70+ Tundra Features For Fantasy Worldbuilding36 min read

Glaciers. Hoarfrost. Auroras. Welcome back, Outlander, to the 7th entry in Mythic Ecology, my series on how learning real-world landscape features can enrich our fantasy worldbuilding and storytelling. In this post I return to my minimalist framework for Dungeon Masters, Game Masters, fiction writers, and similar worldbuilders to merge the realms of general myth and geomorphology. Last entry we looked at deserts. As I resume my journey sketching a framework for designing Yridia, my unique D&D 5e fantasy world, let’s learn some tundra terms, with a visual guide!

All the images herein I use for educational and entertainment purposes, I claim no rights to any of them. For corrections or content removal requests, hit my contact page.

On the topic of Tundra worldbuilding, I highly recommend Famous Hippo’s Guide to the Arctic For D&D 5e.

Let’s revisit my minimalist framework for my worldbuilding. The six archetype tags with which I will flag all the various real-world land features in my Mythic Ecology Series:

1. Settlements: habitable regions of either Work or Play, Familiar or Exotic, offering diverse narrative functions: a Day in the Life, Home Base, Personal Reasons, Gathering Supplies. Can subvert tropes with Ruins or Escape.
2. Omens: sensational, temporal, or particularly pointed features that offer narrative functions of forshadowing, and good or evil portents. Can subvert tropes with a Wild Goose Chase.
3. Overlooks: sites of magnitude and grandeur, living monuments which can function narratively for finding resolve, invoking spirits, or as a Call to Adventure. Can subvert tropes with Dread or Betrayal.
4. Passageways: transitional journeylands, including magical portals, functioning narratively for initiation and return, thresholds and tests, shortcuts and setbacks.
5. Abyss: a void or confined space presenting scarcity or temptation, desperation and danger. Can subvert tropes with a Timely Rescue or Secret Refuge.
6. Battlegrounds: sites fit for epic, sprawling encounters and climax conflicts. Can subvert tropes with Alternative Solutions.

Feel free to submit your own ideas, or draw outside the lines. Alright, let’s see how tundra fits in.

Tundra collectively can cover many varying terrains: mountain ranges and peaks, ice sheets, island archipelagos, fjords, glassland plateaus, river valleys, forests, as well as areas with grasses, sedges, mosses, and lichens for vegetation. By the nature of the topic we’ll also look at features relevant to harsh winters and glacial action more broadly. But for the most part, tundra falls within three domains:

Polar Tundra – cold regions featuring mostly treeless permafrost, like ice sheets, sea ice, and glaciers, often with high winds and scant precipitation.
[Settlements, Omens, Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds]

Subpolar Tundra – cold regions associated with some permafrost, but also boreal forest, taiga, peat bog, and at least one warmer season per year.
[Settlements, Omens, Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds]

Alpine Tundra – cold regions of high altitude (on summits, slopes, and ridges), typically without permafrost, and treeless but featuring many shorter plants.
[Settlements, Omens, Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds]

Neve / Snow Field – young, granular snow which has been partially melted, refrozen, and compacted, yet precedes ice. Associated with glacier formation. After a full season of ablation it becomes firn.
[Omens, Passageways]

Firn – older and slightly denser snow than neve, left over from past seasons and recrystallized as snowflakes compress under snowpack. Intermediate between snow and glacial ice.
[Omens, Passageways]

Glacier / Glacial Ice – long-lived, compacted ice which creates forms that constantly move under their own weight.[Omens, Passageways]

Blockfield / Felsenmeer / Boulder Field / Stone Field – a surface covered by boulder- or block-sized angular rocks associated with subsurface frost weathering, created as larger rock breaks down into smaller.
[Passageways, Abyss]

Fellfield – a slope, alpine or tundra, where freeze and thaw cycles and wind action support unique vegetation in rockfall deposits. Related to scree.
[Overlooks, Passageways, Battlegrounds]

Moraine – an accumulation of unconsolidated debris after glacial retreat, including a mix of rock, gravel, boulders, and powder. Comes in several variations.
[Settlements, Passageways, Battlegrounds]

Rogen Moraine / Ribbed Moraine – ridges deposited by a glacier or ice sheet transverse to ice flow.
[Settlements, Passageways, Battlegrounds]

Ogives – alternating wave crests and valleys appearing as dark and light ice bands on glacial surfaces, linked to seasonal glacier motion. Related to icefall.
[Omens, Passageways, Battlegrounds]

Permafrost Plateau – coalesced Palsas that form a continuous elevated flatland area, usually in a peat bog. Some parts may grow as others decay. Often surrounded by wetlands, and can have pools of water during summer.
[Settlements, Overlooks, Passageways, Battlegrounds]

Stone Run / Stone River – a rock landform characterized by stable boulders with no finer material between them, a mass-movement and stone sorting resulting from freeze-thaw erosion cycles after an Ice Age.
[Omens, Abyss]

Strandflat – flattish erosion surfaces on coastal seabed, with mountainous terrain on one side and protected waters on another, with potential glacial origin (disputed).
[Settlements, Passageways, Battlegrounds]

