Today we have the pleasure of presenting the review of Dagger in the Heart, a campaign for the roleplaying game Heart: The City Beneath (which we have already analyzed in this article). First of all, we would like to thank Isola Illyon Edizioni for sending us a physical copy of the manual, the latest work by Gareth Ryder-Harahan.
Those who find this review interesting can purchase the manual from the Isola Illyon website at the cost of 40 euros for the physical version (which includes the PDF). By using the code NODICEUNROLLED you will not pay shipping costs! The English version of the book is instead available on the Rowan, Rook and Decard official store.
Review of the Volume of Dagger in the Heart
Dagger in the Heart is an expanded campaign for Heart, the horror TTRPG of urban exploration and organic psychedelia by Rowan, Rook and Decard, whose Italian localization by Isola Illyon we have already discussed in a previous review. The manual maintains the elegant and refined line of the Heart and Spire series, of which it is in fact a spin-off. A carefully crafted layout and solid materials, for a truly beautiful volume further enhanced by the illustrations of Sar Cousin. As usual, the artworks are not merely decorative but are extremely in tone with the fiction, helping to make them a narrative element.
It is not a simple “more adventures” module: it is a terminal, distorted, fragmented journey into the living matter of the setting. Players once again take on the roles of the Delvers, those who choose to enter the Heart. However, this time the journey has a precise goal: the Dagger of the title, a legendary machine capable of carving reality itself. A mad rush across seven chapters that exposes the character’s identity, not to save it, but to dissect it.
Suitable for Any Campaign
A strength of the manual is its introduction, which allows Dagger in the Heart to hook into any ongoing game chronicle, without risking disjunctions or distorting what has been played previously. From there, the game campaign unfolds across seven different stages, becoming increasingly disturbing as one descends deeper into the Heart.
Our reviews are always rigorously spoiler-free. However, we can anticipate that everything begins with the legend of a train buried in the depths of the Heart, and from there the search for the Dagger will plunge the protagonists into a series of intrigues and obstacles that will also involve the City Above, in a story that loses more and more concrete references. Strictly for the characters and not the players, until the finale determines who will reign and who is destined to be lost.
Review of the Structure of Dagger in the Heart
The structure is cinematic, delirious, and organic. Each stage is a fragment of a journey that, more than leading to the Heart, takes you to the core of the character itself.
The manual introduces three main antagonists, each with a faction, a motivation, and a degeneration of its own. Ptolemy Bay is an industrialist, shipowner, megalomaniac. Everything he touches reeks of money and rust. That Which Waits Among the Ashes is instead a cult of nothingness, annihilation, and “desire no more.” Probably one of the characters, from another timeline. Aramos Bright-Eye-That-Burns is a former engineer, now an ambitious spectre seeking redemption. A cracked mask of broken dreams.
Each antagonist grows in parallel with the characters, with plans, countermeasures, and a personal campaign. If ignored, they win. If opposed, they transform. In some way they are all reflections of the characters, adapting to their choices. Additionally, each chapter offers a wide range of explorations and non-player characters. It is important to remember that they are strongly integrated into the chapters in which it is possible to encounter them. This makes consulting the manual slightly more complex, but greatly simplifies the preparation of each narrative phase.
Usage Warnings
It should be remembered that Heart, despite the horror tones, is not a horror game. It is a disturbing narrative ritual, where a world that knows you better than you know yourself is explored. Everything that evokes horror resides within the characters, and sometimes the players themselves. Each phase pushes the group to reflect on desire, failure, power, and sacrifice. Characters will not only change: they will be corrupted, broken, and transformed.
Dagger in the Heart is, ultimately, Heart taken to the extreme, with almost theatrical peaks and moments of metaphysical body horror. Characters are disintegrated and reconstructed, but this latter process is not guaranteed. If Heart already departs from a traditional exploration game, transforming it into far more than a simple metaphor, Dagger in the Heart fully accomplishes this concept, detaching from reality to descend into intimate madness.
Despite the density of the content, the manual remains comfortably consultable and readable, with explanatory boxes, support tables, and notes that provide as much lore as disturbing irony. The tables of Faction Plans and Countermeasures, in particular, are extremely valuable tools for the storyteller.
Conclusions of the Review of Dagger in the Heart
Dagger in the Heart is a game campaign that one cannot remain indifferent to. You either love it or hate it, once again pushing to extremes what the base game proposes at the table. A slow descent into the horror within, with characters on the edge and worldbuilding of a truly living nightmare. Each game session has the potential to be a tragedy, never following clear paths. The protagonists of this campaign never win: their best option is to die well, but that is not a likely option.
Dagger in the Heart is the perfect expansion for those who want Heart to hurt. It is truly the blade of the dagger that sinks and twists, asking who you are and showing what remains when you stop being that.
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