We often get asked why one would choose LegendKeeper over Obsidian for worldbuilding. This is a great question! While Obsidian and LegendKeeper are both popular choices for game-masters and writers alike, there are several reasons why LegendKeeper might be a better fit for you. In this article, I'll explore the differences between LegendKeeper and Obsidian, and why I think LegendKeeper is the best choice for worldbuilding. (Biased 😇)

Ease of use

Although Obsidian offers a strong core featureset, getting the most out of it for worldbuilding often requires tinkering, coding, and plugin maintenance. Users need to download and install numerous custom plugins to tailor their experience. Worldbuilding-with-Obsidian expert Josh Plunkett has a great guide on his Patreon about how to set up Obsidian for worldbuilding.

You'll notice that this list is long, and some of these links go to other large to-do lists or multiple hours of tutorial videos. If you require max customizability, and consider maintaining your workspace to be part of your creative process, then Obsidian might still be a good choice for you. Personally, I want to focus on content and writing rather than setting up configurations and plugins. There's also no guarantee that these plugins will continue to be maintained, which can lead to compatibility issues down the line.

In contrast, LegendKeeper is a specialized platform designed for collaborative worldbuilding. You can log in and start worldbuilding in less than a minute, utilizing our large list of features immediately. It provides a more streamlined and user-friendly experience, with all necessary features built-in, eliminating the need for distracting customization.

Cost-effectiveness

Let's address the money-shaped elephant in the room: the core Obsidian app is free, and that's a pretty sweet deal! This isn't the end of the story though: If you need multiplayer collaboration, cloud sync, and easy publishing, LegendKeeper is significantly less expensive.

With Obsidian, if you want cloud sync and publishing, it'll be $15 a month for one site, compared to LegendKeeper's $9 a month (or $7.50 if you pay yearly) for unlimited sites and users. Additionally, there's no guarantee that your custom plugins are going to work with sharing. With LegendKeeper, sharing is a core feature, meaning there's an expectation that it just works in all scenarios.

Since we're a paid service, our incentives are aligned: Every month, you vote with your wallet if I'm doing a good job. I'm beholden to the needs of the community—Obsidian plugin developers have no such commitment, but are driven by their own interest and availability to work on the plugin. There's nothing wrong with that, but people get busy! When I get busy, that just means I'm working on LegendKeeper more. 😉

Collaboration

One of the key advantages of LegendKeeper is its multiplayer collaboration. Unlike Obsidian, which lacks native multiplayer support, LegendKeeper enables users to work together simultaneously on their worldbuilding projects. This feature is invaluable for D&D campaigns, West Marches campaigns, and shared story universes.

LegendKeeper also offers granular permission settings, allowing you to control who can view and edit different parts of your project. You can even hide blocks of text in the middle of a page.

Map integration

Integrating maps into your worldbuilding project is essential for many creators. With LegendKeeper, users can easily incorporate fantasy maps into their projects, without needing plugins or coding skills. You can upload enormous maps to LegendKeeper, and we'll optimize and serve them to you just like a Google Map.

In comparison, Obsidian requires the use of plugins and coding to integrate maps, making it complex and time-consuming. Additionally, if you want really huge maps, you'll need to figure out how to pyramidify your maps yourself. You'll also need to find a hosting provider for your files. If you've got the time to learn about Javascript, Leaflet, tile servers, coordinate projections, and GeoJSON... Well, I'm envious. 😅

Conclusion

Obsidian is an awesome personal knowledge management system, but there are better options out there for a smoother worldbuilding experience. If you are a 100% solo worldbuilder and you need a high level of customization, or are happy with the base functionality of Obsidian, then it could still be a good choice.

LegendKeeper offers a more focused, user-friendly, and cost-effective solution for worldbuilding. Its ease of use, focus, collaboration, and map integration make it the ideal choice for storytellers, game masters, and worldbuilders who seek a dedicated platform to bring their visions to life.