Looking at starter ventures, a few places to visit and further adventures for Book 1 of Steam Highwayman
Smog and Ambuscade
Steam Highwayman is the 100 Endings Book Club read for May 2026.
The first gamebook of Steam Highwayman is Smog and Ambuscade and it's also less polished than later ones. If you have one of the other books and it's your first time, they offer a better introductions to the Steam Highwayman experience. (It's still a valid option and I started my journey there).
But Smog and Ambuscade is still a fine gamebook, with hours of steam-based adventures and many ways to play it.
Some general advice for the Steam Highwayman books also applies.
- Find a place to stow your stuff and keep some reserves there if you can. A small reserve of cash (and maybe banknotes), a couple backup weapons, possibly supplies for healing and velosteam repairs. Plus also documents or other "quest items". This is all in case you lose your stuff, due to the Constables or other folk robbing you.
- Prioritise any bonuses to Nimbleness if you can find them. An unexpected melee fight can be a nasty surprise ending, possibly ending in theft or even an end to adventures.
- Visit the pubs. As well as the detailed beer descriptions, they often have useful information and possibly adventures to open up.
5 Starting Venture in Smog and Ambuscade
Like most open-world series, getting started can take a while in Steam Highwayman. Getting that first bit of decent cash or direction can make everything that bit easier. so here are some possible starter ventures.
- The Golden Ball Inn south of Inkydown Wood offers up some motoring jobs that pay ok. You'll need to buy drinks to be offered them. It's also a quick way to get to High Wycombe!
- Helping resolve difference between the Curtiss Brothers, who can be found at the Curtiss Steam Fair (northeast of The Thicket). The reward is pretty good and it gives one of the best safe havens in the book. There's a clue in a nearby pub.
- The mausoleum in West Wycombe. You'll need to find the right tools to open it up, but it's well worth the effort.
- Joining the Compact for Workers' Equality in Wooburn Green. It might take a bit of effort, but can be quite lucrative and opens up a different facet of the series.
- Robbing Vehicles on the road. You are the Steam Highwayman, so a risky but profitable way to make some cash is robbing vehicles. There are suitable spots in Cutthroat Woods, south of Inkydown Wood and in The Thicket. If you do go down this route consider making safe havens in other woods as places to retreat if things go bad.
5 Places to Visit in Smog and Ambuscade
There are a few places to note, outside of the main settlements of Maidenhead (make sure to check the slums), Marlow and High Wycombe.
- Boulter's Lock is between Cookham and Maidenhead, but easy to overlook. But it boasts three useful places. One is a hotel with a piano, the second is Wilby's Guns with best guns in the book, and the last is a hatter with a variety of useful garments.
- Lane End is an easy drive northwest of Marlow, but boasts a competent doctor and the Freighter's Haven Inn. The inn has a place to stay, mechanics and a possible job. Not the worst place to stay and near to book 2.
- Maidenhead Thicket has a place to prepare ambushes, but equally of interest is the gypsy encampment. They've got some useful bits to buy and sell, healing plus some story hints. If you've managed to befriend Barsali, there's other benefits too.
- The village of Hurley is small but has Freebody's Yard. This is the place to buy a boat if you want to experience life on the Thames. Or sell / upgrade an existing boat. There's also a hidden crossing over the Thames here.
- Bourne End has the Walnut Tree Inn with a possible entrance to a large social event. It also has a Freight Yard with an event, tools and an engineeer. But the most interesting place is St Mark's Church, where you can have various discussions with the vicar there. There's also a ferry across the Thames to Cock Marsh.
5 Further Adventures in Smog and Ambuscade
Once you're up and running, there's a few longer threads you can follow in Smog and Ambuscade. All without leaving the book.
- Preparing and racing The Spencer Cup. Probably the biggest set piece in the book, this can be started by visiting West Wycombe House with a Letter of Introduction. There's a few ways to get the letters, including a nice man who will write you one for cash in one of the Telegraph Stations
- If you get a boat you can Steam the Thames, exploring, trading, robbing and other shenanigans. The stretch of the Thames in Smog and Ambuscade isn't particularly large, but far more options open up if you have either Book 2 or 3.
- The smith at Handy Cross has is working on a big project and there are some tricky to find bits to find for it (easier in other books).
- There's an abandoned boat you can fix up, but it's tricky to find. You'll need to head out west on the road past Hurley, to as far toward Henley as you can go without leaving the book. Down by the river you'll find a skiff in need of repair, with the right gear and some engineering know-how.
- Exploring the Lanes of Smog and Ambuscade. Many of the encounters of the book are hidden away on out-of-the-way lanes, often going in a certain direction. You'll meet traders, journalists, acrobats, gypsies, various animal, a minstrel, a school bus, woodcutters and others if you ride around enough. Some open up other plotlines, offer Friendships, attribute increases and other benefits.
Finishing Up
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