# Obsidian - Setting up a Pathfinder 2e Vault ![[images/Obsidian-Setting-up-a-Pathfinder-2e-Vault.webp]] [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gJZe9BN9pU) · 49:07 · Josh Plunkett · 2023-01-30 > [!warning] Out of date > The video's own description says "THE PROCESS HAS CHANGED" and points to the [Pathfinder 2e page on ObsidianTTRPGTutorials.com](https://obsidianttrpgtutorials.com/Obsidian+TTRPG+Tutorials/Community+Supported+Games/Pathfinder+2e/Pathfinder+2e) for current instructions. Josh also says it's aimed at people already comfortable with Obsidian, and that newcomers should start with his beginner video instead. > [!info] Written from the video's English automatic captions (fetched with yt-dlp on the first try) plus 1080p video frames, using the creator's chapter list as section anchors. The description lists the chapters out of order (it puts "31:52 Enable 3d Dice" before 22:09 and 25:21), so they're sorted by time here. Names the captions garble are taken from the screen where possible (for example "ObsidianTTRPGShare" and "sigrunixia"). Obsidian here is v1.1.12, as of January 2023. ## Outline ### 0:00 - Intro - **0:00 - The OGL fallout.** Josh opens on the "wild ride" of the previous few weeks, when Wizards of the Coast tried to change the OGL (Open Game License). They have just announced the D&D 5e SRD will go under a Creative Commons licence, which he calls a massive win for digital tools. - **0:40 - Why Pathfinder.** A lot of people are looking at other games, especially Pathfinder Second Edition. He bought the Core Rulebook himself and likes it: it fixes a lot of the problems he had with 5th edition. - **1:05 - The legal background.** The 5e SRD (system reference document) gives digital tools just enough rules to code against, and communities fill in the rest. He still thinks Wizards might go after tools for content outside the SRD, but plugins like Initiative Tracker won't have to strip out their 5e SRD content now. - **2:30 - The goal.** Whether you're a GM running a campaign or a player keeping a journal, can you get Obsidian ready for PF2e in a single video? ### 2:52 - Pathfinder 2e Obsidian demo - **3:00 - Shout-outs.** He thanks the community members who built PF2e support (the captions render their names as "sigruxia," "fate Javelin," and "ubilient"; the GitHub repo on screen shows sigrunixia and Fatebreak). Their GitHub pages have links to buy them a coffee. They went from no PF2e support to the entire mechanics database in under two weeks. - **3:50 - The Beginner Box.** His vault holds the **Pathfinder Beginner Box** adventure with callout boxes, maps with pins, and **Syrinscape** sound he can trigger from inside Obsidian (he plays some rats). An image can be dragged to a second, player-facing screen. ![[images/Obsidian-Setting-up-a-Pathfinder-2e-Vault-t0270.webp]] *His Pathfinder 2e vault in Obsidian v1.1.12, open on Menace Under Otari: a rendered Giant Rat statblock (Creature -1, N Small Animal; AC 15, HP 8; Jaws +7, Filth Fever; Source Bestiary page 276) with its artwork, a Hungry Rats encounter table (4 Giant Rats, Easy, with Launch buttons), and the party Kyra, Marfortion, Ezren, and Korakai in the initiative pane. The sidebar shows Adventures, Mechanics, and the Beginner Box bestiary.* - **4:30 - Statblocks and dice.** Hover over terms in a statblock to see the rules, which makes the system easier to learn than flipping through the rulebook. Dice roll inside the note, handy for secret rolls. - **5:05 - Initiative tracking.** Begin combat, apply damage, kill creatures, and apply PF2e status effects. Grouped Giant Rats share one initiative. Because Obsidian links notes, the adventure links to everything in the rules. - **6:10 - Adventures stay private.** Paizo lets you use all its mechanics and makes its money on adventures, so the adventure itself won't appear on the community repository. Buy the PDF and copy it in; formatting this one took him an evening of normal prep. - **7:00 - What's available.** Activities, afflictions, backgrounds (on the way), Bestiary 1 and 2 (largely done, still being polished, roughly five minutes per book to convert), conditions, feats, hazards, and items. ### 7:54 - Create a new vault - **7:55 - Start fresh.** He throws away his existing vault and creates a new one called the "pf2e YouTube vault." It's completely empty. - **8:35 - The ITS theme.