This article originally appeared in d20 Weekly

Way of the New Science

Way of the New Sciences

Published by Pinnacle Entertainment

Written by Lucien Soulban

64 b&w pages; $15.00

In Way of the New Science, Soulban's stated purpose is to focus on the Deadlands setting's Tinkerers, bringing them to life and providing options for player and GM alike. In so doing, he actually goes beyond this stated purpose, providing a must-have sourcebook for all Deadlands players. The material provided within is so inspired (this will be a theme running throughout the review) that it becomes required reading.

Way of the New Science is one of the most attractive RPG books I have ever seen. The layout is simple yet effective and the paper is standard fare, but what really impresses -- and, indeed, awes -- are the illustrations. Not only are they extremely well-done, they veritably ooze pulpy charm and atmosphere. To be sure, my love for the pulp novels that inspired Deadlands is shaping and perhaps biasing my opinion, but I'm sure you'll agree with my assessment once you've taken a gander at the book. The cover by Ron Spencer is stunning, and the interior artists (among them Allen Nunis, Paul Daly, Loston Wallace, and Ron Spencer) show a flair and passion for the genre as well as an understanding of its conventions. They all perform yeoman work.

The first 16 pages are devoted to background material and a brief -- though actually entertaining -- piece of fiction. Necessary and colorful though this stuff might be, you and I both know what we came here for: crunchy gaming stuff . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.



Article publication date: August 28, 2002

Copyright © 2002 by Steve Jackson Games. All rights reserved. Pyramid subscribers are permitted to read this article online, or download it and print out a single hardcopy for personal use. Copying this text to any other online system or BBS, or making more than one hardcopy, is strictly prohibited. So please don't. And if you encounter copies of this article elsewhere on the web, please report it to webmaster@sjgames.com.