Mission Control is a fantastic tool set available to the community for scenario-writing and sharing. It makes it much easier to throw together a professional-looking scenario and offer it up to fellow players, but writing a good scenario can still be difficult. As a result, there are many scenarios up on mission control, but relatively few of them are very good.

X-Wing thrives on simplicity of design and play, and any scenario inevitably encroaches on those two factors as it adds new rules to the basic skirmish framework we are all familiar with. Writing good scenarios requires finesse; it is easy to over-complicate the game.

Below, I'll go through my process for X-Wing scenario writing, offer an example of how I made a new scenario made specifically for the new Scum & Villainy faction, and offer a categorized list of my picks from the scenarios posted on Mission Control.

Writing scenarios

This will be a thorough guide on how to effectively write a scenario in Mission Control. It'll be quite long, so buckle up!

We'll start by establishing some of the characteristics of a well-written scenario:

Simplicity – Don’t overwhelm players with more rules than they are expecting. Optimal simplicity depends a lot on what kind of scenario you’re writing. Tournament-compatible missions should be extremely simple, while historical scenarios should be as complex as necessary to re-create the original scene.

Brevity - Short games are better than long games, generally speaking. Think about how long your scenario will take to play, and work to keep it as short as you can without compromising its quality.

Originality - Be original! This will become increasingly difficult as more scenarios are written. Your goal should be to write a scenario that nobody else has written, or to at least write a better scenario than they did.

Fidelity - Work to re-create the ‘Star Wars’ feel in your scenario. This is most important in thematic missions and historical missions. Always ask yourself how the Imperials or Rebels or Scum would actually act, and use that as your guide. Fidelity will often conflict with S implicity , so be sure you identify which one is more important to the scenario you're writing.

Balance - This element can be very tricky. It involves a lot of guesswork typically, although there are some tricks we can employ to create balance. The best way to achieve balance is to playtest the scenario and adjust from there.

Step-by-step :

Purpose:

Why are you writing this scenario? Are you trying to recreate a moment from the Star Wars Universe, or make something fun for you and your friends to play? Do you want to capture the feel of Star Wars, or are you more concerned with coming up with a fun new way to play the game? Maybe you’re trying to come up with a mission that is playable in a tournament setting.

Make sure you know why you’re writing your scenario, and whatever your purpose is, remember it as you write. Make sure that whatever you are doing helps you reach your goal.

Find your Scenario:

Once you know your general purpose, it’s time to get more specific, and the next step is to figure out what your scenario is going to be. There are a lot of sources to draw on for inspiration at this stage. You could take a scene from the films, games or books, or cook up your own. Many of the classic scenes from the films have already been explored in depth, but we can also draw on military history for ideas. Go on Mission Control and see what others have done, and look for something that nobody else has published. Once you have an idea, develop it a little bit on paper before you commit fully to it.

Don’t be afraid to spend a lot of time on this step; it’s incredibly important to pick the right scenario before you start working out the details. A good scenario keeps all players engaged in the game, challenging their skills in situations that they would not encounter in a standard skirmish. Think about what kind of rules the scenario will require; it should have easily defined objectives, and should not overburden the players with rules to consciously keep track of during the game.

Create new Mission Screen:

This pops up when you hit the 'create new mission' button and the most important part of this screen is the size of your scenario; the title and description can always be changed later. Small maps and large maps lend themselves to different kinds of games. Think about how crowded the map will be when you’re picking size, and the effect of table size on game length (chase missions can take a long time if you're chasing along a long board axis, for example).

Laying out the Map:

This step is great for visualizing your scenario. Use the map to help you plan what your setup will look like and how the scenario will progress as it is played. Taking the time to make a well-labeled, accurate map is worth it; not only will it be helpful to potential players, but you can use it yourself as a reference point when writing up your setup rules.

Mission Text:

The best way to write up a mission is to type out an outline for each category. Use a shorthand to describe all of the rules for yourself; don’t spend time on their wording yet, because you’ll probably be changing it.

Let’s go through the categories of rules that you’ll need:

>Setup

Define what order everything is placed in. Generally, this is: place terrain> player 1deployment > player 2 deployment.

