Call Of Duty Unchained Fury

[Argelia Long]

TheatreReview by Howard Miller - September 16, 2021

Lenny Grossman and Francesca Ravera

Photo by Bjorn BolinderWe all tell lies, either outright or by a more subtle realignment of the facts. Mostly these are relatively harmless, aimed at protecting others, or more often ourselves, from dealing directly with awkward or uncomfortable situations. But when lying becomes a way of life, when it consumes our every move, then the needle flies past "normal" into the red danger zone. This is the zone that is occupied by the two characters in David Harrower's Blackbird, now being given a thoughtfully directed and grippingly performed revival at the New Ohio Theatre.Blackbird deals with the toxic fallout from a heinous act of pedophilia, a three-month-long sexual relationship between a 40-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl that took place 15 years before the play opens. It ended (or so it would seem) with the arrest, conviction, and prison term for the man and a lifetime of trauma for the girl.The two of them have not seen or heard from one another since then. But that all changes when the girl, Una, now a grown woman (here played by Francesca Ravera), shows up at the workplace of the man, Ray, or "Peter" as he now calls himself (Lenny Grossman). It is an act of confrontation that over the course of 90 minutes peals away layers of pain, rage, recrimination, self-doubt, and self-serving mendacity in an attempt to gain some sort of understanding of what exactly did happen in that brief time period that has defined both of their lives ever since.First produced in 2005 in the playwright's native Scotland, Blackbird holds up exceptionally well, lending itself to many different interpretations as Una and Ray circle, lash out, and attempt to manipulate one another. A 2016 Broadway mounting, directed by Joe Mantello and starring Jeff Daniels and Michelle Williams, unraveled itself as an unrelenting act of unchained fury and madness.But here, director Kim T. Sharp has toned down the histrionics and asks us to pay more attention to the words and to closely watch the two actors who are wrapped up in their endless tango. Una mostly appears to have the upper hand, a perspective that is bolstered by the audience's growing understanding of the long-term anguishing impact of sexual abuse. She has had plenty of time to think about what she wants to say, and she comes off as mostly poised and in control, while Ray seems to be every bit the pathetic zhlub and loser. But his domain is that of a ravenous spider; step into his web of deception at your own caution. As New York theater inches its way toward a full reblooming with a mix of celebration and caution, look to Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway houses like the New Ohio Theatre as go-to places to find challenging works like Blackbird, mounted with a level of original thinking and professionalism that many a Broadway production would do well to emulate.Blackbird

Through October 3, 2021

New Ohio Theatre, 154 Christopher Street #1E.

Tickets and current Performance Schedule: OvationTix.com .ad1 width: 320px; height: 100px; @media(min-width: 500px) .ad1 width: 468px; height: 60px; @media(min-width: 800px) .ad1 width: 728px; height: 90px; (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle []).push(); Share:

Below, the vampires stood around their map table, arguing over details. Merisiel itched to put knives in all their backs, but even with the element of surprise, she knew the only person she was likely to kill with such an attack was herself. Besides, it wasn't in the plan.

Unfortunately, what came next also wasn't in the plan. She'd arrived well before the vampires, and chosen the perfect hiding place in the subterranean cathedral's upper balcony. It had been a beautiful piece of infiltration work, if she did say so herself. Yet how could she have known that the head vampire's first order of business would be making her pretty-boy underlings move the map table from its original position to a new spot directly blocking Merisiel's exit? Who orchestrated a coup and then wasted valuable conspiracy time rearranging furniture?

Regardless, Merisiel was going to have to get creative. Given the vampires' ability to see in the dark, the shadows wouldn't be much help. And from their new positions around the table, no matter which way she tried to sneak past them, at least one would inevitably spot her long before she made it to the door.

She was almost to the door when the fop with the perfectly tousled hair made an impertinent comment, earning a backhand from the leader. The slap knocked the vampire's head backward, tilting it at just the wrong angle. His eyes met Merisiel's and widened.

She sprinted through musty stone corridors, the pack baying like hounds at her heels. The squad of spawn who'd been keeping lookout at the main entrance appeared in the tunnel ahead, and Merisiel dodged left around a corner, barely touching the stairs beneath her as she raced downward, deeper into the crypts.

