Terrain Hierarchy (D&D 1e)

1. Seacoast
2. Swamp
3. Forest
4. Plains
5. Desert
6. Hills
7. Mountains

Feature	Description
Arch	Natural arch-like opening in a rock mass (bridge, natural bridge, sea arch).
Area	Any one of several areally extensive natural features not included in other categories (badlands, barren, delta, fan, garden).
Arroyo	Watercourse or channel through which water may occasionally flow (coulee, draw, gully, wash).
Bar	Natural accumulation of sand, gravel, or alluvium forming an underwater or exposed embankment (ledge, reef, sandbar, shoal, spit).
Basin	Natural depression or relatively low area enclosed by higher land (amphitheater, cirque, pit, sink).
Bay	Indentation of a coastline orshoreline enclosing a part of a body of water; a body of water partly surrounded by land (arm, bight, cove, estuary, gulf, inlet, sound).
Beach	The sloping shore along a body of water that is washed by waves or tides and is usually covered by sand or gravel (coast, shore, strand).
Bench	Area of relatively level land on the flank of an elevation such as a hill, ridge, or mountain where the slope of the land rises on one side and descends on the opposite side (level).
Bend	Curve in the course of a stream and (or) the land within the curve; a curve in a linear body of water (bottom, loop, meander).
Cape	Projection of land extending into a body of water (lea, neck, peninsula, point).
Cave	Natural underground passageway or chamber, or a hollowed out cavity in the side of a cliff (cavern, grotto).
Channel	Linear deep part of a body of water through which the main volume of water flows and is frequently used as aroute for watercraft (passage, reach, strait, thoroughfare, throughfare).
Cliff	Very steep or vertical slope (bluff, crag, head, headland, nose, palisades, precipice, promontory, rim, rimrock).
Crater	Circular-shaped depression at the summit of a volcanic cone or one on the surface of the land caused by the impact of a meteorite; a manmade depression caused by an explosion (caldera, lua).
Falls	Perpendicular or very steep fall of water in the course of a stream (cascade, cataract, waterfall).
Flat	Relative level area within a region of greater relief (clearing, glade, playa).
Forest	Bounded area covered with a dense growth of trees.
Gap	Low point or opening between hills or mountains or in a ridge or mountain range (col, notch, pass, saddle, water gap, wind gap).
Glacier	Body or stream of ice moving outward and downslope from an area of accumulation; an area of relatively permanent snow or ice on the top or side of a mountain or mountainous area (icefield, ice patch, snow patch).
Gut	Relatively small coastal waterway connecting larger bodies of water or other waterways (creek, inlet, slough).
Harbor	Sheltered area of water where ships or other watercraft can anchor or dock (hono, port, roads, roadstead).
Island	Area of dry or relatively dry land surrounded by water or low wetland (archipelago, atoll, cay, hammock, hummock, isla, isle, key, moku, rock).
Isthmus	Narrow section of land in a body of water connecting two larger land areas.
Lake	Natural body of inland water (backwater, lac, lagoon, laguna, pond, pool, resaca, waterhole).
Lava	Formations resulting from the consolidation of molten rock on the surface of the Earth (kepula, lava flow).
Pillar	Vertical, standing, often spire-shaped, natural rock formation (chimney, monument, pinnacle, pohaku, rock tower).
Plain	A region of general uniform slope, comparatively level and of considerable extent (grassland, highland, kula, plateau, upland).
Range	Chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra).
Rapids	Fast-flowing section of a stream, often shallow and with exposed rock or boulders (riffle, ripple).
Ridge	Elevation with a narrow, elongated crest which can be part of a hill or mountain (crest, cuesta, escarpment, hogback, lae, rim, spur).
Sea	Large body of salt water (gulf, ocean).
Slope	A gently inclined part of the Earth's surface (grade, pitch).
Spring	Place where underground water flows naturally to the surface of the Earth (seep).
Stream	Linear body of water flowing on the Earth's surface (anabranch, awawa, bayou, branch, brook, creek, distributary, fork, kill, pup, rio, river, run, slough).
Summit	Prominent elevation rising above the surrounding level of the Earth's surface; does not include pillars, ridges, or ranges (ahu, berg, bald, butte, cerro, colina, cone, cumbre, dome, head, hill, horn, knob, knoll, mauna, mesa, mesita, mound, mount, mountain, peak, puu, rock, sugarloaf, table, volcano).
Swamp	Poorly drained wetland, fresh or saltwater, wooded or grassy, possibly covered with open water (bog, cienega, marais, marsh, pocosin).
Valley	Linear depression in the Earth's surface that generally slopes from one end to the other (barranca, canyon, chasm, cove, draw, glen, gorge, gulch, gulf, hollow, ravine).

1-60	Common
61-92	Uncommon
93-98	Rare
99-100	Very Rare

GM Misc: Wilderness Dressing Tome Of Adventure Design Into The Wyrd And Wild