TL;DR
As is, this power is overpriced.
Like, by a lot.
As in "this should be free" a lot.
Analysis
Healing stun damage is good and useful, but Pain Relief has some limitations that break the cost-effectiveness of choosing it - for the wrong side of the scale.
- First, you can't use it on yourself, thus making it exclusively a support power for the others in your group.
- Secondly, you can only use it once on a target, before it needs to heal out the rest of the Stun damage in other ways. This is on par for how sped-up healing usually work on Shadowrun, but it stills sucks.
- Thirdly, it takes a ridiculous amount of time. 5 minutes per box is way too much. That's 5 minutes, per box, in which you can't do anything but massage the person you're trying to heal. Compare it to the very mundane First Aid (From the Anniversary Edition):
Characters with the First Aid skill may immediately help reduce the
trauma of wounds (Stun or Physical). First Aid may only be applied
within 12 hours of when the damage was taken. Roll a First Aid + Logic
(2) Test, applying appropriate situational modifiers. (Characters
using First Aid on themselves must apply their wound modifiers to the
test.) Using the First Aid skill is a Complex Action, and takes a
number of Combat Turns equal to the amount of damage the character is
attempting to heal. Each net hit over the threshold reduces 1 box of
damage.
But what about Drain? Can I heal it with Pain Relief?
No, I don't think that's the case.
Page 178 of the 20th Anniversay Edition reads:
"Neither Stun nor Physical damage resulting from Drain can be healed
by magical means such as sorcery or spirit powers."
While Pain Relief isn't called out explicitly, it still is healing created by "mana channeled into the body" (by the power's very own description), and thus I believe it would fall squarely into magical healing - even if it is a rather slow one.
Conclusion
As is, Pain Relief is so borderline useless when compared to other options that it is hard to justify the 1 Adept Point Price. While it is very flavorful for a healer-type, its cost doesn't justify the limited applicability it has compared to mundane skills.
Sure, you can make the argument that it's just 1 APP, but those are expensive currency. The things you buy with them are supposed to be special. Not sub-par when compared with stuff that mundanes can do. Pain Relief doesn't do enough to justify its cost.
So, what does one do?
If you are a player and want to take a healing role, invest on First Aid instead. It's more useful on the long run, and it can be upgraded with Karma more easily. Medicine can compliment it nicely, too. If that's not the case, then you'll help your group more by using that adept power point on something you will use more often (or, you know, actually use).
If you're the GM, then give it for free to your players if it matches the concept of their characters. No, seriously.
Shadowrun is a very cool game, with a lot of very nice options, but the way it is built makes picking sub-par choices feel really bad. Sometimes you want to pick something because it makes sense for your character, but that thing is too expensive for the benefit it provides or sometimes don't provide anything you'll actually use outside a very specific RP moment. If that's the case here, give it for free to your player. They'll be happier, their character will end up more colorful, and - even if they try to use it all the time - this power won't break your game in any way that matters. So don't worry there.