** He switches to light mode and installs the **ITS Theme**. Not everyone likes it, but it comes with a CSS file that adds features like wiki-style layouts and picture adjustments. - **9:20 - The CSS snippet.** He downloads the theme's alternate-themes CSS file from its GitHub page and saves it into a new `snippets` folder inside the vault's hidden `.obsidian` folder. The name doesn't matter as long as it ends in `.css`. - **11:00 - Turn it on.** Under **Appearance > CSS snippets** the new file appears; he enables it. ### 11:29 - Install plugins - **11:30 - Community plugins.** He turns off restricted mode, noting that community plugins do carry a risk unless you can read code, but he trusts these. He installs and enables: - **Various Complements**, the first plugin he puts in every vault, for automatic linking - **Initiative Tracker** by Jeremy Valentine, the combat manager - **Dice Roller** by Jeremy Valentine, for rolling dice inside notes - **TTRPG Statblocks** by Jeremy Valentine - **Leaflet** by Jeremy Valentine, for maps with pins, which integrates with the others ("yes, he is the man") - **Advanced Tables** by Tony Grosinger, which makes tables "a lot easier" - **Fantasy Calendar**, which ships with the Pathfinder calendar - **Markdown Attributes**, a background plugin used later in the video - A second-window plugin he uses to right-click images and send them to a player-facing screen (optional) - **13:50 - Slow down if new.** If you're brand new to Obsidian, watch one of his other videos first. This one is about speed. ### 14:05 - Install PF2e mechanics - **14:10 - The share vault.** He opens the **ObsidianTTRPGShare** community repository on GitHub, a public place to share TTRPG material for many systems that gets updates "hourly sometimes." It's a legal repository, so don't expect everything, and don't upload anything that isn't allowed to be shared. ![[images/Obsidian-Setting-up-a-Pathfinder-2e-Vault-t0880.webp]] *The ObsidianTTRPGShare repository on GitHub (53 stars, 11 forks, 243 commits; latest commit a sigrunixia merge of pull request #57 from Fatebreak). Folders include Bunkers_and_Badasses, Cypher, Dresden_Files, Dungeons_and_Dragons/5e, Fate_Accelerated, Genesys_Generic, Mythic_RPG, Pathfinder/Second_Edition, System_Agnostic ("Pathfinder 2E Statblocks Release 1.0"), TTRPGShare_Community_Vaults, and The_Witcher_RPG.* - **15:15 - Tools vs content.** The Pathfinder/Second_Edition folder holds tools the community is building. The **TTRPGShare Community Vaults** folder holds content, including a Pathfinder Second Edition subfolder. - **15:45 - Download one folder.** Search for "download GitHub folder" and use **download-directory.github.io**: paste the URL of the GitHub folder you want and it downloads just that folder as a zip. - **16:35 - Copy it in.** Open the zip, press Ctrl+A and Ctrl+C, and paste everything into the vault folder in Windows Explorer. Obsidian picks up background changes but can stall on thousands of files, so give it a couple of minutes. - **17:35 - Reload after big changes.** Once copying finishes, run **Reload app without saving** from the command palette to re-index the new files. - **17:55 - Folder structure.** He keeps all mechanics in a **Mechanics** folder and adds **Party**, **World**, and optionally an adventures folder and a GM screen folder of rule links. - **19:40 - Attachments and templates.** He creates **zz_Attachments** and right-clicks it to **Set as attachment folder**, so pasted images land there. Then **zz_Templates** for templates. The core Templates plugin is already on; he sets **Insert template** to **Alt+T** under Hotkeys. - **20:45 - Move and reload.** He moves the imported folders into Mechanics in Windows, and Obsidian freezes until another reload. Now the vault has activities, backgrounds, and more. - **21:45 - Dataview.** Errors appear because the notes use **Dataview**, "almost SQL queries" on your notes, so he enables it. ### 22:09 - Install GM screen - **22:10 - Kanban.** The share includes a GM screen built on the **Kanban** plugin. After enabling it, he goes to the core **Page preview** settings and unticks the Kanban option so that hovering shows the linked rules. He drags the GM screen to the top of the sidebar. - **23:15 - Style Settings.