This FREE D&D campaign management app made me a better DM
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This free D&D campaign management app made me a better DM by helping me be more organized. It has helped me access information quickly during gameplay, and easily record everything. Obsidian.md is the program I've been using to run my most recent 5e campaign, and I've really been enjoying it! This could be used to run any TTRPG campaign. I'm going to show you the free plugins I've been using that make this a really excellent campaign manager.
Thank you to all my Patrons!
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Obsidian.md
obsidian.md/
Obsidian TTRPG Tutorials
obsidianttrpgtutorials.com/Ob...
Calendarium Github
github.com/javalent/calendarium
Quartz
quartz.jzhao.xyz/
Quartz Tutorial
• Publish your Obsidian ...
All plugins discussed in the video:
ITS Theme - publish.obsidian.md/slrvb-doc...
Leaflet - github.com/javalent/obsidian-...
Fantasy Name Generator by Lukewh - github.com/lukewh/fantasy-name
Another Fantasy Name Generator that I came across - github.com/Gregory-Jagermeist...
Calendarium - github.com/javalent/calendarium
Obsidian Publish - obsidian.md/publish
Quartz - quartz.jzhao.xyz/
FYI, Obsidian is not open-source. However, Markdown is an open file format, so you will always be able to access your notes. I've been very happy with Obsidian for my campaign. Great introductory video!
Try Logseq if you care for FOSS software. Basically does the same things, has all the same features, over a hundred plugins, etc. Sure there are probably some differences and some plugins available for one program might not have a direct analogue in the other, but in most ways it's pretty much the same.
@@hummel6364 I saw this and thought it was great until I realized that it didn't have folders (it has it's own sort of system I guess but it's still a dealbreaker for me)
Emacs Org mode + Roam
QOwnNotes is good and easy, too, as far as I'm aware.
Well, he said free, not open source. That's a difference.
*Sees the video thumbnail* "I'm already using a pretty good one, and I JUST hit that learning curve for it... buuuuuut, I gotta see what this is." "Oh, that looks famili--- Oh, it's Obsidian! What I'm already currently using!"
Dude same!!
Hah, I'm using Obsidian as well and had pretty much the exact same thoughts, some of the plugins in the video I hadn't been using though so I might pick up some of those. Obsidian is amazing though.
Literally same
This video cursed me. I have been spending every spare waking hour i have formatting and organizing my notes into obsidian. Finally getting to leave onenote behind is a breath of fresh air I didnt know I needed
You couldn’t pay me to leave OneNote lol. Is Obsidian that much better???
@@bradybrandt9326 Ive been using it for a few weeks now and I honestly don't think i could go back. The ability to seamlessly craft your world and link all your files together is just so incredibly convenient (seriously, its not until you've tried it that you realize how incredible linking is) Also not being limited to the notebook and pages system of onenote and basically being able to have as many note documents as you want in however many folders you want is so liberating. If something you like about one note is the ability to drag images and text boxes wherever you like around a canvas, obsidian literally has that feature, but better, where all text boxes and images snap to a seamless grid, and you can draw arrows connecting different assets on the grid, and you can even link whole other files onto that canvas and interact with them from the canvas.
im writing my first lardger campain world. learning onenote. would you recommend just skipping to obsidian
@@rxNova 100%. Especially if you're planning to do alot of world building. Get the plugins that he talked about in this video (especially the interactive map one) and you're gonna have a great time. OneNote isn't bad, but if you're the slightest bit tech savvy (i.e. you know how files work and you can learn how to write in markdown, I can't recommend it enough)
My current method of campaign management is using scrap pieces of paper that i gather before each session and hoping everyone remembers things the same way from previous sessions lol. I went ahead and set up Obsidian as close to this tutorial for now. Thanks for the upload and guide.
See I upgraded from Scraps of Paper to a Spiral notebook lol
A man of culture I see
Wait we were supposed to take notes? I just wing it every session and hope the players dont notice the name of the village has changed twice
Oh goodness; that is also the system I use! Maybe Obsidian will be an improvement! :)
Hey just a little tip! If you start every session with a recap of the last you can make sure everyone is on the same page and it also allows players to mention things that they may remember but you may have forgot! It's a handy technique and allows you to get the players in the mindset of the story as you see it which helps you direct the tone for the session(:
I'm using a spiral notebook, random scraps of paper, a tablet, post it notes, a dry erase map, UDT, and some youtube music when I remember to turn it on. It's all easy to source, but none of it is free and it's pretty jumbled up.
You're my favorite pringles man.
Thank you for this video. I am more of a “show me how it works and tell me less about what it is” type learner, I liked that you included both perspectives. Take care.
