Freelance
Traveller
This article originally appeared in Issue #014, February 2011, of the downloadable PDF magazine.
Stim Stix are a mixture of proprietary alchemical ingredients bonded to a pectin/gum based delivery system about 2.5cm long and about 6mm wide. Chewing the stick releases the mild stimulant, and the active ingredient should last for approximately one hour. Chewing a stick more often than that, or chewing more than a single stick at a time—both frowned on by the manufacturers—will inevitably increase the duration of the effects.
Sticks come twenty to a small pack (or occasionally the Lucky 21 pack), and one hundred (or sometimes missing up to 14) to a belt-clipped pack.
Packaging is all smooth lines and a fast-looking typeface.
Unlike the cigarette butts found nearly everywhere humankind has managed to reach in his quest for the stars, the pectin/gum base makes Stim Stix a guilty pleasure with a conscious. They are easily consumed, rather than turned into an eyesore.
A small pack of Stim Stix costs Cr2, while the belt pack costs only Cr9.
Simulation Stats: Approximately 30 seconds after chewing, the stimulant is dumped into the chewer’s system, increasing mental focus (+1 INT) and dexterity (+1) noticeably for the next 3 minutes, then not so much (either +1 DEX or +1 INT, but not both) for the remainder of the hour.
Stim Stix can be purchased almost anywhere, and their logo is seen on entirely too many caps and shirts. One can hear the ultra-annoying jingle (the kind that goes into your head and never comes out) in entirely too many places as well...