Monk reincarnated as Black Bear

[Herobizkit]

He could also be playing 3e (pg 244) and not 3.5 (pg 270)

Some bodies may make it impossible for the reincarnated character to use some of his or her class abilities. The reincarnated character does gain any powers or abilities associated with his new form. A humanoid reincarnated into an animal body can speak the languages it formerly knew and is a magical beast.A wish spell can restore a reincarnated character to his or her original form.

3.5e version as follows
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/reincarnate.htm

Yep, you got it. I really dislike 3.5's take on most magic so we've stayed loyal to the b0rken 3.0 spells and effects. 'Course, I also went 2ed and used the random Reincarnation tables from The Humanoid's Handbook (much more comprehensive and "fun" than 3.x) and rolled 50-50 for Wizard or Cleric and then the appropriate percentile... and STILL got black bear.

The irony is in the fact that the NPC was originally from an Africa-like area of my world and so he was, well, "black". And now he still is.

I like the idea of making his a Psion, since I am slowly introducing Psionics into my game. As an added "bonus", the Hero PC has directed his female Druid NPC to help his buddy out with any "natural urges" he might have...