Most underviewed d&d channel
true, I think the thumbnails/icon for the channel don't help, and definitely undersell the insanely good video quality
100%!
*underrated
@@AnthonySmith-sc4zs i meant what i typed, the channel deserves more views
@urosmirkovic8353 Yeah, but the connotation could sound as if you were saying that he gets zero views because he isn't a good creator (which obviously is not the case) so that's likely why they wrote that
So I tried this out and I wasn't sure if it'd actually work for me. But no, I am absolutely in love omg. I'm a person who is obsessed with organization and this program ticks so many boxes in my brain it's amazing
I think Calendarium is no longer in beta- I was able to install it straight from the plugins menu
Wanted to note that your channel has genuinely added to my campaign and overall enjoyment for my players. I started using improved initiative in addition to the "player facing screen" and added some artwork which has revolutionized combat and prep. Thanks for creating content that makes a meaningful difference!
I'm so glad to hear that!
I was building a fandom wiki for my homebrew world and all the lore when one of my players introduced me to obsidian. He had been using it for taking notes in both university and D&D. The best part was that the formatting it used was the same as fandom wiki’s. So I ported all of my work across in no time. Obsidian is the best DM tool by a long shot. Glad to see other Dungeon Masters hopping on the trend.
You need to set light theme to activate the style settings effect
Thank you
thank you
Yep, obsidian is king for note taking. It took me 2 years ro find the note taking app that worked for me and while I was starting to program my own I found obsidian. Never looking back.
Strongly recommend Josh Plunkett Obsidian TTRPG youtube videos. Really very, very good and useful.
I second that!
Josh's videos will take you from Obsidian being just slightly better than Notion and others to easily the best DM management tool period. Anyone starting out watch some beginner videos and then look up the CLI videos they are game changing.
I currently use Notion and have created separate Player facing and GM facing documents. I like the ability you mentioned to create a wiki with Obsidian. My daughter actually just got excited about Obsidian last week for her upcoming campaign so your video could not come at a better time.
Notion also has the wiki option but the plugin options for obsidian seem so much better than notion
@@mitchevans9685 I may have to look into the option with Notion at least for my current campaign because I have built an extensive database. Definitely interested in Obsidian though. Thanks for letting me know it is an option to create a wiki with Notion!
I'm the same way. I like Notion because I use it for other things but this does seem a little smoother
This was perfect. Adds just enough flavor to Obsidian without going overboard diving down the rabbit hole of plug-ins.
I’ve never been a game master or even played DnD but the way this program seems so simple it makes me feel like I actually do it 😂
I always look forward to your videos. They're both informative and fun!
So happy to see more videos about Obsidian, especially for TTRPG! It's truly a lifesaver.
tried this out and wow I am loving it so far to manage my campaign! thank you so much for posting this!
Welcome to the Obsidian fam, fam!
Up until now, I've been using my brain to manage my campaigns. Come to think of it, that's probably why I keep getting so many migraines...
Thanks man, I appreciate the tools you help provide through your research to make D&D easier and more fun for us. I don't have anything else to say really, just commenting to support the channel. Cheers from Alabama!
Great information, I hope this channel keeps going.
This app is amazing, thanks for sharing! I had my campaign notes completely scattered between a dozen apps, PC documents, handnotes and stuff, but now I'm putting them together and it looks really neat! Thank you so much!
Obsidian is amazing, Ive been using it for months and loving how organized it is. Glad to see you promote it! Love you content especially your craft stuff
Those last three words hit HARD Thanks. It seems I really needed that.
Just installed the app and moved my notes from two small journals to the obsidian surface. This is super helpful, thanks a bunch!
Thanks for the advice, will def try to use this in an upcomming campaign
I'll need to look at this. Looks amazing
My family and I are very new to D&D . I appreciate everything you do my you are making our journey so much easier. thank you
What am I using? Erm.... Yes? Yeah. I haven't been taking notes. I really need to. This looks AMAZING
Great content and information so clean concise really really helpful and also magnificent mustache my friend!
What a nice video! This will really help me with d&d and other projects. Thanks!
Might check that out. I’m pretty old school though and manage everything on Word docs and saved on my hard drive ready to be lost when a drive goes bad. And I appreciate you too.
I've been using one note for a while, definitely will be looking into this!
Extremely helpful, thank you so much. Great video
This cat is rocking a dope mustache.
That moustache is impeccable!
Thank you so much for sharing this tool. I had heard some people talk about this before but had no idea it was this amazing. I've started using it and moving my notes over to it. Its easily better than most of the tools I used combined! AND FOR FREE! And soo easy to use with great plugins.
