S5Completed
The First Seal
Quick Recap · Detailed Notes
Arc · The Third Tide
D&D campaign arc planner
Give the campaign shape. Leave the route open.
An arc gathers the sessions and records that belong to one major change. Define what holds it together, then let play determine the route and ending.
All Sessions · 8The Third Tide · 4Salt Ledger · 2Planned · 1Unassigned · 2
S6Completed
Black Wax
Quick Recap · Detailed Notes · DM Notes
Arc · The Third Tide
S7Completed
The Lower Quay
Quick Recap · Detailed Notes
Arc · The Third Tide
S8Latest
The Bell Below
Quick Recap · Detailed Notes · Player Notes
Arc · The Third Tide
Each Session keeps its own Quick Recap, Detailed Notes, DM Notes, and player perspectives. Assigning an arc groups the Sessions; it does not merge or rewrite their notes.
What the arc contains
Name the change that holds the arc together.
Premise
What meaningful change or question makes these sessions part of the same story?
The harbour seals fail while rival groups compete to control safe passage.
Completion
What would make this container meaningfully finished, however the party gets there?
Mireport has a stable route—or accepts who now controls it.
Evidence from play
Which sessions and linked records actually became part of it?
Four sessions, two locations, one faction, three quests, and a revealed handout.
Flexible by campaign type
Choose the label that fits the campaign.
Multiloop can call this container a Story Arc, Chapter, or Act to match the campaign’s own structure.
Campaign
Story Arcs
Long-running containers that can overlap many sessions and linked records.
Adventure
Chapters
Sections of a bounded adventure without prescribing how the party completes them.
One-shot
Acts
A lightweight way to group the few beats and records that belong together.
The arc record inside Multiloop
Keep the premise above the campaign records that make it playable.
The arc keeps its own premise, setting, story, private notes, status, and order. People, places, quests, encounters, handouts, and Sessions stay usable records linked to that container.
The Third Tide
Level 5–7 · Active · 4 sessions
Premise
The harbour seals are failing while the Exchange turns access to safety into political control.
Setting notes
Lower quay, drowned archive, chain-house, east seal.
Story notes
Black wax marks each failure. Madric acts before every tide.
DM Notes
Quill broke the first seal years ago and does not know the compass can open another.
An arc across several Sessions
Group the Sessions while each keeps its own notes.
Use an Arc, Chapter, or Act as a flexible campaign container, then connect the people, places, objectives, encounters, handouts, and Sessions that actually became part of it.
A free Multiloop account and campaign are required. Nothing from this guide transfers or organizes itself automatically.
A heading in your session document may be enough.
Use a connected arc when the same story container needs its own status, premise, notes, session grouping, and links to campaign records.
Frequently asked questions
Plan the pressure and leave the route open.
How do you plan a D&D story arc without railroading?
Prepare what important people want, what they do without intervention, what signs the party can observe, and what changes after player decisions. Do not prepare a single required route through those pressures.
How long should a campaign arc be?
Use the smallest span that can deliver a meaningful change. Some arcs close in two sessions; others remain active across a campaign. A completion condition is more useful than a target number of sessions.
Is an arc the same thing as a quest?
No. A quest is a specific objective or opportunity. An arc is the wider changing situation that can connect several quests, people, places, encounters, and player choices.
What does Multiloop store on a Story Arc?
A Story Arc can hold planned, active, or completed status; premise; description; level range; setting and story notes; private DM notes; linked characters, locations, quests, encounters, and handouts; and the sessions assigned to it. Campaigns call these Story Arcs, Adventures call them Chapters, and One-shots call them Acts.
One change, several Sessions
Keep the arc beside every session and record it gathers.
Give the campaign enough structure to stay findable while the players determine the route.