Briefing Checklist

SB Briefing Checklist (from Dr. Device)

Getting the most out of scenarios often comes into one important, and often overlooked area: the briefing.

Good briefings can get players "in the mood" for your Opus of scenario craft that you have just spent weeks designing, tweaking and testing.

Good briefings help players understand the complex set of victory conditions and events you worked so hard to perfect.

The briefing is the first thing a player sees of your scenario. It can be the gauge of how much attention to detail a designer has. If your briefing is unclear, incomplete or filled with poor grammar and spelling, how can players expect to find that you spent any more time on the actual scenario?

Some basic writing tips:

• Use a word processor and import your text files.
  • This will give you a broader set of tools to work with. Use the computer for what it is good at.
• Spell Check! Grammar check!
  • Use these features to prevent mistakes and misunderstandings. To those non-native writers who write excellent scenarios: consider sending the copy to a native friend for review and translation. I certainly wouldn’t consider writing in my limited Spanish without help, and most community members would be glad to help translate.
• Edit and check your work.
  • Make sure that the ideas you wanted to convey are complete. Have a friend read your briefing without a map, just to see if they understand the plan. I have trouble reading my own writing, because I tend to skip over sections, already knowing what they say. This is bad form, and I have to work very hard to be "fresh" when editing. It always helps to have a second set of eyes.

Some preliminary questions to answer about the briefing:

• Are you writing a "realistic" briefing or a fictional one?
• Will the briefing follow a standard format or is it free form?
• Is the briefing written in a narrative?
• Will the briefing be identical to both sides, such as in a Head to Head MP game?

Many factors will be determined by what type of scenario you are writing. Single player briefings usually need to be larger and more detailed than multiplayer ones. But do not neglect at least a minimum of detail for MP games. Most players need to know the artillery support available and the victory conditions at a minimum, and I know that I like a little bit more detail on what equipment and numbers my opponents have.

The standard U.S. Army format for orders includes 5 important factors: Mission, Enemy, Time, Terrain, and Troops. This also happens to be an excellent checklist for writing briefings, to ensure your players are getting the most out of your scenario.

• Mission
  • Are the mission goals clearly defined?
  • What other factors affect the scoring/victory conditions?
  • Are there additional actions or triggers? Are they clearly defined?
  • Does the player know what they have to accomplish for victory?
  • Are there variable victory conditions?

• Enemy
  • What (if anything) does the player know about the enemy equipment?
  • Are there inaccuracies in the Intel that is reported here that will affect the scenario design?
  • Does the player have any idea of the enemy intent? (The enemy mission)
  • Are there past experiences or items of note that pertain to the enemy situation?

• Time
  • How much time does the player have to complete the mission? What ends the mission?
  • Are there other time factors or events expected to happen within the mission?
  • Does the player know when to expect enemy contact or friendly reinforcements?

• Terrain
  • Are there notable map features to be pointed out in the briefing?
  • Are there Objectives, routes, known enemy positions or other map-based illustrations that need detailing here?
  • How will the terrain affect the play?
  • Are there visibility restrictions?

• Troops
  • What forces does the player control?
  • What supporting forces are there?
  • What level of artillery support is available?
  • Are there reinforcements available? Under what conditions will they become available?
  • What are acceptable loss levels? (These could be tied to victory conditions)