Running your campaign in Obsidian?
Here's the honest comparison.
Obsidian is a genuinely great tool. It's free, local-first, and its TTRPG plugin
ecosystem is the best in the hobby. Grimoire is a different shape: a campaign manager
you don't have to assemble. Here's where each one fits.
Free tier on every plan. No credit card. MCP included. We never charge for AI tokens.
The pattern
Why GMs love Obsidian, and where it starts to strain
GMs reach for Obsidian for good reasons: it's free, your notes are yours, and the plugin
community has built an incredible toolkit. None of that is in question here. The strain
shows up later, and it's structural, not a quality complaint.
The recurring patterns:
"I spent more time configuring than playing."
A working campaign vault means installing and wiring six to ten plugins, writing Dataview queries, and building Templater templates before the campaign starts. The power is real. So is the setup tax.
"A plugin broke after an update and took my layout with it."
Any large community-plugin stack carries maintenance. Plugins update on their own schedules, and a Dataview or Templater change can quietly break a page you depend on mid-campaign.
"The graph view looks cool but doesn't answer my questions."
Obsidian's graph shows which notes link to which. It can't tell you "every NPC in the Vale faction" or render your world as a political map, a geography, or a timeline.
"Sharing with my players means paying for Publish and exposing the whole vault."
There's no built-in player portal with per-entity visibility. Hiding GM secrets from players is structure you maintain by hand, or you publish to the web and manage what's exposed.
"My AI assistant reads my notes, but not my world."
You can connect AI through Obsidian's MCP endpoint, but it sees a pile of markdown notes to search by text. It can miss a note on a misspelled query, or drown in context. It never gets a typed campaign it can traverse by faction, location, or thread.
If those land for you, keep reading. If they don't, Obsidian's freedom, its data ownership,
and its at-the-table plugins are real and excellent. Staying is the right call.
Obsidian
What is Obsidian?
Obsidian is a free, local-first markdown note app. Your notes are plain text files on
your own disk: no lock-in, fully offline, yours forever. The core app is free for
personal and commercial use. Optional add-ons are Sync ($5/mo) and Publish ($10/mo).
Its power is extensibility: over 2,000 community plugins. For TTRPGs, GMs assemble a
stack like Fantasy Statblocks, Dice Roller,
Initiative Tracker, Leaflet (maps),
Calendarium, Dataview,
and Templater. The RPG Manager plugin adds a more
structured campaign layer on top.
If you want a moddable toolkit you control end to end, with the best at-the-table plugin
ecosystem in the hobby and your data as local files, Obsidian has earned its following.
Grimoire
What is Grimoire?
Grimoire is a campaign manager for homebrew GMs running active campaigns. It ships with
a pre-built schema for 14 typed entities: NPCs, Locations, Factions, Quests, Items,
Vehicles, Creatures, Lore Entries, World Rules, Planar Forces, Session Recaps, Session
Preps, Custom Mechanics, Player Characters. Every entity is typed, queryable, and
connected through multi-projection knowledge graphs.
It includes a real-time collaborative wiki, a player portal with three named visibility
tiers (common knowledge, player knowledge, GM secrets), and Grimoire MCP:
one OAuth click connects your campaign to any MCP-compatible AI client (Claude, ChatGPT,
Cursor) so the AI reads your world live on every query. Grimoire never charges for AI
tokens.
Grimoire is a prep-and-canon tool, not a virtual tabletop. It has no dice roller,
initiative tracker, or statblock rendering. For at-the-table tactical play, Obsidian's
plugins do that better, and this page will say so again.
Which one is right for you
Five GM types. The right pick depends on what you need the tool to do.
You want a campaign manager that already works on day one
You do not want to spend a weekend installing plugins, writing Dataview queries, and designing your own note schema before you can add your first NPC. You want to open the tool and start filling in your world.
Grimoire fits this.
Pre-built schema across 14 typed entity types. No plugins to install, no queries to write. Most GMs have a campaign skeleton inside twenty minutes.
