Out of the Iron Labyrinth is a hell-escape adventure for one character designed for Old-School Essentials. Whether they were kidnapped by a cult, traded to a demon by an evil wizard, or accidentally banished by an errant spell, the character must navigate the Court of Yllthrax, one corner of the infinite Iron Labyrinth, in order to find a way back to the Material Plane.
Designed for one character, Out of the Iron Labyrinth can be played with a GM or as a solo adventure using the included solo tools. Perfect as a self-contained module or as a side adventure when the party in your campaign gets split up (or when only one player can make it to game night).
A multilevel dungeon: The Court of Yllthrax is one corner of the Iron Labyrinth, ruled by the black dragon Yllthrax and populated by the damned souls under his dominion.
Powerful NPCs: Possible enemies and allies, including
Yllthrax, a black dragon who has sworn allegiance to the demon lord Bethgor, ruler of this plane.
Nyulura, an erinyes and Yllthrax's lieutenant.
Grrz, a chain devil who lost his chains after a failed incursion onto the Material Plane and now wants to usurp Nyulura's position.
Haiayel, an imprisoned angel that wants to be released from this hell.
A host of creatures: Demonic and otherwise, to talk to, hide from, bargain with, or fight.
Multiple hooks and exits: There are several ways to pull a character into this module, and just as many ways for them to extricate themselves from it.
Special rules for respawning when you hit 0 HP: You're already in hell...this place won't let you just die!
Solo tools: We are including a solo play framework with a core gameplay loop and oracle tables to facilitate GM-less play.
You'll get the PDF version of Out of the Iron Labyrinth. This is distributed as a download key from itch.io. A free itch.io account is recommended to maintain access to the download page.
2. Out of the Iron Labyrinth Physical Edition ($18)
You'll get the Out of the Iron Labyrinth book, an A5-size, softcover book of approximately 50 pages. You'll also receive the digital edition as described above.
3. Out of the Iron Labyrinth Physical Bundle ($25)
You'll get the Out of the Iron Labyrinth book, an A5-size, softcover book of approximately 50 pages as well as the Asset Pack, which contains an A3-size poster of the dungeon maps for use during play, a reference card for the solo oracles, and a print of the cover art. You'll also receive the digital edition as described above.
Note: Backing levels above do not include shipping. Shipping fees will be collected post-campaign through the Pledge Manager.
As an extra "Thank You!" for your early support of Out of the Iron Labyrinth, anyone that backs in the first 48 hours will also receive The Mountain of Power, a pamphlet adventure for Old School Essentials created by M. Allen Hall for the Appx. N Jam on itch.io in July, 2025.
Digital Edition backers will receive the PDF.
Physical Edition/Bundle backers will receive the PDF and a professional print of the A5, half-fold pamphlet.
There are several add-ons available during the campaign. Each add-on contains previously published games and supplements by M. Allen Hall. Each add-on is available as a Physical+Digital set or as a Digital Only product.
Hall × Douglas Collab Combo Two games featuring art by Jamie Douglas, who is creating the interior art for Out of the Iron Labyrinth.
In Ruins (5.5" x 8.5" zine): a cooperative and competitive dungeon-building game.
The Baron's Grip (A5 softcover book): a campaign setting for Mausritter.
Liminal Horror Bundle A bundle of M. Allen Hall's Liminal Horror modules.
Liminal Grimoire (box set): 9 pamphlet supplements for Liminal Horror, including 6 adventures, rules summary, solo tools, a campaign guide, and character sheets.
On The Hill (A5 zine): a forest-crawl through a state park that is haunted by the Not Deer.
Elevator Game (A5 zine with 3x A6 mini-zines): an investigation into a spree of missing person reports centered around an underground music venue.
UHF Contact (A5 softcover book): a 3-scenario modern horror campaign following the tribulations of the PCs' friend Jonah and the cursed Magna Vox that has enthralled him.
MÖRK/CY BORG Bundle A bundle of M. Allen Hall's MÖRK BORG and CY_BORG modules.
