Area Mapping On Foot

[Jinumon]

Hey again, everyone!

Thanks for all your input. Regarding specific points:

Originally Posted by johndallman

I think maps with that kind of data density are strictly a modern thing.

I kind of figured. I was trying to be conservative with a theoretical maximum for standard maps. I’m not too terribly upset with how the numbers shake out, though.

Originally Posted by Polydamas

A bit of digging should turn up how fast survey teams work and how long it took to say sketch a fort that the John Company might have to take one day.

If you have the time to spare, I would greatly appreciate a nod in the right direction. Ever since Google switched over to it’s “commercial links first” model I’ve found it almost impossible to get anything useful out of my searching. Only if you have the time, of course.

Originally Posted by Anthony

In a setting with access to GURPS Magic, a number of tools are available that would be extremely useful to surveyors

I’m generally more comfortable applying arbitrary-ish modifiers to magic because, hey, IT’S MAGIC! It’s the base numbers I’m more worried about being at least partially based in reality.

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

Absent magical assistance, they require a team of at least 5 men and possibly a wagon pulled by a team of horses or mules. A reasonable surveying rate in forest or plains terrain might be 5-10 square miles per day.

Thanks so much for the breakdown! Using the scenario I had described before (Jane Cartographer), I think it might be fair to add the addendum that each additional person with at Cartography-12+ and Observation-12+ increases the area mapped by 50%. I.e. A team of 5 moving across plains would map at a rate of 0.3 square miles per linear mile traveled (0.1 + [0.05 x 4]). Assuming they travel at 2mph (laden with supplies and equipment) for 12 hours, that would result in a total of 7.2 square miles mapped per day, which is right in your ballpark.

Thanks again, everyone! A lot of the time I feel like I just use ya’ll as a sounding board, but it really is tremendously helpful! This really is the best community on the internet!

If I put things down on paper for an unofficial “system” I’ll be sure to share it.

Jinumon