Ok, so I know how a lot of so-called "medical items" are actually their ryll-based equivalents. I'm wondering how you make these counterfeit items, and if you can test them to see if they're real or not. I, for one, don't want to fly into combat and find out that all of my medical items are actually just making my troops (or me) high. So, is there any way to see an item's "true color"?

Yes.

Step 1: Use the item in question

Step 2: If you feel woozy, loose HP, or feel the urge to call everyone Duuuuude, it's fake. If you get healed, it's not.

That's the only way as far as i'm aware.

There should be a way without having to use them on yourself. I argued and argued but nothing was changed.

http://www.swcombine.com/forum/thread.php?thread=46284&page=0

http://www.swcombine.com/forum/thread.php?thread=46715&page=0

Ive used both health sticks AND deathsticks. Both INCREASED hp. the deathsticks dont work.

Maybe it was a counterfeit drug?

A fake counterfeit? Intriguing

Still didn't answer Jorus' first question: how do you make the fake stuff?

Uh, drugs can heal you up, but they also have a chance to injur you as well. Read the medical rules.

You mean the part where it says deathsticks have been slipped into the supply of healing sticks?

whats next counterfeit creds ? or plastic guns

Plastic guns link. But there's absolutely no way you can tell they're plastic without going into the heat of battle first.

I can see it now-"You attempt to fire your bryar pistol at the angry rancor, but to your horror, a jet of water spurts out instead of the usual blaster bolt".

Or worse: "A flag pops out the barrel with the words 'PewPew' on it"

It will happen because obviously there is no way in the whole galaxy to test your weapons without first firing them in battle.

Anyone seeing the parallels yet?

Pity you can't shoot your own NPCs, that would be one way to test them out: hire a builder (or one of the other NPCs that really don't have a role, like a priest), hand out the suspect weapons to your other NPCs and take turns firing at the 'target' (no experience since it's your own NPC you are executing)

“hire a priest and take turns firing at the 'target'

- Tiali Bixa-Loca
 ”

^ This!

Elijah, that comparison makes no sense.

If I go down to the local gun store, despite the fact that I am by no means an expert, or really novice for that matter where guns are concerned, I could tell if a gun was a cheap plastic fake over a real one relatively easily.

But your average person also can't tell the difference just by looking at it whether an aspirin is real or a placebo. Unless you're suggesting that everyone has their drugs checked before consuming them?

The lesson: Only buy guns and drugs from respected dealers.

That's only part of the lesson Shuji. How about people who make fakes of authentic antique guns? The novice wouldn't be able to tell but a professional would. By the same logic there should be methods to test medical items.

Also, you mean to tell me that I can take RMs and forge them into space worthy ships that utilize a hyperdrive to travel but that somehow I'm too dumb to test a few medical products in a lab or hospital? We're obviously not the average people in the galaxy. I can continue to draw parallels on how this feature makes no sense if it's hard for you to understand.

Ah, but you don't manufacture said ships - you get some workers to do it for you while you swan around the galaxy shouting orders.

And I don't create medical items myself. So I get the workers to do that too. Which is why I'm going to hire some of those said workers to test the medical items. Next?

I completely agree with Elijah-we're not normal here. It's been said in other posts-there's an estimated septillion (I think) sentient beings in the galaxy. Only about 4000 of those are played by characters. So why can't we be the "Creme de la creme", able to tell if they're about to hurt themselves or heal themselves?