Everything you NEED to know about these allies!

Expanded information and motivations for the NPC allies in Curse of Strahd! Today we're talking about Ezmerelda, Perriwimple, Sir Klutz, and Victor Vallakovich! We'll be going over all the other allies in this series, so be sure to SUBSCRIBE!
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The Curse of Strahd adventure module for Dungeons & Dragons doesn't give much background information for most of its NPC allies, otherwise known as "Strahd's Enemy". These are the allies fated to assist you in your adventure, as defined by the Tarokka reading at the start of your game. This series of videos will give you extended information on each of the twenty allies, including their motivations, gaining their trust, pros and cons of travelling with them, and more! You can get even MORE information about roleplaying each of these characters over on our Patreon!
#dnd #rpg #dungeonsanddragons

[@wmrt167]

Im reflavoring Esmeralda as a Vistani Gunslinger (her new-school monster hunting style as opposed to Van Richten's old-school) and im so pumped. Removed some spells, nerfed her HP just a bit. 3 grit points, piercing a violent shot, rapier and pistol, 6 silver bullets and regular ammo

[@JonathanToolonie]

That is a sensational idea. Mind if I borrow that concept?

[@travisperkins9920]

Oooh I did the same thing. I had a gunslinger in my party and she's the only source of gunpowder in barovia

[@ryanadkins4840]

I’m planning on having the spirit of Sir Klutz inhabit a weapon that the party comes across. He’ll be able to speak to the party through the weapon, and on rare occasions manifest outside it. He’s not the party’s ally, but he’s just too good not to use in some capacity

[@KylonRic]

The first ally my group unlocked was Arabella. At first it was a challenge trying to think of a way to play her, she was a 7 year old after all. I bumped up her age to about 12 to make her adult personality a tad more believable. I also went with a “creepy girl with lots of secrets” vibe. After they rescued her they argued over what to do with Bluto, her kidnapped and attempted murderer. They argued for a while so Arabella took one of their knives and slit his throat. She handed the knife back and said “may we get to more important matters now?” For some reason the topic shifted to taking Strahd’s head as a trophy to which someone replied “I want an eye” and she chimed in “I want an ear” and smiles sweetly. They met a new companion (new player) on the shoreline and so they were deciding who should speak first. Someone said “have our most charismatic member speak” to which Arabella said “oh, that’s me.” They all watched with curiosity as she approached the ranger and were aghast when she simply said, “join us, or die.” They hurriedly took control of the conversation as she watched with an amused smile on her face. Anyway, I’m having her give them her tarokka card (the one that lead them to her) and once per day they can ask her a question. If it’s somewhat easy question locals would know, she answers it. DM decides how hard the question is and what % chance she has to knowing it or quickly finding the answer.

[@Tirreg88]

started playing CoS. I am the DM. i dont understand this "unlocking" NPC's yet. is there a chapter explaining this?

[@janedoe71253]

@@Tirreg88 There's a bunch of characters in CoS that can be recruited to aid the party with one of those characters able to be the "Destined Ally", which basically you'll always be able to recruit them so long as you take the correct steps.

[@singularrookhart7501]

My tentative plan for Ezmerelda is pretty much a combination of both Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale in "VanHelsing".

[@robertmcginty4146]

I'm on my second campaign. Neither has had Ezmerelda as the fated ally, but I've still had her tag along with both parties. Usually around Arganvostholt, and then the lake quest where I move the skull too. On this last one, her eyes widened when the invitation to dinner showed up. She tagged along and then promptly vanished. Strahd had to duck out of dinner due to "an intruder."

[@GuyRusso]

This really inspired me. The party has been walking around with Ezmeralda for quite some time now and I feel I’m not getting enough out of her and that they are missing out on some cool NPC’s. So I’ve decided to make her leave the party for now (she’ll return in the final battle to help the party against Strahd as the terokka reading said), meanwhile they will be able to recruit other companions to their aid and experience them as well.

[@DanGanado]

Our Ezmeralda died as a result of gross negligence by the party and Rudolph Van Richten. She was decapitated by a simulacrum of Rahadin. Now she's a Dullahan hunting the party. Pray for them.

