There are a number of things I collect randomly. I have purchased an insane number of TTRPG pdfs off of sites like DriveThruRPG. I love stationery so places like The Papery are a massive problem. I have an enormous number of PC games on my Steam account but only play a few of them for longer than an hour or two.
And then, in a weird mesh of online stationery, I love trying programmes and websites having to do with writing. I have Scrivener; I was a big fan of Liquid Story Binder (but they're no longer updating it 😕); Microsoft OneNote remains a big favourite; Obsidian is golden for idea crafting and linking; and so on...
This means that I have an overabundance of programmes and places where my homebrew world resides. And I know that this kind of window-shopping for programmes is basically procrastination from actually working on writing, but I have also just been trying to find the one that works the easiest and the best.
World Anvil is a strong contender for working the best, but I can't call it the easiest website to learn. It is incredibly robust and the things you can do there are simply phenomenal. But you need to have an understanding of the programme you're working with. You need to think about things in a particular way, otherwise you won't have a clue what you're doing.
And then came Anto from Icarus Games and he started sharing about his campaign which he writes up in LegendKeeper - a worldbuilding site that does all the things I need it to do (and more) without overwhelming me with everything it can do.
I tried it out for the 14-day trial period and I was still a bit skeptical but growing more convinced that this both covers working the easiest and covering all the bases I need covered. So, when my brother asked what I'd like for a Christmas present, I asked that he'd help me get a year subscription. The site keeps your projects if you no longer subscribe and enables you to export it. So the work wouldn't just hang there inaccessible if you don't pay... but, after a week of working on this programme, I have to say I think this is going be one of those sites (like Inkarnate and Roll20) that is going to become a permanent thing.
So let's (finally) talk about LegendKeeper...
As mentioned above, it is a worldbuilding website. What that means is that it allows you to write and compile a series of articles (with or without the help of templates), and link them to each other and whatever maps you have loaded up. There are some standard templates available to help prompt you, should you need that (user-created templates are also available on their Discord). All of this enables you to set up a wiki as detailed or sparse as you'd like it to be. You can also select certain pages, tabs, or paragraphs to be hidden and kept secret from those who you share the project with.
Which leads me to the first 'nit pick' of LegendKeeper in its current state.
LegendKeeper is currently in Open Beta. Which means that there are a multitude of features available, but it is still a work in progress. If I understand it correctly, there are two ways to share the project. One is by a link which means they won't need an account and can see all the things you didn't hide in the project. This would generally be great for just sharing with your players so they have a wiki-like view of things. The second is by actually given them access to a role. This enables them to collaborate and not just view. Currently there are only two roles: admin (sees everything including secrets), and member (sees only what you've made available, can edit if you allow it).
There's currently no fiddling with what each collaborator can do. You have an all-or-nothing approach which doesn't work as well if you have multiple groups running the game - as they'd need varying access to information. If I read it correctly, it is the developer's intention to diversify roles a bit and add them almost like Discord does. So this isn't a deal-breaker or anything. It's probably the one problem I have with it amongst a lot of good.
I'm not halfway through doing what I need to do to upload all my scattered notes onto LegendKeeper, but I'm happy so far with what I have there. And I'm happy with how simple it is and impressed by how complex you can make it. The pricing for everything you're getting is also reasonable.
So all in all I'd say I'm very happy with LegendKeeper. Let's give it a year and see what I make of it when I need to resubscribe.
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