I’ve been using obsidian for the last 6 months. It’s fantastic for all my projects and having a vault specifically for each campaign is super cool.
This, along with Bag of Tips' templates, has saved me so many hours of work. This program is amazing.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Been playing with is over the last week. And ita amazing. 😊 Just need to get quartz running. And i love your notes layout. Thank you again
THANK YOU! Great vid!
My current campaign management is Miro and tears, so I will definitely check this out! Thank you
You earned a sub my man. This is amazing.
i came for the video title but i stayed for the mustache
My first time seeing one of your videos, and yes, obsidian notes is amazing
Already using Obsidian- it’s actually really fun to use the star graph view. I have trouble doing anything fancy but that’s alright!
well, I'm definitely changing from my google doc. this looks awesome and exactly like what I wanted.
I use Notation to manage mine. Its amazing being able to write a story, and link text to another page with full descriptions of locations or even linking dungeon in the sentence "Players will clear dungeon" then i can open a window or a full page to a full guide, map, monsters, stats, and treasures in a heart beat. Its like having a world map and hard zooming in on a neighborhood at whilm.
great tips i was already using obsidian but did not know about these options.
Wow when i see people with sponsors that use campaign management tools, i usually shut off and skip the ad. But your explanation has been incredible. And so informative down to the step by step process. Ill be saving this one for later. And check out your other vids. Awrsome job 🎉
Great video, my guy!
I was literally about to sign up for WA when this popped up. You rock
I usually don't organize at all and just roll with whatever happens but gotta admit this looks pretty good
Super awesome and helpful video!
Been DMing One Ring RPG and this has been a godsent, I was using Figma before which is fine. Thanks alot for this
I've been using the Obsidian app on my phone for a while, but this video opened up a whole new world of ways to use it with plugins once I get a new laptop. I appreciate you and all the great things you bring to the D&D/TTRPG community.
You can use plugins on your phone, too.
Do you know of any good video tutorials or articles on using these plugins with an iphone or ipad?@@a_wild_Kirillian ?
If you're running Windows have a look at Black Cat Familiar too
wow! thank you... I had been using Obsidian but nver got around to using plug ins... this seems helpful
this video is awesome and I'm excited to try obsidian
Dang I'm so glad I came across this video. Really needed something I didn't need to subscribe for
Thank you. You just saved a new DM
Came for the title, stayed for the mustache.
I use Kanka (the tool you skipped ;) ) and I feel like, that with their free-tier you could get most of the stuff you mentioned without the hustle of "looking for the right plugin". But I guess the possibility of customization in Obsidian might important to some. I preferred the ready-to-go alternative. I am looking forward to your comparison of different tools - never know what you don't know! - I believe it will be another great video from you!
great video and premium presentation.
Thanks for the content.
thank you. you are amizing
Wow, I already used obsidian but this is sick! Easiest sub of my life.
Obsidian helped me enjoy playing Traveller a lot more as I often found it confusing and couldn't keep track of how things worked. Just finished setting up my weapons section with an ammo tracker, plus tick boxes and number entries which are used in an equation to add everything together (aim rounds, if the target is tagged, short range bonus) and add it all together for me. It's now on hiatus lol But have branched out and am now using Obsidian to help DM Candlekeep Mysteries. I would be lost without it!
One of my sons has been getting into DnD at school and he's asked me to run a one shot for him and his brothers. I have no idea what am doing but all this looks really useful!
I've been using notion -- this looks pretty in depth and useful too!
Oh hell yeah! I’ve already been using Obsidian but my understanding of how to fully utilize the product is very minimal. This is going to help A TON. THANK YOU SO MUCH! Also, thank you for going over how you organize your notes. I like it a lot and plan to copy it for my campaign.
Awesome, I'm glad it was helpful!
I'm currently using one note but this looks really great!
i have been using excel but i am now going to try this thanks :D
Wow.. that was actually useful, have a subscribe!
Ive been usin Notion and Sly Flourish template but this is even better in terms of flow and feeding information in a cycle. Can you please keep covering things like format headings for sessions and npcs and locations. Access to these formats would be amazing
oh ill definitely save this video! currently using notion, but since i can program, sounds like obsidian is a great alternative with way more options
I'm currently using a customised bookstack setup for management and i find myself using it less and less. This obsidian setup seems similar but way easier and most importantly, has a few more options and the fact there are a community and tutorials is helpful. I might try bringing my notes over to this one. now the only question is when I will have time to get into all of that. bc this sounds like a days work, especially getting all my files set up and linked and when I start playing with a map.. make 2 days out of that xD there go other weekend plans xD thanks
This was dope
I ended up using obsidian for my campaign as well. Great tool ! I still have to stop myself from putting too many things inside and using it as a wiki 😅 Canvas have been really useful tho !
