History Roleplay / Adylheim

''[[http://www.adylheim.com Adylheim]]'' is a diceless [[PlayByPostGames Play By Post Roleplaying Game]] set in an original fantasy world. It places a heavy emphasis on writing and character development over combat and leveling. [[http://www.adylheim.com/rules The rules]] strike a fair balance between being permissive enough to allow characters to be interesting from their time of creation and being just restrictive enough to prevent most [[GodModders Godmodding]].

The game was founded in February 2008 by major figures in a splinter community from another [[PlayByPostGames PBP]]. As a result it has the close-knit, family feel of a much older game, complete with [[TrueCompanions satellites]] who stick around in [[http://www.adylheim.com/chat chat]] without actually participating in the game.

Unfortunately, as of 2011, this game seems to be defunct.

* AllTrollsAreDifferent: Holds within the game world itself. You know it's a [[http://www.adylheim.com/trolls troll]] because it's a vaguely nature-themed humanoid creature that doesn't look like anything else, not because of any shared characteristics among trolls.
%%* {{Animorphism}}: The [[http://www.adylheim.com/ursidaen Ursidaen]]. {{Bears Are|BadNews}} [[InvertedTrope GOOD News]]!
* AnotherDimension: [[http://www.adylheim.com/planes Explored]] more thoroughly than usual for a fantasy story. In addition to the archetypal elemental planes, gods' planes and [[TheMultiverse alternate realities]], there are also separate planes of dreams for each race, two intersecting planes that form the [[http://www.adylheim.com/faerie Realm of Faerie]], a five-plane-spanning [[TheEmpire Cosmarchy]] that has invaded Adylheim in the past, and more.

%%* ElementalEmbodiment: [[http://www.adylheim.com/elementals Elementals.]]

%%* FantasticRacism: Discussed [[http://www.adylheim.com/node/229 here]].

* FunctionalMagic: With caveats. Theoretically magic (with the exception of [[ReligionIsMagic Mantra]]) cast in the same way should yield the same results, but the state of the universe and especially the state of the caster can change the results dramatically. For [[HermeticMagic Low Magic]] and [[http://www.adylheim.com/alchemy Alchemy]], it's that you can't draw the ''exact'' same shape twice, and it requires such concentration and free time as to make screwing up at least once more likely than not. High Magic is sympathetic with the caster's emotions, so only the most self-controlled or skilled high mages can guarantee consistent results. Mantra is supplication to the gods, who have free will and aren't beholden to anyone.

* HumanoidAliens: The [[http://www.adylheim.com/daevol Dae'Vol]]. They're freakishly tall and thin, have porous red-and-grey skin with black stripes, AlienHair on their heads, and most importantly have ''[[BizarreAlienBiology no mouths or noses]]''.

* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: More like Linear Warriors, Quadratic Low Mages, Logarithmic [[http://www.adylheim.com/highmagic High Mages]]. Increased skill in High Magic never gives you more ''power'', just more ''control'', so that you can use it in more subtle and precisely.

* LizardFolk: The [[http://www.adylheim.com/dragonkin Dragonkin]]. [[WingedHumanoid Which have wings]], by the way. Please note that while their wings sprout from their shoulders, [[BizarreAlienBiology their arms don't]].

%%* MagicAndPowers: Find an overview [[http://www.adylheim.com/magicadylheim here]].

