Unicorn 5e: Stats, Legendary Actions and Running a Unicorn

A unicorn is a CR 5 Large celestial with AC 12, 67 hit points, a 50-foot speed and three legendary actions per round. It hits with hooves and horn for about 19 damage a turn, heals other creatures with its horn, and can teleport itself and three friends up to a mile away. It is lawful good, so it fits best as a patron or a creature to protect, not a target. The 2024 version has 97 hit points, a horn that deals radiant damage, Legendary Resistance, and trades its once-a-day Teleport for Word of Recall.

Table of Contents

• •Unicorn Stat Block (2014)
• •The 2024 Unicorn
• •How the Unicorn Fights
• •Running a Unicorn Encounter
• •How Players Beat a Unicorn
• •Unicorn Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Unicorn Stat Block (2014)

This is the SRD 5.1 unicorn.

The numbers say "support creature with a kick." AC 12 is low for CR 5, and 67 hit points is modest for a creature that wants to stand in melee. What the unicorn has instead is a toolkit:

• •Healing Touch (3/day): another creature regains 11 (2d8 + 2) hit points, and every disease and poison on it ends. It's an action, so a healing turn is a turn without attacks.
• •Teleport (1/day): the unicorn and up to three willing creatures it can see within 5 feet go to a place the unicorn knows, up to 1 mile away. This is the unicorn's escape and the party's rescue.
• •Magic Resistance gives Advantage on saves against spells. Immunity to the Charmed and Paralyzed conditions shuts off the two most common ways to stop a big creature.
• •At-will Pass without Trace lets a unicorn hide a whole group. Everyone within 30 feet gets +10 to Stealth, which turns a forest escort into a quiet one.

The legendary actions are where the CR comes from. Hooves costs 1 action, Shimmering Shield (+2 AC to itself or an ally within 60 feet until the end of its next turn) costs 2, and Heal Self (11 hit points) costs 3.

The 2024 Unicorn

SRD 5.2.1 keeps the CR, AC, speed and immunities and rebuilds most of the rest.

The changes that matter in play:

• •It heals and fights on the same turn. Moving healing to a Bonus Action means the 2024 unicorn can Multiattack and cast Cure Wounds in one turn.
• •It's much harder to remove. 97 hit points plus three Legendary Resistances means one Banishment or failed save no longer ends the fight.
• •Shimmering Shield got better and cheaper. It now also grants 10 (3d6) temporary hit points, costs a single use, but can only be used once per round.
• •Its escape is a plan, not a panic button. Word of Recall needs a sanctuary the unicorn prepared in advance. The 2014 Teleport works anywhere it knows within a mile.

How the Unicorn Fights

A unicorn fights to protect something: a grove, a child, a wounded ally. Play it with that goal, not to kill the party.

The opening charge (2014). The unicorn's 50-foot speed lets it start well back, move 20 feet straight in and Multiattack. A horn hit adds 9 (2d8) piercing and forces a DC 15 Strength save or the target falls Prone. Against AC 16, +7 hits on a 9 or better (60%). A charging turn that lands both attacks deals 28 damage. The expected value is about 17.

Legendary actions decide the round. With three uses between its turns, the 2014 unicorn can kick three times (11 damage each at 60% is about 20 expected), or kick once and shield a friend. Against a Prone target, its melee attacks have Advantage, which pushes a hooves hit to about 84%. A charge that knocks a wizard Prone deals up to 28 damage, and every legendary kick taken at the end of another creature's turn has Advantage until the wizard stands up on their own turn. If two or three other creatures act before the wizard, that is up to 33 more damage, enough to drop most level 5 casters from full.

The 2024 unicorn plays more like a skirmisher. Charging Horn moves it up to half its speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks and makes a 9-damage radiant horn attack. It can strike the caster at the back, retreat after the fighter's turn, and never be stuck in melee.

Healing changes the action math. A 2014 unicorn spends a full action on Healing Touch, so it alternates: heal, fight, heal. A 2024 unicorn heals with its Bonus Action every turn it has Blessing uses left, which makes it a dangerous partner for a druid or ranger NPC.

It leaves. When the creature it protects is safe, or it drops below about a third of its hit points, the 2014 unicorn uses Teleport and takes up to three allies with it. Its familiar location within a mile is usually its own glade. Players who want a rematch know where to look.

Running a Unicorn Encounter

The unicorn is worth 1,800 XP in both editions. Using the 2024 budget for four characters:

Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator), one unicorn against four level 5 characters is 1,800 XP against an Easy threshold of 1,000 and a Medium threshold of 2,000. The book calls it Easy, but its three legendary actions add damage that the XP figure doesn't capture.

