Dungeons & Dragons world building
I posted before about how awesome Obsidian is for world building, so I wanted to show what a week of building in Obsidian has got me. So far I have a player character, 20+ NPCS, three continents, multiple kingdoms/nations, one royal family, multiple towns/cities per country, oceans/seas/bays, 20+ Homebrew deities, and a few organizations. It shows how everything is connected in the graph which helps TREMENDOUSLY with organizing all of it. I have certain things under the same note (dot on the graph) until it has things to be connected to, so it’s going to get even larger later on.
I also made a calendar for the world with the help of the calendar tool on the Roll for Fantasy website (made by the same people who do Fantasy Name Generator). I swear, they have a tool for everything. They even have tips for being a better DM/GM which is amazing.
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Seeing how many of you are curious about Obsidian for worldbuilding, I wanted to share a deeper dive into my process and why it's become my go-to Dungeons & Dragons world builder. When I first started, I used to have scattered notes everywhere – physical notebooks, random docs – making it a nightmare to keep track of my growing fantasy world. Then I discovered Obsidian, and it truly revolutionized my game prep. Many ask, "is Obsidian good for worldbuilding?" My answer is a resounding yes! The magic really happens with its unique graph view. Imagine seeing all your continents, kingdoms, NPCs, and even homebrew deities visually connected, like a sprawling cosmic web. This isn't just a pretty picture; it's an incredibly powerful organizational tool. I can click on any node – say, a specific NPC – and instantly see all the locations they've visited, the organizations they belong to, and other characters they're connected to. It's like having an interactive map of your entire narrative, which is way more dynamic than any static D&D worldbuilding template I've tried. For those looking to get started with an Obsidian worldbuilding template, honestly, the best approach is to start simple and let it grow organically. I began by creating individual notes for major concepts: 'Continent: Eldoria,' 'Kingdom: Aethelgard,' 'NPC: Elara the Wise.' Then, as I flesh out details, I link them. For example, a note for 'Elara the Wise' might link to 'Aethelgard' (her home kingdom) and 'Organization: The Arcane Order' (her affiliation). Obsidian's double-bracket linking [[Link Name]] makes this incredibly fast. Over time, your graph view will naturally emerge, forming those beautiful clusters of interconnected elements you see in screenshots – much like the one showing my Obsidian graph view Dungeons & Dragons world. Beyond general lore, I've also found clever ways to integrate D&D character sheets in Obsidian. While it's not a character sheet generator, you can create detailed notes for each player character and important NPCs. I include sections for their backstory, motivations, relationships, and even their current inventory or spell list. By linking these character notes to locations, past events, and other NPCs, I build a rich tapestry that makes it easy to pull up relevant information during a session. Want to know who's important to Sir Kaelen? Just open his note and follow the links! It adds so much depth to roleplay. Another fantastic aspect is how it seamlessly integrates with other tools. Just like I mentioned using the Roll for Fantasy website for my world's calendar, I often reference external resources and link them directly within my Obsidian notes. It keeps everything centralized. This tool, combined with a trusty D20 die and a vivid imagination, makes my dungeon master prep not just efficient, but genuinely fun. If you're serious about creating immersive fantasy worldbuilding for your TTRPGs, give Obsidian a try. You might just find your campaigns reaching epic new heights!