%%* MassiveRaceSelection: [[http://www.adylheim.com/racesintro Standard Playable Races]].
* MedievalEuropeanFantasy: [[http://www.adylheim.com/arameia Arameia]], [[http://www.adylheim.com/longmoor Longmoor]], [[http://www.adylheim.com/starkwater Starkwater]] and [[http://www.adylheim.com/nevros Nevros]] play it straight, but [[http://www.adylheim.com/teslan Teslan]] is almost at Renaissance level, [[http://www.adylheim.com/andragoria Andragoria]] and [[http://www.adylheim.com/nerin Nerin]] are both more Asian-themed, Maradin society would be at home in ''Film/WaterWorld'', and non-human cultures are all suitably non-European.
* MedievalStasis: [[http://www.adylheim.com/politicalmap Human lands]]. The Dae'Vol have MagiTek and the Dragonkin are [[TechnologicalPacifist Technological Pacifists]], but everyone else is held at a medieval level by hardship, politics, and the presence of magic. This is arguably a DeconstructedTrope: two of the common justifications for MedievalStasis, religious fervor and repressive government, are actually the defining characteristics of the more advanced societies. The Dragonkin's devout attachment to their all-consuming religion has kept them at peace with each other for thousands of years; though their xenophobia and traditionalism impeded the rate at which their technology developed, in the past eighteen thousand years they have ''never once'' had to deal with the EndOfAnAge, and over the millennia their slow progress has added up. Dae'Vol MagiTek is the result of living in a [[{{Mordor}} horrible]] [[{{Dystopia}} dystopian]] [[FantasticCasteSystem society]] that cranks production and research up to OverNineThousand as a way of justifying their MoralMyopia. Meanwhile, the MedievalStasis societies have more mundane and realistic reasons for remaining at their technology level: they have more immediate concerns, like feeding themselves and avoiding being killed by rivals.

* OmniscientMoralityLicense: Averted, even for the omniscient. Choice and free will are two of the [[http://www.adylheim.com/whatisadylheim defining themes]] of Adylheim, after all.

* OurElvesAreDifferent: [[http://www.adylheim.com/elves Elves]] are still small, forest-dwelling humanoids with natural magical abilities, but instead of being cultured and sophisticated or down to earth, they're [[TheTrickster Tricksters]] with a cultural aversion to hard work, similar to medieval European stereotypes of Gypsies. It is heavily implied that they are in fact a group of TheFairFolk gone native after spending thousands of years away from the [[http://www.adylheim.com/faerie realm of Faerie]].

* OurGodsAreDifferent: [[http://www.adylheim.com/gods The Gods]] are just powerful people doing their jobs to keep reality from falling apart and letting out their [[http://www.adylheim.com/creationmythos old enemy]]. In line with the conventions of [[Myth/ClassicalMythology polytheistic]] [[Myth/NorseMythology mythology]], the stories of their interactions have a definite SoapOpera feel.

%%* OurMonstersAreDifferent: It helps that the four original creators are still around, disambiguating the ambiguous. For more, see [[http://www.adylheim.com/ecology here]].
* OurOrcsAreDifferent: For one thing, they're called [[TheOgre ogres]]. For another, they're [[http://www.adylheim.com/ogres amphibious swamp-dwellers]]. They're still big, dumb, and green though.

%%* PeopleOfHairColor: [[http://www.adylheim.com/humans Humans]]. This is averted with the Maradin (seafaring dark-skinned people) and Soiliens (Asians), but played straight with the Arameians ([[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Númenóreans]]) and the Threakians (Scandinavians).

%%* ReligionIsMagic: [[http://www.adylheim.com/mantra Mantra]].
%%* SomeoneHasToDie: Death curses and Great Works. (Arguably also some [[http://www.adylheim.com/necromancy Necromancy]].)

%%** The [[http://www.adylheim.com/upok Upok]], as well as the unnamed, squidlike cousins of the Dae'Vol.

* OurElvesAreBetter: Subverted. [[http://www.adylheim.com/elves Elves]] are still small, forest-dwelling humanoids with natural magical abilities, but instead of being cultured and sophisticated or down to earth, they're [[TheTrickster Tricksters]] with a cultural aversion to hard work, similar to medieval European stereotypes of Gypsies. It is heavily implied that they are in fact a group of TheFairFolk gone native after spending thousands of years away from the [[http://www.adylheim.com/faerie realm of Faerie]].

%%* {{Animorphism}} - The [[http://www.adylheim.com/ursidaen Ursidaen]]. {{Bears Are|BadNews}} [[InvertedTrope GOOD News]]!

