AAR Guide

Greetings, applicants!

Today, we're going to talk about something that is an important component of factional roleplay. That thing is the iminently useful After Action Report, which you will often see abbreviated as "AAR."

What is an AAR?

These are reports, written in-character, used to detail events and scenes. They're generally posted to the factional boards – that means Union, Confederate, and sometimes Syndicate – and are most often involved when there's some cross-pollination going on between factions. (Or, you know, lots of facepunching.)

Typically, these are written like official reports. They should describe the when, where, and what of a scene. Much like an official debriefing, they're used to share information within the faction.

Why are AARs important?

From an out-of-character standpoint, these are a great tool for selling your fellow characters, regardless of whether the scene is a win or loss for anybody involved. It's a good way to get word out there about new characters, or a great IC way to give props to existing characters.

The Anatomy of an AAR

There are lots of ways to write good AARs.

A lot of people like to follow a specific template for their reports. This makes it easy to compile the necessary information and lay it down in a clear, easy to understand format.

These templates often include the date, the location, a list of participants, a summary, and the full body of the report describing exactly what happened and offering additional insight. Although the date and summary can be optional, the others are not!

The body of the report is the most important part of an AAR. This is where you have every opportunity to upsell your roleplay partners, whether they're on your side or the other side. Did your opponent put up a great fight? Did somebody on your team go out of their way to do a good job achieving a primary, secondary, or tertiary objective? Did someone on the other side stand out in some way? This is the place to make note of these kinds of things. Inquiring minds want to know!

How to Write a Good AAR

Since AARs are often a way for characters to share information in an in-character manner with their faction, it's important to get your facts straight! Be sure that you're catching the major points of a scene, and double-check to make sure you've listed everyone that was present. Even if you don't know the names of the characters, at least be sure to include their name in parenthesis, out-of-character – nobody likes to be forgotten!

In fact, the new SceneSys is a great tool for writing reports. The raw log files includes a list of every participant who posed at least once, which is great for compiling a list of participants. And since only the poses are recorded, it's a great way to double-check what happened to make sure you're getting everything accurately!

Do I Need One?

While reports are often preferred, it's not always necessary to write them! Not every scene is going to require a comprehensive breakdown, and sometimes a little note saying "this happened, it's a thing" is all that's really needed. If you're not sure whether or not a scene might need a report, it's always best to ask the person running the scene. Or, you might ask on your faction's out-of-character channel (O-Confederate, O-Syndicate, or O-Union). Some players trend towards writing one regardless, but it's good practise to check and ask with the person running the scene, just on the off-chance that they might not want a public report. You never know!

So Who Gets the Short Straw?

So, you've just finished this awesome scene, and a whole bunch of things happened in it. There were lots of people there of all sorts of different ranks! Great! Now you might be wondering who gets stuck with the task of writing a report for all of this stuff. There are a few different answers, and it depends on the context of the scene.

Most of the time, the highest-ranking character is the one in charge of writing your faction's report. This is usually considered the "default," if no one volunteers to take care of it.

Sometimes, the scene runner is the one who handles the details.

If there is a character present who's subject-knowledgeable, then the torch may be passed to them, instead, regardless of rank.

Finally, there's always that one dude who volunteers to write the reports.

These are of course subject to the opinion of the person running the scene, and the highest-ranking officer present.

That's All, Folks

In conclusion, AARs are an invaluable tool to spread information in an in-character manner, but they're also a wonderful tool to give your fellow players props for going above and beyond, whether to help or hinder your characters. In a way, these can be used just as well as the Kudos and Logs board!

If you have any questions, you can always ask your fellow players, or make use of the Staff-Help! chat channel.

A Closing Note From Psyber

Q: Okay, but I just realized I never wrote a report for a bunch of scenes that probably needed one. How bad should I feel?

A: Terrible. Your trespass on the feelings of another can only be redeemed by committing sudoku.