- Hello, and welcome
back to LunchBreakHeroes. Today's video is one that you have all been asking for for quite some time. Today, we're going to be talking about the fated allies in Curse of Strahd. (dramatic music) For each one of these characters, we're going to be talking about their overall motivations within Barovia, how your party can gain their trust, and the pros and cons of
having them as an NPC ally. In this particular video, we'll be talking about Ezmerelda D'Avenir, Parriwimple, Sir Klutz Tripalotsky, and Victor Vallakovich. We're going to be covering
all 20 of the NPC allies, so be sure to stay tuned for this series. Go ahead and click the
subscribe button right down here along with the bell so that you don't miss any of these videos. (dramatic music) First up, we have one of
the most popular allies and that is Ezmerelda D'Avenir. If her mentor Rudolph van Richten is Van Helsing as portrayed
by Anthony Hopkins, then Ezmerelda is Van Helsing
as portrayed by Hugh Jackman. Ezmerelda is one of the most
powerful and dynamic companions in all of Curse of Strahd. She's probably the most common companion in all of the games that
have ever been played in this particular module. She is such a capable combatant. She is very knowledgeable
about the monsters in Barovia. Ezmerelda is a classically
trained vampire hunter under the tutelage of Rudolph van Richten. She and Rudolph have a very complex and convoluted relationship. You see, when she was a child, Ezmerelda was living
with her Vistani family, and that family kidnapped
Rudolph's son Erasmus and sold him off to a vampire. Rudolph understandably was
none too happy about this, and eventually tracked
this Vistani family down. He was going to kill all of
them, and he showed mercy. He didn't kill them all, and that really impressed Ezmerelda, so when she got a chance, she left her family and
tracked Rudolph down in order to learn from him
and follow in his footsteps. Throughout all of those years of tutelage, Rudolph wasn't always on the up and up. He didn't fully trust her
because she was a Vistana and that really got to her, so eventually she up
and left and struck out on her own to seek her own fortune, her own destiny, and forge her own path. These days she's holed up in Barovia, searching for her old mentor once again, because she's gotten wind that he is on the biggest hunt of them all, trying to kill Strahd von Zarovich, so she's here in Barovia
and ready and willing to take on as much help as she can get, but only from the most capable
of adventuring parties. Let's talk about Ezmerelda's motivation. Here in Barovia, she has two simple goals. One, find Rudolph van Richten, and two, kill Strahd von Zarovich. Anybody that can help her do the second is going to find an ally. Anybody that can help her do the first might also find a friend. So how do you gain Ezmerelda's trust? Well, she is an extremely
capable monster hunter, and as I said earlier,
she's only going to work with the most capable
of adventuring parties, so in order to gain her trust
and get to working with her you're going to have to
prove yourself, adventurers. Help her out, get her out of a pinch. If she's running away from
werewolves, help her out. If she's running away from
Arrigal, help her out. If Strahd shows up and says, "You, you're coming
with me," help her out. Any of those actions are going to sway her to your side and immediately
gain you an ally. All right, let's talk
about the pros and cons of having Ezmerelda as an ally. First up, she is a fantastic combatant. She can go toe to toe with
almost anything in Barovia. She is a bonafide bad-ass. Next, she is kitted out to the teeth. She's got all the weapons and the armor and just the gear that
you could possibly want. She's also got a couple
of greater healing potions which are notoriously hard
to come by in Barovia. Next, she studied under
Rudolph van Richten. She knows the ins and outs of basically any monster that you're going
to encounter in Barovia, and as such, she can make
a lot of these encounters a lot easier. On the flip side, there
are a couple of cons to having Ezmerelda as an NPC ally. First up, she makes no
secret about being a Vistani, nor should she. From her motive dress to her speech, she's completely out there with who she is and where she comes from, but the rest of Barovia
is not so down with that. The town of Vallaki probably won't even let her pass the gates unless she coerces her way through or sneaks in, and heaven help the person that makes a snide comment
about her heritage. Oh my God. That'll get you in trouble
with the guards real fast. Beyond that, Ezemerelda