[@GuyRusso]

In my game the party’s wizard stole Victor’s spell book whiteout him noticing which led Victor to lash out on the Wachter brothers, blaming them for stealing his spell book, killing one of them and running out of town to find a way to replace it. In town, this event started a rolling snowball that ended in a face off between the Lady Wachter and her cultists vs. Burgomaster Vallakovich, Izek Strazni and the town’s guards, while the party stood in the outlines to face the victor. Speaking of Victor, he ran straight to Amber Temple, seeking for knowledge and found a phylactery of a Lich, which he freed by (not so deliberately) letting the Lich posses his body and now he’s out to get the party. (They don’t know it yet, so keep quiet 🤫 😈).

[@ThyDungeonman2]

I played Victor very emo goth kid- and thank goodness he wasn’t the fated ally because he became an extremely fun recurring villain for the group, going on to help the druids summon wintersplinter, teaming up with Baba Lysaga to hunt down the players, and just generally being a pain in the ass. We loved him lol

[@wh3nderson95]

Perriwimple surprisingly became a strange addition to the adventure. The 2nd time I ran the campaign. I made Perriwimble a guy that secretly had a crush on Gertrude from the Mad Mary quest. The two would often stand at the windows and communicate with a special sign language. So when the party revealed they were going to search for Gertrude. The Bard of the party rolled deception by saying he found a diary which contained love poems Gertrude had for Perriwimple. (This was a randomly assigned item from the Bard's background. It was actual poems of love and stuff. But it was something the Bard used for making songs. I gave the Bard inspiration). Unfortunately, when the party arrived at Castle Ravenloft. Gertrude was excited to see her friend again. But she revealed she was not in love with Perriwimple. The party was bummed as well, but Perriwimple did continue to assist the party. Gertrude and Perriwimple did reach a compromise of understanding. As it turned out, in the fight with Strahd. Perriwimple was able to get the final blow on Strahd. This made the entire table cheer in excitement. The party wanted Perriwimple to take over Barovia and become King. When the story was coming to a close. Gertrude did show friendly affection by giving a kiss on the cheek, as she joined the first Barovians make a mass exodus from Barovia. Perriwimple did not want to be his Uncle's muscle anymore. So what he did was leave and was never heard again. In different campaigns. Gertrude was a found being a tourist in several safe locations on the Sword Coast. Then in a high level game where the party was about to killed by a Frost Giant. I decided to use my ace by summoning Perriwimple out of nowhere jumping from a cliff and help the party. (These were different characters but same players). The players were beyond excited. They haven't seen Perriwimple for close to 2 years. They immediately tried to pay Perriwimple to stay with the party. (Even the female player attempted to seduce Perriwimple. It did not work, but still surprised the table). I do have an idea to make a short campaign where the party find out Perriwimple is a questgiver and this adventure will probably make Perriwimple start his path to become a King of his own land. (I borrowed a campaign idea from a Conan the Barbarian story).

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

This is the best Perriwimple story ever. Hands down.

[@robball5080]

So i recently started running CoS again. 1 of my players killed Bildrath with Poison Spray because she didn't like his attitude.. Perrywinple didn't see the murder & the party now has him on their side. (Side note, my player didn't want to kill Bildrath, but she wasn't aware he had so fee HP as a commoner)

[@tnttiger3079]

Actually, the story about Van Richten letting the family go is only what Ezmerelda says. Rudolph's Journal, on the other hand, says he murdered them with zomies. Whichever is true is your pick.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

You're always free to choose which canon you go with. But for 5e, the story about him sparing the family is told from the perspective of a 3rd person omniscient narrator, which lends it credence over Rudolph's first person writings. Rudolph can be considered an unreliable narrator of his own story.

[@tnttiger3079]

@@LunchBreakHeroes true! There is uncertainty but it does seem Ezmereldas has more credence

[@Siglerland]

My group is meeting Esmerelda tonight! THANKS for the insight!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Have fun!

[@saltyspooner1770]

Starting a Curse of Strahd campaign for my friends after I finish my finals, your videos have been a godsend

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Happy to help!

[@barreranicolas77]

I cannot wait for you to talk about stella watcher and ireena my man

[@magicastrid]

Oh I was so hoping you would do one on the allies!!!

