RPG Note-taking in Obsidian

 I need to admit up front that I have a problem. Well, two problems.  Ok, I have lots of problems, but two of them pertain to this post.  

First, I take a lot of gaming notes.  Player or DM, I sketch maps, I jot down ideas, I try to make connections - and all those notes stack up.

Second, I'm lousy at keeping them organized. I've started notebooks, only to have them die half-full. I have folder after folder of google notes (many shared with my fellow players so they can ignore them at their leisure.) They're in varying degrees of completion and abandonment. And that makes them far less useful to me (or anyone else.)

Recently, I've been trying something new, and I think it's working.  I happened on a note-taking tool called Obsidian that allows you to create a "vault", write notes in markdown (basically raw text), and visualize connections between the things you've written (if you are willing to do a little work.)

For example, here's a map of my notes for a game I'm playing in, focusing on the "Unanswered Questions" file.

All told, I've got 66 files (some are as much as 10 pages long) of notes on this game with tags to help organize things. This kind of view lets me quickly see where connections might lead and can help our group decide which threads we want to pull on.

I like writing this way, because it's quick and easy, with an almost immediate payoff.  Here's a paragraph from some of our game notes (the names in double brackets are set up as cross-links):

Gil asks about getting some work, and [[Natalia]] sets him up with an “interview” for a job (Gil, Gunnar, and Bo go with him)  [[Deneth]] is looking for guards for a trip to [[Yadzu]] or [[Nameth]]. Gil demurs, and asks if there’s anything local. He mentions that there’s a local shop that might need something and offers to put in a good word with them. Gill says we’ll return in the afternoon and check in.

Because I can set up multiple sets of notes, I'm able to use the app easily for each game I play in, run, or plan. 

I tried to set up a concordance of all things Zyan (Ben Laurence's dream-world setting). Initially, I stalled out trying to make it work. in a spreadsheet. I thought about setting up a full-blown database but couldn't work up the energy.  Last week, I started over in Obsidian, and I'm loving it!

Because Ben has posted so much material to his blog, as well as in the published Through Ultan's Door zines, having a map of what information connects to what and where I can find out more is a huge win. Obsidian is making it easy to set that up.