[Adamo1618]

Hey!

I'm submitting an idea I have for a custom drug, and I would like your opinions. ^^

Tender GCX-17 (Rating 1-4)
A cocktail of stem cells, custom growth hormones, and ATP molecules, this substance is used to drastically improve healing in the subject. When injected it kickstarts cellular reparation, while also exhausting the recipient because of the great amount of energy required. Upon administration the recipient’s Natural healing of Physical Damage uses (1 combat turn) intervals instead of (1 day) for (Rating) turns after which it goes back to normal. This drug does not affect healing of Stun Damage and instead deals (Rating + 2) Stun damage, unresisted. Stun damage does not have to be healed in order to heal Physical in this manner. This process is addictive with an Addiction Threshold of 2 and Addiction Rating of 5. Cost Rating * 1000¥, Avail (Rating) * 3R

This is a first draft, natch. Thoughts?

[Herr Brackhaus]

Is the Stun damage dealt per combat turn or a one-off?

I like the concept; I'd probably require an auto-injector or one of the medtech injectors from Bullets and Bandages to deliver the drug, but I'd certainly be open to trying it.

It's expensive, it has a pretty significant drawback, and it's unique. I like it.

[Adamo1618]

Is the Stun damage dealt per combat turn or a one-off?

I suppose it would make more sense if the damage is progressive, considering the drug effect is sort of a process and I kinda like that touch.

I'd probably require an auto-injector or one of the medtech injectors from Bullets and Bandages to deliver the drug, but I'd certainly be open to trying it.

An autoinjector is probably the way to go, it's a great way to stay in the fight. It also synergizes well with combat drugs like Kamikaze or Nitro, and maybe you could squeeze Crash into the mix as well. Maybe it's a bit too powerful, but I haven't had time to playtest that aspect yet and probably won't for some time, so I'd love some empirical feedback. ^^

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Reduce the healing time from 1 day to 1-3 hours instead of to 1 turn; you've got a regen cocktail here, and while that might be great for your particular table, in general it's a tough sell - to the GM, essentially.  I do like the addiction and the exhaustion; they make sense.  But getting a day's worth of healing in three seconds is ... maybe a bit much.

[Rift_0f_Bladz]

Maybe a super up version that does in combat turns, but has massive side effects similar to the Super stimpacks from Fallout (more like fallout 1 and 2 than the Bethesda versions). Where it gives massive healing up front, but a large penalties after a few turns, via stun, exhaustion, and initiative decrease.

[Adamo1618]

Reduce the healing time from 1 day to 1-3 hours instead of to 1 turn; you've got a regen cocktail here, and while that might be great for your particular table, in general it's a tough sell - to the GM, essentially.  I do like the addiction and the exhaustion; they make sense.  But getting a day's worth of healing in three seconds is ... maybe a bit much.

Yes, I do agree with you. It is very fast. It's just that I want it to be a viable alternative to First aid, which only takes a few combat turns to finish. If it were to take hours then a street doc or sufficiently skilled team member could take care of it, and there wouldn't be much point to it. Well, of course it's a useful addition to a survival kit or a run when there is no present medic.

I'm no physician and I don't have any merit here, but it seems to me like drugs like a Trauma patch or Hemosynth (Bullets & Bandages page 19) have very advanced and 'powerful' abilities, not too different from this idea. I mean, they halt or heal unspecified injuries in a fashion that would make current doctors drool. This baby would take their effects one or two steps further but with significantly greater drawbacks. I was pondering whether to make it temporary so that it would slowly return your condition monitor to the state you were in when you took the drug; maybe it could come in handy.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

It isn't a bad place ... to ... start ... hmmm.  Okay, get back to that.

The trauma patch generally stops massive bleeding.  I'm not entirely familiar with hemosynth ... *goes to look* ... which essentially stops progressive/overflow damage from, err, progressing.  Or overflowing.  Yeah, trauma teams would love them both, but they're both also temporary.  You're talking about actual healing, instead of something that pretty basically just extends the time for someone to come help.  I do understand where you're coming from, but there is (or should be) a heavy cost for it.  And yeah, (Rating x 1000¥) is a pretty stiff cost, and the addiction is a great kicker ...

... which gets me back to my previous thought.  Have you thought of ... cancer?  Every month, call for an Edge test against half the number of injections they've received in the past month (so having just one won't kill them, as it were); a critical glitch will wind up with them having cancer of some sort - make it essentially the negative Quality 'Borrowed Time'.

[Imveros]

or maybe have the drug extend the golden hour? As it stands now if you don't get medical treatment within an hour of the injury it can be healed with first aid. A lesser version of this concept could extend that for say hours per rating?

[Adamo1618]

The trauma patch generally stops massive bleeding.  I'm not entirely familiar with hemosynth ... *goes to look* ... which essentially stops progressive/overflow damage from, err, progressing.  Or overflowing.  Yeah, trauma teams would love them both, but they're both also temporary.  You're talking about actual healing, instead of something that pretty basically just extends the time for someone to come help.