-terrain: Define terrain quantity and type, placement restrictions, and control/order of placement by the players.

-deployment: Define the zones players can deploy their ships in, and the order that they deploy in, if different from normal.

-squad building: It is best to have as few restrictions on squad building as possible. Players like to build their own squads, generally speaking, and if you pre-define squads for them it can remove a fun aspect of the game.

>Special Rules

Make sure to thoroughly define any new element you introduce into the game. This include statlines, special actions, etc. Be as clear as possible here, players will be seeing these rules for the first time here.

>Objectives

These should be intuitive; players should be trying to achieve them without even reading this section.

-Primary & secondary: you may want to rank objectives as primary or secondary, or give values to individual objectives. Remember to keep this simple, and keep the definitions of victory clear.

Once you have all your rules down in shorthand, look through everything and start refining what you have. Think about how everything will actually play on the board, and simulate the effects of your special rules. Take a few minutes to roll some dice and plot out a few maneuvers, paying attention to how your rules change how the game is played.

On Balance:

There are two basic approaches to balance. You can make a mirrored scenario, where the players are operating with identical rules. The standard skirmish scenario is an example of this: both players have the same squad points, deployment zones, etc. This creates an element of inherent balance to the scenario that is difficult to replicate using other methods. But it also severely restricts your choices when writing the scenario.

The other approach to balance is what I call 'asymmetric balance'. The players have different access to resources in the scenario, whether it is deployment options, squad points, or so on. Balance is much trickier here because you need to weigh apples against oranges. But the more interesting scenarios typically require this kind of balance. Start with an educated guess, and work from there, testing and straining the balance until it is as even as possible. Perfect balance isn't possible here; just do your best.

Break It:

Once you’re done tinkering and perfecting your rules, it’s time to break the game. This is the first step of balancing the scenario. Go through the scenario from the start and try to exploit your rules for advantage at every step.

Think about how different ships play during the course of a game. For example, if you’re writing a chase mission, think about how far each ship can move. Let’s say you want to have a shuttle being chased by rebels trying to destroy it. If the shuttle takes an engine upgrade, it can cover a lot of ground each turn, and match or outpace any small-base rebel ship. Only large-base rebel ships will be able to catch it at all. If the shuttle starts with a head start on the rebels, they won’t have much of a chance at destroying it before it flies away.

Fix it:

After you identify the weak spots in your design, go back through and eliminate them. Keep the core concepts of good design in mind as you do so, especially simplicity. Excessive restrictions and special rules make the game a chore to play.

When you’re done fixing it, go back and try to break it again. Be creative and ruthless as you try to break the game; don’t assume players will be charitable to each other when they play.

When you feel good about your rules framework, go back through and convert your shorthand into something other human beings can read. Go through the scenario one more time and try to break it, looking for loopholes in your wording. When you’re satisfied, it’s almost time to publish.

Flavor & editing:

Now you want to make your scenario attractive! Come up with a good title and description. Add flavor text to the mission to supplement your rules.

You’ll also want to make sure that the scenario is easy to read. Use boldface and italics to direct reader’s attention to important rules, and maintain a consistent organization throughout the scenario rules.

Publish & playtest:

Before you publish, read through the scenario one last time, looking for typos and editing errors. When you’re ready, hit the publish button in the preview section!

You may want to leave a comment with your new mission describing in more detail what the scenario is and why you made it. This is persistent, unlike the version notes, which get wiped clean every time you re-publish.

If you have time, run a full playtest of your mission and get feedback from others who play. Don’t be afraid to re-work your rules!

Example of the process of Mission Writing:

"Intimidation Tactics"

Mission Description: The shipping firms in a busy commercial system have defied the local crime lord and refused to pay their protection money after being promised the protection of local government forces. The crime boss is not amused and has hired a group of ruthless mercenaries to make the locals pay for their defiance.

Here's my thinking at each step during the development of this scenario:

Purpose:

Ever since the announcement of S&V I've wanted to make a thematic scenario specifically designed for the new faction. This is that scenario.

