One of my non-RPG interests is genealogy. There are several free genealogy programs that can save off various styles of family trees to PDF. This could be used to generate a family tree for characters, or kings and other rulers.

Many of these can export to RTF or other formats, so that a background could be used if the PDF is only to be used online. Otherwise, get some parchment paper, and give it the rough treatment, if it is to be an ancient document. For example, tear off or burn a piece that the players will need to know for some reason.

For Windows PCs, Legacy Family Tree has a free version able to meet these needs. It also works on other OSes with Wine. For Linux, there is a GUI based program called GRAMPS, that can also run on other OSes. For those not afraid of the command line and an ncurses text interface, there is LifeLines. It was originally developed for Unix, but has been ported to Linux, Mac, Windows and others.

What programs and utilities do you use outside of your gaming life that could be used to add flavor?

Harvard Magazine has an interesting article that investigates the transition of Britain from Romans & Celts to Anglo-Saxons in a 400 year period.

The article is about scientific disciplines helping fill in the gaps in the written record of historical times. The findings of science are informing revised interpretations of evidence.

One example is the black earth where the towns of France were thought to have been abandoned after the fall of the Roman Empire, but actually show a change in building materials from stone to organic materials such as wood and thatched roofs.

They also tie the DNA study into examples from the descendants of the former slaves in the US, and the population of Medellin, Columbia. This can add flavor to the history and sway of one’s campaign.

The article can also be saved as a PDF that has illustrations to help visualize the point. Save off the PDF in case the link goes dead in the future.

It is amazing how little things we do not expect can inform us and help add spice to a campaign.