Caves

Caves

ELEMENT │ REGION & BIOME

Caves are subterranean spaces either dug out by an animal or created naturally by geological processes. Fictional caves are often full of both wonder and danger. They may be nothing more than a small animal lair carved into a cliffside or could be a series of fantastic chambers containing deep chasms, underground rivers, and forgotten ruins. Fictional caves may be the sites of entire underground civilizations. Caves often collapse in narrative worlds and in game-oriented worlds they are often game dungeons. They may be home to underground beasts, monsters, lost spelunkers, and trolls.

Synonyms: caverns, holes, pits
Example Mythonyms: the Cave of Seven Wonders, the Serpent’s Throat, Mugmire Caverns
QUICK ELEMENTS │ CLICK TO EXPLORE
Ore
Tight Crawls
Rivers
Cenotes
Stalactites
Cave Ins
Chasms
Bridges
Cave Art
Fossils
Ruins
Mines

Designing Fictional Caves

Caves vary widely in their layout and fictional caves reflect this natural variety. Fictional caves may be a series of chambers connected by narrow bellycrawls, may be a single yet expansive space, or may have some other structural organization. Consider the purpose this cave may serve in your world. While small animal dens may be best served by smaller and simpler caves, larger and complex caves may be better suited for game dungeons, hidden routes beneath mountain ranges, or worlds with other expansive underground elements. Caves are also rarely on a single plane of elevation, often progressing deeper underground the further they are explored. Caverns will often feature vertical pits or chasms and the chambers a cave contains may be at drastically different elevations.

Example cavern layouts ranging from simple to increasingly complex.

Overcomplicating cavern systems can be a concern for worldbuilders, especially those designing with an audience in mind. Caves can be naturally confusing spaces, and labyrinthian mazes can be frustrating to navigate.

REAL WORLD CONTEXT: Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky, USA, is the world’s largest known cave system. Currently, 686 km / 426 mi have been surveyed.

Simple Cave
Cavern Depths

Archetypes

Underground Terrain

Worldbuilding Problems & Solutions

Points of Interest

Connected Locations

Reference Image Gallery