Thermokarst – a land surface with very irregular surfaces of marshy hollows and small hummocks formed as permafrost thaws. Related to palsas and lithalsas.
[Settlements, Omens, Passageways, Battlegrounds]

Aufeis / Overflow / Icings / Naled – a sheet-like mass of layered ice forming from successive groundwater flows during freezes.
[Omens, Passageways]

Cirque Glaciers – bowl-shaped valleys which contain glacial ice on mountainsides.
[Settlements, Omens, Overlooks, Abyss]

Valley Glaciers – streams of flowing ice confined within steep-walled valleys, or outlet glaciers providing drainage for ice fields or sheets. Related to fjord.
[Settlements, Passageways, Battlegrounds]

Piedmont Glaciers – valley glaciers which have spilled out onto relatively flat plains, where they spread out into bulb-like lobes.
[Settlements, Passageways, Battlegrounds]

Dirt Cone – a conical shaped deposit with a core of ice, snow, or firn covered by insulating depositional material, like dirt. May arise on snow patches, and begins forming in a crevasse or hollow.
[Passageways, Battlegrounds]

Glaciokarst – a landscape formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks like limestone, with such underground drainage systems as sinkholes and caves, in this form displaying major glacial influences from cold periods long ago.
[Overlooks, Passageways]

Ice Sheet / Continental Glacier – a colossal mass of glacial ice.
[Abyss, Battlegrounds]

Ice Field – a large area of interconnected glaciers, usually mountainous. Larger than glaciers, but smaller than ice sheets.
[Abyss, Battlegrounds]

Icefall – portion of a glacier with rapid flow and a chaotic crevassed surface, functioning like a high-speed waterfall of ice. Can smooth glaciers, and piles can form seracs.
[Omens, Passageways, Abyss]

Ice Shelf – a thick, suspended ice platform where a glacier or ice sheet flows into the ocean. Contrasts with sea ice.
[Omens, Overlooks, Abyss]

Ice Tongue – a long and narrow ice sheet projecting from a coastline. Forms when a valley glacier moves rapidly into an ocean or lake.
[Omens, Passageways, Abyss]

Penitentes – high-altitude snow formations with elongated, thin blades of hardened snow or ice, close together and pointing somewhat toward the sun.
[Omens, Abyss]

Serac – a block or column of glacial ice, often formed by intersecting crevasses on a glacier.
[Overlooks]

Sea Ice – frozen seawater. Includes “drift ice” carried by wind and sea currents, and “fast ice” fastened to coastline, sea floor, or grounded icebergs. Contrasts with ice shelf.
[Omens, Passageways, Abyss]

Rock Glacier – angular rock debris frozen in interstitial ice, former glacier overlain with rock debris, or a mix of the two.
[Omens, Overlooks, Passageways, Battlegrounds]

Snowdrift – a deposit of snow sculpted by wind into a mound during a snowstorm, resembling sand dunes. Surface crests and slopes toward the windward side of a large object, with a lower and flatter leeward side.
[Omens, Abyss]

Snow Patch – snow and firn accumulation on the surface longer than other seasonal snow cover, which can create distinctive vegetation.
[Omens, Passageways]

Frost Boils / Mud Boils / Stony Earth Circles / Frost Scars / Mud Circles – small circular mounds of fresh soil material formed by frost weathering and freeze-thaw cycles.
[Omens]

Lithalsa – a frost-induced raised landform in permafrost areas, which forms ice lens.
[Omens, Battlegrounds]

Palsa – groups of low mounds marked by tall concentric ridges, gradual ice lenses, and limited peat formation, arising as frost lifts soil. Related to permafrost plateau.
[Omens, Overlooks, Passageways]

Pingo – a mound of earth-covered ice, usually single. Related to palsa.
[Settlements, Overlooks, Abyss]

Polygonal Patterns / Ice Wedges – permafrost or seasonal frost can manifest polygonal patterned raise stone rings.
[Omens, Battlegrounds]

Sastrugi – sharp irregular grooves or ridges, usually perpendicular to prevailing winds, formed on a snow surface by wind erosion, snow saltation, and deposition, found in polar areas and sites like frozen likes in cold temperate regions. Steep on windward side, sloping on leeward side. Smaller forms become “ripples” or “wind ridges”.
[Omens, Passageways, Abyss]

Sorted Stripe – lines of stone, vegetation, or soil from transitional steps on slopes, arising from freezing and thawing action.
[Omens, Passageways, Abyss]

Solifluction Lobes – slope failures and landforms where sediments form tongue-shaped features due to differential downhill flow rates.
[Omens, Passageways]

Sheepback / Roche Moutonee – a rock formation created as a glacier passes over bedrock, resulting in asymmetric erosional forms on the upstream side and plucking on the downstream side.
[Omens, Abyss]

Arete – a narrow ridge of rock which separates two valleys, formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys, or two glacial cirques erode toward each other.
[Overlooks, Abyss]

