Obsidian Worldbuilding: Setup Guide for TTRPGs and Novels

To use Obsidian for worldbuilding, give every character, place, faction and piece of lore its own note, add a few properties such as type, faction, location and status, and link the notes to each other. Backlinks then show where each thing is mentioned, Canvas holds your maps and relationship boards, and Bases turns the notes into tables of NPCs or a timeline, all with features built into Obsidian.

The same setup works for a TTRPG campaign and for a novel. This guide sets up a world vault step by step with core features only, gives you three templates, and adds tips for game masters and novelists. At the end, it shows how the free SystemSculpt plugin can answer continuity questions from your own notes, with your approval before any edit.

Checked on November 3, 2026 against Obsidian 1.15.0 and Obsidian Help.

Why Obsidian works for worldbuilding

A world is a web of things that refer to each other. Obsidian stores each one as a plain Markdown file on your computer, and a link is just [[Note name]] in the text. When you rename a note, Obsidian can update every link to it.

The example world here is the Saltmarch, a made-up coast with a city called Brinehollow, a faction called the Lantern Guild and a harbor master called Mira Vell.

Set up your world vault

1. Create the folders

Create a new vault, or a folder inside your current one, with one folder per kind of note:

Saltmarch/
  Characters/
  Places/
  Factions/
  Lore/
  Sessions/      (or Chapters/ for a novel)
  Maps/
  Templates/

Keep it shallow. Links and properties do most of the organizing.

2. Turn on the core plugins

Open Settings → Core plugins and check that Templates, Canvas, Bases, Backlinks and Graph view are on. Then go to Core plugins → Templates → Template folder location and enter Saltmarch/Templates.

3. Make one note per thing

Add properties at the top of each note. A property can hold a link, but Obsidian Help notes that links in properties must be in quotes, such as faction: "[[Lantern Guild]]".

When you insert a template, Obsidian adds its properties to the note and merges them with any the note already has. The three templates below go in your Templates folder. {{title}} becomes the note's name and {{date}} becomes today's date.

Character or NPC template:

---
type: npc
faction: "[[ ]]"
location: "[[ ]]"
status: alive
first_seen: ""
revealed: false
tags:
  - character
---

# {{title}}

**Role:**
**Wants:**
**Fears:**

## Appearance

## What the players know

## Secrets

## Appearances

Place template:

---
type: place
region: "[[ ]]"
faction: "[[ ]]"
status: active
revealed: false
tags:
  - place
---

# {{title}}

**Looks like:**
**Who runs it:**
**Trouble here:**

## Notable people

## Map

Session log template:

---
type: session
session: 
date: "{{date}}"
location: "[[ ]]"
tags:
  - session
---

# {{title}}

## Recap

## NPCs met

## Secrets revealed

## Loose threads

## Next session prep

To use one, create a note, then run Templates: Insert template from the command palette or select Insert template in the ribbon. Keep template variables in quotes inside properties, as above. Obsidian Help warns that the properties editor in Live Preview can overwrite variables that aren't quoted. For more starter files, see our 10 free Obsidian templates.

4. Link as you write

Link the first mention of each thing: "Mira Vell runs the docks in [[Brinehollow]] and owes the [[Lantern Guild]] a favor." You can link to a note that doesn't exist yet and fill it in later.

Open the Backlinks tab in the right sidebar to see every note that links to the one you have open. Unlinked mentions lists notes that use its name without a link. Run Backlinks: Toggle backlinks in document to show them at the bottom of each note.

5. Add maps with embeds and Canvas

Put map images in Maps/ and embed them in a note with ![[Saltmarch map.png]]. Add a width to resize it: ![[Saltmarch map.png|600]].

For a map you can work on, use Canvas. A canvas is a .canvas file with unlimited space for cards. It holds images, notes, PDFs, web pages and text-only cards. To build a map board:

1. Create a new canvas in Maps/ and drag your map image onto it.
2. Drag place notes from the file explorer and set them on the map.
3. Hover over the edge of a card, then drag the circle to another card to draw a line. Double-click the line to add a label, such as "trade route" or "at war".
4. Select several cards, right-click and select Create group, such as "Northern towns".

The same steps make a relationship board: drag in character notes, label the lines "owes a debt" or "spying on", and use Set color to color them by faction. Text-only cards don't appear in backlinks unless you convert them to files.

6. Build NPC tables and a timeline with Bases

Bases, a core plugin since Obsidian 1.9, shows your notes as a table, cards, a list, a Kanban board or a map, built from their properties.

Run Bases: Create new base from the command palette, or right-click a folder and select New base. Then open the base as text and paste this. It makes a table of NPCs and a session timeline:

filters:
  and:
    - '!file.inFolder("Saltmarch/Templates")'
views:
  - type: table
    name: NPCs
    filters:
      and:
        - 'type == "npc"'
    order:
      - file.name
      - faction
      - location
      - status
  - type: table
    name: Timeline
    filters:
      and:
        - 'type == "session"'
    order:
      - file.name
      - date
      - location
    sort:
      - property: date
        direction: ASC

You can edit cells in the table, and the change is written back to the note. To see a whole faction, group the NPC view by faction. Since Obsidian 1.14, you can also add a Kanban view grouped by status. Dragging a card to another column updates that note's status, which works for plot threads or chapter drafts. Our Obsidian Bases guide covers more.

