| Resource | Description |
| Omniglot: Alphabets | Compendium of alphabets from times past and present in the real world. |
| Lexicity | A repository of resources to learn ancient languages. |
| A Guide to Names and Naming Practices | How names are structured and constructed in various languages and cultures |
| Skyscript Glossary | A glossary of miscellaneous archaic words (originally found in astrological texts). |
| Dictionary of Victorian Slang | It’s a dictionary of Victorian slang. |
| How Language Works | This is the table of contents page for the Indiana University page for linguistics / cognitive science. It goes through the science and methodology of linguistics. |
| Old English Translator | Simple indexed translator for Old English. |
| [47:24] Animated History of Writing Systems | This lengthy YouTube video goes through a history of writing systems in the real world. |
| Google Ngrams Viewer | This online tool searches for how often your input word(s) was used in literature during a given year, represented by a line plot. |
Objects & Animals
| Resource | Description |
| Food Timeline | Timeline of major events in food history, and links to more information. |
| Herbs for the Medieval Household, for Cooking, Healing, and Diverse Uses | “Covering nearly seventy different herbs, this book details each plant’s specific role in several aspects of medieval society including cooking, healing, and pest control.” |
| Technology Timeline | Timeline of major events in technology and invention. |
| Clothing and Fashion | Blog post that discusses many important talking points for designing clothing and fashion in your world, including the types of clothing to consider, its composition, and significance. |
| The Greek Age of Bronze | “Weapons and warfare in the late Helladic time 1600-1100 BC” |
| Medieval Art / Architecture Glossary | |
| Guide to Conworld Architecture | Short tips on how to design buildings in a fictional setting. |
| Desert Cities Thread | Brief Twitter thread that is a picture guide to desert cities, with a glimpse into some architectural designs and history. |
| Guide to European Armor / Weapons | Imgur album with labeled images of European armor and weaponry. |
| Oakeshott Typology for Medieval Swords | (Abbreviated image here) Resource detailing the different types of swords found in the medieval era, with brief notes about their qualities and usage. |
| Japanese Swords | Huge repository of information regarding the different types of Japanese sword, including many supplementary articles. See also: this cute picture |
| How a Handgun Works | High quality animations of the inner workings of the modern handgun, with supplementary information about parts, terminology, and how each piece works together. |
| Wikipedia: List of legendary creatures by type | |
| Medieval Bestiary | An encyclopedia for animals in medieval times, real or fictional. |
| Circle of the Dragon | Information about dragons and dragon-like creatures around the world. |
| Yokai | Encyclopedia of Japanese yokai (phantom, apparition), which are the rough equivalent of spirits or demons in Western culture. |
| Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods | This 1910 fictional field guide details some creatures of the North American lumberjack folklore. |
| All Your Yesterdays | This book is a collection of speculative depictions of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures from various paleoartists. |
| Common Animal Niches | /r/SpeculativeEvolution post about common animal niches, for inspiration when filling up the fauna of your world. |
| List of Feeding Behaviors | Wikipedia article on the different types of feeding behaviors found in real-life animals. |
| Everything You Need to Know About Feathers | Be sure to look at all 6 pages of this very helpful guide on how feathers work. |
| Picture Guide to Animal Eye Types | Guide to the different types of eye types found in animals on Earth, with a brief blurb on their prevalence and function. |
| Picture Album of the La Brea Tar Pits | These are some pictures of select exhibits and plaques from the La Brea Tar Pits (natural history museum) in Los Angeles. |
Beliefs & Customs
| Resource | Description |
| On Naming People and Places (PDF) | A quick and dirty guide to how people and places are named in real life, and how to apply these concepts to your own world. |
| List of Human Universals | Compiled list of ideas / concepts universal to many (if not all) human societies, originally sourced from Donald Brown’s book “Human Universals” |
| Religion Design Guide | An article on how to design your own fantasy religion including important talking points and organizational issues. |
| Myths, Creatures, and Folklore | Repository of links to pages detailing real-world beliefs. See also: Theoi (Greek mythology), Germanic Mythology |
| Glossary of Terms in Wuxia, Xianxia & Xuanhuan Novels | Glossary of important terms and concepts in Chinese fantasy novels. |
| [Video] World Mythology Crash Course | Playlist of videos that provide a quick view of world mythology. |
| Faiths and Folklore (Brand’s popular antiquity) | “A dictionary of national beliefs, superstitions and popular customs, past and current, with their classical and foreign analogues, described and illustrated.” |
| Sacred Texts Archive | Repository for freely available texts regarding religion, mythology, and folklore from around the world. |
| [Audio] History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps | Series that “looks at the ideas, lives and historical context of the major philosophers as well as the lesser-known figures of the tradition [of philosophy].” |
| List of Supernatural Powers and Abilities | Wiki page from the Superpowers wiki that lists different superpowers from various sources. |
| Superseded Scientific Theories | Guide to real-life scientific theories that have since been abandoned; potentially useful for developing how your denizens understand the world. |
| Elements of Agricultural Chemistry | Free eBook that talks about agricultural chemistry. Use this to develop a more detailed understanding of plants and the process of growing them, especially in the context of food production, medicine, and other applications. |
| Alchemical Texts | Repository of alchemical texts and images from various eras, pertaining to both physical and philosophical beliefs. Also includes resources to learn more about alchemy. If you need symbology, refer to this link on this website. |
| Ian Mladjov’s Chronologies / Genealogies | A comprehensive guide to the monarchs and ruling families in history. |
| Heraldry Links | This site links to resources useful for learning heraldry in the real world. |
| Flags of the World | Vexillology (flags) resources, including information about all the flags in the real world. |
| Family Echo | This is a tool to create family trees. |
Networks, timelines, etc.
Ideally used in conjunction with another dedicated notebook, these tools can help you visualize your information in forms other than paragraphs.
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Mindmapping: Freeplane, Freemind, Xmind, TreeSheets
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Timeline tools: see list here; also, Fantasy Calendar Generator, TimelineJS, Timeline (software), Aeon Timeline
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Chart tools:
- Family Echo for family trees
- draw.io for flowcharts
- TreeGraph for phylogenetic trees