Skip to content
CyberTabletop

Glossary

MSEL (Master Scenario Events List)

The ordered list of all injects in an exercise, with timing, delivery method, recipients, expected actions and the objective each supports.

The Master Scenario Events List (MSEL) is the master timeline of an exercise. It lists every inject in order with the information facilitators, controllers and evaluators need to run and assess the exercise.

A typical MSEL entry includes:

  • an inject ID and exercise time (for example INJ-04, T+01:10);
  • the simulated source and the receiving player role;
  • the delivery mode (verbal, handout, email, phone call);
  • the inject content or a reference to the artifact;
  • the expected player actions;
  • the exercise objective it supports;
  • whether it is optional.

The MSEL is an exercise-staff document. Players never see it, because knowing what comes next would defeat the purpose of the exercise. Facilitators use it to pace the session and decide which optional injects to use or skip; evaluators use the expected actions to structure their observations.

The term comes from emergency-management practice and the HSEEP methodology. See designing tabletop injects and the MSEL for a worked example.