpose in mind. As Makenzie de Armas explains, each one was designed with what role they would have played in the Last War in mind, which is a pretty cool approach.
It casts the extant subclasses in a new light—artillerists levying heavy firepower, armorers to supply armor and serve as armored units, battlesmiths for forging weapons, and Alchemists to keep the troops hale, hearty, and buffed when needed. It all makes sense. The same is true for the new one, the Artificer Cartographer.
The Artificer Cartographer – Spellcasting Scouts?
The Artificer Cartographer was envisioned as a scout or explorer. Someone who could handle the recon during the Last War. Both pointing out enemy locations and finding safe paths for armies to navigate. Charting the uncharted territory. As the playtest doc puts it:
“Cartographers are the premier navigators and reconnaissance agents. Using their creations, Cartographers can highlight threats, safeguard their allies, and carve portals to distant locations.
All of which sounds like a real interesting take for WotC because scout and recon are two areas typically reserved for Rogues and Rangers. But the possibility of a spellcaster taking on that role is potentially a fun departure from the usual dichotomy.
The Artificer Cartographer definitely has a few tools that feel like they fit that role. However, as you’ll see, I’m not sure it has enough tools to live up to its potential. Let’s start with some of the more exciting features at the heart of the Artificer Cartographer.
A Magical Map
Every Artificer’s subclass is also a crafting specialty. They’re all themed around a thing they make. In this case, it’s a magical map, as you might expect. Their core feature is the Adventurer’s Atlas. This is a magical map that you actually make multiples of. At the end of every Long Rest, you can create a set of magical Adventurer’s Atlases. Each one is issued to a specific person and is illegible to all others.
They can make maps for up to 1 + Int modifier creatures – so likely 4, 5, or up to 6 once you max out their Intelligence. But that’s what artificers want to do anyway, so it’s not a huge deal. Each atlas confers a few benefits on the person they’re issued to:
- They get to add 1d4 to your initiative rolls
- While carrying a map, they know the location of all others in the Adventurer’s Atlas network on the same plane and can even cast spells on other map holders without line of sight – they do need to be within range though
Which is not too bad. It’s a nice benefit that speaks well to the Scout aspect of a Cartographer, as well as to some, like, logistical planning if a Cartographer knows where a captain is, presumably, they know where the unit that the captain commands is. The cast a sepell regardless of line of sight is cool – but still having to be within range of the spell might be a little limiting, but I also understand it. I think it’s an amazing option that empowers the whole party in a real tactical way.
They gain a few other features, too. Cartographer’s Spells grants a list of bonus spells, as pictured above. And, of course, there’s the obligatory “gain proficiency with the tools needed for this subclass” feature that grants proficiency with Calligrapher’s and Cartographer’s tools. It also halves the time needed to make spell scrolls, making it potentially the most useful of the “be proficient with the thing” features.
And there’s one final 3rd level feature, Scouting Gadgets, which is another nice nod to the idea of “scout”. As part of it, Cartgraphers gain the ability to cast Ferie Fire without a sell slot (Int modifier times per day) as well as an extremely limited teleport. They can spend half their movement speed to teleport 10 feet. It hardly feels worth it, except for maybe traversing difficult terrain or tall obstacles. It’s no Misty Step. But what’s funny is the faster the Cartographer, the worse the trade is.
Artificer Cartographer – So What Else Do Scouts Do? They Teleport Obviously
At 5th Level, Artificer Cartographers gain a feature that obviates the need to ever use the 10-foot teleport function. Portal Jump lets a Cartographer teleport up to 60 feet as a Bonus Action. That’s better than Misty Step. And it doesn’t cost a spell slot. Sure, they only get limited uses per long rest (Int modifier times, so 3-5), but that’s plenty.
And they can use the Portal Jump feature without cost just by teleporting to someone who holds one of their maps. The adventurer’s atlas is consumed by the jump, though, so it’s probably worth using that one only sparingly.
Was that not enough teleportation for you? Don’t worry. Artificer Cartographers pretty much only get teleportation abilities. At level 9, they gain Ingenious Movement, which keys off of the Artificer’s Flash of Genius feature. Flash of Genius is a Reaction that allows the Artificer or a creature they can see to reroll a failed save. With Ingenious Movement, the Artificer or a creature they can see can also teleport 30 feet to an unoccupied square as part of the same reaction, which is handy enough when it comes up.
Want even more teleport shenanigans? Too bad, you’re getting them anyway. At level 15, the capstone for the Artificer Cartographer, Superior Atlas levels up the Adventurer’s Atlas with three new boons:
- When a creature holding an Atlas is dropped to 0 hit points (but not dead outright), they can destroy the map as a Reaction and be teleported to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of another Atlas holder.
- If the Artificer is attuned to their own map, they can use it to cast Find the Path (one of the least useful 6th level spells) for free, once per long rest.
- While any maps are still extant, the Artificer can’t lose Concentration due to damage.
That last one is pretty spicy. But again, it’s all very teleportation focused, which is not necessarily what I’d think of when I think of “scout.”
Artificer Cartographer – I Guess The Map Is For Fast Traveling
All in all, the Artificer Cartographer concept is interesting. I’m not sold on the execution of it. The idea of a recon-focused subclass is very appealing, and that’s not what I’m getting out of what the subclass actually lets you do. So, it might just be a perception mismatch here. But even taking out that idea, it’s very much a one-trick pony.
Sure, it’s put on the Artificer class, which lets players do all sorts of flexible things. But compare it to other subclasses like the Fey Wanderer Ranger or the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer, which is all about Psionics, and even they feel a little more broadly empowering than this one. To me, it feels like too narrow a focus, especially compared to the niches the other Artificer subclasses carve out.
Maybe if there was more you could do with the map – there are some interesting ideas tied to it. It doesn’t just have to be instantly jump to someone holding a map. Especially since the main teleport feature, Portal Jump, kind of comes out of nowhere. But that’s just my opinion – WotC will care much more about yours. And you can let them know by taking the survey when it goes live on March 4th.
Mapmaker mapmaker make me a map!
