Amazing Alpaca Adventures

What is Amazing Alpaca Adventures

"Amazing Alpaca Adventures" is a game that is played before a Dreavening starts. It is also known as AAA.

How do I join?

Simply whisper JOIN to Dreaven before or during a Dreavening to receive your alpaca. Note you can't whisper JOIN to Dreaven while a race is going on, well you can but you won't receive your alpaca.

Once you have received your alpaca you can play AAA simply by being at the table when the race begins. If AAA is chosen as the game to be played the race starts at around the 11 minute mark of the countdown to when the Dreavening starts, giving you about 4 minutes to get to Dreaven's table once the 15 minute countdown is announced.

How do I play?

Your alpaca does most of the work. There are 10 rounds where your alpaca has to run as far as they can. Each round is broken down into 4 phases.

There is a "speed" phase where your alpaca moves a number of meters based on their speed stat. Your alpaca also has stamina that goes down in every speed phase depending on how high their speed is, if their stamina reaches zero they lose a meter and speed for the rest of the race depending on which division the are in. Alpacas don't start to lose speed until division 2. Stamina is replenished after it reaches zero or by finding a fountain before it reaches zero.

There is an "endurance" phase that checks to see if your alpaca has enough endurance to keep going at the pace of their speed. Not enough endurance results in a loss of meters. The less endurance your alpaca has compared to how much endurance it needs the more meters it will lose. If your alpaca's endurance is high then it has a chance to gain bonus meters. The higher your alpaca's endurance the greater benefit they might receive.

There is a "luck" phase which is a chance for your alpaca to find and enter a portal that will give them a boost in meters. The amount of meters the portal boosts is determined by their speed and luck stats.

All three of these phases are invisible to you and your alpaca does all of the work. Dreaven will whisper to you after each round to explain how your alpaca did during each phase.

The fourth and final round is an event phase. There are two different event phases; interactive events and non-interactive events.

During an interactive event Dreaven will whisper to you a predicament your alpaca has found itself in. You will be provided with 3 options that you must choose from, whisper to Dreaven the number of the option you want your alpaca to choose.

Here is an example of an interactive event:

"In a clearing up ahead Number 99999 notices a rather large sign reading "Drink me for a boost of speed!" Unfortunately there are three potions below the sign. What should Number 99999 do? Whisper to me just the NUMBER of the answer you want to choose: 973) Drink the blue potion., 1164) Drink the yellow potion., 467) Drink the red potion.."

In this case you would whisper to Dreaven either 973, 1164, or 467. Note these numbers are always random so keep an eye out.

Non-interactive events are events in which your alpaca does all of the work, meaning no input from you is required. Success of non-interactive events depends on the stats of your alpaca. There are events for each of the 6 stats and Dexterity provides a bonus for each event. For example if an Endurance event is chosen then success will depend on your alpaca's Endurance stat and Dexterity stat.

What are my alpaca's stats?

Your alpaca's primary stat is speed. Speed has its own cost to upgrade, which is 100 * speed's current value. For example if your alpaca has 3 speed it would cost 300 tokens to upgrade it to 4.

Speed makes your alpaca run faster so it can cover more ground.

Your alpaca has two secondary stats. Secondary stats share a cost, which is 50 * the sum of all secondary stats. For example if your alpaca has 2 endurance and 5 luck it would cost 350 tokens to upgrade either endurance or luck.

Endurance helps your alpaca maintain its current speed. If endurance is too low your alpaca will need to take breaks which will result in a loss of meters each round.

Luck helps your alpaca in just about every way. It has a chance to provide a boost of speed during the speed phase of the race, it can negate any penalties during the endurance phase if your alpaca's endurance is low, it can energize your alpaca during the endurance phase if your alpaca has a lot of endurance, it has a chance of allowing your alpaca to find a fountain to replenish its stamina, it has a chance of allowing your alpaca to find a portal every round, if your alpaca initially fails a non-interactive event luck can provide it with a second chance to succeed. Dreaven will whisper to you clues informing you when your alpaca has been lucky.

Your alpaca has three tertiary stats. Tertiary states share a cost, which is 25 * the sum of all tertiary stats. For example if your alpaca has 3 Dexterity, 6 Intelligence, and 5 Charisma then the next upgrade will cost 350 tokens.

Dexterity provides a small bonus to your alpaca to succeed during all non-interactive events. This bonus even applies to Dexterity events.

Intelligence gives all stats a small boost at the beginning of the race. Intelligence does not boost itself.

Charisma allows your alpaca to earn bonus tokens. This bonus is applied whenever your alpaca earns tokens.

Stamina determines how far your alpaca can move before it needs to take a rest to replenish their stamina. When this happens your alpaca loses some meters and speed for the rest of the race. Your alpaca has a chance depending on its luck to find a fountain that will replenish their stamina before they run out. How much speed your alpaca loses depends on which division they are in, alpacas in division 0 and 1 do not lose speed. Your alpaca's stamina is also determined by which division they are in.

How do I upgrade my alpaca's stats?

To have one of your stats upgraded, you need to whisper to Dreaven to do so. For instance, you want your 'speed' upgraded, then you would whisper Dreaven upgrade speed (I believe the first three or four letters can be used of each stat also).

Tokens are required to upgrade your alpaca's stats.

There are several ways to earn tokens.

Some random events will award tokens if you are successful.

You will earn 3000 tokens for placing first in your division after a race, 2000 for second, and 1000 for third.

You can also earn tokens for placing overall in a race. Placing first overall awards you with 1500 tokens, 1000 for second, and 500 for third.

You receive 1000 tokens as a participation bonus for playing in a race.