[@ayoutubewatcher2849]

I feel like you could treat Sir Klutz kind of like a Jack Sparrow character where he intends to do one thing but messes up and unintentionally does another thing that might actually help the party. I could see something like that being endearing while retaining that clumsy nature. The way I could view it is he actually has like a max luck stat, but for the sword ceremony he rolled a 1 on a percentile die and just died. Like every lucky thing he did in the past whiplashed back to a really really bad string of bad luck.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

I love this idea

[@ratzeflummi6372]

victor wasn't even my party's fated ally. they just saw this awkward kid with his undead cats and instantly adopted him

[@TheGreatBooster]

Ezmerelda is such a fantastic character. I always felt she needed an extra push to find Van Richten after years of distance, so in my game I added an additional motivation: she knows about his curse and, more importantly, how to break it. Borrowing an idea from Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani, I had it that somewhere in her travels she meets another Vistana survivor of that fateful night when Erasmus was kidnapped and learns about the curse. It can be broken through a specific act, one involving forgiveness. So Ezmerelda has been seeking out Van Richten to help him undo the curse, and tracks him to Barovia. Should they meet, the news gives Van Richten hope where he had none before. Now they just need to get out of Barovia... and neither of them are leaving (or can leave) until Strahd bites the dust.

[@sydfloyd9253]

My problem with Esmeralda is that if she meets von richten ,then there is just too much NPC to support the player... on the other hand, Making her not supporting a party just seems not realistic.

[@TheGreatBooster]

@@sydfloyd9253 My solution is to have Van Richten remain strictly an advisor. My group knows he is cursed, he told them when he was revealed (thank to Ezmerelda) and that he cannot help them more directly without risking them harm. The curse cannot be broken until Van Richten leaves Barovia and does this other task. Since Ezmerelda's card came up in the Tarokka she's the one destined to help the PCs anyway, so the main thing that's done is make it so VR is basically a non-combatant they can check in with every so often, while Ezmerelda travels with the group.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Nice idea!

[@davidlewis5312]

@@sydfloyd9253 I think if you already beefed up the brides (or at least made them more than generic vampire spawn the party meets ONCE), then you are okay giving the party a few extra allies. And if the brides get away, the final battle can be all fangs out with Strahd and his surviving girls against a beefy party.

[@sydfloyd9253]

@@davidlewis5312 in ravenloft big party with VR and Esmeralda as support is ok I agree with you, always a way to boost the minions . Altough managing those major NPC while managing properly Strahd is not my ideal situation. In my quest I actually have a player that arrived late on the campaign take Esmeralda, maybe I need to find someone to play rictavio too or I'll just have him bleed dead in the torture chamber.

[@Numdenu]

came back after i rolled victor for my party. for those skimming the comments section for ideas: for my game's victor, before he got locked in the attic, he and stella would try some rookie adventuring outside the gates of vallaki. they killed a few wolves, even. one tight spot, one magic accident, and suddenly stella thinks she's a cat and victor's stuck in the attic.

[@annebusch5793]

Genius!! Absolutely stealing this!!

[@supasaiyan9834]

You are one of the best dnd channels on the platform! I'm running curse of strahd with some of my college friends and your videos have helped so much for my first time dming. I just watched the entire curse of strahd playlist on your channel and you helped me with so many difficult areas and npc interactions. Thank you so much! I can't wait for my party to have the dinner scene with Strahd. But first, they need to get past Baba Lysaga!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

I’m really glad that we’ve been able to help you so much!

[@mjdunn01]

This is great. I always rolled my eyes at Sir Klutz and you made a very convincing case - not just the humor but also the ghostly powers! One thing: people sometimes assume no one else can join the party and help (“We’re stuck with Arabelle, she can’t fight!”). The “Fated Ally” isn’t the ONLY ally, they provide a) the Inspiration game mechanic, and b) a storytelling device. Even if not the FATED ally, VR or Ez can likely play key roles in the campaign. I found that helps allow the Fated Ally be less conventional.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

You are most certainly right! Though it does help the horror to keep party numbers to a minimum.

[@mjdunn01]

@@LunchBreakHeroes totally. Strahd is much less scary if you bring a small army to Ravenloft! (though that has some fun “mob with pitchforks storming the evil castle” imagery)

[@Qwerty95ish]

I dont dont do patreon. I consider myself an excellent GM. You sir have convinced me to do patreon and shown me how much I still have to improve consistently in your videos. My hats off, you humble me sir (and that's not easy)

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Thank you so much for your support!

[@wolfround13]

This is perfect. Looking forward to the rest of this series!