The entry for Hemosynth says:

Effect: Reverses Progressive and Overflow Damage
HemoSynth is an advanced blood replacement product containing genetically designed plasma proteins with high oxygen-binding capacity. When administered to a character suffering from Damage Progression (p. 14) or Overflow, HemoSynth temporarily reverses the accumulation of damage and improves their chances of surviving until they receive medical treatment. HemoSynth comes in doses called units and requires a rapid infuser (Biotech Gear, p. 22). Each unit requires a number of combat turns equal to the subject’s Body attribute to infuse. Upon completion of the infusion, the subject rolls Body x 2, and each hit removes one box of accumulated Progressive or Overflow Damage. Damage cannot be reduced below the base damage that caused Progression or Overflow. Note that the subject has not been Stabilized and will continue to accumulate damage during and after the infusion until Stabilization occurs.

I can't interpret this as anything else than actual healing, although a temporary one. My invention is essentially a tuned-up version of Hemosynth and is far more straining on the body. In terms of realism it isn't too exotic, imho. ^^

Have you thought of ... cancer?  Every month, call for an Edge test against half the number of injections they've received in the past month (so having just one won't kill them, as it were); a critical glitch will wind up with them having cancer of some sort - make it essentially the negative Quality 'Borrowed Time'.

I haven't, and it's a very good idea. Borrowed Time is a nice touch but I find it too extreme for a drug of this sort. Gonna contemplate it however. (:

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Progressive and Overflow damage is, in part, what's considered 'bleeding out'.  Hemosynth is (again in part) replacing lost blood - returning the 'extra time of bleed-out' to you.  Actual damage isn't being healed - you note the next part, 'Damage cannot be reduced below the base damage that caused Progression or Overflow,' which is the actual damage that was caused, not the bleeding-out part.  You have Tender GCX-17 healing the actual damage - not just the 'damage' caused by blood loss.  This is significantly more powerful than a drug that stops blood loss or trauma from progressing, or turns back the clock to extend the amount of time you can last until you do bleed out.

'Borrowed Time' is a good way of representing cancer.  It can metastasize at a moment's notice, go beserk, etc.  And a drug of this sort is forcing your systems to suddenly begin replicating at a rate that can only be called insane, so cancer - and the possibility of it killing you suddenly - is not, IMO, out of the realm of possibility.

[Adamo1618]

Progressive and Overflow damage is, in part, what's considered 'bleeding out'.  Hemosynth is (again in part) replacing lost blood - returning the 'extra time of bleed-out' to you.  Actual damage isn't being healed - you note the next part, 'Damage cannot be reduced below the base damage that caused Progression or Overflow,' which is the actual damage that was caused, not the bleeding-out part.  You have Tender GCX-17 healing the actual damage - not just the 'damage' caused by blood loss.  This is significantly more powerful than a drug that stops blood loss or trauma from progressing, or turns back the clock to extend the amount of time you can last until you do bleed out.

Since you can die from progressive damage in Shadowrun, I would definately consider it actual damage. Bleed-out causes cellular death and stuff like that. Those cells need to be replaced, dead tissue healed. That's why it's physical damage, which is repaired by Hemosynth.

'Borrowed Time' is a good way of representing cancer.  It can metastasize at a moment's notice, go beserk, etc.  And a drug of this sort is forcing your systems to suddenly begin replicating at a rate that can only be called insane, so cancer - and the possibility of it killing you suddenly - is not, IMO, out of the realm of possibility.

I'm not sure that accelerated healing, especially that from stem cells, would increase the risk of cancer. Borrowed Time also seems very extreme. Cancer is a much slower killer than just out of the blue. Perhaps the increased metabolism will increase production of free radicals, thus speeding up the aging process. Aged from Bullets and Bandages could prove useful.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

SR is specific about the actual, direct damage - "I got stabbed" and the progressive and/or overflow damage, which is what happens slowly over time as a RESULT of having gotten stabbed.  This stuff dials back the progressive/overflow stuff, NOT the actual stabbing.  And if you don't understand how cancer works, or how fast it CAN work, that isn't my fault.

[Adamo1618]

SR is specific about the actual, direct damage - "I got stabbed" and the progressive and/or overflow damage, which is what happens slowly over time as a RESULT of having gotten stabbed.  This stuff dials back the progressive/overflow stuff, NOT the actual stabbing.  And if you don't understand how cancer works, or how fast it CAN work, that isn't my fault.

If you can't be respectful, I suggest you go elsewhere. There is no need to be rude just because I disagree.

[Namikaze]

Adamo, have you ever had a family member die from cancer in a matter of weeks?  I have, so cancer absolutely does not work the way you described.  Maybe you should consider that before you decide to get on your high horse.

[Adamo1618]

Adamo, have you ever had a family member die from cancer in a matter of weeks?  I have, so cancer absolutely does not work the way you described.

I am truly sorry to hear that. You have my sympathy <3