can be a bit... cocky. You know, she knows she's good. She knows she's the best that there is, and although she is great, she
lives up to her reputation, but she can be bold to a fault. She knows that she can handle
all of these challenges but she might try to
string your party along and drag them into a fight that maybe they can't handle so much. Before we move on to that next ally, I want to point out,
you can get this guide and all the other LunchBreakHeroes guides in written form for just
a dollar over on Patreon. In this guide in particular,
you can get some extra content in the form of how to role
play these characters. We've got some great tips on
portraying their personalities, their background
thoughts, and all of that. Even some... key phrases that they might
utter every now and then. That being said, let's talk about your next NPC ally in Curse of Strahd. (dramatic music) Next up we have Parriwimple, the stock boy from Bildreth's Mercantile in the village of Barovia. What Parriwimple lacks in mental capacity, he more than makes up
for in sheer strength. Now I don't mean to say that Parriwimple is stupid because he's not. He's actually pretty sharp guy but he sees the world
differently from you and I. He has a very different mental
picture of where he lives. Everywhere, Parriwimple looks, he sees good and beauty and
that's a wonderful thing. It's... a... terrible survival mechanism but it's a breath of fresh
air, that's for sure. Parriwimple works for his
uncle in the mercantile store and he has for years. His uncle is a bully, basically, not only to his customers,
but to Parriwimple himself. Parriwimple could snap
Bildreth like a twig anytime he wants but he's
the kind of person where that would never actually occur to him. Any adventuring party
would be very fortunate to have Parriwimple as an ally, not only for his sheer strength, but also for his perspective on the world and helping keep things light. Barovia can be a very depressing place, not only for your characters, but for the actual players as well, so having a character like
Parriwimple by your side can be a real morale booster, both in the game and out of it. However, his uncle Bildreth isn't going to let his free muscle
walk away so easily. So what is Parriwimple's
motivation in all of this? Well, unfortunately he
doesn't really have one. You have to give him one. You see Parriwimple is
actually pretty satisfied with his lot in life right now. He doesn't know anything else. He's not really concerned
about anything going on outside of his immediate vicinity. However, he doesn't like
to see people in distress. He will rush to their
aid as quickly as he can. So if your party can make it clear that Strahd is doing a bad thing and that people are getting hurt, then maybe they can convince him to ask uncle Bildreth permission
to go outside and help? Now, how do you earn Parriwimple's trust? Thankfully, that's really easy. All you need is a friendly smile. Parriwimple's trusting to a fault, but getting him out of
the mercantile shop, that's going to take a bit more
than just a friendly smile. As I said before, Bildreth isn't going to let his free muscle go for free. You're going to have to pay him off to the tune of about 75 gold pieces. That's what he pays Parriwimple in a year, but Bildreth being Bildreth, he's going to try to get you
for as much as he possibly can. All right, let's talk
about the pros and cons of having Parriwimple as an NPC ally. First up the pros. Parriwimple is one of the best allies for you to have in a straight up fight. He has proficiency in athletics, which grants him... a plus
10 bonus to those checks. That's huge. In addition, if you get him a shield that unlocks his shield bash
attack and increases his AC, so he's an even better fighter. In addition to that, Parriwimple could be a
real rock for the party. He has proficiency in strength, dexterity, and constitution saving throws, and in addition, his brave feature gives him an advantage on saving throws against being frightened. This is a great advantage to have in the frightening atmosphere of Barovia. On the con side, we've got a
few things to watch out for. First off, Parriwimple is
extremely easily manipulated. Like I said, he's trusting to a fault, so he is not going to expect somebody with ill intent coming
by and trying to get him to do things that are
against his best interest or the party's best interests. He's simply not prepared
for that to happen. In addition, you can't rely on Parriwimple to look out for danger. He's not the best person to
have on any sort of watch. Whereas your party would
look up into the sky and see a flock of bats and freak out, Parriwimple's just going to see
