How to Bring Animal Crossing's Tom Nook Into Your Dungeons & Dragons Game
While he's best known for managing his retail and real estate development empire in the Animal [...]
While he's best known for managing his retail and real estate development empire in the Animal Crossing series, Tom Nook is actually a natural fit for your Dungeons & Dragons game. As the world continues to stay inside due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, millions of gamers are turning to Dungeons & Dragons and Animal Crossing: New Horizons for their social gaming needs. While Dungeons & Dragons provides a much needed social outlet to see friends and family members, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a fun, no stress escape from the real world.
One of the most recognizable faces of the Animal Crossing franchise is Tom Nook, the owner of Nook Inc. and the father of Timmy and Tommy Nook. While the English version of Animal Crossing refers to Nook as a racoon, he's actually a tanuki, a fox-like mammal native to Japan. The tanuki has a long history in Japanese folklore as shapeshifting, mischievous tricksters that encourages generosity and prosperity in those they interact with. Many of the tanuki's traditions are reflected in how Tom Nook behaves in Animal Crossing, from his ability to transform objects into leaves, to his surprisingly generous lending habits, to the apron that he wears in early games to hide his large scrotum (yes, that's a real thing associated with tanuki.)
Nook's innate magical abilities lend themselves well to Dungeons & Dragons, either as a friendly NPC or as a familiar. Nook could play the role of a traveling sales animal, providing magical items to the players when they encounter him in the woods. A DM could also play up Nook's recent interest in real estate development, offering to build handy upgrades to a party's headquarters. If players want to adopt Nook as a familiar or party mascot, you can use the creature stat block for a raccoon and make some minor adjustments.
If a DM is feeling bold, they can even make Nook and his sons the subject a mini-adventure. In a recent Dungeons & Dragons game, I sent my party into some ruins to look for a pet for an upcoming town festival. After meeting both Tom Nook and his son Tommy and exchanging a bell for some items, the party learned that Timmy was trapped in a gnome zombie-infested ruin. Tom even accompanied the party on the mission to rescue Timmy, even going so far as briefly controlling one of the party members (another tanuki ability) and pulling out a shield out of his pocket to protect itself from an attack. Once Timmy was rescued, the grateful Nook family accompanied the party back home where they'll likely continue to provide assistance to the party during their adventures.
Having Nook make a cameo in your Dungeons & Dragons game is a great way to make your players laugh and can provide some actual tangible benefits in your campaign. Let's face it - a tanuki shopkeep isn't any stranger than owlbears, talking dragons, or cat people, all of which have a proud place in D&D lore.