* TheUndead - Usually created through necromancy, the Undead retain their free wills and their souls - usually the same souls they had at death. Maia, goddess of death, doesn't like giving up her souls, so if you want to make an undead, you should either kill the person yourself and immediately transform the body, or have her approval. You wouldn't like her when she's angry. They usually don't like being undead either, and if released from their master's control go back to their graves (after killing said master).

[[http://www.adylheim.com Adylheim]] is a diceless [[PlayByPostGames Play By Post Roleplaying Game]] set in an original fantasy world. It places a heavy emphasis on writing and character development over combat and leveling. [[http://www.adylheim.com/rules The rules]] strike a fair balance between being permissive enough to allow characters to be interesting from their time of creation and being just restrictive enough to prevent most [[GodModders Godmodding]].

This game provides examples of:
* AnotherDimension - [[http://www.adylheim.com/planes Explored]] more thoroughly than usual for a fantasy story. In addition to the archetypal elemental planes, gods' planes and [[TheMultiverse alternate realities]], there are also separate planes of dreams for each race, two intersecting planes that form the [[http://www.adylheim.com/faerie Realm of Faerie]], a five-plane-spanning [[TheEmpire Cosmarchy]] that has invaded Adylheim in the past, and more.
* AntiMagic - Thunderstone, though it is very rare. On the less rare side, faerie magic and some non-racial magic is disrupted by iron, and the incorporeal undead are still harmed by silver.
* {{Bizarrchitecture}} - One of the largest cities was designed by a group of [[MadScientist mad architects]], which is why the entire city was built as a prayer to the gods and includes both a LivingLabyrinth, as the underground network of caves is constantly changing and the occasional AlienGeometries
* Myth/CelticMythology - One of the larger influences on the game, including TheFairFolk and TheWildHunt.
* CrystalDragonJesus - Some of the Dragonkin religious sects are obviously influenced by different Christian ideas, though there are obvious Buddhist, New Age and Humanist influences as well.
* DemBones- What zombies eventually turn into. They still have personalities and wills, but they can't talk.
* FantasticRacism - Discussed [[http://www.adylheim.com/node/229 here]].
* FantasyGunControl
* FoodChains - Fairy Food, as usual.
* {{Grimmification}} - Lots and lots of this, unicorns have a tendency to eat virgins, for instance, and [[PickyPeopleEater not in a nice way]].
* HalfHumanHybrid - Half-elves and half-ogres, though these are always sterile.
* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards - More like Linear Warriors, Quadratic Low Mages, Logarithmic [[http://www.adylheim.com/highmagic High Mages]]. Increased skill in High Magic never gives you more ''power'', just more ''control'', so that you can use it in more subtle and precisely.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfRaces - On this plane, in playable territory, twelve (including all humans as one race). Keep in mind that we haven't even discovered the entirety of the first ''continent'' yet, and that there are theoretically ''infinite'' [[TheMultiverse planes]].
** MassiveRaceSelection - [[http://www.adylheim.com/racesintro Standard Playable Races]]:
*** {{Animorphism}} - The [[http://www.adylheim.com/ursidaen Ursidaen]]. {{Bears Are|BadNews}} [[InvertedTrope GOOD News]]!
*** HumanoidAliens - They're not actually aliens, but the [[http://www.adylheim.com/daevol Dae'Vol]] fit this trope pretty well. They're freakishly tall and thin, have porous red-and-grey skin with black stripes, AlienHair on their heads, and most importantly have ''[[BizarreAlienBiology no mouths or noses]]''.