Your campaign lives at the table: initiative, dice, statblocks, battlemaps
What you actually need is a tactical layer. Roll a d20 in your notes, track turn order and HP in combat, render a monster statblock, drop creatures on a battlemap.
Obsidian fits this.
Obsidian's TTRPG plugins (Initiative Tracker, Dice Roller, Fantasy Statblocks, Leaflet) are category-leading for at-the-table play. Grimoire is a prep-and-canon tool and ships none of that. For tactical play, Obsidian wins outright.
You already use Claude or ChatGPT for session prep
You paste your notes into a fresh chat every session. You re-explain who Mira and Cyrus are. The chat compacts and forgets. Next session you start over.
Grimoire fits this.
Obsidian can be wired to AI through its MCP endpoint too, but it serves your vault as notes to search. Grimoire's MCP serves a typed campaign your AI traverses by structure, in your canon. That structural difference is the cleanest wedge between the two.
You need your data as local files you own, offline, no lock-in
Plain markdown on your own disk. Works on a train with no signal. Yours forever, in a format no company controls. This is a principle for you, not a nice-to-have.
Obsidian fits this.
Local-first markdown is Obsidian's core strength. Grimoire is a hosted web app with data export, not local plain-text files. If data ownership is a hard requirement, Obsidian is the honest pick.
You want to see how your world connects, not just that notes link
You want to ask "every NPC tied to the Vale faction in Greyhaven" and see it as a map. Allies and rivals as a political web. Events on a timeline. One world, many lenses.
Grimoire fits this.
Obsidian's graph view is a link graph: every line means "these notes mention each other." Grimoire's knowledge graphs are relationship-typed and render as political, geographic, timeline, and custom projections.
A campaign manager that works on day one. No plugins to install, no queries to write.
One full working campaign, forever. Free tier includes the player portal, knowledge
graphs, and Grimoire MCP. No credit card.
Calendarium (dedicated: eras, seasons, moon cycles)
Player sharing
3 named visibility tiers + dedicated player portal + invite-code auth
Publish to web ($10/mo); no per-entity visibility tiers
Real-time collaborative wiki
Yes (Y.js CRDT, multiple editors live)
Not native (Sync shares a vault across your own devices)
AI integration
MCP-native. Serves a typed campaign the AI traverses by structure (entities, relationships, threads)
MCP available (Local REST API / community servers), but exposes vault notes the AI searches as text
AI token charges
Never (bring your own client)
Pay per call if using the ChatGPT plugin
Data ownership
Hosted web app with full data export
Local plain-text markdown files you own. Category-leading
Offline
No (web-only)
Yes, by default (local-first)
Price
Free tier (1 campaign, MCP included) · Pro $10/mo
Core free · Sync $5/mo · Publish $10/mo
Maturity / ecosystem
Early-stage, purpose-built
Huge: 2,000+ plugins, deep TTRPG community
How it actually feels different
Five places where the two tools diverge in practice.
Assemble vs. ready-made
Obsidian hands you a blank vault and a plugin marketplace. Grimoire hands you a working schema.
In Obsidian you choose plugins, wire them together, write Dataview queries, and design
your own frontmatter before the campaign starts. The flexibility is genuine. In Grimoire
an NPC already has fields for motivations, relationships, secrets, and visibility,
because most NPCs need them. You fill instead of build.
Link graph vs. relationship graph
Obsidian's graph shows that notes connect. Grimoire's graphs show how.
Every line in Obsidian's graph view means the same thing: "these two notes mention each
other." Grimoire's knowledge graphs are typed. Click a duke and see every faction he's
in, every location he's tied to, every quest that touches him, rendered as a political
web, a geography, a timeline, or a custom view. One graph, many lenses.
Player sharing
Grimoire has a player portal with named visibility tiers. Obsidian has Publish.
Grimoire ships three visibility levels (common knowledge, player knowledge, GM secrets)
and a dedicated player portal with invite-code auth, so players see exactly what you
intend and nothing more. In Obsidian, sharing means paying for Publish and managing what
the published vault exposes, with secret-hiding as structure you maintain by hand.
AI integration
Both can connect to AI. Only one serves a typed campaign.
