From an empire’s ashes arise cruel warlords, savage hordes, and man-eating giants—all seeking the cosmic steel to become like gods—in this pulp sword & sorcery mega-adventure for Old-School Essentials.
The Overlords of Steel is a complete level 1–14 standalone fantasy campaign written by Robert Alderman and designed for use with Old-School Essentials. Set in a distant region of the planet Magis Terra, this 400+ page, FULL-COLOR sandbox adventure continues his ENNIE Judges' Spotlight-winning Gods of the Forbidden North saga. It is fully compatible with B/X and other classic old-school fantasy RPGs.
Explore the perilous megadungeon of Exesed Mordax (“EGG-zih-zid MOR-daks”) and the fuming, acid-scarred lands of Qa'rood—a hostile realm between the Spines of Arratan and the Sear-White Sea. This cyclopean complex spans 30 enormous 17" × 22" color maps, with multiple levels, interconnected regions, numerous entry points, rival factions, and well over 1,000 encounter areas.
Pulp Hummock Press raised over $350,000 on Kickstarter for the Gods of the Forbidden North saga.
The trilogy's first volume earned widespread critical praise, an ENNIE Judges' Spotlight Award at GenCon 2024, and a Mithral Bestseller badge on OneBookShelf, while its second and third volumes became Platinum and Gold Bestsellers.
TRUSTED & RELIABLE
Our company earned both Project We Love and Backer Favorite recognition on Kickstarter:
Project #1: Fulfilled on time with 37% more content than promised.
Project #2: Fulfilled two months early with 50% more content than promised.
Project #3: Digital rewards delivered on time; physical books arrived three months late but included 52% more content than promised.
OG Backers: When Gods of the Forbidden North expanded from one book into three, Robert promised the original backers the additional two volumes free and delivered both.
Get The Overlords of Steel in one of four editions (400+ pages, U.S. Letter-Sized):
Digital Edition — $29: PDF + VTT Map Pack + VTT Art Pack.
POD Softcover Edition — $39: Print-on-demand softcover ordered through DriveThruRPG directly by you (the backer) + PDF & VTT Packs. Helpful for international orders seeking affordable shipping.
GotFN Referee Aides — $19: 3 PDF Referee Aides + at-cost POD softcover purchase options.
GotFN Trilogy Digital Edition — $49: 3 PDFs; over 1,600 pages of adventure.
GotFN Trilogy Deluxe Slipcase Set — $289: Only ~125 copies remain of this special deluxe slipcase edition of Gods of the Forbidden North containing all three hardcover volumes.
The Overlords of Steel is packed with finished, table-ready adventure content designed to do the heavy lifting for busy referees, and it combines old-school depth with modern usability & information design:
A 1,000+ encounter megadungeon spanning 30 enormous 17" × 22" color maps, designed by cartographer Mark Pileggi and digitally inked by Marc Alderman Jr.
120+ wilderness locations, 15 settlements, and 4 additional dungeons across 3 climate zones and 14 terrain types, each with unique ecologies, hazards, and wandering monster tables.
100+ new monsters, plus a titanic, kaiju-like, multi-headed dragon that thunders across the wastes!
A complete level 1–14 campaign with 4 starting scenarios, faction conflicts, rumors, NPC hooks, treasures, and 6.5+ million XP, set in a hyper-arid desert basin inspired by the Horn of Africa.
Uses referee-facing control panels, highly structured encounter keys, bolded interactive features, and two-page-spread layouts to put critical information at your fingertips and minimize page flipping.
Includes adventure reward summaries tracking monster XP, treasure values, and magic items; print-friendly creature stat blocks; and intuitive map-to-key cross-references. A comprehensive glossary of names and meticulously hyperlinked PDF index make navigating this massive campaign fast and effortless. Minimum searching, maximum adventure.
"Exesed Mordax: Level 1A - East," hand-drawn by Mark Pileggi.
3 human cultures (Hadean, Qarad, and Whudjan), 5 demihuman races (El'akim, Faemina, Half-Orc, Jal-Kala, and Murian), 3 religions (Hadean Temple, Juunaba, and Tojiro), and the Arqeshan calendar system to track seasons, lunar cycles, and celestial events.
New regional equipment lists and rules for ultra-rare Invidium-powered airships and weapons, like banning shockers, dark energy devices, ionisis swords, and ray guns.
Gorgeous exterior and interior color artwork painted on traditional canvas by the legend himself, Gary Trow, plus contributing illustrations by Jay White, Peter Pagano, Paul Sementilli, and Megan Edney!
