‘Uni and the Hunt for the Lost Horn’ is a free, single-session DnD adventure with pre-generated heroes and villains pulled straight from the 1980s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon. This high density hit of nostalgia for Gen-X fans is part of Wizards of the Coast’s celebrations for DnD’s 50th birthday, and it’s available on DnD Beyond right now.
If you’re far, far too young to remember the DnD animated series, this may not hit as hard, but a free adventure is still a free adventure. The title pretty much tells you the whole premise: the evil mage Kelek has stolen the hapless unicorn Uni’s horn, taking her magic powers along with it. It’s your job to get it back before he uses it for something truly nefarious.
You can grab the free adventure on DnD Beyond right now.
The protagonists of the cartoon have the same DnD classes and iconic magic items that the Dungeon Master gave them way back in 1983. They’re joined by a new hero, called Niko, a DnD 2024 Cleric “from a different set of adventurers who recently tumbled into the D&D multiverse” – a mysterious addition.
The characters have all aged up into young adults now. That in itself is quite interesting: if this was aimed purely at Gen-Xers who watched the original DnD cartoon when it aired, the characters would probably be more relatable if they returned to the fantasy realm middle-aged, with bad backs, day-jobs, and kids of their own they’re anxious to get back to (or enjoying their vacation away from!).
These characters reappeared in their young adult forms with a brief cameo in the 2023 DnD movie ‘No Honor among Thieves’. They’ve also been used in several pieces of artwork for the DnD 2024 Player’s Handbook. In recent years the original cartoon designs have been used for action figures, to adorn licensed DnD Converse sneakers, and IDW’s 2022 comic book series set in a “lost episode” of the cartoon.
This is probably just the result of Wizards and its licensing partners riding the current fashion for ’80s kitsch, selling reconstituted Gen-X pop culture to Zoomers who find the whole pre-internet era borderline mythical. But maybe – just maybe – cogs are turning for a reboot of the cartoon. After the recent revelation that the Magic the Gathering Netflix show isn’t cancelled, despite all evidence to the contrary, it feels possible.
We’ll make sure to scour the Dungeon Master’s Guide – the next volume on the DnD release schedule – for any more art of the aged-up cartoon characters that may support this conspiracy theory.
Source: Wargamer
