S.WBONES

Masks: The Next Generation is a super light and fun tabletop role-playing game about superheroes. In the current campaign I'm playing in, Roach is my wonderful character! Roach uses the Janus playbook, and they have insect control and venom generation powers.

Playing Roach is so much fun, I made a playlist about them!

Basic character overview: Roach - aka, Dolores Darling; aka, 'Dolly' - is a tech-savvy smokeshow in their early thirties. They have two masks they wear! In their day-to-day life, they juggle tech support, being an online influencer, and taking care of their Dad in hospice care. 'Dolly' is super organised, super patient, super polite, and super self-controlled.

When they put on the 'Roach' mask, however, they get to be a freaky, dangerous motherfucker! 'Roach' is Dolly's stress relief: getting to punch people, quip hammy lines, and deliver justice to dastardly villians. Nyeh!

When she was 9, Dolly's father was working as an obstetrician at the local hospital, when a super-baby was born. This baby was the world's most powerful psychic - but being only a baby, didn't have control over their powers yet. Everybody in the ward that day suffered from a devastating psychic scream, with the baby's first cry.

In the accident, Dolly's father was put into a coma. She spent years trying to heal him with her venom - trying to concentrate it differently, trying to generate different effects - to no avail. She studied hard in foster care, and got a high-paying job in order to fund different medical treatments - none of which worked.

There's more to Roach, but it's maybe more fun to talk about it through their playlist!

Buckle up, press play, and scroll along as you listen! Come on a journey with me and Roach.

track 1: Firewood, Regina Spektor

"The piano is not firewood yet. They try to remember but still they forget,
That the heart beats in threes, just like a waltz,
And nothing can stop you from dancing...
Rise from your cold hospital bed. I'll tell you, you're not dying.
Everyone knows you're going to live,
So you might as well start trying..."

How else could Dolly's playlist start? The 'piano' here represents the life of her father. He's still alive - still in hospice care - but he's still in a coma. The piano isn't firewood - yet.

Dolly has been cycling through the stages of grief for 20 years, waiting for her Dad to die, while desperately wanting him to come back. The playlist itself loops to represent that cycle of grief and emotion.

"The piano is not firewood yet - but the cold does get cold, so it soon might be that.
I'll take it apart, call up my friends,
And we'll warm up our hands by the fire...
Don't look so shocked. Don't judge so harsh.
You don't know. You're only spying. Everyone knows it's going to hurt,
But at least we'll get hurt trying..."

Dolly is frustrated with him - wishes he'd 'start trying' to come back to her, and irrationally blames him for leaving. But she also can't bear to give up on him, not while he's still alive. Even if it's pointless, she has no choice but to try to save him, even if trying might make it hurt more in the end.

Here's the tea though - remember the super-psychic baby that caused the accident in the first place, 20 years ago, when Dolly was 9? Well in the current campaign that baby is all grown up. And what's more - they're Dolly's teammate.

Royce Rutherford (or 'subject 13') was raised by the government after the devastation caused by their birth. They grew up in a secret facility on the moon, and underwent psychological testing, torture, and social isolation in order to determine the limit of their powers. They very recently escaped, and are trying life out for the first time.

As such, at the start of the campaign, Roach hadn't yet told them of their shared history. How do you bring that up? "Hi 13, so glad we're teammates! Just so you know, you accidentally lobotomised my father 20 years ago. We cool?" Don't worry - everyone at the table is aware of the secret. It's more juicy to tease, when everybody's part of it except the characters involved.

It might be fair to say Dolly is a pretty sad person. Hence the urge to become Roach - someone wild, someone strong. Dolly misses playing around as a kid - back when their Dad was still around. Being a hero is a game. It doesn't really matter to Dolly - the people they save, the villians they defeat? It doesn't matter. It's like playing a sport after work. It's stress relief. An escape from real life.

"The piano is not firewood yet. But a heart can't be helped, and it gathers regret.
Someday you'll wake up, and feel a great pain,
and you'll miss every toy you've ever owned-
You'll want to go back. You'll wish you were small. Nothing will console your crying.
You'll take the clock off of your wall,
And you'll wish that it was lying..."

The realest place in the world, for Dolly, is their Dad's hospice room. They'll do anything to get away from that room... but it's also their anchor, it keeps pulling them back.

This song represents Dolly at their lowest moments. It's the foundation of the character.