a lot of cute flying rodents and enjoy the flapping noise. Lastly, if Bildreth
ever shows up and says, "Come on, you're going home with me," well, guess where
Parriwimple is going to go. That's right, he's
going to follow Bildreth to the ends of the earth, and you're going to have to
fight like heck to keep him. (dramatic music) Next, we have Sir Klutz Tripalotsky or just Sir Klutz for short. This is a comic relief character, if you hadn't figured
that out from the name. He's a ghost that you can find in the crypts of Castle Ravenloft and, well, he's just kind of a riot. He's a klutz. He screws everything up so fantastically and just in the most bombastic way. Even the simplest of tasks
backfire in his face. He died by falling on his own
sword, not even in combat. He was presenting it to renew his, his vow to Strahd von Zarovich back when Strahd was still alive, and he tripped and fell over it in front of an entire
audience hall full of people. I mean, if the sword
didn't pierce his heart, he probably would have
died of embarrassment. Sir Klutz is a knight of
the classical variety. He and Don Quixote would
get along quite famously. He's always going on
about valor and duty and all those other things, even though he's not good at any of them. Now, I said that Sir Klutz can be found in the crypts of Castle Ravenloft. That's not my favorite place to put him. I really, I see Castle
Ravenloft as endgame content, and I like to see parties
get their companions fairly early on in the game
so that you can develop these characters and the
relationships and all of that. As such, I would really recommend
that Sir Klutz be buried in some sort of roadside tomb between the village of
Barovia and Castle Ravenloft. So what is Sir Klutz's motivation? As I said before, he is a
classical knight motivated by gallantry and chivalry and all of that. He just can't believe
that his former master has become this vicious monster and he cannot rest until he wipes that smear clean on his reputation, having served this person in life. Either that or he needs to
see Strahd find redemption. He needs to help Strahd find redemption. This is one of those knightly quests that he's going to set
himself up on, which... might be successful, or it might
again be doomed to failure. So how do you earn Sir Klutz's trust? Well, he's not going to give it any heed to the Tarokka deck reading
that you've just had. He doesn't care about the cards, and he thinks that they're a superstition. Sir Klutz was a member of Strahd's army, so he is a foreigner
to the land of Barovia, and he views all of this Vistani stuff as just hoodoo, voodoo,
he doesn't care about it. However, if you can show
him what Strahd has become and what he's doing throughout the land, well then he's going to set himself up on one of those knightly quests, like I just told you about, and he's going to go along with your party for the long haul. All right, let's talk
about the pros and cons of having Sir Klutz as an NPC ally. Some of the pros revolve around him just being a ghost and
the nature of ghosts. His incorporeal movement, for example, allows him to move through solid objects like walls and chests and whatnot. This opens up a lot of possibilities that wouldn't otherwise be possible with any of the other allies. In addition, he can see
into the ethereal plane. This gives your party a heads up on a lot of hidden enemies
especially in Argynvostholt with all of the other phantom warriors. In addition, the night
hags of bone grinder. If they start to nightmare
haunt your party, or they pop into the
ethereal plane to hide, well, Sir Klutz has got their location. He knows exactly where they are and he can be your early warning system. On top of all of that, Sir
Klutz is just a fun character. He is the comic relief. He's meant to be played for laughs. Anything that he does is going
to backfire spectacularly, not in any way that harms the party, but just in a way that's funny and it's going to help
you out at the table, and it's going to help you add some levity to this
already dark atmosphere that you're playing in. Over on the con side, we have the fact that Sir Klutz is a ghost. You can't just walk
into the middle of town with a floating spectral knight
and have everybody be okay. People are going to see Sir Klutz and they're either going
to run the other direction or they're going to pull their swords out and try to kill you or Sir Klutz. Things aren't going to
play out all that well. So Sir Klutz is gonna have to hide himself or be left somewhere if
your party ever wants to go in town and have friendly interactions. Additionally, going back to the fact that he is a klutz and
things backfire, well, that's also a con. You see when Sir Klutz is