Obsidian connects to AI through its Local REST API plugin's MCP endpoint (or community
servers like mcp-obsidian), and the RPG Manager plugin can call ChatGPT or Ollama for NPC
generation. But what the MCP exposes is your vault as markdown notes the AI searches by
text. Grimoire's MCP exposes a typed campaign the AI traverses by structure (entities,
relationships, threads, narrative state), so it respects canon and homebrew and pulls the
right context instead of guessing a note's title. One OAuth click; the connector stays
put. Grimoire never charges for AI tokens, and the free tier covers MCP.
The table layer (where Obsidian wins)
Initiative, dice, statblocks, battlemaps. Obsidian's plugins do these. Grimoire does not.
This is the cleanest concession on the page. Obsidian's Initiative Tracker, Dice Roller,
Fantasy Statblocks, and Leaflet battlemaps are excellent and category-leading for running
combat at the table. Grimoire is a prep-and-canon tool and ships none of that.
If your core need is the tactical layer, Obsidian is the better tool, full stop. Plenty
of GMs run both: Obsidian for at-the-table mechanics and local notes, Grimoire for the
structured campaign their AI client reads live. They cover different halves of the job.
The honest concessions
When Obsidian is the better choice
Pick Obsidian if:
You run combat from your notes and want initiative tracking, dice, statblocks, and battlemaps in one place
You need your data as local plain-text files you own, fully offline, with no lock-in
You enjoy building and tuning your own system from plugins, and the setup is part of the fun
You want a fantasy calendar with eras, seasons, and moon cycles
You already have a vault you love and the workflow fits how you actually run sessions
You want a free, infinitely moddable tool and are happy to maintain the plugin stack
You do not want a hosted web app holding your campaign, on principle
Grimoire is not trying to win any of those. They're real, and Obsidian owns them.
The real question
Both are free to start. The question is whether you want to build the tool or use it.
Obsidian's core app is free and Grimoire has a full free tier. Price isn't the deciding factor here. Shape is.
Obsidian gives you a blank, free, infinitely flexible workspace and a marketplace of
plugins to turn it into whatever you want, including a campaign manager. For GMs who enjoy
that, the result is a tool fitted exactly to them.
Grimoire gives you the campaign manager already built: typed entities, relationship graphs,
a player portal, and MCP, on a free tier, with nothing to assemble. For GMs who'd rather
spend that weekend prepping the session than configuring the tool, that's the trade.
Obsidian is the toolkit you assemble. Grimoire is the campaign manager you don't have to build.
That's the choice.
If you want to build your own system and own your files: Obsidian. If you want a working
campaign manager with relationship graphs, a player portal, and live AI on day one:
Grimoire. Both are free to try.
Migration
Moving from Obsidian to Grimoire
There's no one-click import. Two practical paths, and your markdown helps.
Path 1
Manual, entity by entity
Obsidian in one tab, Grimoire in the other. Use Grimoire's structured forms to recreate
NPCs, locations, and factions. Faster than it sounds: the schema is built, so you fill
in fields rather than design them. Most migrators land a session-ready skeleton in an
evening.
Path 2 · Recommended
AI-assisted via MCP
Connect Grimoire MCP to Claude or ChatGPT. Paste your markdown notes into the chat and
ask the AI to parse them into typed Grimoire entries. Because Obsidian notes are plain
markdown, they paste cleanly. The MCP write tools create NPCs, locations, factions, and
relationships directly. A cleanup pass after, and you're session-ready.
Keeping Obsidian for at-the-table tools is a perfectly good plan. Many GMs run both, with
Grimoire as the structured canon their AI client reads live.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Is Grimoire really free? What's the catch?
Grimoire's free tier is one full working campaign, unlimited entities, 50 MB storage, knowledge graphs, the player portal, MCP integration, and data export. No ads, no credit card, no time limit. Paid tiers unlock more campaigns, larger storage, and custom fields. Most homebrew GMs running one campaign never need to upgrade.
Obsidian is free too. Why would I pay anything?