Finding the Scenario:

It took a long time to find a scenario that felt uniquely Scummy. Scum is a criminal faction, so I explored many of the obvious missions that you might imagine Scum undertaking. Theft or cargo, bounty hunting and assassination, etc. All of these scenarios had been done before however, and none felt uniquely scum.

I stepped back and tried to imagine how real-life crime organizations operate, and one aspect that interested me is extortion and intimidation of civilians. The Imperials may do some stuff like this, intimidating civilian populations, but they would only be doing it for political reasons. Scum do it to extort protection money, which sounded fun to me. The idea was to have Scum forces attack a civilian shipping lane, chasing helpless civilian ships across the table while the security forces tried to respond.

Mission Screen:

The first time around, I made the scenario on a 6x3 map, so that there would be a large field for the shipping lane. I wanted enough space to chase the civilian ships, and to delay the intervention by security forces. The delay was important because I the security forces needed to be stronger than the mercenaries, or the mercenaries would just fight them, kill them, and then kill the civilian ships.

Laying out the Map:

I made a shipping lane away from the table edges with several ships, security forces had a restricted deployment in the corners while the mercenaries had an unrestricted deployment. This was supposed to represent the element of surprise in this attack.

Mission Text in Shorthand:

I laid out the basic rules I would need next. I needed deployment rules for the shipping lane, the defense forces, and the mercenaries. I gave the defenders a significant points advantage, to put pressure on the mercenaries.

I put a speed limit on the civilian ships and limited their combat potential by restricting actions, thinking that it made sense that some of them would be armed, but they would not be optimized for combat. The speed limit was enforced so that the mercenaries would be able to catch ships they were chasing.

I also incorporated escape rules for the mercenaries and civilian ships, as they would want to save their own necks as necessary during the battle.

In the objectives section, I wrote rules that focused on the damage done by the mercenary ships, assigning values to the different ships, and setting things up so that the mercenaries' losses would count against them (because if they are supposed to be intimidating, they should probably not be dying).

Here is what the first version looked like in shorthand :

Balancing:

At this point balance was hard to gauge. There was no inherent balance in the scenario, and one side had to be stronger than the other. It was hard to tell how many ships the mercenaries could kill before they were chased off the board.

So the next step was a play-test, rather than going right into the breaking step.

Playtest :

The playtest was a total disaster.

The scum ships destroyed a pretty good amount of ships before being chased off the table, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that the game wasn't fun. The Scum beat up on a few civilians which were making a beeline for the table edge, then running in turn from the defense forces. There wasn't any dogfighting or particularly interesting maneuvering. It was boring!

Re-working the scenario:

So, I went back to the drawing board. I needed there to be some actual combat in the game, but keep the criminal aspect of wrecking some poor sap's merchandise in a retaliation hit.

The first step was to reduce the map size to 3x3. This made combat much more likely. I also changed the setting from a shipping lane with civilian traffic to a drydock owned by a defiant businessman, with many civilian ships docked at it. This made for interesting terrain, and easier targets for the Scum player. I cut the security forces' points and split them into two equal squads deploying in opposite corners, maintaining a points advantage over the Scum but making it difficult to apply quickly instead of delaying their entry into the match. I also rewrote the rules for the Scum to remove the ship loss penalty, in favor of a simplified victory condition of destroying all the docked ships.

Here's what I was working with after I remade the scenario as a 3x3, in shorthand format.

Another playtest found the scenario much more interesting. The Scum were still focused on destroying the civilian ships, but were it was also in their interest to defend themselves rather than run. Some players might even try to destroy one squad of defenders early on, using their deployment to their advantage. Even with the defenders maximized for damage output, the match was relatively fair.

Flavor & Editing:

Now pretty satisfied that the scenario was in good working shape, I wrote up the rules in a presentable format and wrote a small description for the title page.

Publish :

having already done some playtesting, I felt pretty good about publishing at this point. The Final mission can be found on Mission Control.

This is a list of Mission Control scenarios and campaigns that I think are well-written. My criteria were clarity, balance (within reason), ease of play, and creativity.

