Manastaff

The Manastaff is an enchanted object created by the IQ 11 spell Staff II in New Fantasy Trip.
It will be described in a section called Mana and the Wizard’s Staff.
It is presumably an upgrade The Wizard's Staff created by "Staff I" (although knowing Staff I isn't explicitly listed as a prereq for knowing Staff II that is a good policy)
==Benefits==
===Armor Bypass===
the "occult attack" introduced in NFT (in TFT it was just a normal attack) bypasses armor and natural defense, only magic defense like Stone Flesh subtracts from it
===Mana stat===
ST can be spend by the wizard to recharge it's mana, which can be spent in lieu of ST for spells. Since ST automatically renews between combats, this made staff-recharging essentially free as well.
*the 1xIQ cap for Mana purchases is later upgraded to 2xIQ for the Staff of Mastery created by Staff V
Mana needs to be purchased with XP but at 200 xp per point was TWICE the cost of upgrading ST.
This actually made it inefficient in terms of survival, and the statement "No need to waste character points now to build a wizard with great physical strength." confusing.
===the Shocking benefit of Mana OPTIONAL===
What this possibly might be attributed to (unless NFT intends to re-price ST higher than 100 EP) are differences in mechanics of ST loss which the 200 EP / Mana ratio presumably pays to ignore...
Pg 3 says:
:"This is an energy drain to the wizard, rather than injury - but it is treated just as though the wizard had taken hits, and marked against his ST. A wizard who throws the Trip spell loses 2 ST, just as tl1ough he had taken 2 hits."
So it's not an injury, yet is treated as if it were one. The question is if it creates DX penalties like injuries do under Reactions to Injury which is -2 to DX on the next turn if taking 5 or more hits, and falling down if taking 8 hits.
This interpretation would be consistent with the theme of "Burning HP" in GURPS since that creates spellcasting penalties whereas spending FP or ER doesn't.
This would be an optional explanation since the DX adjustment table clearly says otherwise:
:"You took 5 or more hits last turn, NOT counting ST drain from casting spells"
So the only possible explanation might be if it did count as an injury for the 8 hits = fall rule, which seems unlikely as it doesn't count under the 5 hits = -2DX rule.
Since DX rolls were used in casting spells (not IQ rolls like in GURPS) if this penalized spells when hits are taken to ST from spellcasting, it would explain the benefit of purchasing double-priced Mana to spend instead - to avoid taking a DX penalty or falling down.
The adjDX stat in TFT is also important for combat order (functioning like Basic Speed does in GURPS to determine initiative) so spending Mana instead of ST could be a means of guaranteeing you act sooner on the following turn.
AdjDX is also used as a saving roll to prevent falling, which aside from slippery floors is a factor in Forcing Retreat if there's no rear hex to flee to.
The "XIV. COMBAT EXAMPLE" on pg 23 between Krait (ST8 and DX15) and Yzor (ST9 DX12) never involves a loss of 5 ST in a single turn so it can't comment on the theory.
==Drawbacks==
===Recharging===
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=159581
it costs 5 ST to refill 1 mana or alternatively hours in contemplation
category:rules