You might not need to. Grimoire's free tier is a complete campaign manager, just like Obsidian's core app is free. The honest difference is not price, it is shape. Obsidian is free and infinitely moddable, but you assemble the campaign manager yourself from plugins. Grimoire is free and already assembled: typed entities, relationship graphs, a player portal, and MCP, with nothing to install or configure.
Can I keep my Obsidian vault and still use Grimoire?
Yes, and plenty of GMs do exactly that. Keep Obsidian for at-the-table tools (initiative tracker, dice, statblocks, battlemaps) and local markdown you own, and use Grimoire for the structured campaign your AI client can read live. They are not mutually exclusive. If anything, they cover different halves of the job.
How do I move my notes from Obsidian into Grimoire?
There is no one-click import. Obsidian notes are freeform markdown; Grimoire entities are pre-typed. The practical path: connect Grimoire MCP to Claude or ChatGPT, paste your markdown notes into the chat, and have the AI parse them into typed Grimoire entities (NPCs, locations, factions, relationships). Because your notes are plain markdown, they paste cleanly. Most migrations land a session-ready campaign in an evening.
Does Grimoire have an initiative tracker, dice roller, or statblocks?
No, and that is deliberate. Grimoire is a prep-and-canon tool, not a virtual tabletop. Obsidian's TTRPG plugins (Initiative Tracker, Dice Roller, Fantasy Statblocks, Leaflet battlemaps) are excellent and category-leading for running combat at the table. If your core need is tactical play, Obsidian's plugin stack does that better than Grimoire does. Many GMs run both.
What is Grimoire's relationship graph, and how is it different from Obsidian's graph view?
Obsidian's graph view is a link graph: it shows which notes reference which other notes. It is great for seeing how your vault connects, but every line means the same thing ("these two notes mention each other"). Grimoire's knowledge graphs are relationship-typed and rendered in multiple projections: political (who allies with whom), geographic (what is where), timeline (when things happened), and custom. You can ask "show every NPC tied to the Vale faction in Greyhaven" and see it, not just browse links.
Do I have to use AI to use Grimoire?
No. Grimoire is a complete campaign manager with zero AI features turned on. Knowledge graphs, the typed wiki, the player portal, and structured entities all work standalone. Grimoire MCP is an optional layer for GMs who already use Claude, ChatGPT, or another AI client. AI is a power feature, not a requirement.
Does Obsidian have AI integration like Grimoire's MCP?
Obsidian can connect to AI, but not in the same way. The RPG Manager plugin has an optional ChatGPT or Ollama integration for NPC generation, pointed at one provider. And the Local REST API plugin (plus community servers like mcp-obsidian) does expose an MCP endpoint. The difference is what that MCP serves: your vault as markdown notes and files the AI fetches and finds by full-text search. Grimoire's MCP serves a typed campaign instead. The AI traverses your world by structure (every NPC in the Vale faction, every thread touching a location), respects canon and homebrew, and knows the current narrative state, so it pulls the right context instead of guessing a note's title or missing it on a misspelled query. Grimoire never charges for AI tokens.
I want to own my data as local files. Doesn't Obsidian win there?
Yes. This is Obsidian's real strength and worth naming plainly. Obsidian stores everything as plain markdown files on your own disk, works fully offline, and has no lock-in. Grimoire is a hosted web app with data export, not local plain-text files. If local-first data ownership is a hard requirement for you, Obsidian is the better fit, and we will say so.
What does Grimoire give me that an Obsidian plugin stack doesn't?
A campaign manager you do not have to build. No installing and configuring six to ten plugins, no writing Dataview queries, no maintaining Templater templates, no schema you designed yourself, no plugin breaking after an update. Plus three things the plugin stack does not give you cleanly: relationship-typed multi-projection graphs, a real player portal with named visibility tiers, and an MCP that hands AI a typed campaign to traverse, not just a vault of notes to search.
The campaign manager you'd have built, already built.
Free to start. No credit card. No AI required. MCP included on every tier.
Love your Obsidian vault? Keep it. Try Grimoire on a new campaign and see if the
typed-entity model and live AI fit how you actually run your sessions.