Yiazybozorotriyeja, known as Bozo the Bold, is a widely-travelled and much-sought-after illusionist. Everyone knows his name. It is on posters all over the Fifty Worlds.
The posters usually say things like Wanted and Reward for information leading to the capture of .... Is that a problem? They say there is no such thing as bad publicity.
[AD&D-Specific] Yiazybozorotriyeja, known as Bozo the Bold, human male. Str 10 Dex 16 Con 15 Int 18 Wis 14 Cha 13 Align CE Hp 56 Illusionist, level 19.
[AD&D-Specific] Powers include persistent spell effect: change self.
Bozo the Bold grew up on one of the less well known of the Fifty Worlds. He is entirely self-taught as a magician. He has a good deal of contempt for magicians who learnt their trade in universities.
Bozo casts spells only from the schools of illusion and universal magic. As far as he is concerned, all other schools are opposition schools. By way of compensating for this limitation, there are several illusion spells which he knows and no-one else does.
One such is the 9th-level spell Improved Simulacrum, which has recently become one of Bozo's favourites.
Bozo's favourite hobby, after the study of illusion spells, is theft. He has heard of the saying that all property is theft and agrees entirely. All theft is property: anything he steals henceforth belongs to him. He has robbed banks on at least half of the Fifty Worlds. He calls it performance art.
Each of Bozo's robberies is different, but there are common elements. He regards violence as the last refuge of the incompetent, so he uses misdirection and trickery rather than force.
Bozo's continual aim is to prove himself the most cunning magician in the Fifty Worlds. He commits robberies to spread his fame, not because he needs the money. He does not particularly intend harm to anyone. But if stupid swordswingers walk into lethal traps, believing them to be illusions, he will think it a very funny joke.
Bozo is not an ascetic. When not studying illusion or robbing banks, he enjoys the other pleasures of life, such as sex and good food. He can afford to. He has several million gold pieces to his name.
If the player characters become involved in one of Bozo's schemes, it will be as misdirection. The player characters may be entirely ignorant that they are involved in some scheme, or they may think (incorrectly) that they know what is going on. Either way, while the authorities are busy watching the player characters, Bozo is walking off with the loot.
No-one knows for certain what Bozo the Bold looks like. The world he comes from is so little-known that very few people know even in general terms what he looks like, although a competent sage could make an intelligent guess. Neither does anyone know whether or not he has a secret hideout, and if he does, where it is.
He might even have a secret identity. Anyone might be Bozo the Bold.
Bozo's main campaign function is to give the player characters an occasional undeserved lucky break. The authorities have managed to convince themselves that the player characters' antics are one of Bozo's misdirections and instead of pursuing the player characters they are waiting for Bozo to try to do his stuff.
Who knows? The authorities might be right.