Zoo Tech: How the Animals Fight Dirty

Zoo Tech: How the Animals Fight Dirty

July 5, 2025

In a world of tooth, claw, and cunning, fighting fair is a luxury no one can afford. In Zoo Mafia, where Prohibition runs deep and power is always up for grabs, it’s not just about who can throw a punch—it’s about who’s packing a trick sleeve, a hidden gadget, or a custom-crafted weapon that only a raccoon locksmith or a giraffe chemist could dream up.

Welcome to Zoo Tech—the gritty, grimy, gloriously inventive world of how animals cheat, claw, and improvise their way to victory.

What Is Zoo Tech?

Zoo Tech refers to the gadgets, gear, gizmos, and DIY weaponry used by the criminal elite—and the desperate hopefuls—within your Zoo Mafia campaign. This isn’t polished James Bond tech. It’s duct-taped together, stitched with feathers and fur, smuggled in lunchboxes and hidden in enclosures. Depending on what era you want to play your game in will determine what level of tech you can add to your game.

Think:

A tommy gun disguised in a baguette.
A portable peanut-butter bomb.
A monocle that’s secretly a heat sensor.
A hairpin lockpick passed down through three generations of stoat burglars.

Whether your game runs in a covert “animals pretending to be normal zoo creatures by day” or the fully anthropomorphized Zootopia-style crime-scape, Zoo Tech fits.

Categories of Zoo Tech

1. Concealed Weapons
The best weapon is the one no one sees coming.

Snake-Slung Slingblade – A bladed tail ring disguised as jewelry.
Purse Popper – A false-bottom clutch bag holding a compact revolver.
Feather-Tip Dagger – Carried under a wing or inside a hat plume.

2. Communication Devices
Talking on the level without tipping off the fuzz.

Chirper Beads – Jewelry that vibrates when danger is near.
Tooth Taps – Molar-implanted radios (good luck tuning it right).
Banana Phone – It’s not just a joke—it’s encrypted.

3. Explosives & Distractions
Sometimes chaos is your best ally.

Paint Bombs – Ruin a lobby, mark your exit, confuse the fuzz.
Nut Cluster Grenades – Small, homemade, and wildly unstable.
Sneeze Powder – Perfect for breaking up a conversation… or a stakeout.

4. Escape Tools
Because every good mobster needs a backup plan.

Shell Slide Oil – Lubricates fast getaways (popular with turtles and penguins).
Ditch’n’Switch Outfit Bags – Includes reversible coats and fake mustaches.
Elevator Beetle Box – A living lockpicker disguised as a lunch snack.

Who Makes Zoo Tech?

Zoo Mafia is crawling with underground inventors. That lemur with the twitch? He’s an explosives genius. That mole with the stutter? Master of hidden compartments.

Encourage your players to build relationships with tech-savvy NPCs or even take on jobs that unlock new gear. Maybe the local capybara mechanic wants something stolen. Maybe the giraffe chemist has a formula she’s dying to test.

Want a real twist? Have Zoo Tech go wrong. Exploding cigars. Non-lethal peanut rounds. A fake tooth that plays ragtime instead of detonating.

Using Zoo Tech in Play

Zoo Tech is powered by Moves and Creativity. If you’re running Powered by the Apocalypse (as Zoo Mafia is), gear should:

Justify an addition to either damage or a bonus to a move.
Trigger a custom Move (“When you use your flamethrower hat…”)
Offer narrative solutions to otherwise impossible problems

Zoo Tech isn’t just about combat—it’s about expression, flair, and unpredictability. It gives players more options, more flavor, and a clear mechanical edge when things go sideways (and they always do).

Building Your Own Zoo Tech

Encourage your players to invent tools and submit them as part of downtime or level-up rewards. Here’s a basic structure:

Name
Description
Hidden Feature
Stat or Move Tie-In

Example:
Name: “The Peanut Pumper”
Description: A modified delivery tube designed to fire salted peanut shells at high velocity.
Hidden Feature: The handle contains a rolled-up escape map.
Move Tie-In: Roll +Wild to intimidate or disrupt a crowd.

Final Thoughts

Zoo Tech adds chaos, charm, and creativity to your sessions. Whether your crew is pulling a job, defending their turf, or just trying to sneak a banana grenade past security, it’s always better to fight dirty—and fight smart. If you are a fan of Zoo Mafia and want to be notified when we go live on Kickstarter make sure you head over to the follow page to get notified. If you want to be on the newsletter to get all the details as we release them you can sign up here.

In Zoo Mafia, the streets belong to those clever enough to rig the fight.

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