To find any of these scenarios, simply go the 'browse' section of the Mission Control site and enter the author or title of the mission, and they will pop right up.

Enjoy!

through 12/24

Notable Campaigns, listed by author

J Rhea - Battle of Yavin
Heychadwick - The Erasmus Campaign
Ulf Beor - X-Wing: Rogue Squadron Campaign
mjcordiner - Assault at Barkhesh
turtlefreak - Imperial Cadet (Tie Fighter game)
royalhorseman - 'Strike Fear'
Babaganoosh - Battle for Ord Calda

Notable Missions by category, listed by title and author

Thematic Missions: These missions recreate the 'Star Wars' Universe Feel

jump point recon - GamerDroid
convoy hunting - arakonn2000
hunk of junk -DailyRich
doublecross -LazyJ
stealing the protoypes - Coillscath
defector -monkeyman
ambush! -durek_7
prison break -bageldrone
pirate raid -DariusAPB
Hit and Fade - meynolt
Test Flight – admiral drax
Search and Rescue –dariusAPB
recovery -wminsing
intelligence skirmish - MuOn
Emperor’s Folly - RDK9
Strike adv weapons station - metzgerov
Prototype Sabotage - richy1
(drinking game) justforclass set
bombing the base -Tzrok
Blue Milk Run by Wilhelm Screamer
Mine clearing/ambush -SleeplessKnight
Flight of the Orokeet - Mikael Hasselstein
incom corp defection -Tervlon
Minesweeping Milkrun -Whiteorca
capture the freighter -DariusAPB
STAR DESTROYER - gustavoeidt
no disintegrations -immaterium Press
bacta run -Whiteorca
Mercury's wings - Admiral Drax
Punishment Raid - Ariano
Flight of the Falcon - hashke12
Scramble! - LazyJ
Desperation - SgtAce24
Misers of Fire and Ice - Guinivere17
bounty - deano93
system failure - deano93
No man's land - godmovingoverwater
Punishment raid - ariano
Moving Asteroid Field - bstankie
Fire support mission - tilaso
Trench Run - Malungaman
Secure the Information - Lucas Wing
Diplomatic escort - lucas wing
YW - prisoners from kessel - manalight
Ambush operation - nihilus zee
the emperor's escort - zeldafreakneo
Redemption scenario - R22
Data Capture (ctf) - tvboy
Escape from Yavin IV - zerknautscher

The battle of yavin - zerknautscher
Rescue Mission (100pt) - bigyakker
Interception Ambush - admiral drax
strategic bombing - Sternguard777
Rebel Rescue - lump3379
Guns, interrupted - Rightshu
The redemption Scenario - mightyspacepope

A voice in the dark - Wishazu

Campaign: Shem Modi'in - John Tenzer

The Duellists - John Tenzer

spice run CS 1 - Cid_MCDP

behind the minefield - Messala

Papers, please - zerknautscher

Asteroid base assault - josef747

resupply at mynock's den - whiteorca

the rescue of ackbar - themightyrand

assault on yaga minor - ds614

rescue at mon calamari - sporkley

Comms array - mattitude77

ambush at denon -keldabe

Rescure R2-D2 - Danur Longbeard

Gamma Base - Babaganoosh
Training Day -Babaganoosh
Attack Run - Babaganoosh
Caught Refueling - Babaganoosh
Customs Station AX-421-D - Babaganoosh
The Ghost - Babaganoosh
Recon Run - Babaganoosh
Steel Trap - Babaganoosh
Reconnaissance in Force - Babaganoosh
Traitors in the Ranks - Babaganoosh
Raid on Fondor - Babaganoosh