Bratschen – weathered ridges resulting from frost and wind wear, characterized by steep, rocky, rough, and bare slopes.
[Overlooks, Abyss]

Drumlin – an elongated hill formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated till or ground moraine.
[Settlements, Overlooks, Passageways, Battlegrounds]

Nunatak / Glacial Island – exposed, often rocky element of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered with ice or snow within an ice field or glacier. “Rognon” refers to a smaller one rounded by glacial action.
[Omens, Overlooks]

Pyramidal Peak / Glacial Horn – angular, sharply-pointed mountain peak resulting from cirque erosion as three or more glaciers diverged from a central point. Often nunataks.
[Omens, Overlooks]

Glacial Erratic – a piece of rock differing in size and native type from the area it rests, carried by glacial ice.
[Omens]

Snow Cornice / Cornice – an overhanging edge of snow on a ridge or the crest of a mountain and along the sides of gullies.
[Omens, Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss]

Crevasse – a deep crack or fracture in an ice sheet or glacier, resulting from the shear stress of differential movement rates
[Omens, Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds]

Marginal Cleft / Randkluft – a crevasse forming as a gap between a glacier or snowfield and an adjacent rock face.
[Omens, Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds]

Mountain Cleft / Bergschrund – a crevasse forming as a gap between two ice walls, where moving glacial ice separates from the stagnant ice or firn above, typically at high-altitude.
[Omens, Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss]

Glacial Cave – a cave formed within glacial ice. Related to moulin.
[Omens, Passageways, Abyss]

Moulin / Glacier Mill – a roughly circular, vertical well-like shaft within a glacier or ice sheet which surface water enters.
[Omens, Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds]

Nirvation Hollow – earthen hollows formed by the slope movement and freeze and thaw cycles of snow patches, which can enlarge to become cirque.
[Omens, Passageways, Abyss]

Suncups – closely-packed, bowl-shaped depressions in a snow surface, honeycomb and often hexagonal patterned, typically wider than deep. Their sharp, narrow ridges and smoothly concave hollows form as snow melts.
[Omens, Passageways]

Tarn / Corrie Loch – a mountain lake, pond, or pool formed in a valley amphitheater (cirque) excavated by a glacier. Glacial debris may form a natural dam below it.
[Settlements, Overlooks, Passageways, Battlegrounds]

Advection Frost / Wind Frost – tiny ice spikes forming as cold wind blows over objects like tree branches or poles.
[Omens]

Air Hoarfrost – icy crystals on objects above the surface, such as tree branches or plant stems.
[Omens]

Crevasse Hoarfrost – ice crystals in glacial crevasses where water vapor accumulates in calm weather.
[Omens, Overlooks, Passageways]

Depth Hoarfrost – ice crystals slowly growing within cavities beneath surface banks of dry snow, which can overtake smaller crystals, forming steps and faceted hollows.
[Omens, Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss]

Surface Hoarfrost – fern-like ice crystals on snow, ice, or already frozen surfaces.
[Omens]

Soft Rime – fragile white ice deposition on the outer surface of objects, forming as fog or mist freezes. Resembles hoarfrost, which forms from direct deposition.
[Omens]

Frost Flower – formed when thin layers of ice extrude from long-stemmed plants in fall or early winter, often curling into exquisite floral shapes.
[Omens]

Hair Ice / Ice Wool / Frost Beard – a type of ice which forms on dead wood and resembles fine, silky hair.
[Omens]

Needle Ice – phenomenon where subterranean liquid water come to the surface via capillary action, freezing into needle-like ice columns.
[Omens]

Yukimarimo – balls of fine frost formed when hoarfrost on a snow surface breaks apart then electrostatic attraction, ice crystal fusion, and light wind allow the frost to condense and tumble like tumbleweeds.
[Omens]

Aurora / Polar Lights – a natural light display in the sky, mostly seen in high-latitude regions around the planetary poles.
[Omens]

Avalanche / Snowslide – when a cohesive slab of snow on a weaker layer fractures and slides down a steep slope, accelerating rapidly into a massive impact.
[Omens, Abyss]

Blizzard – a severe snowstorm with strong sustained winds and lasting for a prolonged period. Also includes “ground blizzard”, where wind picks up loose ground snow.
[Abyss]

Blue Ice – when snow falls on a glacier, compresses, and becomes part of the glacier. Enlarging icy crystals squeeze out the air bubbles, causing a blue hue.
[Omens]

I hope you enjoyed this seventh entry in my Mythic Ecology series! I look forward to continuing with it, I have some greater ambitions for developing this series into worldbuilding web tools. Give this a share if you liked it, and let me know in the comments if you have any feedback. I publish new posts on Tuesdays. In the meantime, I post original D&D memes and writing updates daily over on my site’s Facebook Page. Also, if you want to keep up-to-date on all my posts, check out my Newsletter Sign-Up to receive email notifications when I release new posts. A big thanks as always to my Patrons on Patreon, helping keep this project going: Anthony, Bewby, Chris, Eric & Jones, Geoff, Jason, Rudy, and Tom. Thanks for your support!