Is stim application worthwhile? Do those that have it use it often? Raising a characteristic is nice, and I can see it coming in handy when you have time to prepare. But narritively it feels off. I feel like I'll be turning my group into a bunch of junkies if I use it a lot. And combat wise, I don't know how helpful it will really be. We've never had a combat go past three rounds, so loosing one of those rounds to give someone a boost feels like a little bit of a waste.

I'm really on the fence with this one. If anyone has any experience with the talent I would love to hear whether it's been beneficial or not as well as any great situations where it came in handy.

Thanks

It makes you a really good support character. I've seen it used well in games that I GM. Not every player opts for it (usually for in-character reasons, like you say—they don't want to turn into junkies), but those that do are given a real boost for the encounter. It's not used every time, but when it is it makes a big difference at a cost: an action for you, strain for your target. All in all, it is fun, situationally useful, balanced, and IMO well-worth the XP.

Well, if you're fighting a particularly tough enemy, might be a good time to give the melee/brawler in your boost an increase to his Brawn before he heads out to fight the enemy. Or maybe you need a boost to your intelligence to make it easier for you to heal people in the middle of the battle - especially if they get a Bleeding Out critical - or if you're specc'd to it, slice or mechanically alter something. Maybe you guys are trying to pick off somebody from extreme range, so your shooter needs that extra boost. Or heck, maybe you and another player need to up your cunning to get past some guards.

It's definitely not something you'll be using every battle, but there will definitely be times where it'd come in handy. I wouldn't say it's a necessity if you're a healer/doctor, but it's definitely one of the few talents that can be useful in a variety of situations.

In the group where I actually get to participate as a player, Stim Application is about the only use I am in combat. The more combat-focused PCs tend to mow things down before they get a chance to get hurt so I hardly ever break out my medpac.

Although it's easy to think that Stim application to be a some sort of narcotic that boosts your reaction time or steroid that juices your muscles, a more legitimate doctor (like my character) can also flavor it as some natural smelling salts that clears your mind of frivolous distractions, thus allowing you to focus more on your task at hand, or better predict your opponents moves. Brawn might be a bit more of a stretch, but if you think about it, you can come up with some good legitimate way to flavor stim application.

It seems hugely useful.

Badly named though.

Well, its really stimpacks that are badly name but still.

Is stim application worthwhile? Do those that have it use it often? Raising a characteristic is nice, and I can see it coming in handy when you have time to prepare. But narritively it feels off. I feel like I'll be turning my group into a bunch of junkies if I use it a lot. And combat wise, I don't know how helpful it will really be. We've never had a combat go past three rounds, so loosing one of those rounds to give someone a boost feels like a little bit of a waste.

I'm really on the fence with this one. If anyone has any experience with the talent I would love to hear whether it's been beneficial or not as well as any great situations where it came in handy.

Thanks

It's essentially a universal upgrade sort of. It will add a die to the pool of a check. So I would say that's pretty handy.

Don't worry about the drug addict feel. Think of it like a hyper dose of something like simple carbohydrates for a quick energy boost. Essentially your medic is handing out chocolate covered coffee beans or something.

Increasing the pilot's and/or gunners' Agility might be the most effective thing a Doctor can contribute to vehicle combat.

Beyond that, it's very effective. And yes, in this star wars everyone is a junkie. Consider how many times characters are popping stimpacks on thier own. Now. Let a pro show them what they can really do with the power of pharmaceuticals!

I think the biggest roadblock to me getting it is that I'm actually playing a medic and not a doctor. Right now, I'm the #2 combat person of the group. Not a heavy hitter, but still the 2nd best gun. So burning actions to boost people up in combat doesn't feel like it would be worth it. Outside of combat, it just feels weird to be dosing people every time an important check comes up and we have the time.

It is in the way of my 3rd stimpack specialization tallent, so if anything, I'll end up getting it for that. It might be a way down the road talent though. But that's why I thought I would engage the community for feedback since I could purchase it now if I so choose too.

