Not Just Another OSR Castle

As part of the ongoing Zine Month 2025, Nerd Sirens is crowdfunding Castle of the Veiled Queen - an adventure module set in a fantastical mountain land inspired by Polish legends from the Carpathians. The counter hit 100% of required funds in 24h, and right now the project just reached its second stretch goal - printed plan of the titular castle added to every zine!

BEYOND CORNY GROŃ – ADVENTURER’S GUIDE which publication was made real with tremendous help from 665 backers of Kickstarter campaign to contain everything required to discover the fantastic land of Karpaki. As promised then, Nerd Sirens continue exploration of this setting with the first volume of Other Paths zine - 40 B5-pages-long, softcover OSR adventure module. It expands the plots, rumors, and legends outlined in core book, but does not require it to be played. If you haven't heard about Beyond Corny Groń yet, check out below, where you can find more details & some reviews, and if you want to check more details, of back right away - visit its Kickstarter page!

Instead of creating 2-3 levels of abstract megadungeon, focus was put on creating believable, living space. The titular fortress consists of a number of separate buildings, connected by courtyards, walls, secret passages, and a system of underground caves, called the Outlaws' Path. Every structure is mapped separately by Jacek Kuziemski, in a way to give you a good overview on how castle looks and works.

As an operational military structure and outpost of the imperial forces recently occupying the nearby region, the castle has a wide plethora of characters living and working inside. Every named NPC in the module - including supernatural biesy - have their own portrait, to give you a good impression on who's who in the fortress. Of course, this is the adventure module, so the author didn't forget about stuffing it with secrets, items, rooms, powers, and creatures that will give your players reasons to snoop around, turn into "wrong" corridor during official visit, or that can help to escape the fortress if they'll end up on the wrong side of the cell doors.

Module in numbers:

• 85+ rooms with detailed maps to explore
• 25+ NPCs to ally or antagonize
• 25+ unique magic items to be found
• 5 legends with 3 additional story hooks to bring your players to the castle

The reception of Nerd Sirens publications to date has been more than very good, with readers, players and reviewers remarking on the quality of the books, the unique and rich content, the attention to detail, and the well-executed fulfilment of handbook's promised functions. Some of the opinions about Beyond Corny Groń - Adventurer's Guide were as follows:

(…) it’s all such evocative stuff and the book is so beautifully produced, full of stunning woodcut style illustrations, that it’s simply a pleasure to pick up and read, let alone adventure in. (…) Still, the fact that our main complaint is that it’s left us wanting for more is a testament to just how good what’s here is. - Wyrd Science vol. 1 / Issue 6

The strongest wow-factor out of the box of anything that I've gotten my hands on recently - it was both larger format and thicker than I was expecting and the cloth and foil cover pops impressively. Inside is cleanly and clearly laid out with a consistent wood-cut/lino-cut art style throughout. (…) With the two elements - mountains and caverns - we get a pretty directed setting which is nice, focus is a strength. - Seed of Worlds

This is a good bestiary, reminding me at its best of the Monster Overhaul without the structure, and with more interesting monster inspired by specific folklore instead of simply being twists on existing fantasy fare (although the last section, Monstrosities, is specifically that). These are fire, to be honest. (…) If the idea of playing Wanderhome as a party of faux-Polish adventurers in a Knave-fork in a savage mountain home filled with unusual monsters from northern European folklore appeals to you, then this game is absolutely for you. - Bathtub Review by Playful Void

To back this project and grab Castle of the Veiled Queen, as well as other Corny Groń books and zines, go and visit its Kickstarter page!