*** LizardFolk - The [[http://www.adylheim.com/dragonkin Dragonkin]]. [[WingedHumanoid Which have wings]], by the way. Please note that while their wings sprout from their shoulders, [[BizarreAlienBiology their arms don't]].
*** OurElvesAreBetter - Also subverted. [[http://www.adylheim.com/elves Elves]] are still small, forest-dwelling humanoids with natural magical abilities, but instead of being cultured and sophisticated or down to earth, they're [[TheTrickster Tricksters]] with a cultural aversion to hard work, similar to medieval European stereotypes of Gypsies. It is heavily implied that they are in fact a group of TheFairFolk gone native after spending thousands of years away from the [[http://www.adylheim.com/faerie realm of Faerie]].
*** OurOrcsAreDifferent - For one thing, they're called [[TheOgre ogres]]. For another, they're [[http://www.adylheim.com/ogres amphibious swamp-dwellers]]. They're still big, dumb, and green though.
*** PeopleOfHairColor - [[http://www.adylheim.com/humans Humans]]. This is averted with the Maradin (seafaring dark-skinned people) and Soiliens (Asians), but played straight with the Arameians ([[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Númenóreans]]) and the Threakians (Scandinavians).
** Non-Playable Races from Adylheim:
*** AllTrollsAreDifferent - Holds within the game world itself. You know it's a [[http://www.adylheim.com/trolls troll]] because it's a vaguely nature-themed humanoid creature that doesn't look like anything else, not because of any shared characteristics among trolls.
*** OurDragonsAreDifferent - [[http://www.adylheim.com/drakes Drakes]].
*** OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame - ''Incredibly'' subverted. At first it seems that there aren't any Dwarves in Adylheim at all - but with enough digging it becomes clear that the role of the standard fantasy dwarves is held by the Mefici - non-playable, mysterious crystalline entities that mine crystal in return for undisclosed services from the Dee'Gar.
*** And ElvesVsDwarves is averted, as the only race that even interacts with the Mefici is the Dae'Vol.
*** OurMermaidsAreDifferent - The chosen mariners of Erina, goddess of the sea, are transformed into mermaids when they drown.
*** StarfishAliens - The [[http://www.adylheim.com/upok Upok]], as well as the unnamed, squidlike cousins of the Dae'Vol.
** Non-Playable Races from Other Planes:
*** ElementalEmbodiment - [[http://www.adylheim.com/elementals Elementals.]]
*** HumanoidAliens - The Crystalkin, planar wanderers made of crystal.
*** LizardFolk - The Naga.
*** StarfishAliens - Viators. No one knows quite what they look like, as they explode as soon as their (magical, shapeshifting) suits are breached.
*** TheFairFolk - Fairies are scaaary people.
* MagicAndPowers - Find an overview [[http://www.adylheim.com/magicadylheim here]].
** BlessedWithSuck - High magic is very powerful, instantaneous, and can be used without any training. So lots of young high mages, especially Fire and Life mages, end up dying. This is because high magic is CastFromHitPoints.
** BondCreatures - Low mages' familiars, usually [[RightHandCat cats]].
** CursedWithAwesome - The Ursidaen are humans cursed with the ability to [[ShapeShifting shapeshift]] into bears. It's not all roses though: the power means that pregnancies often end up as miscarriages, and infanticide due to deformities is a common event.
** DisabilitySuperpower - The Dae'Vol and their telepathy.
** ElementalPowers - High Magic. These are PersonalityPowers, but ElementalRockPaperScissors is averted.
** FunctionalMagic - With caveats. Theoretically magic (with the exception of [[ReligionIsMagic Mantra]]) cast in the same way should yield the same results, but the state of the universe and especially the state of the caster can change the results dramatically. For [[HermeticMagic Low Magic]] and [[http://www.adylheim.com/alchemy Alchemy]], it's that you can't draw the ''exact'' same shape twice, and it requires such concentration and free time as to make screwing up at least once more likely than not. High Magic is sympathetic with the caster's emotions, so only the most self-controlled or skilled high mages can guarantee consistent results. Mantra is supplication to the gods, who have free will and aren't beholden to anyone.