Love what you have, and you'll have more love,
You're not dying.
Everyone knows you're going to love.
Though there's still - no cure -
- for crying.

track 2: The Slow Parts on Death Metal Albums, The Mountain Goats

Jumping out of my skin. This tiny sector can't contain me.
Suit up in a flash - slipping symbols bravely, bravely.
Go where I'm not wanted. Stand where the light hits hard.
Almost full grown. Drive home alone and listen to the slow parts.

This is the fundamental birth of 'Roach' as a personality. 'Suit up' means to put on their hero symbol, standing in the spotlight. Roach is 'almost full grown', a childish dream come larger than life.

The slower pace of this song makes the transition feel more natural. The playlist started slow and sad, but there's a steady beat now - Roach/Dolly is starting to pull themselves together.

"In a new universe, trying to find the mask that fits me.
Shaking the curse, behaving as the beacons bid me.
Denim and leather, silver strap to please the diehards.
Let me dance 'til I die, turn the volume up high and listen to the slow parts.

Dolores Darling has been trying to find 'their identity' their whole life. Dolly considers personality a costume that can be put on or shed at will, and hasn't the awareness to realise this isn't the case for other people. They also like fashion design, and with their tech skills, would like to make superhero gadgetry and costumes in the future. They make a lot of masks.

Roach has to behave and play by the rules of superhero combat, and toe the line of superhero agencies, go where she's bid. This doesn't bother her - she's happy to please the crowds, play to expectations, and dance 'til she dies - dance, in this instance, meaning 'be a superhero'.

The 'slow parts' on death metal albums. What slow parts? Why are you listening to death metal if you want the slow parts? Roach's life is very tense. She doesn't have a choice about that - but she tries to find peace where she can, and ride out the waves.

'Half-life of my toxins' comes from her venom generation powers, and also the ticking clock of her Dad. She's got a lot of venom deep down, which is why getting to be Roach is such a relief. It's dangerous, risky. She fights too hard, people get hurt - always an accident, of course, and she's always got a story ready to prove it. Her strength got away from her. She got into a fight with the doorknob, don't worry about the black eye. Don't worry. But what else can she do? It's a relief she won't get anywhere else.

One of the Mountain Goats other songs is called 'Never Quite Free'. It's about the seperate idea of having lived through something that wrecks you, and that still is wrecking you, despite the fact you've moved on and gotten out. It's left too much of a mark on you to ever really be free of it.

Roach is how Dolly answers the call to adventure.

"Half-life of my toxins - difficult to calculate.
Stock up on gauze in case of accidents. Try to keep my story straight.
Dozens like me, never quite free, filling out our dance cards.
Mark my time on the wall, answer the call and listen to the slow parts."

track 3: The Destruction of the Kola Superdeep Borehole Tower, The Mountain Goats

"Stick bright reflective tape to the collar of your shirt
Mind your business and you won't get hurt
Be true to the things you said you'd be true to
Always keep your objective in view.
Keep two working contacts among your effects.
See the tall poppies with their tender fragile necks.
Solomon in all his glory not arrayed like these,
Bending in the wind like pilgrims on their knees..."

Now a real drumbeat. Dolly is locked in. The faster rythmn, the repeated 'rules' of the lyrics, this is Dolly - not Roach - all over. They're making plans to fix their Dad, they're getting paid, they're hiding their powers, they're playing nice. They've got an objective, and it's one they won't waver from.

The lyrics themselves aren't really the point here so much as the feeling of them. Dolly is a person who considers love 'loyalty'. You stick by the people you say you love, or otherwise you can't say to have loved them. And he's her father. Who else could Dolly ever love more?

The 'two working contacts' are her teammates, Vandal and 13!

track 4: 100 EPITAHS - Ferry

"Overindulgence in grief is only immature.
Forgetfulness is both the sickness and the cure.
Lay your emotion with them like a mourning wreath.
I chose to shut my eyes you chose to bear your teeth.
What's the point of pushing back against the mill that grinds the world to dust?
What's the point of picking at your wounds your scratches and your scars?
I would think so. I believed so. And it was the wiser me-
But the wiser you knows better. But the wiser you is-
(free)

Stick bright reflective tape to the collar of your shirt
Mind your business and you won't get hurt
Be true to the things you said you'd be true to
Always keep your objective in view.
Keep two working contacts among your effects.
See the tall poppies with their tender fragile necks.
Solomon in all his glory not arrayed like these,
Bending in the wind like pilgrims on their knees..."