** He installs **Style Settings**, which already shows "In The Shadows" and ITS options, and picks a colour scheme (there's a Wizards of the Coast one; he goes with a blue). ![[images/Obsidian-Setting-up-a-Pathfinder-2e-Vault-t1430.webp]] *Style Settings in the new PF2eYouTubeVault: ITS Alternate Themes lists SIRvb Blue, SIRvb Gray, School Days, a TTRPG dropdown, Tangerine Dunes, Drowned, Nord, Notion, Minimalist, and ITS Dark. Behind it, the sidebar shows GM Screen, the Mechanics subfolders (Activities, Afflictions, Backgrounds, Bestiary, Conditions, Feats, Hazards, Items, Rules, Sources, Spells_Rituals, Traits), Party, World, Z_Conversion_Tools, zz_Attachments, zz_Templates, and a Paizo-Community-Use-Policy note.* - **23:55 - Editor preferences.** He turns off **Readable line length** and live preview, preferring source mode for editing and reading mode for rendering. - **24:30 - Spells link up.** About half an hour in, the rules and spells (including ritual and focus spells) are in. Typing a spell like **Fireball** auto-links through Various Complements, and he renames a link with a pipe (`|`). ### 25:21 - Install TTRPG Statblocks template - **25:20 - The statblock folder.** Back on GitHub, he downloads the Pathfinder Second Edition tools folder (774 files) with the same downloader. It contains the **Bestiary** and the **B series layouts**. - **26:45 - Copy the bestiaries.** He copies the two bestiary folders into the vault's Bestiary folder. They arrive as text: the statblocks are empty until the layout is installed. - **27:50 - Handlebars template.** The layouts folder has a **second edition monsters Handlebars template**, used with the JSON/CSV Importer to bring in monsters from Pf2eTools JSON. He drags it into a **Handlebar Templates** folder under zz_Templates. "This is an advanced topic," so don't worry if you're lost. - **28:50 - The statblock CSS.** From the layouts' attachments folder he copies the **Pathfinder 2e TTRPG statblock CSS** into `.obsidian/snippets` and enables it. (An ITS-specific CSS file there is no longer needed "as of today.") - **29:50 - Import the layout.** He saves the **pf2e block JSON** somewhere handy, then in **TTRPG Statblocks settings > Layouts** chooses **Import from JSON**. The new layout doesn't show as an option until he reloads the app, then he sets the **default layout** to the PF2e block and reloads again. - **31:15 - Statblocks come alive.** The downloaded monsters always render because they name their layout, but a monster used elsewhere needs the default set, hence the two-step process. ### 31:52 - Enable 3D dice - **31:55 - Render dice.** In the statblock settings he turns on **Render dice** and **Parse frontmatter for creatures**. It takes several reloads and some fumbling ("usually when I stuff something up you guys seem to take more value"), until the 3D dice option in **Dice Roller** settings makes it work. ![[images/Obsidian-Setting-up-a-Pathfinder-2e-Vault-t2045.webp]] *The Adamantine Golem statblock (Creature 18, Rare N Huge Construct Golem Mindless; AC 42, HP 255; Golem Antimagic, Repair Mode, Destructive Strike, Inexorable March, Self-Repair, Vent; Source Bestiary page 189) rendered with the PF2e layout. On the right, the Dice Roller panel shows a 1d20 result of 5 and a 3D d20 on screen.* - **34:05 - Roll it.** Now the dice roll in 3D. He uses physical dice at his own table, but likes having it there, and you can roll in secret, which Pathfinder uses. - **34:25 - Launch encounter.** The statblock's encounter section puts the Adamantine Golem into combat. An HP issue shows up that he'll raise with the community. ### 34:57 - Create templates - **35:00 - Markdown templates.** He creates **Markdown Templates > Combat Templates**. From the TTRPG Statblocks readme on the community plugins page he copies the monster code block into a new **Insert Monster** template with a default name. - **36:45 - Fix the hotkey.** Alt+T doesn't work at first because he hadn't set the template folder. In the core **Templates** settings he sets it to `zz_Templates`, and now Alt+T lists templates. Insert Monster, change the name, and the statblock appears. - **37:30 - Insert Encounter.** From the Initiative Tracker readme he copies the encounter example into an **Insert Encounter** template, changes three goblins to one creature, and checks it works. One button starts the whole combat; the other adds a single monster to the encounter. ![[images/Obsidian-Setting-up-a-Pathfinder-2e-Vault-t2300.webp]] *His new Insert Encounter (Initiative Tracker) template under zz_Templates > Markdown Templates > Combat Templates, rendering an Example encounter with one Air Mephit. Initiative Tracker on the right holds the Air Mephit, with damage, status-effect, and saving-throw controls, above an Adamantine Golem statblock.