Ok, so if you exceed your strain threshold you are incapacitated (unconscious). So, in the middle of a mission, how do GM's allow players to "wake up"? I didn't see anything in the rules....... Especially when recovering from stun damage strain......

If you are incapacitated in combat, once the encounter is over you can make a Simple skill check (no Difficulty dice) using either Cool or Discipline, and each success you roll heals a point of Strain. If that's enough to bring you back down to or below your Strain threshold you will be conscious, basically rubbing your head and groaning once the fighting is over. Otherwise, the GM should just let the PC wake up at a time convenient for the story since it is stated that a full night's rest restores all of a character's Strain, so a reasonable amount of time could allow you to recover at least enough to wake up. For example, you could have the PC wake up once his companions have dragged him to a safe house, or after his captors have him fully tied up and stashed in the back of a speeder. Whatever works best in the adventure.

I house ruled that stimpacks can recover strain or health, character's choice (5 per day limit combined strain or health recovery). In that case, an applied stim will wake up the character. Adrenaline shot anyone?

I do allow a Stimpack to wake a PC up during combat but only to their threshold, it does not 'heal' them, and it does count against their 24 hour daily use. Strain is a finite resource tied to Maneuvers and Talents that's in place to provide challenge to PCs, and if it can just be healed with Stimpacks there is too much abuse potential there.

When it comes to simply rousing someone after combat there is the simple check, but even just giving someone a shake or throwing the iconic bucket of water on them will wake them up. They will be at their threshold but conscious. Then there is the simple check, Talents, medicine checks, and just a good rest/nite's sleep for the remainder.

The main strain recovery mechanic not mentioned yet is Inspiring Rhetoric, however, it can be abused if the GM allows repeated usages of it -- I generally allow continuous usage -in- combat, but only ONE use after combat concludes.

That said, how is it that players are running out of strain frequently without overusing their strain-based talents? If enemies are using stun damage on them during missions, there should be a reason for it and players should be informed and aware that this might be the case so they can weigh the costs of using strain-based talents.

Additionally, and this may not necessarily be relevant to your posed scenario, but it is the main method of strain recovery, advantages in combat or on checks can be spent to recover one strain each.

See I wouldn't allow it at all after an encounter, it's an active Talent that's an Action which implies structured play. Plus, after a fight the last thing I want to do is listen to someone run their cupcake hole while I'm trying to relax...

See I wouldn't allow it at all after an encounter, it's an active Talent that's an Action which implies structured play. Plus, after a fight the last thing I want to do is listen to someone run their cupcake hole while I'm trying to relax...

I agree. There are already rules which allow strain recovery outside of combat.

That said: maybe, JUST MAYBE, I might allow for a St. Crispin's Day-style, "Band of Brothers" speech BEFORE a fight, to recover strain. But it would have to be a helluva speech, so the person would have to RP the sh*t out of it.

If a character is over their strain threshold, I let the post encounter Cool/Discipline check at minimum put them at their threshold.

Ok, so if you exceed your strain threshold you are incapacitated ( unconscious ).

Incapacitated is not necessarily unconscious. You could have a tense negotiation with a Hutt, which might use Strain to determine who blinks first, but it doesn't necessarily mean the loser drops to the ground in a faint, they are simply "ineffective". So you can treat incapacitated as whatever makes narrative sense for the scene.