Pyramid Review
The Lostfinder's Guide to Mire End (for a|state)
Published by Contested Ground Studios
Written by Malcolm Craig with Colin Chapman, Ed Handley, & John Wilson
Illustrated by Paul Bourne
Cartography by Gregor Hutton
32-page b&w softcover; $10
The Lostfinder's Guide to Mire End is the first supplement for a|state, the Scottish RPG of Dickensian Science Fiction that encrusts the Steampunk genre in a thick and grim griminess. It focuses upon the one neighborhood of The City, Mire End, a destitute little burgh bordering the richer, better governed Three Canals Metropolitan Area. Within its few pages can be found an overview of the area, as well as descriptions of the various locations, persons, and organizations of note, all supported by a plethora of adventure hooks.
The supplement is a slim affair, just 32 pages long; although it follows the same layout as the core rulebook, this book is much better looking. This is because the ratio of art to text is much higher, and the artwork itself, again done on computer by Paul Bourne, is also better. It does not have the stretched look found in the rulebook, nor is it as clean, having a grimier quality very befitting Mire End's dinginess. Best of all though, is the single page of cartography, which while in black and white, appearing to have been done in ink and water colors. It is nicely detailed and one more element that adds to the book's atmosphere.
It is described as being a "Lostfinder's Guide," a Lostfinder being a an individual . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: March 4, 2005
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