Hello!

There is a character using Booster Blue in the new campaign and at the end of the entry in the CRB it mentions that they cannot recover strain after an encounter for the rest of the session. Does that mean that they cannot recover strain even with medicine checks or rest, or is it only the cool check at the end of a fight that they are unable to recover from?

The wording of how long it lasts is pretty vague, probably purposefully...but alas I am curious if you would allow all checks that it boosts to be allowed for a certain timeframe or if you'd only allow it as a single check getting upgraded. I am thinking it would probably upgrade any checks utilizing the skills listed, but only for that encounter, then they cannot recover strain from the cool check and addiction could trigger at some point.

Thanks!

You may upgrade all Agility-/Intellect-/Cunning-based checks once during the encounter you used Booster Blue in, but may not make a Cool or Discipline check to recover strain after an encounter ends until the end of the session. I think we can all agree that's how we're supposed to understand the drug's effects, right?

So basically the user would be able to upgrade all ranged attacks once for an entire encounter, but when the encounter was over and the group would roll their cool check to recover strain, that isn't possible for the user?

If they had a long rest or had a medicine check conducted that would normally recover strain, that would work as normal?

Yes to the first and yes to the last. I'd say you can't really rest while under the influence of Booster Blue, so no checks after encounters and no strain recovery for doing nothing for a while. Stuff like spending an Advantage on checks to recover strain or somebody targeting you with Inspiring Rhetoric should still apply, though.

Be careful about abuse tho. If they start saying they do a long rest always after an encounter where they used booster blue then they are abusing your rule. Make it true end of the session then. Say they have a full blown addiction and so they cant do the cool roll for the rest of the IRL night