# Obsidian - One Vault or Many? ![[images/Obsidian-One-Vault-or-Many.webp]] [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJSHYwMMi24) · 12:40 · Josh Plunkett · 2023-05-06 > Written from the video's full English automatic captions (en track via youtube-transcript-api after yt-dlp subtitle downloads hit bot-check / HTTP 429 on default and android clients). ## Outline ### 00:00 Intro — one vault, two, or many? - Welcome back to Obsidian for tabletop RPGs. Conversation piece rather than a plugin demo: **should you keep one vault or many?** - Common situations: one rules system with **two or three groups**, or juggling **Pathfinder**, **D&D 5e**, and **Cyberpunk** (or similar) and wondering whether reused content belongs in a single vault. ### 00:50 Separate vaults per rules system - Historically Josh is a **D&D 5e** player with a dedicated **5e vault** (everything for that system lives there). - Table is moving to **Pathfinder 2e** after trying it during **"SRD Madness"** and liking it — so he spun up a **different vault for PF2e**. - They will keep playing in the **Forgotten Realms** (Sword Coast wall map investment; lots of published content). Rule sets and campaign worlds are independent: PF2e in FR is fine. ![[images/Obsidian-One-Vault-or-Many-t0055.webp]] *Obsidian5eVault open on a Forgotten Realms location note (Hluthvar) with party folder, world hierarchy, and Fantasy Calendar (Hammer / Deepwinter 1491) in the right sidebar.* ### 02:20 Why not PF2e inside the 5e vault? Linking collisions - Temptation: stay in the 5e vault and just run Pathfinder rules there. Josh rejects that mainly because of **linking / Quick Switcher ambiguity**. - Demo: typing **Goblin** surfaces multiple similar notes; hard to tell which system a hit belongs to until you open it. Pathfinder has its own goblin variants (e.g. goblin dog) — same names across systems create **link conflicts**. - **D&D 5e** and **Pathfinder** share a lineage and many identical or near-identical names (spells like Fireball, monsters like goblin/orc, items like health potions). One vault mixing both systems is a bad idea for him. ![[images/Obsidian-One-Vault-or-Many-t0240.webp]] *Linking demo in ObsidianTTRPGVault: a Random Note pointing at a deep Shared Content / DnD5e / Bestiary / Monster Manual / Goblin path — illustrating how system-specific notes collide when names overlap.* ### 04:40 One vault per system; multiple parties as folders - Rule of thumb: **one vault per rules system**. Whatever he plays for that system happens in that vault. - Primary long-running adult table (**Deadly Depth Inn**) plus ad-hoc / kids birthday / family Christmas games — all stay in the **same 5e vault** under a **party folder** structure rather than vault-per-group. ![[images/Obsidian-One-Vault-or-Many-t0515.webp]] *Party folder workflow: Deadly Depth Inn overview with a Dataview-style party table (player / class / race / level) and Fantasy Calendar still docked on the right.* ### 05:50 Generic world & modules; session journals for outcomes - Why multi-party-in-one-vault works for him: he **does not use timelines or calendars** for table state in the way some GMs do; games are mostly **module / adventure** based. - When prepping a module he **does not write player outcomes or kill lists into shared notes** — NPCs and locations stay **high-level and reusable** so any group can drop into the same town or adventure. - He acknowledges other tables track active timelines, in-world days, weather/moisture, etc. Those GMs may need a different split; for him duplicating Forgotten Realms locations and static mechanics across vaults is wasted work. ### 08:20 Symlink idea (untested) and where change lives - Hypothetical workaround if you insisted on vault-per-party: **Windows symbolic links (symlinks)** so a mechanics/world folder stays in sync across vaults — technical, network-engineer territory; he has **not tried it** and doubts it is worth the complexity versus folders inside one vault. - Party-specific tracking goes in the party folder. The place he **does** record what happened at the table is **session journals** — written up after sessions and published with **Obsidian Publish** (notes a recent **50% price drop**; recommends looking at it). A second long-term party would get its own session-journal folder under the same system vault. ![[images/Obsidian-One-Vault-or-Many-t0845.webp]] *Forgotten Realms overview note in Obsidian5eVault (History / Geography) with World folder expanded (3rd Party Modules, 5e Modules, FR) — the shared setting content he refuses to duplicate per party.