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From Beastars to Baccano! and Beyond – See What Inspires Nerdarchy’s Latest TTRPG Live Play Campaign, Zoo Mafia RPG – Blood Moonshine

Zoo Mafia’s Kickstarter has just launched this past week, and let me tell you, this game is wild. Okay, yes. I admit that the pun was intentional, but if that doesn’t deter you from this article, then you’re the kind of people I want reading.

Zoo Mafia was born from a conversation held by a bunch of us at Nerdarchy a while back. We all took turns contributing ideas for how a setting with animal mobsters would be, from peanuts as currency (because they get paid in peanuts, 😜 to the ideas of rival bosses in the zoo, referencing specific figures in history. What I initially thought of as a fun brainstorming joke evolved into something more than I ever expected… and I’m so thrilled it has!

You may be asking, “What is Zoo Mafia all about?” I’m so glad you asked.

Zoo Mafia is a game in which animals live secret lives at night. They dress like people in a prohibition-era city of their own device, hidden within the actual zoo itself. Just because they dress like us doesn’t make them less wild animals. Far from it.

Sure, some animals participate in their society legally, abiding by laws and working legitimate jobs; however, some can’t escape their dog-eat-dog nature and run wild as criminals. These criminals form packs, and that’s how the mobs are born.

Instead of delving into mechanics (a topic for another time), I want to talk about the setting itself. Good GMs repurpose ideas and themes from their favorite media, meshing, melding, and reconstructing them into something new and unique. If you are inspired, your players will be inspired.

Along this thought track, I want to share what inspires my Zoo Mafia setting and point you toward some books, shows, and movies to get those creative juices flowing.

🐾 Zoo Mafia Blood Moonshine Saga: The Complete TTRPG Live Play 🌘🔫

The Secret Night Life

Zoo Mafia is all about the Night Life; this idea that the animals have a secret society existing right under the nose of the humans. While many people think about this being like Madagascar, I’ve always pictured it more in the realm of something like Toy Story, An American Tale, or The Great Mouse Detective.

Toy Story has this idea that the toys are all aware of humans and genuinely want their society to remain hidden. In the world, this makes a lot of sense. Humans are bigger, more advanced, and dangerously curious. We suck.

Imagine, for a moment, if humanity suddenly learned that something like the objects you leave your child alone with were actually people. People have ambitions and goals, and people aren’t always good. If humanity learned of this, there’s no telling the chaos that would descend on the world, and countless toys would fall as casualties.

However, when it comes to a TTRPG, if you’re going with a secret world under the nose of another, it’s almost guaranteed that your players will want to exploit or reveal this world to the broader populace at some point. Zoo Mafia combats this mechanically with the marker system, the idea that markers work like luck, and when your luck runs out, bad stuff happens, like your character being removed from the game, one way or another.

People tend to go with the crowd, and I wanted to represent a more concrete reason why the animals don’t reveal themselves. This is how I came up with the Six Immutable Laws for my setting, Primrose City Zoo. The Six Laws are:

• No killing unless they won’t be missed.
• Keep the Night Life hidden from human eyes.
• If the humans made it, leave it intact; if you shoot up a joint, only facades made by animals get damaged.
• Everyone is in their enclosures by daybreak.
• No talking to the humans, no interacting with the humans beyond animal stuff, absolutely no killing humans.
• Lawbreakers get broken.

The existence of these laws not only gives the narrative reason why the Night Life remains hidden; it works to ramp up tension for everyone because in my campaign, Blood Moonshine, someone known as the predator, is breaking these rules and putting the whole Night Life at risk.

As far as other inspirations for the Night Life existing under human noses, I also drew inspiration from the American Tale movies, which feature a refugee family of Jewish mice attempting to make a life in the United States, as well as The Great Mouse Detective, an underrated Disney classic, in my opinion.

Both of these franchises see the animals dressing like people and living in a world that’s bigger than them. A core component I found inspirational was how things that are part of the human world get repurposed in the animals’ secret society. Wine bottles might be used as cages, a discarded sardine can, and a roller skate might be a wagon. The list could go on for ages. Repurposing these objects breathes new life into the secret world while reminding us of the human society from which these creatures hide.