[@ZvelHaj]

Considering how Victor broke poor Stella Wachter’s brain, I dunno how anyone would party up with him

[@theeye8276]

By saying mean words to her though. That explanation was weird

[@ZvelHaj]

@@theeye8276 A common interpretation I’ve seen is that Victor was practicing various spells on Stella that ultimately had more permanent effects than intended. The “unkind words” was the most politically safe explanation, since even one as powerful as Lady Wachter wouldn’t be able to publicly accuse the Burgomaster’s son of ensorcelling her daughter without being lynched.

[@TheGreatBooster]

​@@ZvelHaj That's not bad! For me, what really pushed Stella over the edge was Victor showing her the cat skeletons he animated. Stella has an intense affinity for the family pets, and knowing they were the bones of her family's deceased cats she "went mad" and attacked him feline-style, hissing and yowling. In my game, Victor still sports scars on his cheek where she clawed him

[@IdiotinGlans]

My party basically dragged him along. He unbalanced encounters so much I had to have mordekainen kidnapp him for time being

[@sophiacozzo8964]

If he was my party ally, me, as a DM, woul re-write this as an accident. Maybe a side effect of Stella and one of Victor cats been to close to Victor's portal

[@botanistedward]

lmao I’m subbing solely for the use of “sheister”

[@paulcoy9060]

Victor Vallakovich looks like Dancing Peter Parker from Spider-Man 3. I just know that's true.

[@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648]

If you had a master mind manager with super persuasion skills, having them supervise Parriwimple and the flesh golem Vasilka, that would be perfect.

[@Zenchi89]

Do you think he takes a bath? I DONT! this made me laugh

[@nickdrouin]

Loving this series! Thank you so much for the amazing role play tips! Love the character diversity in Barovia because of Your tips

[@scyobiempire4450]

My Patron communicates through Skeletal Pseudodragons (Undyinglock) and I have a few as allies, but what happens to the ones I send into Strahd carrying garlic to drop onto his head? I know garlic does nothing to him but I can just imagine Strahd rising from his coffin and having a Skeleton Pseudodragon drop a clove of garlic on his head. Great video as always, I just wanted to share my chaos at the table.

[@dezopenguin9649]

A great start to the series! Especially liked the tips on Perriwimple as I've been having a hard time working my brain around how he would operate within the party and RPing him without making him into a caricature.

[@ZombieNikuchan]

I'm very excited to see more in this series ❤️

[@GuyRusso]

Thumbs up before even watching the vid, because I know it’s awesome! Can’t wait to watch it later tonight 🤗

[@EssiBunny]

Oooh can't wait for Zuleika!

[@wogboym8]

so good dude, love your work

[@xypher2589]

I've always player parriwimple as a sort of Andre the giant in princess bride kind of idea strong sweet but not afraid to fight if needed

[@ilik3pi32]

A note from experience when having Ser Godfrey as the ally. Strahd can never ambush the party again, a con for DM's looking to keep the party on edge >_>

[@nathanarnold2621]

I’m having more then one ally with Richten, Esmeralda, and Godfrey the planned ones but if they pick up one more I’m also fine with it

[@elisabettaprovvedini6177]

Well... I think I'm putting sir Klutz back into the possible choices after this. Also, I have to say, Victor really grew on me. And apparently he listens to My Chemical Romance so, how can I dislike him? lol. But I'm going to play a less evil version of him. I read some posts on reddit that describe him more like a broken and tired soul and not just an evil brat. I loved a version where he was truly in love with Stella and they tried to escape through the teleportation circle, but something went horribly wrong and Stella became mad. Anyway... great video as always! Will be helpful since my players will meet Madam Eva tomorrow.

[@HamletHK]

Very good video, even if these npc's aren't the fated ally. Hoping you do Clovin Belview next video lol, since my party got him as ally

[@TheSteezyCheese]

So great! Thanks for the content

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

You’re welcome!

[@RichardDuryea]

My players got Arabelle.

[@KylonRic]

At first I was worried about this one but she’s immediately become a favorite of the party even tho she isn’t a big damage dealer (she’s more of a support role with providing information and connections, but seeing as she’s small I’m creating some situations in which they can’t reach certain things and will need to use her.) For instance they used her to snoop around the Burgomaster’s mansion while they were distracting the family and guests.