* ### 38:48 - Install PF conditions - **39:15 - Conditions.** On a fresh vault only, copy the share's **data.json** over `.obsidian/plugins/initiative-tracker/data.json` (on an existing vault, add the conditions by hand), then reload. Clicking a monster in combat now offers PF2e conditions, and hovering shows their rules. - **40:15 - Tidy up.** In Initiative Tracker settings you can delete the D&D 5e SRD conditions so only the Pathfinder ones remain. ### 41:09 - Install PF cheat sheets - **41:10 - Action icons.** In the share's **action items** folder (ignore the standalone zips), copy **actions fonts.css** into `.obsidian/snippets` and enable it. That provides the fonts for PF2e action icons. - **42:00 - Action templates.** He copies the action templates into **PF2e Action Icons** under Markdown Templates. Alt+T now inserts 1, 2, and 3 actions, free actions, and reactions, which render as icons for custom monsters, traps, and more. - **43:30 - Cheat sheets.** From the notes folder he adds the **Actions cheat sheet** and **Skill Actions cheat sheet** to the GM Screen. Both are fully linked, show action counts with icons, and help you learn the game. Some cleanup is still under way. ![[images/Obsidian-Setting-up-a-Pathfinder-2e-Vault-t2665.webp]] *The Skill-Actions-Cheat-Sheet in the GM Screen folder: a table of skills with page numbers, untrained and trained-only actions (Acrobatics: Balance, Tumble Through, Maneuver in Flight, Squeeze; Arcana: Recall Knowledge, Borrow an Arcane Spell, Decipher Writing, Identify Magic, Learn a Spell; Athletics: Climb, Force Open, Grapple, High Jump, Long Jump, Shove, Swim, Trip, Disarm; Crafting, Deception, Diplomacy, Intimidation), with action icons. The template tree shows PF2e-1-Action, 2-Actions, 3-Actions, Free-Action, and Reaction, and an Air Mephit statblock sits on the right.* ### 44:32 - Outro - **44:30 - That's it.** He apologises for the pace; slow the video down or pause it. From here you're ready to play Pathfinder Second Edition, apart from adventures. - **45:10 - Adventures.** Buy the PDFs; they copy and paste nicely. There may be tools to convert PDFs to markdown, but in his experience copying and organising as you go is quicker because of formatting quirks. ### 45:33 - Callout templates - **45:35 - One more thing.** He strongly recommends callout templates. He's not sure they're in the share vault yet but will add them. He copies them from one of his other vaults into Markdown Templates. - **46:30 - Read-aloud box.** Alt+T, choose a callout, and a **read aloud** box appears when the note renders. It's probably the template he uses most. ### 47:08 - Outro take 2 - **47:10 - Where to get help.** The official Obsidian Discord has a TTRPG channel with Pathfinder Second Edition sub-channels. His Patreon includes a private Discord that's become very active, with channels for many games. The Facebook Obsidian TTRPG user group exists too, though activity is moving to Discord. - **48:35 - Sign-off.** He's glad the "OGL nightmare is coming to a rest," and thinks people exploring different games is a healthy outcome. ## Things mentioned ### Obsidian plugins - **Various Complements**: auto-complete and automatic linking, installed in every vault he makes - **Initiative Tracker** (Jeremy Valentine): combat manager, encounters with Launch buttons, and the PF2e conditions list via its `data.json` - **Dice Roller** (Jeremy Valentine): inline and 3D dice - **TTRPG Statblocks** (Fantasy Statblocks, Jeremy Valentine): renders the statblocks, with **Render dice**, **Parse frontmatter for creatures**, and **Import from JSON** layouts - **Leaflet** (Jeremy Valentine): maps with pins - **Advanced Tables** (Tony Grosinger) - **Fantasy Calendar**: includes the Pathfinder calendar out of the box - **Markdown Attributes**: runs in the background - A second-window plugin for sending images to a player-facing screen - **Dataview**: query-driven lists the PF2e notes rely on - **Kanban**: powers the GM screen - **Style Settings**: colour schemes for the ITS theme - **JSON/CSV Importer**: used with the Handlebars template to import Pf2eTools monsters (advanced) - Core plugins: **Templates** (folder `zz_Templates`, hotkey