# Obsidian - Randomness - Decks and Cards ![[images/Obsidian-Randomness-Decks-and-Cards.webp]] [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t3krzvGmwY) · 11:42 · Josh Plunkett · 2026-07-25 ## Outline ### 00:00 Intro - Follow-up to the first Randomness video. Randomness is Josh's new plugin meant to be "one master plugin" for everything random, and interest in it has surged. - New in this release: decks of cards, your own custom cards, and tracking which cards have already been drawn. ### 00:51 Decks Demo - Install it from Settings → Community plugins → Browse → search "Randomness", then install and enable. In the plugin options, the **example decks** buttons install sample decks into your vault. - Open the **Randomness generator browser** from the right sidebar (if you can't see the bar, it's hidden), then press **Decks**. - Deck actions: **Shuffle**, **Draw**, **Peek**, **Draw and bury**, and **Undo**. - Decks keep history. You draw from the remaining deck rather than re-rolling from the full set every time. Example: a 54-card deck with 8 drawn shows 46 left. Progress persists across notes and sessions. ![[images/Obsidian-Randomness-Decks-and-Cards-t0150.webp]] - Copy buttons on a drawn card: - **Copy as image**: paste the card art straight into a note. - **Copy as Randomness code block**: an embedded, drawable deck that stays in sync with the sidebar deck. - **Copy as text**: for example "Two of Spades". - **Copy as inline code**: a small inline deck that is also synced. ![[images/Obsidian-Randomness-Decks-and-Cards-t0320.webp]] - How it's stored: under your generator root (the `Randomness` folder) there is a `decks` folder with one subfolder per deck. Each subfolder holds card SVGs plus a back image and a `.rdm` deck file listing the cards (title, table, type dictionary). A background JSON file tracks draw state. - Included decks: standard playing cards, **tarot** (with reversed, upside-down draws), and a **weather deck** (misty, gentle breeze, drizzle...). Josh uses the weather deck to show that decks don't have to be card games. Portraits, items, and more work too. ![[images/Obsidian-Randomness-Decks-and-Cards-t0520.webp]] ### 05:53 Create A Deck - Start with a folder of PNGs, such as a Kickstarter deck. His example is an AI-generated **Deck of Many Things**, so he can share it legally. - Name the card back `_back.png` and add one image per card. Drag the folder into the `decks` folder and it works right away (draw, peek, bury). ![[images/Obsidian-Randomness-Decks-and-Cards-t0650.webp]] - Images plus text: put a `deck.rdm` in the same folder. Entries use normal names ("Ace of Spades") and image filenames are slugified ("ace-of-spades"), with spaces replaced by dashes. "Copy text" then brings in each card's text. ### 08:02 Text Based Decks - Decks don't need images at all. His example is a **Pathfinder Second Edition critical damage deck** with 24 cards: a `crit deck` folder with a `deck.rdm` (comments, title "PF2E Critical Damage", table "critical damage", type dictionary, one line per card). - Drawn results show formatted text, and drawn cards are tracked. - Why decks instead of rolls: a drawn card leaves the deck, so a brutal result like "decapitated" can't come up twice the way it could with plain random rolls. (Josh says he doesn't use crit decks himself anymore.) ![[images/Obsidian-Randomness-Decks-and-Cards-t0825.webp]] ### 10:21 Outro - Asks people to share legally shareable decks so he can bundle them in the plugin, and welcomes feature requests. - Next video: drawing a random item from a folder. - Thanks his patrons and points new viewers to obsidianttrpgtutorials.com's getting-started section rather than older YouTube videos. ## Things Mentioned ### Obsidian plugins and tools - **Randomness**: Josh's all-in-one random generator plugin for Obsidian, now with decks; free community plugin. [Plugin page](https://community.obsidian.md/plugins/randomness) - **`.rdm` files**: Randomness's generator/deck definition format (title, table, type dictionary). - **Obsidian**: the markdown note app it runs in; free for personal use. ### Decks shown - Standard 54-card playing card deck (SVG), tarot deck with reversals, weather deck, Deck of Many Things (AI-generated PNGs), PF2e critical damage text deck. ### TTRPG systems and products - **Pathfinder Second Edition** (Paizo): the system for the critical damage deck example. - **Deck of Many Things**: the famous D&D magic item deck, recreated here as a custom deck. - Kickstarter card decks: mentioned as a source of card images (paid). ### Websites and resources - **Obsidian TTRPG Community / Tutorials**: free. [obsidianttrpgtutorials.com](https://obsidianttrpgtutorials.com/) - **TTRPG Foundation Vault**: Josh's prebuilt GM vault; paid through Patreon. [Josh's Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/JPlunkett) ## Bios ### Josh Plunkett Josh Plunkett is an Australian game master and YouTuber who makes tutorials on running tabletop RPGs in Obsidian. He runs the Obsidian TTRPG Community, builds plugins and tools for game masters (including Randomness), and sells the TTRPG Foundation Vault through Patreon.