Realmthrough

Realmthrough is a term used in speculative fiction and game design to describe the act or process of moving between distinct realms, dimensions, or planes of existence. The word, a blend of realm and through, denotes both the passage itself and the state of having crossed into another ontological space. In fiction, realmthrough often serves as a plot device that exposes parallel or hidden versions of the world, characters, or history, and can enable non-linear or multi-layered storytelling.

In games, realmthrough may refer to a mechanic that lets characters travel instantaneously or conditionally between realms, using portals, rites, artifacts, or innate abilities. Such mechanics commonly involve risk or resource costs and may create instability or temporal dissonance, requiring players to manage hazards like altered senses, alignment shifts, or changes in rules between realms.

Origin and reception: Realmthrough is an emergent concept in indie and experimental media and is not tied to a single canonical source. It is discussed as a flexible framework for planar travel rather than a rigid lore element, allowing designers to tailor the rules to their setting.

Variants and related concepts: Portals, rifts, planar travel, astral projection, and multiverse exploration frequently overlap with realmthrough, though realmthrough emphasizes the act of crossing as a defined concept rather than just the location of travel.

See also: Portal (fiction), Multiverse, Planes, Teleportation, Astral projection.