Alt+T) and **Page preview** ### Themes and CSS - **ITS Theme** by SIRvb, plus its alternate-themes CSS snippet - The **Pathfinder 2e TTRPG statblock CSS** and **actions fonts.css** snippets, both in `.obsidian/snippets` ### Community data and tools - **ObsidianTTRPGShare** GitHub repository: the Pathfinder/Second_Edition tools folder and the TTRPGShare Community Vaults content - PF2e mechanics: activities, afflictions, backgrounds, Bestiary 1 and 2 ("B series"), conditions, feats, hazards, items, rules, sources, spells and rituals, traits - **B series layouts**: the pf2e block JSON layout, the statblock CSS, and the second edition monsters Handlebars template - **Action items**: action-icon templates and fonts, the Actions cheat sheet, and the Skill Actions cheat sheet - **GM Screen** with a Rules Reference - Callout templates, especially the **read aloud** box - **download-directory.github.io**: downloads one folder from a GitHub repository - **Pf2eTools**: the JSON source for importing more monsters ### Games, books, and creatures - **Pathfinder Second Edition** Core Rulebook, which he bought - **Pathfinder Beginner Box** and its adventure **Menace Under Otari** - Paizo PDFs as the way to bring in adventures - The **D&D 5th edition SRD** and the OGL controversy - Creatures shown: **Giant Rat**, **Adamantine Golem**, **Air Mephit**, goblins - Party in the demo: Kyra, Marfortion, Ezren, Korakai (the Beginner Box pregenerated characters) - **Fireball** as the auto-link example ### Other tools - **Syrinscape**: sound effects triggered from inside a note - Windows Explorer and Notepad, for the hidden `.obsidian` folder and snippets ### Links - [Updated Pathfinder 2e instructions on ObsidianTTRPGTutorials.com](https://obsidianttrpgtutorials.com/Obsidian+TTRPG+Tutorials/Community+Supported+Games/Pathfinder+2e/Pathfinder+2e) - [Obsidian TTRPG Community on GitHub](https://github.com/Obsidian-TTRPG-Community) - [PF2e community tools folder](https://github.com/ObsidianTTRPGProject/ObsidianTTRPGShare/tree/main/Pathfinder/Second_Edition) - [Pathfinder 2E SRD Markdown data](https://github.com/Obsidian-TTRPG-Community/Pathfinder-2E-SRD-Markdown) - [Download GitHub directory](https://download-directory.github.io/) - [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/) - [Official Obsidian Discord](https://discord.gg/obsidianmd) - [Obsidian TTRPG Users Facebook group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/obsidianttrpgusers) - [Josh's Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/JPlunkett) - [Josh's beginner video, for people new to Obsidian](https://youtu.be/fkvAS0QmXEg) ### Free vs paid (quick) - Free: Obsidian, every plugin and theme shown, the community PF2e data and tools, download-directory.github.io, and Pf2eTools - Paid: Paizo's Pathfinder books, the Beginner Box, and adventure PDFs; Syrinscape subscriptions; Josh's Patreon (private Discord, tutorial vault, and personal support) ## Bios - **Josh Plunkett**: Australian game master and YouTuber behind the "Obsidian for Tabletop RPGs" tutorials, ObsidianTTRPGTutorials.com, and a Patreon that gives members his tutorial vault, a private Discord, and personal support. In January 2023 he was moving his own games from D&D 5e to Pathfinder Second Edition, and he runs the ObsidianTTRPGShare repository shown here. - **Jeremy Valentine** (valentine195 on GitHub): Developer of Initiative Tracker, Dice Roller, Fantasy Statblocks (TTRPG Statblocks), Leaflet, and other TTRPG plugins for Obsidian. Josh credits him with most of the plugins in this build ("he is the man"). - **sigrunixia**: An Obsidian TTRPG community member whose name appears on the ObsidianTTRPGShare commits on screen. Josh thanks this person and two others for building PF2e support in under two weeks. - **SIRvb**: Creator of the ITS Theme for Obsidian, whose alternate-themes CSS adds wiki-style layouts, picture adjustments, and colour schemes. - **Tony Grosinger**: Developer of the Advanced Tables plugin. - **Paizo**: The US publisher of Pathfinder and Starfinder. Josh contrasts its open licensing of game mechanics with Wizards of the Coast, noting that Paizo earns from adventures, which is why those aren't shared. - **Wizards of the Coast**: Publisher of Dungeons & Dragons. Its attempt in early 2023 to revise the OGL drove many players to try other systems, before it released the 5e SRD under a Creative Commons licence.