** GlamourFailure - Elves' glamours stop working the moment they're touched with iron (steel is okay.)
** HermeticMagic - Low Magic, the more versatile and least inherently risky to the caster of the two magic systems, is largely GeometricMagic. It also takes hours at least to achieve even the slightest result.
** MagicAIsMagicA - One of the few really strict rules, for the purpose of preserving game balance.
** MagicallyBindingContract - Geises. Free will is still in play, however, as being entered into a geis against your will weakens the geis to the point that it might as well not be there.
** MutuallyExclusiveMagic - Any one person can use only one kind of [[ElementalPowers High Magic]].
** ReligionIsMagic - [[http://www.adylheim.com/mantra Mantra]].
** SomeoneHasToDie - Death curses and Great Works. (Arguably also some [[http://www.adylheim.com/necromancy Necromancy]].)
** SpaceIsMagic - It's where the dragons live.
** SummonMagic - Unusual in that it averts NoOntologicalInertia (summoning is permanent), and even more so in that Summoning does ''not'' bind the summonee to your will. You'd better have an offer that demon simply cannot refuse ready before you start...
** WordsCanBreakMyBones / IKnowYourTrueName - Not only True Names, but also Words of Power.
* MedievalEuropeanFantasy - Played straight, sometimes averted. [[http://www.adylheim.com/arameia Arameia]], [[http://www.adylheim.com/longmoor Longmoor]], [[http://www.adylheim.com/starkwater Starkwater]] and [[http://www.adylheim.com/nevros Nevros]] play it straight, but [[http://www.adylheim.com/teslan Teslan]] is almost at Renaissance level, [[http://www.adylheim.com/andragoria Andragoria]] and [[http://www.adylheim.com/nerin Nerin]] are both more Asian-themed, Maradin society would be at home in Film/WaterWorld, and non-human cultures are all suitably non-European.
* MedievalStasis - [[http://www.adylheim.com/politicalmap Human lands]]. The Dae'Vol have MagiTek and the Dragonkin are [[TechnologicalPacifist Technological Pacifists]], but everyone else is held at a medieval level by hardship, politics, and the presence of magic. This is arguably a DeconstructedTrope, and at least subverted: two of the common justifications for MedievalStasis, religious fervor and repressive government, are actually the defining characteristics of the more advanced societies. The Dragonkin's devout attachment to their all-consuming religion has kept them at peace with each other for thousands of years; though their xenophobia and traditionalism impeded the rate at which their technology developed, in the past eighteen thousand years they have ''never once'' had to deal with the EndOfAnAge, and over the milennia their slow progress has added up. Dae'Vol MagiTek is the result of living in a [[{{Mordor}} horrible]] [[{{Dystopia}} dystopian]] [[FantasticCasteSystem society]] that cranks production and research up to OverNineThousand as a way of justifying their MoralMyopia. Meanwhile, the MedievalStasis societies have more mundane and realistic reasons for remaining at their technology level: they have more immediate concerns, like feeding themselves and avoiding being killed by rivals.
* MoralMyopia - The Dae'Vol.
* OmniscientMoralityLicense - ''Absolutely'' averted, even for the omniscient. Choice and free will are two of the [[http://www.adylheim.com/whatisadylheim defining themes]] of Adylheim, after all.
* OurGodsAreDifferent - [[http://www.adylheim.com/gods The Gods]] are just powerful people doing their jobs to keep reality from falling apart and letting out their [[http://www.adylheim.com/creationmythos old enemy]]. In line with the conventions of [[Myth/ClassicalMythology polytheistic]] [[Myth/NorseMythology mythology]], the stories of their interactions have a definite SoapOpera feel.