A new transitive dimension that overlaps the Prime Material Plane called the Aevum.
A full color wilderness hex map, with labeled and unlabeled versions, plus a themed character sheet for Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy.
Zipped files containing all book illustrations and cartography (labeled and unlabeled) in PNG formats; useful for handouts at the gaming table and VTT play.
"Canyon of Secrets," digitally drawn by Marc Alderman Jr.
"If you stick with RPGs for any length of time, there are certain products that you inevitably become aware of. Tomb of Horrors. The Temple of Elemental Evil. Undermountain. Rappan Athuk. Ptolus. They have a certain status and mythology about them, and, sooner or later, you go and have a look. ... They are monuments of the hobby. I believe Gods of the Forbidden North from Pulp Hummock Press is destined to become one of these. Maybe it already is." -EDDY, SCROLL FOR INITIATIVE
"Gods of the Forbidden North is a solid 10 out of 10. I love it and you should definitely buy it. In fact, I consider it to be the gold standard of high-quality setting design." -CHUBBY FUNSTER
"If a better adventure comes out this year, I'm going to be very surprised... Gods of the Forbidden North: Volume 3 is amazing. 10 out of 10. Five stars. Rob knocked it out of the park... I think this might be my favorite megadungeon that I've ever read." -RED MAGE GM
"Pulp Hummock Press sticks the landing with the final chapter in the huge Gods of the Forbidden North campaign. I especially enjoy the old school mentality of the adventure, offering players far more options than simply resorting to combat to overcome every challenge." -JEFF MCALEER, THE GAMING GANG
Our fulfillment partners have 23+ years of combined experience and have handled thousands of crowdfunding campaigns. All shipments include tracking.
For orders to the US, Canada, and the Americas, we've partnered with US-based Fulfillrite. This is our third campaign with their team, and orders will ship from their New Jersey warehouse just outside NYC.
For orders to the UK, EU, Australia, New Zealand, and ROW, we've partnered with UK-based GMS Hobby Game Logistics, helping us keep international shipping costs as low as reasonably possible.
Before fulfillment, BackerKit will email you a pledge-manager link to confirm your rewards, enter your shipping address, and pay the actual shipping charge based on your location and selected items.
"Ruins of the Dune Sea," by Gary Trow.
ESTIMATED SHIPPING CHARGES
Estimated shipping costs for our major pledge levels:
1-Book (~5 lbs.): US ($13-15), UK (£16-22), EU (€23-37), CAN ($46-53), ROW ($48-54).
4-Book (~20 lbs.): US ($26-36), UK (£32-36), EU (€48-60), CAN ($86-96), ROW ($121-135).
These estimates do not include physical add-on rewards.
VAT, DUTIES, & IMPORT TAXES
For UK and EU orders, we will collect applicable VAT and processing fees during the pledge manager.
For all other countries outside the UK and EU, orders are shipped duty unpaid. Any applicable taxes, duties, customs fees, or other import charges are the backer's responsibility and may be collected when the package enters your country.
Very large physical orders may need to be divided into multiple parcels for certain international destinations, including the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, and others with carrier weight restrictions.
Backers who made a $1 Early Reservation receive Beyond the Black Earth, an exclusive bonus adventure at no additional charge.
This prequel to the Gods of the Forbidden North trilogy explores the original dungeon that held the mystical Eye of J'karaa just before the heroes sailed north to Titherion. It can also serve as an opening adventure for The Overlords of Steel.
Every qualifying reservation backer receives the digital edition (PDF). Backers pledging at any physical reward level ($79 Overlords Hardcover or higher) will also receive a softcover print edition.
Missed the reservation period? Beyond the Black Earth is available during the campaign as a $15 add-on.
Every illustration and map in The Overlords of Steel is created by professional human artists and cartographers. A significant portion of campaign funding directly supports their work.
The Overlords of Steel will be manufactured using sustainable materials in environmentally friendly factories. The book will be printed on tree-free bamboo paper with soy ink, reducing reliance on wood pulp, harsh chemical bleaching agents, and conventional printing materials.
Its cover will use 100% recycled Eska board, a premium three-layer laminated solid board made from recycled paper fibers and widely used for luxury packaging and book covers.
Our printing partner, MCRL Overseas Group, also donates 10,000 trees each year to Trees for the Future (TREES), a nonprofit supporting land restoration and sustainable communities around the world. MCRL has planted 44,572 trees since 2019.
"The Mega-Cave of Sammordul," hand-drawn by Robert Alderman. Author legs not included.
