Thinking about two-handed weapons, and weapons with more than one attack on them, got me to thinking about the Johktari Beastmaster's issue with her Ranged +1 ability. Until Kajarah (in Mage Wars Academy), the Johktari Beastmaster has been without a Ranged weapon that (a) covers her range-0 blind spot, (b) allows her to both move and attack in the same round, and (c) is one-handed (since Teleport / Force Push type effects help her get around (b), but due to (c) she can't equip a Mage Wand to make move + shooting more efficient). Oh, and (d) weapons that are strictly ranged don't benefit from her own "Wounded Prey" ability.
Behold [mwcard=MW1Q31]Staff of the Arcanum[/mwcard] (SoA). It isn't perfect, but (a & b & d) it has a quick-action melee attack that covers range 0 and works with "Wounded Prey," and (c) it is one-handed. The ranged attack is limited to 1-1, but that isn't so bad if she can have a Wand of Force Push or Teleport in the other hand; besides, Kajarah only covers range 0-1 and doesn't benefit from "Wounded Prey." And she'll be rolling 4 dice with either attack (before Hawkeye or Bear Strength or "Wounded Prey" or whatever) - same as Kajarah (which has a 3 dice ranged attack if an "animal" damaged the target, plus Ranged +1 mage ability = 4 dice, with range 0-1 ... but obviously no Mana Drain or Ethereal, although it costs a lot less to cast and include in your book).
Also, unlike [mwcard=MWSTX1CKQ02]Hunting Bow[/mwcard], SoA costs 8 to cast (same as [mwcard=MW1Q13]Ivarium Longbow[/mwcard]) so only requires 1 round of channeling to cast - which is pretty huge for a 9-channeling mage. And as a 9-channeling mage, the fact it does Mana Drain - with either its melee or ranged attack - means you can bring the opposing mage down to your level (or lower, if he/she also has base channeling of 9). As for book building, SoA costs the Beastmaster 4 sbp (same as Ivarium Longbow) compared to 3 for Hunting Bow... so not breaking the bank or anything.
Has anybody tried Staff of the Arcanum on a Johktari Beastmaster? If so, did you go all-out mana denial with her (e.g. include some of [mwcard=MW1C24]Mana Leech[/mwcard] /
Mana Worm, [mwcard=MW1J14]Mana Siphon[/mwcard], [mwcard=MW1E15]Essence Drain[/mwcard], [mwcard=MW1J21]Suppression Orb[/mwcard], [mwcard=MW1J16]Mordok's Obelisk[/mwcard])? Could be something interesting to try out - and certainly non-standard / possibly unexpected. Too bad there aren't any "animal" creatures that have obvious synergy with the Mana Drain theme while benefiting from the J-Beastmaster's "Wounded Prey" ability (or similarly, too bad Mana Leeches can't be summoned by a Lair). Or an Enchantment that grants a creature "Mana Drain."
Oh wait...