trying to do something, especially important things,
they don't always work out. You, as the DM, when you're running this don't have Sir Klutz's failure be to the detriment of the party. You don't want Sir Klutz to hamstring them especially in vital moments. However, play it up for laughs and always try to fail forward. (dramatic music) Last up, we've got Victor Vallakovich, the emo kid that sits
up in his parents' attic listening to My Chemical Romance. Victor is the troubled son
of Vallaki's burgomaster. He's also a self-taught mage who's been brushing up on some spell books that he ran across in
his father's library, and he's been trying to
build a teleportation circle to get the hell out of dodge, much to the chagrin of the serving staff. Victor feels limited
and trapped in Barovia and I don't blame him. In terms of raw spell power, he doesn't really have
any rivals in Barovia, at least in terms of natural talent. All of the other more
powerful spell casters have just had more time or
they've had official training, but Victor, he's the real deal. He's got this raw power and talent that you just don't find anywhere else. So what motivates Victor Vallakovich? Well, it's not the plight
of the Barovian people 'cause he couldn't care less about them. All he cares about is
furthering his own ambitions, his own knowledge, and his own power. If you can take him somewhere where he can learn more
about the arcane arts, he is totally with you. If that's outside of
Barovia, all the better, but he will settle for
pilfering Strahd's library for all that it's worth. Earning Victor's trust
isn't an easy thing. He's a naturally distrustful person because he's been raised around shysters and people who want things
from him his entire life. However, if you have a
more powerful magic user in your party that can step
into kind of a mentor role, he's there, he's right there with you. He's going to go with you
wherever you want to go. As long as that mentor
relationship is nurtured. Alternatively, if you can convince him that destroying Strahd is
his ticket out of Barovia, you got yourself an ally. Let's talk about the pros and cons of having Victor in your
party as an NPC ally. First up for the pros, Victor's understanding of
magic isn't very complete. In fact, it's got a lot of holes in it, but despite that he's an
extremely powerful magic user. If your party is light on magic users, let's say you've got four
barbarians or three rangers, well, Victor's right there
to round out the whole deal. He's not shy about using
those spell slots either. He's very eager to go out
and use that magic ability. In addition, Victor's troubled
personality and his past provide an empathetic party
with a really good storyline and redemption arc in
terms of teaching Victor right from wrong, good from evil, and seeing him grow as a person. That being said, Victor
really has no morals. His moral compass is just shot, so if your party ever needs anything of a morally....
questionable... nature done, well Victor's probably the one to do it. On the con side of things, Victor's just a really
unpleasant person to be around, both in his personality and
in his personal grooming. I mean, the kid is stuck up in
his attic all day, every day. When do you think he takes a bath? Do you think he takes a bath? I don't. All of this is enough to wear
on the senses and the nerves of any adventuring party. You've got this angry
kid that's just angry, and grr, and eh, and everything, and to top it all off, he freaking stinks. In addition to that, Victor
is extremely power hungry. If he sees any opportunity to increase his arcane knowledge
or increase his power, he's going to take that
opportunity, consequences be damned. If that puts your party
in grave peril, so be it. To top it all off, Victor's obsession with the arcane arts and
power and all of that has really pushed his mind
to the breaking point. He's quite mentally unstable
and he could snap at any time, especially if your party doesn't treat him the way he wants to be treated. He's a very entitled person. It's ingrained in his personality. Spoiled brat is just
written all over his brain, so if you aren't playing nice with him to his standards, he can just go (fingers snap) like that. If you want to know
more about these allies, head on over to our Patreon, where we have all the extra information about how to role play them,
and their personalities, and all of that waiting for you. Down in the comments below, let us know about your
experiences with these allies and stay tuned for our next video where we cover even more allies by clicking subscribe
and the bell down there. I'll see you next time.
