Fur, Fangs, and Firearms: Running a Zoo Mafia Campaign in D&D

May 1, 2025

At The Gaming Table/ Dungeons & Dragons/ Zoo Mafia

What if The Godfather was run by a pride of lions? Or if Goodfellas played out in a city run entirely by humanoid animals—sharp-suited raccoons, crocodile hitmen, and owl accountants cooking the books by candlelight?

Welcome to the Zoo Mafia, a campaign theme that fuses the gritty underworld of organized crime with the vibrant possibilities of anthropomorphic fantasy—all powered by the rules of Dungeons & Dragons.

This blog post will show you how to run a Zoo Mafia D&D campaign using core mechanics and published options, with custom tweaks for tone, species, weapons, and vehicular mayhem.

🐾 The Setup: Crime and Critters

In this campaign, you run a crime syndicate made up of humanoid animal species—each race has its own territories, cultures, and long-standing feuds. The world might resemble something like:

A noir city of cobblestone and neon
A crumbling post-empire society filled with gang wars
A modern(ish) magicpunk metropolis where claws meet tommy guns

Every major faction is led by a Zoo Don—ruthless, refined, and deeply bound by family and legacy.

🐾 Step 1: Species & Races

Your players will need to choose from beastfolk-inspired races. These are widely available in 5e sourcebooks or can be homebrewed.

Playable Races:

Tabaxi (catfolk) – Sleek enforcers, silent assassins, or flashy hustlers
Loxodon (elephantfolk) – Enforcers and old-school bodyguards
Tortles – Calm, calculating bookies or underground chemists
Owlin – High-flying scouts and intelligence specialists
Hadozee – Smugglers and fast-talkers
Simic Hybrids (from Ravnica) – Experimental bruisers with mutation powers
Homebrew Races: Ratfolk, Gatorfolk, Foxkin, Hyena-kin, etc. (use templates from existing beastfolk)

Everyone’s part of the animal kingdom—but loyalty to your species syndicate, your crime family, or your own ambition might push you to claw your way to the top.

💼 Step 2: Classes with a Twist

While standard D&D classes work fine, you can flavor them to match the mafia setting:

Rogue (Mastermind, Assassin) – Fixers, cleaners, and consigliere types
Fighter (Gunslinger or Battle Master) – Muscle with tactical flair
Artificer (Alchemist or Armorer) – Black market chemists and tinkerers
Warlock (Fiend patron) – The Don’s favorite “problem solver” with infernal contacts
Cleric (Grave or Trickery) – Religious syndicate leaders or spiritual racketeers
Bard (College of Whispers) – Silver-tongued agents and smear campaigners

Your spells? Think “black bag operations,” “blood money,” “extortion hexes,” and “getaway glamour.”

🔫 Step 3: Guns, Baby

Flip to the Dungeon Master’s Guide, Chapter 9, and you’ll find rules for firearms. Depending on your tech level, you can use:

Renaissance firearms for a more pulp/crime noir flavor (flintlocks, early pistols)
Modern firearms if you want Tommy guns, revolvers, and trench coat chaos

Allow select classes (like Fighters and Rogues) to start proficient, or tie gun use to factions and black-market connections.

Ammo matters. Reloading in the middle of a drive-by? Hilarious. Terrifying. Perfect.

🚗 Step 4: Getaway Carts & Demon-Rigged Rides

Thanks to Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, you’ve got a perfect set of vehicle rules ready to roll. Just reskin infernal war machines into:

Magic-powered getaway wagons
Bulletproof carriages with smoke grenades
Street racing sedans with thunderstone launchers
Boss carts run on soul-coal, with mounted ballistae

Downtime scenes can include customizing rides, dealing with goblin gearheads, or sabotaging rival vehicles before the next arms deal goes down.

🧨 Step 5: Themes & Story Hooks

Zoo Mafia isn’t about epic destiny—it’s about survival, loyalty, and the weight of blood oaths. Here are a few campaign ideas:

The Don is Dead

The family patriarch has passed. Every animal crew wants a piece of the empire. Can the players keep their turf while navigating betrayals and back-alley politics?

Blood in the Fur District

A new gang is muscling in—non-animal humanoids looking to “civilize” the underworld. Time to show them how the real beasts play.

The Pact

Someone made a deal with infernal powers. Is the mob selling their souls for power? Is the warlock behind it the new Don?

Zoo Town Blues

A low-level crew rises through the ranks, going from extortion jobs and alleyway hits to controlling entire districts of the city. But how long before they become what they swore to fight?

🦴 Optional Rules for Flavor

Fame & Notoriety: Track reputation with various gangs. Are you respected, feared, or marked for death?
Code of Silence: Break the Omertà (the mob’s magical blood-oath), and risk psychic death or divine retribution.
Family Bonds: Let players create NPC family members. If you mess with one, the whole zoo comes calling.

🎬 Final Thoughts

A Zoo Mafia campaign is where Don Bluth meets Quentin Tarantino, and Disney’s Robin Hood gets rewritten by Martin Scorsese. With the right mechanics, you’ve got a D&D game that’s unique, gritty, and full of high-drama power moves.

So let your players make deals, shoot double-crossers, and walk away from explosions in slow motion—but always remember:

In the animal underworld, loyalty is earned in blood, and only the smartest beasts survive.

If you want to tune into all the Zoo Mafia shenanigans new blog posts appear here every Saturday.

Thanks for reading. Until Next Time, Stay Nerdy!!