You also receive 1 token for every meter your alpaca moves during a race.

Can I rename my alpaca?

You sure can! Your alpaca's name is their number when they first start out, but once they have proven themselves a worthy racing alpaca you unlock the ability to rename them.

Your alpaca can be renamed once they have placed first in a division during a race or after they have participated in 10 total races.

You can also choose Male or Female for their gender. Alpacas start out as a Neutral gender and you can choose to keep this as their gender if you wish.

To change your alpaca's name and gender send an LNet message to Dreaven requesting the name and gender change. To see if your alpaca can be renamed do "alpaca stats" on the Dreavening LNet channel.

That's all fine and good, but can I customize my alpaca's appearance?

You sure can, silly billy!

The list below shows what features you can customize on your alpaca, their default look, and how many races your alpaca must participate in before you can customize that feature.

Fleece color: The color of your alpaca's fleece. Default is gray. Participation in 10 races is required.
Fleece length: The length of your alpaca's fleece. Default is short. Participation in 15 races is required.
Eye color: The color of your alpaca's eyes. Default is gray. Participation in 20 races is required.
Ear shape: The shape of your alpaca's ears. Default is round. Participation in 25 races is required.
Hat: A hat your alpaca is wearing. Default is none. Participation in 30 races is required.
Eye accessory: An accessory that goes over your alpaca's eye/eyes, for example glasses or goggles. Default is none. Participation in 35 races is required.
Top: Something your alpaca wears on their top, for example a shirt or coat. Default is none. Participation in 40 races is required.
Companion: A companion that sits on your alpaca's shoulder, for example a parrot. Default is none. Participation in 45 races is required.
Jockey: A jockey that rides on your alpaca during the race. Default is a monkey. Participation in 50 races is required.

All about those jockeys!
You can choose a class for your jockey and your jockey has all sorts of tricks up their sleeve to help your alpaca win!

The default jockey class is Commoner, this class isn't anything special and you can change it right away by whispering to Dreaven while a race is not happening: 

whisper dreaven class bard

As an example. Here are the options for your jockey's class:
Barbarian: Prime stat is Endurance.
Bard: Prime stat is Luck.
Moon Mage: Prime stat is Intelligence.
Ranger: Prime stat is Ranger.
Thief: Prime stat is Thief.
Trader: Prime stat is Charisma.

Each class has certain skills they specialize in. Your jockey can use any skill from any class, but they receive a bonus when attacking with a skill their class specializes and they receive a bonus defending against an attack from their specialized class. For example Barbarian jockeys have a skill called "Hamstring", if your jockey uses Hamstring against another alpaca then your jockey gets a bonus to their attack roll, if another jockey attempts to use Hamstring against your Barbarian jockey's alpaca then your jockey gets a bonus to their defensive roll.

Your alpaca also receives a bonus to their stat depending on what their jockey's stat is. For example alpacas receive a bonus to their Luck stat if their jockey is a Bard.

Here are the skills your jockeys can use and the class specialty they fall under:

Ranger skills:
1) Lightning Bolt(attack): Attempt to conjure a lightning bolt to strike the alpaca in front of you. A successful cast results in the alpaca in front of you only moving 1 meter for the current round. Base success chance is 30%.
Bard skills:
1) Super Portal (attack): Your jockey attempts to cast a powerful spell to summon a Super Portal. If successful your alpaca will rush straight towards the Super Portal and end up ahead of the alpaca in first place! What a cheater! This spell can only be used once per race. Base success chance is 1%.
Thief skills:
1) Tar the paths! (attack): Your jockey spills tar all over the path, making it extremely difficult for the alpaca behind you to move. A successful attack results in the defending alpaca losing some meters for the current round and having a debuff applied to them which reduces their dexterity for the rest of the race or until dispelled. If successful the alpaca using this skill will gain a boost in meters for the current round and will receive a buff which increases their dexterity for the rest of the race or until dispelled. Base success chance is 40%.
Jockey battles and how they work:
Every odd numbered round will be an interactive event with no jockey battles and even numbered rounds will be non-interactive events with jockey battles. This way you only have to participate in one event per round, the interactive events in which you direct your alpaca to do something, and the jockey battle rounds with a non-interactive event for your alpaca which doesn't require input from players.
During a jockey battle round you will choose an Aspect for that round, an attack to use, and a defense skill to use. An Aspect grants you certain bonuses and weaknesses during that round. The below chart shows the strengths and weaknesses of each aspect:

Aspect:		Strong		Weak
Cheetah		Bear		Peacock
Bear		Monkey		Cheetah
Rabbit		Fox	        Monkey
Monkey		Rabbit		Bear
Fox	        Peacock		Rabbit
Peacock		Cheetah		Fox
For example if you choose the Cheetah Aspect then you will receive a bonus when attacking someone or defending against someone who chose the Bear Aspect, but you will receive a penalty when attacking or being attacked by someone who chose the Peacock Aspect.
Here are the factors that help an attacker:

Choosing the strong Aspect against the defender's Aspect.
Using a skill that your jockey specializes in.
Having more stat points in the specialization of skill compared to the defender's stat points of that skill. For example using "Lightning Bolt" would compare both the attacker's and defender's Speed.
Dexterity stat.
Here are the factors that help a defender:

Choosing the strong Aspect against the attacker's Aspect.
Defending against a skill that your jockey specializes in.
Having more stat points in the specialization of skill compared to the attackers's stat points of that skill. For example defending against "Lightning Bolt" would compare both the attacker's and defender's Speed.
Having "Force Field" on your alpaca.
So train up your alpaca! Get your jockey their specialization! And get to jousting!