Surveying Section
FactionDI RB · p.27
Open source p.27FACILITIES DEPARTMENT
Surveying Section
“Our maps are the Dungeon's most precious treasure.”
Motto: Our maps are the Dungeon's most precious treasure.
Mission
Regularly visiting the aeries (open to clients or not) and maintaining accurate mapping records. The maps aren't only used by bruisers on a mission, but also by Marketing to avoid reinventing the wheel for new aeries they design, by Maintenance to allocate refurbishment efforts, by Supervision to pinpoint client observations, etc. Mapping is the most frequent cause of employee complaints.
Profiles
To work in Surveying, one must be observant, like to walk, and pay attention to detail. Surveying requires versatile staff to go out in the field to draw or update maps. There are many gnomes in this section, who generally have both agile hands and a taste for exploration. Surveying also competes with Supervision for the largest concentration of eyeglasses and monocles: surveying work is not gentle on the eyesight.
1d10 Colleagues
| # | Colleague |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ramone, a dull, gullible mouse-person |
| 2 | Frirflin, an introverted gnome with a drinking problem |
| 3 | Argus, a chatty and curious eye-despot |
| 4 | Long-Steps, a brooding and outdoorsy survivalist |
| 5 | Auntie Magda, a maternal, matter-of-fact flumph |
| 6 | Jang Kian, an aging goblin explorer |
| 7 | Amelia, a completist sphynx with many strange obsessions |
| 8 | Big Graphite, a wistful and observant hanging-tree |
| 9 | Askor, a grounded, bespectacled aarakocra |
| 10 | Mysandra, a quick-witted naiad scout |
Favors (see p.38)
- Thumbs Up: Find something that doesn't appear on the map. Ex.: “Ramone, the mouse-person cartographer, told me that there were Braille indicators at the intersections in this aerie. I use them get my bearings in the dark.”
- Service: Add a detail to an aerie. Ex.: “Big Graphite's in my dungeonball team. He's mentioned a cache of hidden weapons installed here when the aerie was being raided by the orcs on level .”
Secondments
In many ways the work of Surveying and that of Reception overlap. It has even been briefly envisaged that hosts map the aeries themselves to save money. Surveying occasionally asks Reception for help on jobs that are too complicated or too dangerous.
1. Some early, long-closed aeries are considered for refurbishing, and new maps are required. The hosts are sent to protect the cartographer from unexpected new denizens.
a. An old secret about a bigwig is revealed as part of these explorations. With the cartographer in a panic, what will the PCs do?
b. The bruisers notice the cartographer fudging notes or cheating on measurements. What is their hidden agenda?
c. As a wall crumbles, the group discovers a vast new territory surrounding an inland sea. The cartographer wants to retreat and report, but what if there is unregistered treasure?
2. The bruisers face clients who know too much about the aerie. If they defeat or rout them, they find official Dungeon, Inc. maps with strange annotations. They should figure out how this happened...
a. Surveying prove uncooperative. Are they protecting themselves from repercussions, or is there conspiracy afoot?
b. A bigwig is involved: they need to silence the PCs, and quick. Cue the miscast missions, elevator glitches, and other planned accidents.
c. The maps look like old versions of the current ones. What if an employee has absconded and is now making a living selling outdated maps? That would mean going to the Bright Outside to put a stop to it...