Surgical Strike - Babaganoosh

Honor among Thieves - Babaganoosh

Conflict of Interests - Babaganoosh

Tournament Compatible: These missions could conceivably be used in a tournament setting
Blitz Tournament Mission - Toonch
nebula engagement - 0rph3u5
Fleet Engagement - Babaganoosh
Vendetta - Babaganoosh
Junkyard - Babaganoosh
The Jump Point - Babaganoosh

satellite control - Babaganoosh
Run for beacons! -skiv

cargo clash - john tenzer

Data Mining -Immaterium Press

Arcade: These missions are fun, objective-based scenarios
control -grievous
Spoils of War –jimharnock
Dagobah Kart -gatotau312
hidden weapons cache -PEARSUS
furball 2.0 -texx
King of the Hill - PEARSUS
Capture the Flag - CPT Mulgrew
Arena 3+ players - shaadea
minefield racing circuit - cogollo
wormhole racing circuit - cogollo
sensitive data (CTF) - PHWIBBIT

can you smuggle? - sinavar

singularity corellian s214 - stuntguru

V.I.P race - ravelordnito

death race star wars style - sgt klein

Training: These are single-player missions that were built to hone your skills
Rebel training simulator - EastCoast
solo x-wing training ten19
SOLO: Han vs Soontir - gustavoeidtCnl. Branson Flight School
top gun flight school - vaderbait

FFG Missions : FFG's missions from various expansions
Transcribed by Parravon

I just noticed you have 16 missions out there. I haven't written one in a over a year.

I just noticed you have 16 missions out there. I haven't written one in a over a year.

Did I mention I love Mission Control?

#17 coming soooooon! It'll be the one I'm doing as an example: "Intimidation Tactics". I'm looking forward to publishing it, if only because it's going to be a great Scum-specific scenario. You essentially play as the space mafia.

Just wanted to bump this up, now that the guide is more or less complete. Also, my first Scum-specific mission, "Intimidation tactics" is up.

Update:

The list of Well-Written missions has been updated; many new missions have been added. The list is now current to March 18.

I'm thinking of running a fresh tournament with a mission in the next month or 2. Which one is your top recommendation? We usually have time for 4 swiss + top 4, running 60 minutes each. The final is either played on vassal if both players are familiar and have access to it, or just played live on another day.

Do you need some kind of special profile status to use this tool? all I get is a login loop when I try to access it.

I'm thinking of running a fresh tournament with a mission in the next month or 2. Which one is your top recommendation? We usually have time for 4 swiss + top 4, running 60 minutes each. The final is either played on vassal if both players are familiar and have access to it, or just played live on another day.

The missions I'd recommend for a tournament like that are:

satellite control - Babaganoosh

Fleet Engagement - Babaganoosh

Vendetta - Babaganoosh

Junkyard - Babaganoosh

Run for beacons! -skiv

cargo clash - john tenzer

Data Mining -Immaterium Press

nebula engagement - 0rph3u5

The Jump Point - Babaganoosh

- In that approximate order. Some of these missions could probably be touched up a little bit before you put them in front of players at a tournament. Small fixes like spelling, mainly. But these should have everything you need to play them, with minimal input. Let me know if you have any questions, especially about the ones I wrote.

Do you need some kind of special profile status to use this tool? all I get is a login loop when I try to access it.

That's odd. I don't think you need anything special, other than a profile, to see the page.

Will this get placed in the useful post thread that is pinned?

Will this get placed in the useful post thread that is pinned?

It was actually a fairly early addition to MJ's useful links post. It's under the 'tutorials' section.

Any idea when this will be updated to reflect Wave 7?

I really tend to love your missions, Babaganoosh ! Flavor + Great (and not too complicated) mechanics = lots of fun

In your list of awesome missions, do you intend to make a category for missions with huge ships ? With my friends we play the typical format (100 pts) every week, but once in a while we try to do something different, and i'm searching for excuses to dust out our huge ships.

I'm thinking of running a fresh tournament with a mission in the next month or 2. Which one is your top recommendation? We usually have time for 4 swiss + top 4, running 60 minutes each. The final is either played on vassal if both players are familiar and have access to it, or just played live on another day.

The missions I'd recommend for a tournament like that are:

satellite control - Babaganoosh

Fleet Engagement - Babaganoosh

Vendetta - Babaganoosh

Junkyard - Babaganoosh

Run for beacons! -skiv

cargo clash - john tenzer

Data Mining -Immaterium Press

nebula engagement - 0rph3u5

The Jump Point - Babaganoosh

- In that approximate order. Some of these missions could probably be touched up a little bit before you put them in front of players at a tournament. Small fixes like spelling, mainly. But these should have everything you need to play them, with minimal input. Let me know if you have any questions, especially about the ones I wrote.

