When playing Minecraft I’ve always had bases dug into the ground rather than above ground, so that’s my preferences, I guess.

IRL I’m afraid of heights as well, so I would not feel safe in a treehouse. Cave just feels nice and warm and cosy, although lack of sun might be an issue.

Magical underground fort.

Expansion is only limited by geology rather than tree size.

A tree’s life time is an instant compared to geological time, so it’ll last.

Underground is functionally invisible.

Can have a garage of cool vehicles zoom up out of secret entrances (thunderbirds style).

treehouse! and this decision is fueled entirely on my definition of cozy but a cute treehouse would be the absolute dream!

Depends on what the magic does. I would pick the treehouse as long as it has some kind of magical camouflage. If not, I’d go for the fort, as long as it has some kind of good ventilation system.

I always wanted an underground fort as a kid. As an adult, I want a bomb shelter to go chill in.

Definitely the tree. Underground is tempting but for the lack of sunlight and I am but a flower. Also, the air would be fresher and I love rain and snow. Wind might get a bit sickening, but the rest is worth it to choose the tree over the cave.

As u/deadbeef79000 wrote, I’d opt for underground as well… though can I have mine be in a mountaintop so I can have fantastic views?

Can I have a magical school bus, instead?

Underground is better all weather, plus potential cool cave/underground waterfall/glowing fungus aesthetics.

My mother knows or used to know a lady who lived in a treehouse. I shit you not. The “house” was three separate structures in a massive tree. No idea how it passed code in any municipality (except, it was kinda out in the middle of nowhere). Almost like something out of Harry Potter, except it was kinda practical. Stairs went up the tree to a landing, and one building was like a kitchen, one building was a bathroom/laundry room, and the third building was a bedroom. No garage, they parked at the base of the tree. They threw parties, the landing area was decently sized. Writing it all out, I can hardly believe it, except I saw it with my own eyes. I was there once.

I like the underground fort the Losers made in IT by Stephen King. I don’t recall it playing into the movies though… King was always dubious about its actual size. I read the book (twice), though.

I’d go underground fort though, because I’m thinking like Fallout vaults, except not nefarious. And, like the Vault-Tec Workshop vault in Fallout 4 (DLC), you could theoretically have multiple exits.

There aren’t many things to base an awesome fantasy treehouse off of. For underground forts, you have Fallout, you have the Silo TV series (which is basically Fallout but they don’t go outside), and you have Disneyland. I mean the parts of Disneyland that the public doesn’t see. So, if you aren’t aware, the Disney resort/theme park in California started out as a massive hole in the ground. They built a building, I think it’s 7 storeys high, except it’s actually 7 storeys down. They built the park on top of the operations building. So there are various ways to exit the public area from within the park and get down to the operations centre where the performers change, and practice, and clock in and out and whatnot. I imagine (but I’m not really sure) they probably have an off-site car park where they leave their cars and go straight into the facility, like an underground car park. I find all that really fascinating. I also think the climate control would be easier to manage. I worry if you can protect it from surface level events like floods, wildfires (thinking of California threats), and of course earthquakes are also a threat to that region. So, it might be better to build into the side of a mountain?

Underground fort, so I could feel like a proper dorf

Yes.