Thanks for the tip here! I never used this tool before! Loving the options already. Any tips on tools for those interactive maps? Looking for good tools to make my own.
I have been using Wikipad for a few years, it doesn't have interactive maps, but otherwise it works very similarly to Obsidian. For the structure, however, I divide Setting (Geography, Calendar, Pantheon, History); Creatures and Organizations (NPCs, Cults, Orders, Guilds, Animals, Monsters, Archetypes); Rules (houserules, special objects, often used rules etc.); Campaign (Characters, Chapters, Main and Side Missions, Summaries)
lol, I was excited to learn about a new tool only to discover its what I’ve been using for a year. Not complaining, I always like seeing how other people use it.
Oooohhhhhh, very interesting. And I'm glad the promo isn't x% off, but an extended tutorial! Makes it easier to try and get it built one month and test it during a session next month!
Agreed. This is really nice! Much more likely to buy in if I’ve had ample time to explore, use, tweak, and then try it again. A great sponsor idea.
Yep using Obsidian, I love being able to just link and hyperlink basically from page to page. And create a cool wiki page (that has secret GM only parts) I'm still not 100% clued up with the code, but that's because I'm lazy, since there are tons of places to get shortcuts to copy and paste, and the site tells you anyway. As a complete amateur, I've found it incredibly useful. And not HAD to purchase anything. A tip I use is to make sure I always put a link back to the main page at the end of each page I make. The only limit I found on the free version is the limit to how much art I can upload. Which is pretty fair
I appreciate you.
@00:30 you’ve earned a new sub
My biggest recommendation in obsidian is the CLI tool; It lets you (kind of) easily copy and transform all of the class, monsters, spells mechanics etc into properly formatted notes. Combined with the initiative tracker and fantasy stat blocks let’s you fully run encounters from within obsidian!
When I saw “paid promotion” in the corner I wasn’t convinced but then you said that the sponsor was a separate program! Obsidian is awesome, and I use it occasionally for development for an upcoming RPG system and setting
Also, I don't know when this became the case, but Calendarium is now available directly through Obsidian's community plugins!
i wish i could wrap my head around how obsidian works
Oh no! I'm already using obsidian! Lol, great minds think alike
Thanks for sharing. I've been using Trello for organizing my notes for campaign planning and prep. It's searchable, I can embed images, there's labeling systems. I work as a glorified project manager, so I'm comfortable with this kind of format. It's definitely not for everyone.
Yeah I liked it when I used it! Definitely a good option
Bro, you are going to have to DM me a video of how you trim your stache. Looking good!!
Wow i am SOOOO glad this was put up. I've been searching for something like this forever!!! I was literally today going to restructure and organize my notes. Thank you so much! Is there a way to make the leaflet "map" default bigger than the set box? Like if i put the image into a note it fills the area, but leaflet gives me a smaller box to zoom in with.
Unfortunately it can only be as wide as the text in your note, I wish it could be wider. There's a width and height field in the code block and I usually set my width to 100% and the height to 800px which is a good size for my monitor. Hope that helps!
@@powerwordspill dang that sucks. It's weird cause pictures can be the full size of the template basically. I'm sure there's a way to bypass the parameters
Pretty neat! great video 👍 I'm a google docs and improved initiative user myself! Always liked the idea of moving to a better note/campaign tracker, might have to check this one out! Does the paid plugin allow your players access to the interactive maps? 🎲⚔
I've always used Notion for my DND stuff but this has me interested in migrating to Obsidian for my next campaign. The only thing I wish is that Obsidian would sync to the cloud like Notion does. The ability to prep on my laptop, PC, Tablet, or Phone makes Notion tough to leave.
Pretty cool.. personally, Microsoft whiteboard is a hard to beat tool. It of course lacks a lot of the cool features you mentioned here but most of them can be implemented manually. I can just drop maps or other images and directly annotate them. I can create flow charts and text boxes and keep notes. And because it basically has infinite zoom. I can have many hierarchies of abstraction. I like to keep everything on a single page. I start with a high level campaign overview using a flow chart. Then I attach city and region maps to the relevant areas. From there, I can zoom in and start adding information. Every time you zoom in and add information you're basically decreasing the level of abstraction. Once you do this for the whole campaign you end up with a very detailed world that is easily navigable. From there I zoom out and start adding "fluff", towns and cities and such that aren't necessarily part of the campaign (these often turn up in the last step anyways) and repeat the process of zooming in and adding more detail. Also, it's great because I can directly drop dungeon maps into it and plan all the different traps and creatures and other interactions.