Write statblocks in Atlas
Make statblocks as notes, fill them in on a card beside the note, and shape the card with templates.
Atlas can write and draw statblocks itself, without another plugin. A statblock is a note: its numbers are the note's properties, and Atlas shows them as a card beside the note while you type. A template decides what the card holds, like the 5E monster layout or a Cairn creature.
Make a statblock
Open Obsidian's command palette and run New statblock…. You can also right-click a folder in the file explorer and choose New statblock here.
Choose what to make. The list starts with the kinds of statblock your collection makes, like Monster or NPC, followed by every template. Type to filter it, then press Enter.
Type a name and press Enter. The note opens with its card beside it, ready for the first value.
Make a monster called Ogre Brute.
To make a statblock for a token you already have, right-click the token on the map, or its card on the Tokens tab of the Asset Manager, and choose Create statblock. The note takes the token's name and picture, and the token is linked to it at once.
Fill it in
Click an empty value on the card, like "Add HP", type and press Enter. Atlas writes the value into the note's properties as you go.
For an ability, click the line under its list, like Add action. Type the name, press Enter, type what it does and press Enter again. Drag an ability by its grip to move it. An ability with its name and text emptied is deleted.
Lists the card leaves out while they are empty, like Traits or Legendary Actions, wait as buttons under the card. Click one to add it. More properties under the card holds the note's tags and aliases, and the values the template does not show.
Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z on macOS) undoes your last change. Drag the card's left edge to make it wider. In a narrow pane the card moves above the note.
The note stays a normal note. Write anything you like in it, like tactics or a description, and it shows beside the card.
Use it on the map
Link the statblock to a token as with any statblock: right-click the token and choose Link Statblock. Atlas then reads the token's hit points and other values from it. Hold Ctrl (Cmd on macOS) over the token to see the card, and click dice on the card to roll them. See Use Fantasy Statblocks with Atlas.
Choose a template
Atlas comes with templates for several games: 5E with the 2014 and the 2024 rules, Cairn, Draw Steel and Fate. Simpler ones like Creature, NPC, Hazard and d20 creature fit most other games.
To give a statblock another template, click the ⋯ under the card's bottom right corner and choose Change template…. Values the new template has no place for stay in the note.
Change a template
Click the ⋯ under the card and choose Edit template. The template opens: on the left the text every new statblock starts with, on the right the card.
Click a part of the card to select it. A toolbar opens under it, with the kind of value, Options, Add below, Delete and More.
The template editor with the Senses value selected. To add a part, click or drag one of the buttons beside the card: a value, a set of numbers, a list of abilities, a table, counters, text or a divider.
Click Save.
The templates that come with Atlas stay as they are. When you save changes to one, Atlas saves them as a new template of your own. Duplicate template in the card's menu does this in one step: it copies the template, switches this statblock to the copy and opens it.
Your templates are files in the folder atlas-vtt/statblock-templates, shared by every collection in your vault.
Templates for a collection
Each collection decides which template a new statblock starts from. Open the collection settings on the Statblocks tab.
Each row is a kind of statblock the collection makes, like Monster or NPC, with its template and the folder its notes go to. Add role adds another kind, for example one for player characters. A game system preset brings the kinds and templates of its game.
Coming from Fantasy Statblocks
Atlas draws Fantasy Statblocks' notes too, also when that plugin is not installed. To edit one in Atlas, right-click the note in the file explorer:
- Edit with an Atlas template… keeps the note's values and lets you choose the template Atlas draws them with.
- Copy into a new statblock makes a new Atlas statblock from a note with a
statblockcode block in it.
To bring over a layout you built in Fantasy Statblocks, run Import Fantasy Statblocks layout… from Obsidian's command palette. Atlas turns it into a template of your own.