D&D's Uni the unicorn making a long overdue comeback—at PAX West

Where has Uni been this whole time?

In 2021, The Wild Beyond the Witchlight adventure paid tribute to the 1980's Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. The adventure begins in a carnival. If you take a left at the ticket booth, you'll run into the Mystery Mine roller coaster. There are minor differences, but entirely too many similarities, for it not to be the same roller coaster that appears in the opening credits of the cartoon—carrying the heroes from the real world into the land of Dungeons & Dragons.

In 2022, the new D&D Starter Set, featuring the low-level Dragons of Stormwreck Isle adventure, featured artwork of the '80s cartoon characters. Not necessarily all of them. But there definitely wasn't any artwork of Uni the unicorn.

In that old '80s cartoon, there's Hank the Ranger, Eric the Cavalier, Diana the Acrobat, Presto the Magician, Sheila the Thief, and Bobby the Barbarian, all showing up from Eath. Uni the unicorn isn't from Earth. But the adorable baby unicorn runs into their arms during the opening credits every single time.

In 2023, the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie came out. It instantly became one of my all-time favorites. Not the least of which because those '80s cartoon characters make their live-action debut, struggling to survive in the Neverwinter arena, parallel to the movie's heroes. We see an all-grown-up Bobby the Barbarian, but still no Uni the unicorn.

In 2024, just a few short weeks ago at Gen Con in Indiana, hard copies of the new D&D 2024 Player's Handbook started making their way into convention goers' hands. In that book is artwork featuring more of the '80s cartoon characters, being chased into a dungeon-like entrance with a bas-relief sculpture of Uni. Yet still no Uni!

Until the upcoming PAX West convention kicking off next week. After nearly four years of gradually-built teasing, there's proof of life that Uni the unicorn is alive and well! Uh, perhaps not "well." As far as I can tell, only Uni's horn is making an appearance. It will be in an adventure played at PAX West called Uni and the Hunt for the Lost Horn. 

Uni the unicorn's horn has been magically stolen, and it's up to you to find it! Who could be behind this nefarious deed? Go on an adventure featuring beloved characters from the classic Dungeons & Dragons cartoon series while using the 2024 Player's Handbook rules! Level 4 characters are provided along with rules references for the 2024 core ruleset.

Not only is Uni finally back—or at least Uni's highly coveted unicorn horn—but it'll be sought by players going by the revised, expanded, and updated D&D 5e rules known as D&D 2024. Those PAX West players will know where to put their dump stat, how their personality is better shaped by their Alignment, and experience the return of the "Bloodied" condition. The artwork featured for this event may very well be the first time all of the cartoon characters have been pictured in the same spot. 

Now where, exactly, have they been hiding that pesky, meta Dungeon Master character?