Where it fits:

• •As an ally at levels 3 to 6. A unicorn guarding the party during a hard fight is a strong reward and a way to keep a deadly encounter survivable. Its healing and Shimmering Shield matter more than its damage.
• •As an enemy at level 4 or 5. Use it when the party has done something to earn its hostility, or when someone has lied to it. Pair it with plant or beast allies, not more unicorns.
• •As a prize for villains. A unicorn the party must free from hunters gives them something to fight for and a healer for the next fight.

How Players Beat a Unicorn

Most of the time "beat" means win it over. When it comes to blows:

• •Don't bother with charm or hold effects. It's immune to Charmed and Paralyzed, so Hold Monster and anything that charms are wasted slots. Hold Person can't even target it, since it's a Celestial.
• •Use weapons over spells. Magic Resistance gives it Advantage on saves against spells. Its AC 12 means even a +5 attack hits 70% of the time.
• •Target Intelligence if you must use a save. Its Intelligence is 11 (+0), the lowest of its scores. Strength and Constitution saves are +4 and +2 against your spells with Advantage on top.
• •Stand up. Being knocked Prone by the 2014 charge gives every legendary kick Advantage. Spending half your movement to stand is worth it.
• •Plan for the escape. If the party must stop it leaving, the 2014 Teleport needs the unicorn to see its passengers within 5 feet. Separating it from its allies forces it to leave alone. The 2024 Word of Recall can't be stopped by distance, so it takes an Antimagic Field or a Counterspell on the casting to keep it there. The 2024 Counterspell calls for a Constitution save, which the unicorn makes with Advantage (Magic Resistance) and can turn into a success with Legendary Resistance.
• •Remember Dispel Evil and Good. The unicorn can cast Dispel Evil and Good once a day. If the party relies on a summoned fiend, elemental, fey or undead ally, the unicorn can use the spell's Dismissal option on it (Charisma save) and send it to its home plane, or to the Feywild or Shadowfell for fey and undead.

Unicorn Encounter Ideas

The broken horn. A noble's physician sells "unicorn horn" powder as a cure for plague. The powder is real. The unicorn it came from is alive, chained in a cellar under the estate, with half its horn sawn off. Freeing it means fighting the guards in a building where its 50-foot speed is useless. Once free, it heals the first party member who reaches it, and on its next turn it teleports itself and up to three willing people standing beside it out of the cellar.

The test. A unicorn guards a pool that cures a curse one of the characters carries. It doesn't fight. It casts Detect Evil and Good, asks questions by telepathy, and uses Calm Emotions if anyone draws a weapon. It knows when the party is lying only by watching what they do. The test is a week of escorting it through hunter-filled woods under its Pass without Trace.

Wrong side. The party is hired to clear "a monster" out of an old orchard so a lord can log it. The monster is a unicorn. The lord's men attack it whether or not the party joins in. If the players side with the unicorn, they face a warband. If not, they face a unicorn with three legendary actions and an angry dryad.

If the unicorn turns into a recurring patron, it helps to have a record of every promise the party made to it. Loreify can record the session and track the NPCs so nobody forgets the oath they swore in the glade.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a unicorn in 5e?

The unicorn is CR 5 (1,800 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. It has AC 12 in both, with 67 hit points in 2014 and 97 in 2024.

What does a unicorn's Healing Touch do?

In the 2014 rules, Healing Touch is an action the unicorn can use three times a day. The creature it touches regains 11 (2d8 + 2) hit points, and all diseases and poisons on it end. The 2024 unicorn replaces it with Unicorn's Blessing, a Bonus Action (3/day) that casts Cure Wounds or Lesser Restoration.

How far can a unicorn teleport?

The 2014 unicorn can teleport once a day, taking itself and up to three willing creatures within 5 feet to a location it's familiar with up to 1 mile away. The 2024 unicorn has no Teleport action; it casts Word of Recall once a day instead, which takes up to five willing creatures to a sanctuary prepared in advance.

Does a unicorn have legendary actions?

Yes, three per round. The 2014 unicorn can kick with its hooves (1 action), grant +2 AC with Shimmering Shield (2 actions) or heal itself 11 hit points (3 actions). The 2024 unicorn has Charging Horn and Shimmering Shield, each costing one use.

Can a unicorn be charmed?

No. The unicorn is immune to the Charmed, Paralyzed and Poisoned conditions and to poison damage in both editions, and it has Advantage on saves against spells.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.