Bokor (Character Kit)

Bokor (Sorcerer)
Description: A Bokor is an evil sorcerer who uses dangerous magic without the aid of the gods' wisdom. The Bokor learn spells and are granted the power to cast them by the Orish-Nla, the evil denizens of the underworld (fiends, in the parlance of the AD&D® game). Their magic is unpre dictable and despised by their countrymen. This kit is most appropriate for NPCs. Bokor serve as excellent villains in an African campaign.
Role: The Bokor is hunted by his countrymen, not out of hatred but because they fear the wrath of the Zande witch 
women (see below) whose sole purpose is to destroy the Bokor. The Bokor are home less wanderers, who study their art to 
gain power.
Weapon Proficiencies:
* Required: None;
* Recommended: spear, dagger, bow.
Nonweapon Proficiencies:
* Required: spellcraft;
* Recommended: alertness (from the CTH), cooking, direction sense, fire building, hunting, endurance, tracking, set snares.
Spells: All Bokor are wild mages and gain all associated abilities. (See the Tome 
of Magic for rules on wild mages.) They may never cast any elemental spells, as the 
elements themselves abhor the art of the Bokor. Bokor can cast spells from the 
Chaos clerical sphere, however. 
Special Benefits: The Bokor are hardier than most wizards, so they use six-sided dice as hit dice instead of four-sided dice.
Special Hindrances: Because the gods have turned away from the Bokor, these mages suffer several disadvantages: 
1. The curse of changing form. Every day, the Bokor must roll on a table to determine what form he takes that day. 
The table is different for each Bokor, and it includes the Bokor's true form plus random forms rolled on the mages' rein carnation spell table (PH, p. 181). A Bokor has a number of forms equal to his level plus one.
At the DM's discretion, some entries may be omitted or replaced with beings appro priate to her African campaign. Some distinguishing feature (chosen by the player) is common to all forms. For in stance, a 3rd-level Bokor would have to roll 1d4 each day. On a roll of 1, he would maintain his true form, but rolls of 2 through 4 could correspond to gnoll, ko bold, and troll forms respectively. He might have a white streak of hair in all forms. he Bokor can speak and cast spells in all forms. In other respects, this curse acts as a polymorph spell. 
2. The curse of refusal. Death has refused to allow the Bokor entry to the realm of the dead, so all Bokor become undead upon their deaths. The exact form that an undead Bokor assumes depends on the level that the Bokor attained in life. Convert the character's level to hit dice and consult the table for turning undead for the appropriate form. For example, a 6th-level Bokor would become a ghast or wraith when he dies. If the Bokor is 12th level or higher when he dies (the "Special" category on the table), the character be comes an Orish-Nla (an African demon resembling a shadow fiend). The okor loses his spell-casting abilities upon death, unless the undead form taken is normally capable of casting spells. 
Despite the character's new status, the curse of changing form is still in effect. As a result, the undead character may be a skeletal, zombie, or ghostly troll, ore, etc., on any given day. The character retains his undead abilities and immunities in any form. The DM is advised to make the undead character an NPC, if the Bokor is not one already. 
The other disadvantages are oriented to role-playing, rather than mechanics. The Bokor are constantly hunted by the Zande witch women. If a Bokor's true profession is known, the Bokor suffer a -2 penalty on all reaction rolls.
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