* OurMonstersAreDifferent - It helps that the four original creators are still around, disambiguating the ambiguous. For more, see [[http://www.adylheim.com/ecology here]].
** [[GiantFlyer Giant Flyers]] - Dragons, drakes, and arguably the Dragonkin, in descending order of bigness.
** GiantSpider - The Moonspiders, which sing their prey to sleep rather than poisoning them.
** LittlePeople - Gnomes are tiny, non-sentient humanoid earth elementals. They're pretty harmless unless you make them angry, in which case you'll want to avoid stepping on the ground as much as possible.
** OurDemonsAreDifferent - A demon is just a sentient being that has signed [[DealWithTheDevil the appropriate contracts]]. Selling one's soul is a last ditch effort though, typically they will generally be satisfied with the first few years of your life, or the last few. Or perhaps the memories of your first love. Those who have done too many deals with demons end up becoming demons themselves after death. Because, let's face it [[CelestialBureaucracy bureacracy]] is the ultimate evil, or as close to it as you'll get in Adylheim.
** OurDragonsAreDifferent - Dragons are giant beings of godlike power, and are worshipped by the dragonkin. They were instrumental in the gods' defeat of the creator Primus, but unlike the gods came to Adylheim to live. Their two wars reshaped the face of the planet, and they created the drakes, the dragonkin, and probably some SealedEvilInACan that's still hanging around, waiting to be discovered. At the end of the Second Dragon War they flew away into space, taking their most damaging machines of war with them, leaving the dragonkin ''and the drakes'' behind.
*** Drakes are more conventional Western dragons.
** OurGhoulsAreCreepier - Cannibalistic abominations that can only eat rotting meat, and therefore tend to gather anywhere large amounts of death occurs. Not actually undead, nor particularly aggressive usually, but people prefer not to have them hanging around for obvious reasons.
** OurGoblinsAreDifferent - Goblins aren't tiny evil things, instead they're tiny strange things that mainly wander around moving things like dead sea gulls and small rocks from place to place without any seeming purpose. Did I mention they can only be seen through the corner of the eye? Oh and touching one or even acknowledging its existence is bad luck.
** OurWerewolvesAreDifferent - Lycanthropy [[spoiler: is an ''STD'']]. Instead of a person turning into a wolf at regular intervals, the infected person's personality and behavior becomes gradually more wolfish, until the disease has run its course and a [[SavageWolves Fell Wolf]] rips its way out of the body, leaving behind a pile of human skin.
** {{Unicorn}} - [[strike:Let's just say "PowerPerversionPotential" and leave it at that.]] You can say it, but it doesn't make it true. Unicorns don't do anything sexual with virgins - they just think they taste delicious. One of the very rare AlwaysChaoticEvil creatures in the game.
* PlanetOfHats - The aversion of this trope is one of the key concepts of this game. No one, not even gods, demons, or zombies, is defined by their race.
* SquishyWizard - Most Low Mages. Averted with High Mages, which were created as a counterpoint for those who might want a different playing style.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt - Indeterminately far in the future, when the Namer gives away the last piece of his name to a new person or object.
* TheGodsMustBeLazy - The gods answer prayers in only the slightest, you-get-an-edge-of-good-luck ways, and Mantra takes continuous hours and sometimes days to create any supernatural effect. The gods also ''never'' appear in person in Adylheim. Fortunately, there are no "good" and "evil" gods, just big supernaturally powerful people who have their own likes and dislikes, and their own duties in keeping the multiverse in order.