7. Check the shape of your world in graph view

Select Open graph view in the ribbon to see every note as a dot and every link as a line. The more notes link to a note, the bigger its dot. In the graph settings, add groups to color dots by search query: path:Saltmarch/Characters in one color, path:Saltmarch/Factions in another. Turn on Orphans to spot notes nothing links to yet.

Run Open local graph to see only what connects to the open note.

For game masters

Prep from your notes. Before a session, check the backlinks of the place the party is heading to: every NPC and past session there. Write prep in the Next session prep section of the last session log, so it is waiting when you start the next one.

Keep a session log. Make one note per session from the template. Link each NPC and place you used. The Timeline view of the base then becomes your campaign history, and each NPC's backlinks show every session they appeared in.

Track what players know. Keep player knowledge and GM secrets under separate headings in each note. Set revealed: true when the players learn something, and add a base view with the filter 'revealed == true'. That gives you a list of everything that is public in your world, ready for player handouts.

Optional community plugins. These are in Obsidian's community plugin directory. You don't need any of them to follow this guide:

• Fantasy Statblocks: create, manage and view a fantasy bestiary with D&D-style statblocks.
• Dice Roller: adds a little randomness to your notes, with dice rolls inside a note.
• Leaflet: interactive maps inside your notes.

For novelists

Use Chapters instead of Sessions. Make one note per chapter with properties such as type: chapter, pov, location, status and story_date. A Kanban view grouped by status turns your chapters into a draft board: Outline, Draft, Revised, Done.

Keep continuity in links. Link each character and place the first time they appear in a chapter. A character's backlinks then list every chapter they are in, in one place. Copy the Timeline view, filter it to type == "chapter" and sort by story_date. It shows the order events happen in the world, which can differ from the order you tell them.

Embed the facts you keep checking. Keep eye color, ages and travel distances in the character or place note, and embed just that heading in a chapter note: ![[Mira Vell#Appearance]]. The embed updates when the source changes.

Optional community plugin. Longform helps you write and edit novels, screenplays and other long projects.

For drafting with AI from your own notes, read our Obsidian AI writing workflow.

Add AI that reads your world

A big world vault holds more than you can remember. An AI agent can read it and answer from your own notes.

SystemSculpt is a free Obsidian plugin that puts an AI chat in a side pane. On desktop it can run your own installed, signed-in Claude Code or Codex, with no SystemSculpt account or plan. Those services keep their own accounts and usage. Chats and results are saved as Markdown in your vault.

• Ask continuity questions. Attach notes with @ and ask, for example: "Which NPCs know about the sunken bell?" or "Does any chapter put Mira Vell in two places on the same day?"
• Draft a note from your lore. Attach your NPC template and the Lantern Guild note, then ask: "Draft a note for a guild smuggler, using the template and only what my notes say about the guild." You review and edit the draft before it becomes canon.
• Turn a recorded session into a log. SystemSculpt can transcribe an audio file to a Markdown note. It accepts MP3, WAV, M4A, MP4, OGG, WebM and FLAC. Attach the transcript and your session template in chat, and ask for a session log. Agree as a group before you record a session.
• Find related notes by meaning. Semantic search and the Similar Notes panel list notes related to the one you have open, even when they use different words.

Pick Ask mode in the run line (Ask before edits with Claude Code) to approve each change before it is written.

Transcription and semantic search use SystemSculpt's hosted service and credits, even when chat uses your own Claude Code or Codex. Audio you transcribe and the notes you index are sent to that service.

Install the free SystemSculpt plugin from Obsidian's community plugins. Hosted AI works on desktop and mobile, including chat on your phone, and uses a SystemSculpt account and credits. Eligible new accounts can claim 500 one-time starter credits with no card. Monthly is $9 a month and Yearly is $90 a year, each with a monthly hosted-credit allowance. Compare plans.

What is free

Obsidian is free for any purpose, including commercial use, though it is not open source. Every feature in the setup above is built into Obsidian and costs nothing. The SystemSculpt plugin is free and open source under the MIT license. Chat through your own Claude Code or Codex needs no SystemSculpt plan. Hosted AI, transcription and semantic search use credits.

Common questions

Is Obsidian good for worldbuilding? Yes. Linked notes per character, place and faction fit the way a world refers to itself, and backlinks, Canvas, Bases and graph view are built in.

Can I run a D&D campaign in Obsidian? Yes. Keep NPCs, places and factions as linked notes, log each session from a template, and use a base for an NPC table and a session timeline. Community plugins such as Fantasy Statblocks and Dice Roller are optional extras.

Is Obsidian free? Yes. Obsidian is free for personal and commercial use, and you don't need an account to use it. Paid licenses are optional.

Can I make maps in Obsidian? Yes. Embed a map image in a note, or drag it onto a canvas and place note cards and labeled lines on it. The Leaflet community plugin adds interactive maps if you want them.

What folders should a worldbuilding vault have? Start with Characters, Places, Factions, Lore, Sessions or Chapters, Maps and Templates. Keep it shallow and let links and properties do the rest.

Can AI help with worldbuilding without writing my world for me? Yes. Use it to read your notes, not to replace them. Ask SystemSculpt continuity questions about notes you attach, or have it draft from your own lore and template, and approve each edit before it is written.

Sources

• Canvas, Templates and Properties, Obsidian Help
• Internal links, Embed files and Backlinks, Obsidian Help
• Graph view and Search, Obsidian Help
• Introduction to Bases, Create a base, Table view and Kanban view, Obsidian Help
• Obsidian license and Obsidian changelog
• Fantasy Statblocks, Dice Roller, Leaflet and Longform, Obsidian community plugins