[@BenjaminRichards49]

Thanks for this!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

My pleasure!

[@luizfabio2106]

amaazing content man

[@vonpepper3482]

Also I really like the new transition

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Thank you!

[@ethanedwards7834]

Very useful.

[@ChooseYourCharacter076]

Victor is best boy

[@crackengeekproductions3843]

Will you be doing a video on the Tser pool at any point?

[@PsychoLilDude]

Where was this video when I started DMing a year ago lol

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Better late than never!

[@aidanbroome822]

I'd recommend, if you are doing another video of this style, to dwell for a bit on Davian Martikov. That's who my party pulled and it was extremely difficult to find any satisfying content on how to run him.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

He’s in the next chapter. I’m recording it tonight! 😄

[@aidanbroome822]

@@LunchBreakHeroes Yay! Can't wait!

[@chantelle9156]

I did Arabelle with my group.

[@chantelle9156]

I had 6 players so giving them a powerhouse was just too much. I just gave her two portents and more divination magic and they found her useful

[@safehousehorror121]

Bravo, you have created an amazing resource, this is extremely well done. Thank you for your work on this!!!

[@JonathanToolonie]

Can we ask for more allies like, I don't know, Ismark?

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

We’ll be covering all twenty in this series, so stay tuned!

[@jettou6827]

How many allies can we bring?

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

How many can you carry?

[@green_man8625]

I like to make Ezmerelda madam Eva’s granddaughter, making strahd her great uncle.

[@oguzhanozgenc7843]

Kasimir Velikov all the way. I like the story. I like the ending. I can not wait for your guide! Thanks a lot

[@Ravens_Craft_Cosplay]

So Viktor is Damian Wayne lol

[@rvbfan18]

So would you let the party collect more than just the fated ally, or still just the one

[@sydfloyd9253]

Running the game now, I have vasilika the flesh golem as an ally, yet I intend to run the game as you suggested (missing a face).. Not sure how the player will react when she is define as an ally. ?? I was thinking maybe cancel ravenloft invitation and make vasilika the only option to get in the castle during the (presentation) of vasilika to stradd to occur at the castle. Any ideas ??

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Yeah, you can cancel the dinner for sure. Beyond that, I'd say let your players lead the way and play it by ear on your part. They're bound to come up with some creative solution!

[@sydfloyd9253]

Thanks , yhea let's see how they plan on using her , anything could happen. Perhaps everyone get killed by the abbe, st -markovia is always a wild card for me.. I like the missing face suggestion you've made . One of my player looks very much like ireena with 98/100 appearance. The abbee may suggest using her face.

[@herman1francis]

My party got ezmeralda as their destined ally and also the sunsword is located in saint markovia... so how fucked is strahd?

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Depends on how much lube you use on the Strapon of Ravenkind.

[@herman1francis]

@@LunchBreakHeroes The holy simbol of raven kind is in the treasure vault in amber temple. I have made some modifications to make it more interesting. When strahd killed argynvost he didn't take the skull back to ravenloft. He instead reanimated the corpse of the dragon and forced it to guard Tsolenka pass. So now it's not guarded by the Rok but by an ancient silver draco lich. That encounter is going to be fun.

[@vonpepper3482]

How do you make sir clutz and Buster feel different because I keep imagining them with the same voice and acting very similar

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

I think it’s okay for them to feel the same. They’re very similar “hopeless romantic” types. But I don’t imagine they’d get along-they each see too much of themselves in the other. “He’s got his head in the clouds, that one. “

[@vonpepper3482]

@@LunchBreakHeroes Thanks m8 I’ll keep that in mind

[@singularrookhart7501]

Not sure about Klutz, yet, but I can't resist channeling Tony Hale in "Arrested Development" for Buster.

[@meithstorm7662]

who who who who?

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

what what what what?

[@trofim9059]

Do you think making Mordenkainen interesting is possible?

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

I think so. Stay tuned!

[@deni140492deni]

Tripalosky, pretty sure it's a Russian joke because there's at least 15 Russian hardbass músics with tripalosky

[@MetisRose95]

I know I'm in the minority but I just never found Ezmerelda that interesting. From a pure stat perspective she's a great ally, but I just have little interest in RPing her so I'll probably never make her the party's Ally.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Maybe our other videos will be more your speed! They’ll be coming out every other Monday.