** {{Golem}} - Golems are reanimated bodies surrounded by the dirt of their graves for extra strength.
** OurGhostsAreDifferent - Well they're not all that different, actually. Any person can become a ghost after they die if they want to stick around, though only those with unfinished business generally want to, as the afterlife is stasis followed by eventual rebirth (except for really exceptional artists, or demons).
** OurZombiesAreDifferent - Your standard, run-of-the-mill undead. They're pretty much like humans until they start getting gamey. They do not carry TheVirus, and don't usually bite, either.
** YourVampiresSuck - Vampires are just really strong zombies.
* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot - Thanks to Quanoth, trifold god of Time, Causality and Debauchery, who is also responsible for such oft-observed phenomena as time flying when you're having fun.
* WhatMeasureIsANonCute - Largely averted. In-game opinions about animals and races seems to be based mostly on how likely they are to kill you or steal your stuff. Which is usually "pretty likely."

People and events within the game or game community, but not worked into its fabric or official setting, provide examples of:
* EnfantTerrible - Xin. And Damien.
* FriendToAllLivingThings - Isabella.
* HumanityEnsues - Aix Ghrrak-mak.
* WingedHumanoid - besides the dragonkin, there is also Skay.


The Adylheim community pop culture reference pool:
* ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}''
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''
* ''Webcomic/PennyArcade''
* Wiki/TVTropes
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''
* ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries''

*** OurElvesAreBetter - Also subverted. [[http://www.adylheim.com/elves Elves]] are still small, forest-dwelling humanoids with natural magical abilities, but instead of being cultured and sophisticated or down to earth, they're {{Trickster}}s with a cultural aversion to hard work, similar to medieval European stereotypes of Gypsies. It is heavily implied that they are in fact a group of TheFairFolk gone native after spending thousands of years away from the [[http://www.adylheim.com/faerie realm of Faerie]].

* OurGodsAreGreater - [[http://www.adylheim.com/gods The Gods]] are just powerful people doing their jobs to keep reality from falling apart and letting out their [[http://www.adylheim.com/creationmythos old enemy]]. In line with the conventions of [[Myth/ClassicalMythology polytheistic]] [[Myth/NorseMythology mythology]], the stories of their interactions have a definite SoapOpera feel.

** CursedWithAwesome - The Ursidaen are humans cursed with the ability to [[ShapeShifter shapeshift]] into bears. It's not all roses though: the power means that pregnancies often end up as miscarriages, and infanticide due to deformities is a common event.

* MorallyAmbiguousDucktorate - In-character, Aix Ghrrak-mak; out of character, her player, Button.

* OurGodsAreGreater - [[http://www.adylheim.com/gods The Gods]] are just powerful people doing their jobs to keep reality from falling apart and letting out their [[http://www.adylheim.com/creationmythos old enemy]]. In line with the conventions of [[ClassicalMythology polytheistic]] [[NorseMythology mythology]], the stories of their interactions have a definite SoapOpera feel.

The game universe is a LowFantasy world drawn in about equal parts from the StandardFantasySetting and CelticMythology. It differs from HighFantasy mostly in its absolute insistence on GreyAndGrayMorality, its by-in-large return to (largely European) folklore tropes over [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings more recent]] [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons fantasy fare]], and its position on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism. The human lands, where most of the action takes place, consist of [[http://www.adylheim.com/adylheim kingdoms]] formed from the fragments of a dissolved Empire, which are prevented from all-out war with each other by their equally fragmented internal politics. The wealthy become involved in politics (which usually involves combat) or magic to cement their power, while the common folk live lives of toil and hardship. Even so, it's not a WorldHalfEmpty all together: people help each other, communities scrape through hard times, and fate is capricious, rather than actively out to get you. It's more of a [[AWorldHalfFull World Half Full]].

* CelticMythology - One of the larger influences on the game, including TheFairFolk and TheWildHunt.

** YourVampiresSuck - Vampires are just really strong zombies. WordOfGod is that they're going to be nerfed even more eventually.

* WordOfGod - The original creators are still around. If you have a question, you ask them!

* ''{{Erfworld}}''

** OurWerewolvesAreDifferent - Lycanthropy [[spoiler: is an ''STD'']]. Instead of a person turning into a wolf at regular intervals, the infected person's personality and behavior becomes gradually more wolfish, until the disease has run its course and a [[BigBadassWolf Fell Wolf]] rips its way out of the body, leaving behind a pile of human skin.

*** OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame - ''Incredibly'' subverted. At first it seems that there aren't any Dwarves in Adylheim at all - but with enough [[IncrediblyLamePun digging]] it becomes clear that the role of the standard fantasy dwarves is held by the Mefici - non-playable, mysterious crystalline entities that mine crystal in return for undisclosed services from the Dee'Gar.

