Deserts

Deserts (synonyms: arid lands; example toponyms: the Shalahari Desert, the Great Sand Seas) are areas of extremely limited rainfall. While deserts can be badland areas, polar areas, or other regions that experience low rainfall, fictional deserts are most often ergs (areas of vast stretches of sand that form into dunes). Fictional deserts may have desert towns, oases, mesas, underground cavern systems, ancient temples, and buried ruins. There may be trade routes that cross their expanses. Deserts may be sand seas.


Designing Fictional Deserts
Cartography & Local Terrain
Deserts often feature expansive sky regions and perhaps fictional constellations.
Sublocations
Fictional deserts are often areas where sands and time have worn down structures from a long past age. Ancient temples or ancient tombs may be waiting to be explored. In addition, towns and cities that exist within deserts or on different sides may require trade routes to exist or to generate great wealth.







Water
Deserts can be inhospitable places due to the lack of water. Because of this they may be located on borders, as conquering these lands can be difficult. It also may mean that towns, cities, and other inhabited regions may be clustered around whatever rivers, oases, subterranean aquifers or underground lakes that do exist in the area.



Desert Adaptations
The people and cultures of the desert may adopt clothing fashions that use fabric to cover themselves from the sun while remaining light enough to avoid overheating. The architecture of the region may be sand or stone-based. Desert vehicles may feature filtration systems capable of removing sand and dust from critical systems. Fictional desert animals may have evolved attributes and behaviors to help keep them cool, such as ways of dissipating heat or being active at night when it is cooler.
Element | Icon | Description | Sub-Elements | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abandoned Town | ![]() | b | Why was it abandoned? | Explore | |
Ancient Ruins | ![]() | b | Simplified | From what civilization and how long have they stood? | Explore |
Ancient Tomb | ![]() | b | Simplified | Who does this belong to? | Explore |
Archaeological Dig Site | ![]() | b | Simplified | What do they search for? | Explore |
Arroyo | ![]() | a | Simplified | A dry streambed that will fill during rains or floods | |
Badlands | ![]() | a | Simplified | An area of dry eroded land with little vegetation | Explore |
Bazaar | ![]() | b | A street market | Explore | |
Bedesten | ![]() | b | A covered market building | Explore | |
Boulder | ![]() | a | A large rock | ||
Cacti | ![]() | s | Simplified | A single cactus | |
Caravanserai | ![]() | b | Simplified | A roadside inn where caravans may stop and rest | |
Cave | ![]() | a | Simplified | How extensive are the caverns? | Explore |
Cliff | ![]() | a | A steep rock face | Explore | |
Desert Flowers | ![]() | s | Simplified | What color? | |
Desert Shrub | ![]() | s | They scratch at the skin | ||
Desert Town | ![]() | b | How large is this town? | Explore | |
Dry Lake | ![]() | a | A basin formerly containing a body of water | ||
Dry Thunder | ![]() | e | It rumbles in the distance | ||
Dunes | ![]() | a, s | Simplified | Hills composed of loose sand | |
Dust Devil | ![]() | e | A small vortex of dust | ||
Endorheic Basin | ![]() | a | A large drainage basin with no river inflow or outflow | ||
Erg | ![]() | a | A vast sea of sand dunes | ||
Flash Flood | ![]() | e | Simplified | A flood that arises unusually quickly | |
Fossils | ![]() | a, s | Of what type of creature? | ||
Guelta | ![]() | a | A pocket of water in the desert formed in basins or wadis during floods | ||
Hamada | ![]() | a | A rocky desert with little sand | ||
High Winds | ![]() | e | How strong? | ||
Hoodoo | ![]() | a | A thin spire of rock rising vertically from the landscape and capped by a hard stone to resemble a slender mushroom | ||
Mesa | ![]() | a | Simplified | An isolated flat topped hill with steep sides, larger than a butte but smaller than a plateau | Explore |
Mine | ![]() | b | Is it still in use? | Explore | |
Needle | ![]() | a | A tall, thin, spire of rock | ||
Oasis | ![]() | a | Simplified | A fertile area with water amidst the sands | Explore |
Oil Well | ![]() | b | Is it producing? | ||
Playa | ![]() | a | The flat of a desert basin that may flood during rainfall | ||
Pyramid | ![]() | b | How many chambers are hidden in its' depths? | ||
River | ![]() | a | Simplified | A source of life in the desert | |
Sand Sea | ![]() | a | See 'Erg' | ||
Sandstorm | ![]() | e | Simplified | How intense is the storm? | Explore |
Trade Route | ![]() | b, a | Does it cross the desert seas? | Explore | |
Wadi | ![]() | a | A dry gully that floods during rain | ||
Walled City | ![]() | b | Simplified | What do these walls protect from? | |
Well | ![]() | b | Is it full or dry | Explore |