Basic Information
A bokor is a vodou practitioner - typically without a congregation to serve - who delves into the darker paths of the religion and delas with the more malevolent loas, typically for their own benefit as opposed to on behalf of their community. The term has some similarity to the idea of a witch or skinwalker but isn't necessarily such a complete condemnation as Vodou is not as dichotomic as other traditions. A bokor need not necessarily be evil, but is likely to be selfish, dangerous to deal with and prone to getting their own way. Given the nature of the loas they deal with, an aggressive and domineering streak in their personality is probably required to some degree. It is said that a bokor, as opposed to a hougan or mambo "serves the loa with both hands" doing both good and evil. In many cases, courtesy may dictate that the bokor be addressed and treated as a hougan or mambo and their actual practice not directly addressed.
If someone in the voudousiant community is creating Zombis, or weaving curses for hire, they are probably a bokor. Bokor work may also overlap into the "secular" magical traditions of hoodoo and rootwork.
Sources
Game and Story Use
- Note the character build guidance: the bokor should have a forceful personality or the loa he deals with will probably eat his soul. He need not, necessarily, be a pleasant person to be around, so whilst a high Charisma build might make him look like an effective diplomat character, his skills focus should be elsewhere and/or the usual shaman build personality quirks can remove any advantage when dealing with humans. Of course, the suave, somewhat louche and sinisterly persuasive model is entirely congruent as well, particularly for someone that spends a lot of time with the Barons.
- Probably addressed as "tonton/tata" ("uncle/auntie") by a regular Voudisant (if only on a precautionary basis) in the same way they would address a hougan or mambo of another congregation (their own minister would probably be addressed as "Papa/Maman" after the Roman tradition) … although whether a practicing hougan or mambo would acknowledge them as "frere/soeur" may be a complicated matter.