*** PeopleOfHairColor - [[http://www.adylheim.com/humans Humans]]. This is averted with the Maradin (seafaring dark-skinned people) and Soiliens (Asians), but played straight with the Arameians ([[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Numenoreans]]) and the Threakians (Scandinavians).

* NewerThanTheyThink - Many players knew each other for years before the creation of the game, and had plenty of time to improve their writing skills as well.

** {{Skeletons}} - What zombies eventually turn into. They still have personalities and wills, but they can't talk.

*** {{Animorphism}} - The [[http://www.adylheim.com/ursidaen Ursidaen]]. [[EverythingsWorseWithBears Everything's Better With Bears]].

* MedievalEuropeanFantasy - Played straight, sometimes averted. [[http://www.adylheim.com/arameia Arameia]], [[http://www.adylheim.com/longmoor Longmoor]], [[http://www.adylheim.com/starkwater Starkwater]] and [[http://www.adylheim.com/nevros Nevros]] play it straight, but [[http://www.adylheim.com/teslan Teslan]] is almost at Renaissance level, [[http://www.adylheim.com/andragoria Andragoria]] and [[http://www.adylheim.com/nerin Nerin]] are both more Asian-themed, Maradin society would be at home in WaterWorld, and non-human cultures are all suitably non-European.

** [[http://www.adylheim.com/racesintro Standard Playable Races]]:

The game universe is a LowFantasy world drawn in about equal parts from the StandardFantasySetting and CelticMythology. It differs from HighFantasy mostly in its absolute insistence on GreyAndGrayMorality, its by-in-large return to (largely European) folklore tropes over [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings more recent]] [[DungeonsAndDragons fantasy fare]], and its position on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism. The human lands, where most of the action takes place, consist of [[http://www.adylheim.com/adylheim kingdoms]] formed from the fragments of a dissolved Empire, which are prevented from all-out war with each other by their equally fragmented internal politics. The wealthy become involved in politics (which usually involves combat) or magic to cement their power, while the common folk live lives of toil and hardship. Even so, it's not a WorldHalfEmpty all together: people help each other, communities scrape through hard times, and fate is capricious, rather than actively out to get you. It's more of a [[AWorldHalfFull World Half Full]].

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent - Played straight with the Cult of Thissies in Starkwater and the Cosmarchy of the Naga; averted with dragons and drakes, which are described as aweful, but not awful; and subverted with the Dragonkin, who are believed throughout human lands to be bringers of good fortune.

* ''[[WebOriginal/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series]]''

*** HumanoidAliens - The Crystalkin, planar wanderers made of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin crystal]].

* ''WorldOfWarcraft''

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''

* ''Webcomic/OrderOfTheStick''

* TvTropes
* ''WorldOfWarcraft''

The game universe is a LowFantasy world drawn in about equal parts from the StandardFantasySetting and CelticMythology. It differs from HighFantasy mostly in its absolute insistence on GreyAndGrayMorality, its by-in-large return to (largely European) folklore tropes over [[TheLordOfTheRings more recent]] [[DungeonsAndDragons fantasy fare]], and its position on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism. The human lands, where most of the action takes place, consist of [[http://www.adylheim.com/adylheim kingdoms]] formed from the fragments of a dissolved Empire, which are prevented from all-out war with each other by their equally fragmented internal politics. The wealthy become involved in politics (which usually involves combat) or magic to cement their power, while the common folk live lives of toil and hardship. Even so, it's not a WorldHalfEmpty all together: people help each other, communities scrape through hard times, and fate is capricious, rather than actively out to get you. It's more of a [[AWorldHalfFull World Half Full]].

*** PeopleOfHairColor - [[http://www.adylheim.com/humans Humans]]. This is averted with the Maradin (seafaring dark-skinned people) and Soiliens (Asians), but played straight with the Arameians ([[TheLordOfTheRings Numenoreans]]) and the Threakians (Scandinavians).