* ### 10:30 Recap — your mileage will vary - Emphasizes this is **personal workflow**, not dogma: choose based on how you take notes and how much world-state you track. - His answer stays: **one vault per system** to cut duplicate work on world + mechanics; parties layer on top via folders and session journals. ### 11:20 Community, Discord, outro - Like/subscribe; thanks **Patrons**. Obsidian TTRPG **Discord** is growing — new chat channels (credits **Maelstrom** for AI-built channel layout that morning). - Points at **obsidian-support** forum-style posts tagged for plugins (**Initiative Tracker**, **Fantasy Statblocks**, etc.) so people can search solved issues. - Thanks patrons and community; see you on the socials. ![[images/Obsidian-One-Vault-or-Many-t1205.webp]] *Obsidian TTRPG Community Discord → #obsidian-support forum with tags (Leaflet, Dice Roller, Initiative Tracker, Fantasy Statblocks, Dataview, …) and Initiative Tracker help threads.* ## Things mentioned ### Obsidian features and hosting - **Vault topology** — one vault vs many; Quick Switcher / wiki-link ambiguity across systems - **Folders** for parties, world, mechanics, session journals (Obsidian5eVault layout) - **Obsidian Publish** (paid; Josh notes a 50% price cut around filming) for sharing session journals - **Dataview**-style party tables (Deadly Depth Inn overview) - Optional **Windows symbolic links** to sync shared folders across vaults (mentioned, not demoed) ### Plugins and tools (shown or named) - **Fantasy Calendar** (sidebar calendar: Hammer / Deepwinter 1491) visible in the 5e vault UI - **Initiative Tracker**, **Fantasy Statblocks**, **Leaflet (Maps)**, **Dice Roller**, **Realm Works Importer**, **Dataview** — Discord support tags - Earlier / adjacent tabs visible in demo vaults (April's Automatic Timelines, Timeline notes) — not the focus of this talk ### TTRPG systems and products - **Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition** (primary historical vault) - **Pathfinder Second Edition** (new dedicated vault; post–"SRD Madness" playtest interest) - **Cyberpunk** / **Cyberpunk Red** (example multi-system player; CPR corebook file visible in vault root) - **Forgotten Realms** / **Sword Coast** / **Faerûn** (shared campaign world across 5e → PF2e) - Module/adventure prep vs sandbox world-state tracking ### Websites and community - [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/) / Obsidian Publish - [Josh's Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/JPlunkett) - **Obsidian TTRPG Community Discord** (free; Tavern, system channels, obsidian-support forum) - Community helpers: **Maelstrom** / **LittleMaelstrom** (AI channel layout; Gemmy/community icon experiments) ### Free vs paid (quick) - Free: Obsidian app, community Discord, most community plugins named above - Paid/optional: Obsidian Publish (session-journal hosting); Josh's Patreon ## Bios - **Josh Plunkett**: Australian GM and educator behind Obsidian TTRPG Tutorials (YouTube, Patreon, Discord). Here he explains his personal "one vault per rules system, parties as folders" setup while moving a Forgotten Realms table from D&D 5e toward Pathfinder 2e. - **Maelstrom (LittleMaelstrom)**: Obsidian TTRPG Community Discord admin/contributor; credited with AI-assisted channel layout the morning of filming and with Gemmy-themed community icon experiments. - **Ed Greenwood**: Creator of the Forgotten Realms setting; appears in Josh's FR overview note art during the world-folder segment (setting context, not a guest).