Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast

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Unicorns are actually one of the creatures I associate most strongly with D&D, since my first contact of any sort with it was the 80’s cartoon with its adorable unicorn mascot. They’ve been in the game since at least BECMI, and likely since it’s beginnings. Here, they are only present in the Monster Manual.

The Lore

Unicorns are horse-like creatures that originate in the Feywild, though some of them also live in the world. Lots of depictions of them tend to take a horse and stick the famous spiral horn on its forehead, but mythological unicorns had other fantastical traits: their hooves are split like a goat’s and not uniform like a horse’s, and their tail is a bit lion-like with a small tuft at the tip. They also sometimes had goat-like beards.

The illustration here nails most of those details, though it still has a horse-like tail. And its horn is not a cute and delicate spiral at all, but rather something built to split a fool from crotch to sternum.

Unicorns are sapient and very intelligent, and have a similar relationship to their natural habitats as that of dryads or treants. They also have an extra reason to distrust mortal intruders, as their horns are widely reputed to contain potent mystical and healing properties. This makes them frequent targets of hunting expeditions financed by Cocaine Wizards.

Your typical unicorn has a light-colored coat and mane, but sometimes you get what is known as a Dusk Unicorn. They’re dark-colored, have black horns, and are all-around stronger and more majestic. The birth of a dusk unicorn is considered a portentous omen among the fey.

The Numbers

We get stats for “standard” and Dusk unicorns. Both are Large Fey Magical Beasts, with low-light vision and a high land speed from their horselike build.

Unicorn

The basic model is a Level 9 Skirmisher with the Leader keyword and 93 HP. It projects an aura of Fey Warding (2) that grants allies within a +2 bonus to all defenses. Its land speed is 8.

Unicorns attack with their hooves up close, but if they have a running start they’ll instead use a Piercing Charge, which as you might guess counts as a charge. A hit does roughly double the damage of a basic kick, pushes the target 1 square, and knocks them prone.

Unicorns can also channel magic through their horns and produce a variety of effects. Fey Beguiling (ranged 5 vs. Will) is a charm spell that forbids the victim from attacking the unicorn and forces them to make opportunity attacks with a +2 bonus against anyone in reach who attacks the unicorn (save ends). So remember all those legends of people whose purity charms unicorns and turns them into friends? It’s actually the other way around! The power can only be used if the unicorn doesn’t have a currently charmed victim.

The creature’s other powers are a Fey Step encounter power that works exactly like the eladrin version, and a Horn Touch encounter power that allows the touched ally to spend a healing surge or roll a save against an effect a save can end.

Dusk Unicorn

These magnificent specimens are Level 12 Elite Controllers with the Leader keyword, 236 HP, and speed 9. Dusk Unicorns work exactly like the basic model, but with bigger numbers and a couple of different powers.

Instead of Fey Beguiling they have Fey Wisp (Area Burst 5 within 10 vs. Will; at-will; no damage), which creates dancing lights in the burst’s origin squares and pulls any enemies it hits 3 squares towards the lights.

And in addition to Fey Step, they have Twilight Teleport (close burst 5; encounter) which affects only willing allies within range and teleports them to somewhere else within the dusk unicorns’ line of sight. Yes, only the starting square has to be within range - the end point can be anywhere visible!

So you could have something cheesy like a dusk unicorn scrying the party or looking through a scope, and using that to teleport a bunch of allies right on top of them. Or you could have this power be the centerpiece of an heroic sacrifice, as the unicorn transports is allies to safety before being overwhelmed by the enemy. That works better if the teleported allies are the PCs.

Sample Encounter and Final Impressions

The sample encounter is short and to the point: 1 dusk unicorn and 3 banshrae warriors. Either the unicorn is a psychopath, or the banshrae are unusually nice.

I like unicorns! These follow the 4e maxim of being potentially usable in a fight against Good PCs, since they are Unaligned and might have goals that conflict with those of the party. In previous editions, if you’re fighting a unicorn it means something went horribly wrong.

Mechanically it seems they have so many signature traits (horn and hoof attacks, Fey Step, Horn Touch, Fey Warding) that it might be easier to make custom unicorns by adjusting their level and messing with the minor secondary magic powers.