Do you need some kind of special profile status to use this tool? all I get is a login loop when I try to access it.

That's odd. I don't think you need anything special, other than a profile, to see the page.

It is great, but still missing one vital option.

I don't want to play a predefined squad. Building the squad is part of the game. So If they would just add a button which allowed you to sort on just missions which allow you to build your own squads. Things would be great! But since it's been up this long and I requested this when it first came out. They are not going to do it.

Until they do, I will not spend the time looking through missions to find ones that allow you to build your own squad.

I really tend to love your missions, Babaganoosh ! Flavor + Great (and not too complicated) mechanics = lots of fun

In your list of awesome missions, do you intend to make a category for missions with huge ships ? With my friends we play the typical format (100 pts) every week, but once in a while we try to do something different, and i'm searching for excuses to dust out our huge ships.

It is great, but still missing one vital option.

I don't want to play a predefined squad. Building the squad is part of the game. So If they would just add a button which allowed you to sort on just missions which allow you to build your own squads. Things would be great! But since it's been up this long and I requested this when it first came out. They are not going to do it.

Until they do, I will not spend the time looking through missions to find ones that allow you to build your own squad.

I feel your pain as far as browsing through missions goes. The current search/filter options are not very useful, and unless you know exactly what you're looking for, it can be hard to find something you like. I do have a list of recommended missions in this thread, actually, but it hasn't been updated in a few months. (It's tedious for me to go through and look at all the missions and make judgement calls on them).

I can say that pretty much all of my missions do not require pre-defined squads, so I'd recommend searching by a filter for my name if you're interested. But in general, remember that this is all informal, and if a mission has a preset squad, you can always just ignore it and substitute your own squad for equivalent points. Same goes for changing the rules of these missions; I'm not going to hunt down x-wing players who take my scenarios and change the parameters before they play. Everything is a suggestion! But, (at least in my case), it is at least a carefully considered one, and usually a playtested one.

I'm not holding my breath for a mission control update, but I'd love to see one. I've got my own list of grievances/suggestions somewhere in the Mission Control forum, and searchability is a main complaint there.

I really tend to love your missions, Babaganoosh ! Flavor + Great (and not too complicated) mechanics = lots of fun

In your list of awesome missions, do you intend to make a category for missions with huge ships ? With my friends we play the typical format (100 pts) every week, but once in a while we try to do something different, and i'm searching for excuses to dust out our huge ships.

Thanks! I try to keep that formula for all my scenarios.

That's not a bad idea. I don't have any readily identifiable tag or anything to ID huge ship missions. The Raider missions linked in my signature all use huge ships, as well as 'Raid on Fondor', and 'Critical Transmission'

Any chance you'd want to host the PDF's somewhere else? That way people could navigate and view the missions in a much easier way?

Or perhaps put your missions together in a booklet?

Any chance you'd want to host the PDF's somewhere else? That way people could navigate and view the missions in a much easier way?

Or perhaps put your missions together in a booklet?

It's not a bad idea; maybe it's something I'll do eventually. As for now, I think my missions are easy enough to find on mission control, at least. It's easy to browse by author, and title, if nothing else.

In the meantime, two things would make this a pain in the butt:

1: The 'download' button in Mission Control sometimes gives you a bad version of the scenario, with text missing. I've spent a good amount of time trying to make sure my missions show up in complete forms when previewed and when downloaded, but there are probably still some that don't show up right.

2: I update missions frequently, so PDF versions in a booklet would go out of date, and I would have to update the PDF as well as the MC versions of missions to keep them current.

In the meantime, links to the previews for scenarios work well, since they will show the updated versions even if I posted the link to an earlier version. That's what I did for a narrative campaign I posted a while back . The campaign document has links to the mission pages on mission control, so as I update those missions, they stay current for the campaign.

Is the tool/ mission control down permanently?

I hope not! They could be updating it (if we are lucky).