I was at my grandkids house, and he was showing me his class notes he takes and inputs into this thing called Obsidian. Basically it is a note application where you can build relationships between notes suing links, tags and some other thing I forget the name of.

What was fascinating is that it had this neat sort of point cloud view that represented a tree of all the data you enter. So, in a rpg sense, you could like click on NPC and see links to all other NPC it knows, or click a town and see all the stuff associated with it... zoom in a bit, click on the pub.. etc etc.

What was really cool was that it was able to use missing data to identify aspects of the notes that where missing. So as he wrote stuff he would mark things as understood or w/e or link to non-existant notes. Then as you explore the cloud, you can see these clusters of data around missing nodes and "discover" aspects that need more detail. Like you see a lot of things you have written are referencing some war, but there is no detail there... so it informs you that your world building would benefit from beefing up that node.

You would think it would be super complex but he showed me a real simply way that it is just text files with some markdown on it. He said he takes notes live duing his uni lectures, then dose clean up latter. So a player could use it live or a DM to craft world building.

I was kinda blown away by it really and was wondering if anyone is using or has experience with these apps that track the conceptual relationships of data. He called it a "2nd Brain" app.

He was using Obsidian but said there is a lot of these app about.

Yes. Obsidian is one of the few "note taking" apps that clicks with me.

The interface is smooth and it doesn't get in the way of making quick notes. Plus the files it creates are markdown (.md) so you can edit it in any text editor, you can use a different device without Obsidian and still bring the note back in without any trouble.

Quote from: Zelen on May 06, 2023, 10:35:27 AMYes. Obsidian is one of the few "note taking" apps that clicks with me

Cool.... Have you used it in a non-fiction capacity... maybe to run a game world as a DM or map the game as you play as a PC?

Been looking at other options... mainly Logseq.

This is one just for RPGs

found a pretty amazing video where you can upload audio recordings and transcribe them, then use chatGPT to print out the transcript neatly, and make detailed summaries. I did some test by recording some descriptions of rooms or monsters that I would do at a table and it really blew me away as you end up with these neat copies of exactly what you said (ai.whisper can even detect different voices) and these cool summaries that can be used to make links. Like say it will find the word dragon and palce it in a monster subheading and that will link to my Dragons node in obsidian and stuff...

Pretty crazy.. this is just a rabbit hole ... I mean I knew chatGDT was good at helping me write code (over stack exchange) but this is on another level.



The video is more of a guide i had to modify the prompts and do some java to get the outputs to my needs but it shows sorta what can be done.

I tried using programs like Obsidian, but it was just way more than I needed.

Started playing with it to organize notes for sessions.  So far, it's proving to be useful for seeing interesting things I can link thematically and allows one to grab pertinent details quickly when running the game or figuring out the big-picture ramifications when something goes differently to expectations.

There are some plug-ins for initiative tracker and dice rolls which are neat.

For free, it's worth a look.

Quote from: rocksfalleverybodydies on May 07, 2023, 06:36:31 PMThere are some plug-ins for initiative tracker and dice rolls which are neat.

Interesting. I found some RPG focused tutorials... I am not sure if I would "run" a game in Obsidian.. but I've been playing a little with it as a world building tool and found it pretty exciting to use.

Obsidian even has an official tutorial area for RPGs
https://publish.obsidian.md/hub/04+-+Guides%2C+Workflows%2C+%26+Courses/for+TTRPG

RPG Series

Found a cool youtube that is completely devoted to RPG Notetaking. This guy used to be a realmworks user but has moved to obsidian and the chan is current, as last video was posted 3 days ago.

If you are curious about this, maybe this series is the one to look at, as it is completely focused on his RPG setup and described through the lenz of a realmworks user, which I suspect many people around here have used or heard of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCuoaRWUqlQ&list=PLV5XWfKkFpk7MJTKv5YdSSpT9b-vLslWu

It looks like a cool program. People who can regularly think in nodes, and utilize mind-mapping, unlock creativity. Good skill worth exploring.

But for me, I remember things better if I write it down. By no means do I have a photographic memory, but usually if I write something down, just once, it sticks.

I have started using it recently for a play-by-post. Its really helpful for keeping notes together as well as links for research.

Been transferring my house rules to Obsidian, as well as taking my notes on the SotDL campaign I'm playing in.  So far, it's been really easy and really helpful.

Quote from: Eirikrautha on May 19, 2023, 11:42:54 AM
Been transferring my house rules to Obsidian, as well as taking my notes on the SotDL campaign I'm playing in.  So far, it's been really easy and really helpful.

do you use any plugins? if so what ones?

Quote from: Summon666 on May 21, 2023, 04:04:29 AM

Quote from: Eirikrautha on May 19, 2023, 11:42:54 AM
Been transferring my house rules to Obsidian, as well as taking my notes on the SotDL campaign I'm playing in.  So far, it's been really easy and really helpful.

do you use any plugins? if so what ones?

None, at this point.  I might pick up one or two to spice up my tables, but I've found it works fine for me right out of the box.  Adding better latex will probably be my only add in the near future.

I've used Zim for years, it's just a personal wiki-based note taking application. Completely free.
https://zim-wiki.org

I think it's similar to Obsidian? Seems to have less features so probably easier to learn to use if you just want a personal wiki for storing related ideas.