I think the biggest roadblock to me getting it is that I'm actually playing a medic and not a doctor. Right now, I'm the #2 combat person of the group. Not a heavy hitter, but still the 2nd best gun. So burning actions to boost people up in combat doesn't feel like it would be worth it. Outside of combat, it just feels weird to be dosing people every time an important check comes up and we have the time.

It is in the way of my 3rd stimpack specialization tallent, so if anything, I'll end up getting it for that. It might be a way down the road talent though. But that's why I thought I would engage the community for feedback since I could purchase it now if I so choose too.

Oooo, medic, cool looking spec I thought. It's probably a tougher call when you stumble on combat and you're in it, but if you are initiating combat I'd allow you to perform it on another character and yourself prior to commencing initiative. Other GMs might not but it seems reasonable to me.

I think the biggest roadblock to me getting it is that I'm actually playing a medic and not a doctor. Right now, I'm the #2 combat person of the group. Not a heavy hitter, but still the 2nd best gun. So burning actions to boost people up in combat doesn't feel like it would be worth it. Outside of combat, it just feels weird to be dosing people every time an important check comes up and we have the time.

It is in the way of my 3rd stimpack specialization tallent, so if anything, I'll end up getting it for that. It might be a way down the road talent though. But that's why I thought I would engage the community for feedback since I could purchase it now if I so choose too.

I've only had a few sessions with my Medic, but I never do Stim Application outside of combat, It feels wrong to me to apply Stim Application before any and every key roll. I feel like I would be gaming the system. Is that the problem you are having with Stim Application?

As soon as I saw Superior Stim Application, I was like "****!" Just imagine, by the time you have that your Brawler/Melee should have 5-6 Brawn, give them a cybernetic arm and a stim application, that's a 7 die roll on melee attack. When I tested this (4g3y), you generally roll 2-5 successes, but on one attack I rolled 10 successes. That's a whopping 20 damage with a vibroaxe, you'd one shot most Nemesis if you roll that.

I think the biggest roadblock to me getting it is that I'm actually playing a medic and not a doctor. Right now, I'm the #2 combat person of the group. Not a heavy hitter, but still the 2nd best gun. So burning actions to boost people up in combat doesn't feel like it would be worth it. Outside of combat, it just feels weird to be dosing people every time an important check comes up and we have the time.

It is in the way of my 3rd stimpack specialization tallent, so if anything, I'll end up getting it for that. It might be a way down the road talent though. But that's why I thought I would engage the community for feedback since I could purchase it now if I so choose too.

I've only had a few sessions with my Medic, but I never do Stim Application outside of combat, It feels wrong to me to apply Stim Application before any and every key roll. I feel like I would be gaming the system. Is that the problem you are having with Stim Application?

Its crazy the only hard limit on the power is the targets strain, which you can get back with a cigarette.

When I was playing my Doc I refused to take it because I know I'd abuse it. Oh I need to make a skill check stab my leg with a stim.

...time to make up the doctor PC with addiction as his obligation!

I think the biggest roadblock to me getting it is that I'm actually playing a medic and not a doctor. Right now, I'm the #2 combat person of the group. Not a heavy hitter, but still the 2nd best gun. So burning actions to boost people up in combat doesn't feel like it would be worth it. Outside of combat, it just feels weird to be dosing people every time an important check comes up and we have the time.

It is in the way of my 3rd stimpack specialization tallent, so if anything, I'll end up getting it for that. It might be a way down the road talent though. But that's why I thought I would engage the community for feedback since I could purchase it now if I so choose too.

I've only had a few sessions with my Medic, but I never do Stim Application outside of combat, It feels wrong to me to apply Stim Application before any and every key roll. I feel like I would be gaming the system. Is that the problem you are having with Stim Application?

I think I feel about the same. I really doubt that I'll use it in combat. And it's use out of combat would be really limited by story and character reasons. I like playing the hero types and boosting up with chems all the time just doesn't feel very heroic to me.

Thanks everyone for telling me about your experiences with the talent.