Another movie based on a book with the secret animal world vibes and a dash of crime is The Fantastic Mr. Fox. It’s charming and witty, and the movie uses stop-motion animation that gave me a sense of nostalgia without having ever seen it before—definitely a skillfully crafted movie.

Mafia Vibes for Days

Another source of inspiration for me is 1920s and 1930s media. Specifically, mobster movies and books that reference organized crime.

A rather overt reference I included early on in Blood Moonshine is to a favorite book of mine, The Great Gatsby. As a Queer man myself, the undertones are almost overtones in this book when it comes to the palpable romantic tension between our narrator, Nick, and the titular Gatsby. What’s more, Nick has ties to… questionable contacts (i.e., mobsters), and the entire thing is a critique of high society in the roaring 20s. That is exactly the vibe I’m going for with my setting.

Another source of inspiration was an anime called 91 Days. This shows us a prohibition world where mob families and organized crime thrive and cost our protagonist his family. The events of a single night spiral our protagonist into the world of bootlegging and drive him to the very life that took his family away. It’s a brilliant piece of media with dark and tragic themes while taking itself quite seriously.

It’s a limited series, meaning you can watch the whole story to its completion. Everything from the animation and writing to the soundtrack is an absolute masterpiece, and I highly recommend giving it a watch.

Of course, movies like The Godfather and Boondock Saints also inspire the mob feels, and a reference to these in Zootopia also served as inspiration. Of note, Zootopia, in particular, served to help me define how animals of various sizes might coexist, given the small towns of the mice and shrews, all existing within the larger world of the bigger animals.

Another prohibition-era show that heavily inspires many themes and premises of Blood Moonshine in particular is my all-time favorite anime, Baccano! This roaring 20s-set anime balances dark themes, humor, and supernatural elements with the mafia themes and murder mysteries I can’t get enough of.

Supernatural Horror

While Baccano! It was the primary inspiration for my initial ideas about Blood Moonshine; it was just the tip of the iceberg.

My favorite podcast is Old Gods of Appalachia, a horror anthology podcast that explores early 1900s America from the scenic and folklore-rich Appalachian region. Having lived in West Virginia for a time, I feel that this series not only hits those horror notes but also manages to capture that rare, unique voice and culture within the region.

From body horror to monsters to many supernatural phenomena, Old Gods of Appalachia evokes that “bump in the night” vibe I love in a good horror story.

Another podcast I adore is Midst. This show presents eldritch horror in a wild-west-inspired space setting. What caught my attention with Midst was how curated and articulate, yet conversational and casual, the narration was. When I say it’s conversational and casual, these are compliments in a way that I can’t better articulate than to say that this show was what made me feel I was permitted to be authentic, quirky, and a touch scatterbrained in my narrative voice.

This is especially important for many of us GMs who want to give our players the best experience possible. I often fall into the trap of thinking my narrative must be professional and devoid of mistakes to share the best descriptions with my players.

That ideology, while easy to slip into, is a fallacy.

Authentic and conversational description offers a primal immersion quality that polished, perfect details without emotion simply can’t evoke. Something about presenting a scene with a sort of third-party commentary aids in grounding the players and keeping the pressure off your polish.

This frees my mind to fall into the descriptions. If I mess up or say something strange, I can correct myself conversationally or explain why I used a weird phrase, which offers clarity and flavor.

Another source of inspiration for the supernatural elements in Blood Moonshine is the Netflix series Trese. This Dresden Files-style show is a Fillipino anime about a known world of supernatural horrors and the bridge between worlds who uses her sleuthing skills to keep the delicate peace between increasingly hostile clans and the mundane.

Beastars on Netflix is another source of inspiration. The predator/prey dynamics combine with this show’s thriller and mystery elements to make something special. If you were running a Zoo Mafia game without the secret world element (effortless to do), the furry world would look something like this show, especially when things get hairy.

Another point of inspiration comes from the cosmology and “vibes” of Fullmetal Alchemist. This manga and anime lend inspiration to a lot of the horror elements and blood magic themes. Monsters who look like people are just as scary as those who act like monsters.

What do you think?

What inspires your campaign settings? Are you familiar with any of the inspirational sources here? Whatever your thoughts, please drop us a comment and a like. Also, be sure to support the Zoo Mafia Kickstarter so we can hit our goal. Every little bit helps!