The Flood Bell Tolls in Saint Magnus review — secrets of a drowning city

Somewhere in the world a bell tolls, a city drowns, and something wakes in the deep. The Flood Bell Tolls in Saint Magnus is a system neutral gothic setting that packs more quality and ideas into its 84 pages than many boxed sets I’ve seen. St. Magnus is a lost place where fell magics swirl in its rising waters. Its wet, dreary fantasy very much evokes 2017’s Hard to Be a God, but with the kind of flair for the weird that makes it a perfect place for adventures. Split between several districts, St. Magnus has its own sets of factions and cultures, and mysteries to uncover. In short order you will find what powers are at work in this city, and what strives to be more.

John and Randy were both impressed with the imagination and shared their thoughts on the module after a full readthrough.

 

John’s thoughts

The book provides a succinct overview of the basics you need: locations, NPCs, a ritualistic water magic, random encounters, along with an introductory adventure and dungeon crawl. The isometric dungeon at the back is one of the cleanest I’ve seen, making it effortless to prepare or use at the table. Its system-neutral design makes it easy to slot into your game of choice, and is very much built with varying levels of character strength and access to magic. Currently on Itch.io for pay what you want, it’s an unquestioned recommendation from me.

Like Mork Borg, St. Magnus knows exactly what to say and what to keep unrevealed. In a given district or book wide, it takes no time at all to figure out what you need to know and what the major goals of every group are. At the same time, you’ll get a great sense of how they work: where their food comes from, what the aesthetics are, and what kinds of adventures you might get up to. Too many setting books waste time on minutiae that won’t come up in game and confuse the reader, but St. Magnus knows when to step back and trust the GM. I was reminded of Jack Vance stories during the read-through: short but dense, full of substance implied by the writing, inspiring you to see what’s over that next wave. Lots of little things, like a random encounter or an item or rumor, are fit for their own quests.

My one point of contention with presentation is the city map itself. Very general and split into the various districts, it gives you a general idea of what the city looks like, but lacking a few specifics that will be helpful when moving from area to area. That said, the plot hooks for every district are diverse, as are the random encounters. None are bland punch-ups. Here you’ll find mysteries, opportunities, and conflicts all subtle but tied to the setting’s lore and suggestive of darker things. If you want to run a game here, you don’t need any prep. Just drop the characters in, give them one of the encounters, and let them follow the thread where it leads.

I noticed some minor errors in graphic design and some more GM advice would have been nice for a setting this weird, but for the most part I was impressed with how much inspiration came out of this book. The Heavy Water rituals in particular were inspired. Magic in St. Magnus relies on the unexplainable powers of the water, and peering into them can give you power, for a potential price. It would have been nice if there were a few more of these, but the ones present help to sell the fact that lurking in the ocean is something occult and unknowable, but maybe worth what it can give you. St. Magnus knows to keep a few secrets up to the GM to decide, and I look forward to exploring them with a group soon.

Randy’s Thoughts

Love the aquatic cyberpunk scifi theme of this module. It makes me think of movies like Waterworld, games like Bioshock…the writing, design, and graphic design of this instantly makes me think of Mork Borg and CyBorg, as it’s a heavy focus on theme, dangers, and being very open about what PCs can encounter.

It comes with a number of locations and potential rumors and random encounters, but if you were new to OSR style RPGs, I could see someone getting lost with what to do here. But for an experienced player, there’s so much potential in all of this. The land of Saint Magnus is wild, with refined water being a major commodity and source of magic, money having no real value, the threat of Judicators, salt-sickness, mutations…it’s rich with content, especially for 40 some odd pages.

The magic system is unique, and feels very Borg-like in that there are penalties for using magic. What’s interesting about this system is that there’s always a penalty, and I kinda like that when it comes to the storytelling.

The artwork is pretty awesome as well, though some of the more graphic design elements feel a little too simplistic for my tastes. The character designs are an exceptional standout.

The dungeon crawl, Settler Prime, is awesome. I love the isometric map, the feeling of being trapped, isolation, and possession feel like a combination of all my favorite horror and scifi flicks, and the story seeds once a player is done with the campaign really adds more to this world.

I’d love to play a game in this world.

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