Obsidian - Lets Learn Obsidian 2

A well-organized Obsidian vault for tabletop RPGs hinges on two foundations: a folder system that stays portable across campaigns, and a small set of plugins/themes that make linking, tables, and “wiki-style” note layouts fast at the table. The payoff is practical—Dungeon Masters and players can pull rules, monsters, and session notes instantly without drowning in scattered files, and they can move content between vaults by copying whole folder structures.

Folders are the backbone of the organization. The approach described keeps related material together—spells in one folder, monsters in another, items in a third—so information is easy to find and also easy to relocate. If a new campaign or party needs a separate vault, entire folders can be copied over rather than rebuilding everything note-by-note. This structure also reduces clutter during play: mechanics and other dense reference material can sit “off to the side,” while linked notes bring the relevant details into view when needed.

The vault layout shown uses numbered and lettered folder prefixes to force a consistent sort order in Obsidian and in Windows file listings. The DM-facing “DM screen” folder acts like a digital stand-in for a physical screen: it holds rule snippets, random tables, and quick-reference notes, often with images for commonly forgotten mechanics like grappling. A “Scratch notes” folder provides a dumping ground for temporary ideas that can be revisited later. For player tracking, the vault uses one note per party member, including synchronized character sheets via DND Beyond rather than maintaining outdated custom copies.

Beyond party management, the structure separates worldbuilding and campaign content. A “World” folder holds wiki-style notes for locations and factions (including Forgotten Realms notes), while “Adventures” breaks down modules into folders per module and notes per chapter. “Mechanics” is treated as a reference library: spells, monsters, and magic items are organized into subfolders by source books, with one note per entity so links can jump directly between spells and monsters.

Session notes get a special workflow. A “Session Journal” folder can sync to a website using the Mark bass plugin, letting players read what they missed after each session. Supporting organization includes a dedicated assets folder set as an attachment folder so PDFs and images land in one place, plus a templates folder reserved for future expansion.

On the customization side, the vault’s look is tuned with themes and CSS snippets. The walkthrough recommends installing an “its theme” designed for the TTRPG community, then using the Style Settings plugin to enable alternate theme variants (including Wizards of the Coast Beyond options). Functionally, several community plugins are treated as near-mandatory: Various Components for faster linking and front matter dropdowns, Advanced Tables to make table creation usable (including tab-to-format behavior), and Folder Note (paired with its core dependency) to turn folders into expandable “parent” notes that can contain lists and links to child notes.

By the end, the vault is positioned as a ready reference system—appearance configured, linking accelerated, tables fixed, and folder notes enabled—so the next step becomes adding deeper RPG-specific templates like maps in later lessons.