Atlas VTT turns Obsidian into a full virtual tabletop, and it's free to use offline

Published Oct 7, 2026, 2:01 PM EDT Patrick is a seasoned writer with more than a decade of experience, specializing in any and all things tech. His work has been featured on platforms like CNET, Yahoo, Xfinity, and many other outlets. When not typing away, he can be found with his nose in a book. Obsidian has become my go-to manager for my DnD campaigns. It's an excellent tool for tracking where my players are in the story, what items they have, and managing the dozens of loose threads I can pull to add a bit of variety to the game. That's especially true in long-running campaigns like Dungeon of the Mad Mage. I use Roll20 for the actual gameplay and damage calculations, but Obsidian is my digital notebook for keeping track of everything. But now? Roll20 might be a thing of the past. A new plugin called Atlas VTT (Virtual Tabletop) brings many of those same Roll20 features right into Obsidian, including a separate view for players and DMs. It's honestly one of the most impressive Obsidian plugins I've seen, and that's saying something, considering how many I've experimented with. Atlas VTT began as a passion project but has grown into much more It's everything tabletop players need, built by someone who understands them On Atlas VTT's Obsidian plugin page, the creator states that "[He] built Atlas as part of my bachelor's thesis to give the TTRPG community a virtual tabletop that's open source, hackable, and free to use." Fabian Urbanek has essentially created a platform like Roll20, but it gives dungeon masters and players nearly complete control. Everything happens inside the Obsidian vault. There's no third-party processing, which means far fewer privacy concerns, and the level of customization is insanely impressive. It works well with several other tools, like the Fantasy Statblock plugin. The features you expect from a tool like this are all present and accounted for: DMs can measure distances, hide parts of the map, track turns and initiative, and even choose specific musical tracks for different battles. Right now, Atlas VTT only works on desktop. While I haven't seen confirmation that it's coming to mobile versions of Obsidian, it feels like the next natural evolution of this tool. It's game-agnostic, with built-in support for multiple formats It's more than just DnD 5e A huge number of people have come to tabletop gaming through Dungeons and Dragons, and that's not a bad thing. It's probably the most well-known TTRPG in history, but there are so many more systems to pick from. Atlas VTT lets you choose from DnD 5e, Daggerheart, Call of Cthulhu, Cyberpunk RED, and more. And if none of those fit the bill? You can create your own system, setting specific measurement units, distance per square, movement settings, and even how the game handles diagonal movement. Once created, you can choose that system later when you want to start a new campaign in the same setting. It's also a great way to implement systems that aren't included by default. Atlas VTT goes beyond just movement tweaks. It also supports different conditions that affect how the game is played, like Call of Cthulhu's Bout of Madness or Pathfinder's Clumsy condition. You can create custom conditions, but many common choices are included and visible when you select the system. For example, D&D 5e has 15 conditions and 6 senses, while Call of Cthulhu has 9 conditions. Campaign notes become part of the map Where Obsidian's note-taking comes in One of my biggest complaints with Roll20 is how clunky and disconnected the map can feel from the actual gameplay. Navigating the obtuse menus is time-consuming, especially when I'm trying to reference something in the middle of a session quickly. Sure, there are shortcuts — double-clicking an icon to bring up the stat page is one way of doing it — but when I'm trying to check what's in a specific room ahead of my players arriving there, I usually just flip open the physical campaign book rather than trying to find it in Roll20. Since Atlas VTT is built in Obsidian, it has all of Obsidian's best features right there at your fingertips. You can pin notes to the in-game map, then read and edit them in a floating panel above it. That means no need to switch windows. Obsidian's preview functions work, too, so you can quickly glance at anything linked to the pinned note. It's not set up for multiplayer yet Atlas VTT has a lot of promise, but it's not finished Right now, a D&D campaign in Atlas VTT means the DM controls all of their players' tokens. It's not set up for multiplayer yet, so don't scramble to cancel your Roll20 subscriptions. The player view is intended for projection on a TV or a second monitor. You can hide details from the players' view, but they can't directly affect it. You can also share just that screen through Discord for remote play. That said, the developer has already stated that remote, player-controlled tokens are planned for future updates. If so, Atlas VTT will be well on its way to being a fantastic tool for people who play online. Atlas VTT is shaping up to be one of the best TTRPG plugins in Obsidian Many players use Obsidian to manage all their TTRPG details, so it's no surprise there are already quite a few plugins aimed at that demographic. Fantasy Statblock, Dice Roller, and Granite are just a few that come to mind. That said, Atlas VTT is one of the most impressive plugins I've come across in Obsidian, and I fully intend to bring it into my DMing toolkit. Obsidian OS Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, iPadOS, Android Individual pricing Free normally; $4/month for Obsidian Sync Obsidian is a feature-rich note-taking app that's available on different platforms and offers a neat and clean interface. It's also free-to-use for individuals.