Free tools / Session and arc pacing
Session and arc pacing
Will tonight's plan fit the clock, and how many sessions is this arc? Two quick calculators, system-aware.
Tight but workable. Expect little slack, and have a beat you can cut.
Roughly how much of each beat the arc contains, start to finish.
About 5 sessions at this pace. Add a session or two of cushion: tables slow down for the parts they love, and the plan never survives contact intact.
These are planning estimates, not a stopwatch. In Six Axes, session recaps show how your table actually spends its time, so these numbers get calibrated to how you really play.
Will tonight's session fit the clock?
Two questions every GM guesses at: does tonight's plan fit the hours you actually have, and how many sessions will this arc really take? This answers both. Add your encounters and scenes and it estimates the runtime with system-aware combat timing; sketch your arc and it estimates the session count.
It's the difference between planning three hours of content for a three-hour session and finding out at hour four.
How to use it
- For tonight: add the scenes and fights you've planned, and read the estimated runtime.
- For the arc: enter the beats or milestones, and read how many sessions they'll take.
- Adjust the plan until it fits the time you actually have.
Common questions
How does it estimate combat length?
With system-aware timing. A 5e fight and a Pathfinder 2e fight of the same size don't take the same real time, and the estimate reflects that.
Is it free?
Yes. It is free, needs no login, and saves nothing.
Related tools: Encounter balancer · Session zero checklist
These tools run on a slice of what Six Axes does at the table.
The full product records your session, writes the recap, keeps the campaign wiki, and reads how your table actually plays, across whatever system you run. It is in free pilot now.