Zande Witch Woman (Character Kit)

Description: The Zande witch women are of fearsome aspect, their teeth and lips dyed with blood-red berry juice. The witch women are individuals called by the gods to search out and punish heresy, in particular the heresy of the Bokor. They hunt down and kill any Bokor they meet. They can be extremely harsh in their punishment of villages and individuals who harbor these fugitives, even if it was done unknowingly. Zande witch women are more common in the lands of the pygmies of the central African jungles than elsewhere, but can be found in all the nations of Africa. Witch women are often accompanied by male warriors. These warriors are charged with slaying the bokor's undead form after the witch woman has killed its mortal form. DMs may devise their own African warrior kit for these warriors, or they may adapt the Benin Hunter kit from "Real Warriors Ride Elephants!" in DRAGON issue #195. In this case, the hunter's "species foe" (as the ranger's ability) is undead. 
Role: The Zande witches often are as hated as the Bokor they hunt. They are considered by many a punishment by the gods for the heresy of the Bokor. The general populace is so frightened of the witches that most usually cooperate with them out of fear of retribution. Many witches have been killed by angry villagers whose crops were destroyed by a witch's curse, however. The witches sometimes use their power and the fear that they are held in to further their own selfish and ambitious ends, but killing Bokor is always their first priority. They are the harbingers of justice and vengeance. Zande witch women are always female and must be lawful, though they may be good, neutral, or evil. 
Weapon Proficiencies:
* Required: Short sword;
* Recommended: Spear, bow, 
sling. 
Nonweapon Proficiencies:
* Required: Herbalism;
* Recommended: Cooking, brewing, healing, intimidation, observation (see the CTH for these two proficiencies). 
Spells: Witches are specialists of the school of enchantment and have all of the corresponding abilities and hindrances, including being barred from the Invocation/ Evocation and Necromancy. Zande witch women also can cast spells 
from the clerical Combat sphere. 
Special Benefits: Witches may cast a curse on Bokor or other heretics, and those who give them succor. In an African context, other heretics include spell- casters from lands outside Africa, or priests of gods not native to the African setting. This curse can include withering crops, either of the Bokor's curses, or a sign of interdiction. The sign of interdiction is a specialized wizard mark that functions as the spell except that the mark is clearly visible. It cannot be removed, not even by dispel magic. The sign of interdiction declares that the wearer is a heretic (a - 2 penalty to reaction rolls). The victim is 
always allowed a saving throw against death magic to avoid a Witch woman's curse. Witches may bond with their warrior companions. This bond may be created only once in a witch's lifetime. It allows two-way empathic knowledge (both members of the bond can tell if the other is hurt, dying, enraged, etc.), the ability to use the other's senses once per day for 1d10 turns, and the ability of the witch to lay a compulsion on the warrior once per day with no saving throw as per the suggestion spell.The warrior gains one additional hit point per level and gains + 2 to attack and damage rolls when defending his bond-mate. Both parties must be willing participants to form the bond, but once formed it can never be broken. If the warrior dies, the witch suffers as if she had lost a familiar. If either bond-mate is wounded while the sense-link is in use, they both suffer the damage, and they must both make saving throws against aralyzation. If both make the saving throw, the sensory link can be maintained. If either party fails, the link is severed. In other circumstances, the sensory link may be broken only by mutual assent or by the elapse of the link's duration. Thereafter, the link can not be established for 24 hours. 
Special Hindrances: Witches generate a great deal of respect and thus they have a + 1 to all positive reactions; however, they also generate a great deal of fear and so all negative reactions suffer a - 1 penalty. These modifiers are applied by the DM after he makes the reaction roll, but before he reveals its results. This holds true regardless of the witch's alignment.
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