Foul (half-letter zine): a sewer-crawling funnel adventure.
The Three Towers (A5 zine): a tower-climbing cult infiltration adventure.
Tame Your Demons (A5 zine): a dungeon about facing your inner demons.
The Backrooms (trifold pamphlet): hunt an assassin through the prototypical liminal space.
VIP Abduction (trifold pamphlet): a kidnapping mission that can't possibly go wrong.
Solo Game Bundle A bundle of M. Allen Hall's solo TTRPGs.
Godspark (6.7" x 9.6" zine): solo adventure game of dead gods and living saints.
Stork Raven Madge (A5 zine): solo journaling game of isolation and desperation.
Unhallowed (half-letter pamphlet): solo journaling game of suspense and unnatural horror.
Endling (A5 paperback book): tarot-driven solo journaling game about the last human.
The text of the adventure has been written. Editing is underway, and layout tests have begun. Production arrangements are safely in place with a printer that we have used in the past, which leaves us with the following tentative timeline:
July 2026: layout and art are complete, and files are sent to the printer.
August 2026: proofs are printed and shipped to me, and final adjustments are made.
September 2026: final files are sent to and approved by the printer. Production begins.
November 2026: Products are received from the printer.
December 2026: Digital and physical fulfillment begins.
We will be fulfilling all US orders in house using Pirate Ship. We have used this service for each of our prior crowdfunding campaigns with great results.
For backers in the UK and EU, we will be working with a fulfillment partner to help with GSPR compliance and VAT remittance to ensure your packages arrive with as few additional fees as possible.
Please be aware that the EU is removing the de minimis exemption for imported goods on July 1. It looks like this will increase the tax on imports by €3 PER ITEM in a package. This will have to be collected when we charge for shipping.
Shipping will be collected after the campaign using a pledge manager. In order to maintain the timeline above and our precedent of prompt and reliable crowdfunding campaign fulfillment, we are not participating in the OSE Month group pledge manager.
To account for the fact that this project will be an additional shipping expense for backers, we are offering the following shipping rates for Physical Edition backers:
Note: the Physical Bundle and any physical add-ons may increase shipping costs.
M. Allen Hall is a tabletop game designer and author from Philadelphia, PA. He is best known for his roleplaying games In Ruins and Endling, and he has published adventures for a wide variety of systems, including Mörk Borg, Mausritter, and Liminal Horror.
Jamie Douglas
Jamie is an artist based in Richmond, VA, who always carries his sketchbook. He does freelance editorial illustration, teaches art classes at the Visual Arts Center and has illustrated several children's books. He loves fantasy art, monsters, cartooning, cartography — and putting it all together in his own zines and tabletop games.
Both Allen and Jamie guarantee that everything in this book is 100% HUMAN MADE.
Human Made logo by HINOKODO. No generative AI was used in the production of Out of the Iron Labyrinth
As part of OSE Month, we have collabrated with Parallel Dimension Gaming to bring one of their new demonic creations, the Firebrand Imp, to life inside the Court of Yllthrax. Check out the rest of their bestiary over at:
Old-School Essentials Month is a group-collab project led by Exalted Funeral and Necrotic Gnome, featuring a new 176-page OSE book — the Demonic Grimoire — and sister projects from 16 other renowned creators in the OSE community.
The theme of OSE Month 2026 is: DEMONS! Get ready for hordes of new monsters, adventures set in the realms of hell, fiendish new character options, and lashings of blood-dripping art.
Group Achievements
We will be announcing a series of achievements tied to the success of all OSE Month projects jointly! To start with:
All projects funded: When all OSE Month projects fund, we will arrange a community Ask Me Anything session on Discord, featuring creators from across the projects. This will be a chance to chat with the OSE Month creators about their projects.
Old-School Essentials (OSE) is a role-playing game of fantastic adventure inspired by classic games of the 1970s and 1980s. Players delve into forsaken ruins, battle fearsome monsters, explore haunted forests and perilous mountain ranges, sail the high seas in search of lost lands, recover fabulous treasures, and unearth secrets of ancient magic.
