Session Canvas

👑 Runekeeper

The Session Canvas is the middle layer of prep. It sits between the Scene Canvas — where you build individual scenes — and the GM Screen — where you run the session live. Its job is to arrange scenes into a flow: which scene opens, which might come next, what threads are in play, who gets the spotlight.

A Session Canvas is not a script. It's a map. The table goes where the table goes; the plan gives you something to glance at when you need to know what's cued up.

📝Note

The three prep canvases build on each other: Scene Canvas = one scene's details. Session Canvas (this page) = scenes strung into a session. GM Screen = that session, running live. You can skip straight to GM Screen with no prep if you want — this layer is for when you want to pre-shape a session's flow.

Opening the Session Canvas

From a campaign, open Session Prep in the sidebar.
Open the Canvas and toggle to Session Plan mode (the toggle sits in the top bar alongside Scene).
Pick an existing plan from the plan dropdown, or click + New Plan.

A campaign can have as many session plans as you like — one per session, or one sprawling plan for an arc.

Node types

Scene nodes reference an individual scene built on the Scene Canvas. Drag one onto the canvas and pick from your scene library; the node shows the scene title and a small preview. Click the node to open the Scene Canvas in place — edit the scene without leaving the plan.

Branch nodes mark decision points in session flow — "do they go north or south?", "do they take the job?". Connect outputs to the scenes each path leads into.

Hook nodes hold plot hooks, adventure hooks, or teasers you might drop if the session needs a nudge.

Checklist nodes hold session-level beats — "spotlight Kira in act two", "reveal the cult sigil", "hand out the letter".

Edges — scene connections and story threads

Floating edges are plain connections — "this scene might lead into this one". Drag from one node's edge handle to another's.

Thread edges are colored and labeled. Each color represents a story thread — the revenge plot, the missing sister, the political maneuver. Assign a color, give the thread a name, and any edge you tag with that thread picks up the color. This lets you see at a glance how threads weave through a session's scenes.

Right-click an edge to cycle its direction — useful when plotting branching flows where you want arrows to show intended progression.

Panels

Session structure (left panel) lists the acts and scenes in sequence, a linear view of what's on the canvas. Click any entry to jump to its node. Good for sanity-checking that act two actually has scenes in it.

Thread tracker lists active story threads. Add new threads here; they become available as edge colors.

Momentum curve visualizes pacing — a rough beat-by-beat intensity line. If act two is flat, the curve tells you.

NPC spotlight planner tracks which NPCs appear in which scenes. Useful if you want to make sure every player-facing NPC actually shows up in the plan.

Building a session plan

Drop scene nodes onto the canvas in rough sequence.
Connect them with floating edges where the order is clear.
Add branch nodes where the session might split.
Tag the critical edges with story thread colors.
Add checklist and hook nodes for beats that aren't scenes but shouldn't be forgotten.

💡Tip

Start loose. A good first pass is three to five scene nodes with plain edges between them. Add threads and branches once the spine is there — not before.

Canvas templates

Templates (top bar) give you pre-shaped plan skeletons — three-act structure, five-beat mystery, session-zero skeleton. They drop nodes in a recognized shape you can then fill in. Useful when you've got a clear session archetype in mind and don't want to start from blank.

Auto-save

The canvas saves about two seconds after any change. The "Saved" indicator confirms. An unsaved-changes modal catches you if you navigate away mid-edit.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`⌘S` / `Ctrl+S`	Save plan immediately
`[`	Toggle left panel (structure)
`Delete` / `Backspace`	Delete selected nodes
`Esc`	Close node context menu
Right-click edge	Cycle edge direction
`?`	Show the full hotkey list

Scroll zooms. Drag pans.

From plan to table

When you're ready to run, click To the Table in the top bar. The plan becomes the scene rail on the GM Screen — each scene is a card on the rail, clickable to load its attachments and pre-built content. You can also attach a saved Session Canvas to any session from the session detail page.

📝Note

A session plan isn't locked to one session. You can run the same plan with different groups, or branch the same arc across parallel campaigns. Editing a plan after a session has run doesn't rewrite the session log — the log captures what actually happened.

Troubleshooting

I can't find the Session Plan mode toggle. The Canvas opens in Scene mode by default. Look for the small toggle in the top bar labeled Scene / Session Plan — click Session Plan to switch.

A scene I built isn't showing in the node picker. The picker lists scenes in the current campaign. If the scene was built in a different campaign or world, it won't appear. Scenes are campaign-scoped.

Edits to a scene aren't reflecting on the plan. They should — the scene node on the plan pulls title and preview from the Scene Canvas. If you don't see an update, refresh the Session Canvas. Deep edits to scene nodes in scene mode don't need a manual sync.

The scene rail on the GM Screen is empty. Attach a Session Canvas to the session (session detail page → Attach Plan). If the plan has no scene nodes, the rail has nothing to show.

Practical example

A heist session: five scene nodes — Planning (the safe house, hired informant), Approach (the target location at night), Entry (the breach point), The Vault (the target room), Exit (complications on the way out). Floating edges from Planning → Approach → Entry. A branch node after Entry: "guards raise alarm?" — yes routes to a "Fighting Retreat" scene node, no continues to The Vault. Two thread edges in red ("the betrayal plot") connecting Planning → Exit. Takes five minutes to sketch, and when the table hits a decision point mid-heist, the plan tells you what's cued up either way.