She whirled just in time to see vampires fill the only doorway. Recognizing her predicament, they grinned and took the time to form up, stalking forward slowly to savor the drama. Predatory eyes glowed with reflected light from the solitary torch.

"She's bluffing." The leader shoved her way to the front and grabbed Merisiel by her armor's leather collar. She hauled the elf close, perfect face twisting in a cruel smile. "If you had done what you say, why would you risk being here now?"

The skill needed to disable a hazard varies. Traps are usually disabled via Thievery, environmental hazards via Nature or Survival, and haunts via Occultism or Religion, though there are exceptions in every category. Many hazards require a certain number of successes before they are fully disabled, and a critical success typically counts as two successes. A critical failure means you've accidentally triggered the hazard! Many physical hazards can also be destroyed by brute force. In many cases, breaking the trigger mechanism might set the trap off prematurely, which you might be able to do from a safe distance. We felt it was really important to make dealing with hazards a more narrative experience without taking lots of extra time or requiring the GM to make up details on the spot, and so every skill that can be used to disable a hazard is listed in the stat block, along with a description of the how a PC would use that skill to do so.

Out of everything in the playtest, hazards may be the one component for which you can get the best preview right now. How? Starfinder. We had already created an early framework for hazards by the time Starfinder came around, so when I was asked to create a framework for Starfinder's traps, I adapted what we had for the Pathfinder Playtest, and the rest of the Starfinder Core Rulebook team liked what they saw. We've refined the playtest's system since then, which means that we have two main types of hazards: simple hazards that trigger, take their reaction, and are then done, and complex hazards that roll into initiative and shift the game into encounter mode until the PCs deal with them (or at least escape).

Ah, the pit, the most basic of all simple traps. Anybody can find a hidden pit, even if they aren't searching for it, because the Stealth DC doesn't require a proficiency rank. If someone walks onto the trapdoor, the pit uses its reaction to open up, and the triggering creature might fall. The Disable entry explains how a character can pop the trapdoor off and make the pit obvious to all. Still might want to be careful crossing, though!

Here's an example of a haunt. As you can see, it uses the same basic framework as the other hazards, so once you learn the rules, you can use them flexibly for almost any hazard you can dream up! In this case, a PC could use Religion to exorcise the haunt, but a character could also potentially use Diplomacy to talk it down. Still, the master of Religion has the advantage with an easier DC. You could even imagine an adventure where it matters how the PCs deal with a hazard. Perhaps exorcising a haunt using Religion helps sanctify the area, while using Diplomacy might persuade the spirit to impart some hints to the PCs about what happened before it departs.

The design goals for the rogue were simple: she had to be nimble, skillful, and able to take full advantage when enemies are unaware. The new class design achieves this through a mix of classic and new mechanics.

I'm sure it will surprise no one that the first class feature the rogue gets is sneak attack. It works much like you would expect, granting extra d6s of precision damage when she strikes a flat-footed foe. Flanking a foe is the easiest way for the rogue to make her foe flat-footed, but at 1st level, she also gets the surprise attack feature. Thanks to surprise attack, during the first round of combat, the rogue treats any creature that has not taken its turn yet as if it were flat-footed.

But wait, there's more! In addition to dealing extra damage when attacking flat-footed foes, at 9th level the rogue also applies debilitating strikes to such attacks, allowing her to entangle or enfeeble her foes on top of the normal punishment. As her level rises, she has the opportunity to expand the conditions applied with debilitating strikes and increase the number of conditions applied, leading up to a potential instant kill with her Master Strike at 19th level.

If you want to play a dungeon-delving rogue, stock up on skill feats expanding on Acrobatics, Athletics, Stealth, and Deception to gain skill feats that let you do things like kip up from prone for free, jump from wall to wall, and move stealthily at full speed. If you want to be a savvy con artist bilking the rich and vain, focus on Deception, Diplomacy, Performance, and Society. If you want to play a fence or burglar with a semblance of respectability, focus on Crafting, Intimidation, and the like. Your options are so rich that you can easily create a mix of these types of rogues and many further variations.

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