Inexperienced GM here. I've only run three sessions total, and this is my first RPG.

I'm unsure about how much information I should give the players on whom they're fighting. Initially, I had been giving them just about everything- wound and stress thresholds, abilities, and characteristics. I would tell them their opponents equipment if they were being attacked with it, otherwise I'd keep it secret until they searched the body. My last session, it occurred to me that this may be too much info, as I had noticed that the PCs started picking their actions and maneuvers based on how much health their opponents had left.

I brought this up to the group, since we're all still learning. Some of my PCs are Pathfinder players, and they said that in the system they're used to, you can't see the exact number of points, but can ask to look at the target and see if they notice any damage or anything. I figured this was a better system, and used it.

So, how much information do you give about opponent characters? I'm thinking that I may keep everything secret- wound and strain threshold, as well as all characteristics. Also, what about dice rolls? When an enemy attacks a PC, do you roll all the dice in front of them, or do you keep it hidden and merely tell them the results?

Another thing I'm wondering about it equipment on fallen NPCs. My PCs like to search the bodies for weapons and credits. I usually let them take any weapons the enemy was holding, but I don't think the adventure book has ever said anything about credits they may have on them. Sometimes I make up a random small number, say 20-50 credits; other times I say the NPC has nothing on them. Does anyone have a system for this?

Not mechanical details. You really can't avoid letting on there is a minion group they are facing when you have 2 drop dead from one attack, so that is a given, but not Wounds/Strain/Soak etc. The kinds of weapons are pretty obvious so that's no big deal. Not who are the Rivals and who is the Nemesis, unless that's an obvious plot point or simply by who they are facing.

Looting bodies for weapons or gear is fine. I'd be a little sparse on money.

I tend to give enemies very little hard cash. I prefer my players earn most of their money through adventures rather than shooting up random minions, as the latter encourages unnecessary violence (the "why should we negotiate with the smugglers when we can just kill them and get more credits?" mentality).

don't give out any stats. tell the characters what they can see (armor/weapons/obvious skill use). an experienced character might be able to recognize less obvious skill use or exceptional stats once they are used. you can use a perception roll for that or simply tell them, that's a matter of taste.

tell them how badly wounded enemies are, so they have an idea how long they might last.

i guess with how the dice work in eote you should always roll in the open. not because of any trust reasons, but because it's fun and the players can hope for disadvantages when enemies attack.

In my game we're pretty transparent on minions. As in, the GM refers to the group moving together and acting together. As for equipment, if it's special of note then call it out. If a player asks specifically then let them know what they might know. A doctor asking what kind of gun the bad guy is using would result in a generic answer like "big rifle". A soldier asking might get the make and model of the weapon. Or, having them roll a Knowlege: Warefare to know about armor and equipment that they see. Or have them spend advantages to find out more about what they see.

As far as how hurt they are, in this game my group uses generic terms such as "un-hurt", "hurt", and "pretty bad off". Sometimes we dip into the D&D 4e terminology of "bloodied" for someone who is half dead. Again, what do the players know? For us, we're assuming we're paying attention in combat and how the enemy is reacting to being hurt. We're also playing an elite rebel combat team, so our characters would know how injured people would react. You could call for a perception or medicine roll for relative health. You could also say things like, "he's been shot twice and is moving slow" or something like "his armor seems like it's absorbing most of the damage" for someone with a high soak and isn't too hurt.

A good way to get relative health and equipment across is through narration. Someone hurt pretty bad, say they are moving slow or eyeing up an escape or has a look of kill or be killed in his eyes. Same with equipment. Think about what's being held and where it is on the character. What can someone see and what's the relevant information. Perhaps the gun just looks like a normal blaster rifle but once it's fired the PC can tell it's modded up based on the noise or rate of fire or something. Add color to get the point across of what the NPCs are equiped with.

I hope this helps.

I routinely give them only what their characters can see - the weapons they use, the armour they wear, and so on. Obviously they'll pretty quickly figure out if they're minions or rivals/nemeses, and how many dice I roll for their checks, but that's it. There's no way I'd let them know their stats, skills and talents in any other way that having them observe them in use. If one of them asks how badly an NPC is hurt, I give them a general idea based on how close he is to his wound threshold ("you've barely singed him" to "he's coughing blood").

Our GM will say "They're armed with blaster pistols, clubs, and they're just wearing some grubby street clothes"or the like for equipment.

For damage he'll say "This guy doesn't look so good" or "he's got a bleeding gash but otherwise is fine."

He won't say "this guy has Soak 3 and 5 wounds"

In the beginning when I was first running EotE with my players, I was very open and honest with them because I figured it would help teach them the rules of the game. So I straight up told them what the baddie' soak and wounds were when they attacked. I think it helped.

Once they settled in to the game, I was less candid with them.

Anything that is observable I let them know. Things that are obvious. What kind of weapons they are using or carrying, what kind of armor. One of my players during the first session was keeping track of how much damage some NPCs were taking and it became pointless because he didn't know the soak.

ALso I give vague ideas on how hard the hits are, and how much wounds they are taking. "You seemed to have just scratched the armor and caused a good sized dent." or "He is barely standing up and looks to be in bad shape"

I tell the players what the PCs see, but if the combat drags on and it's late at night I sometimes tell them the WT etc. Oh and in this game I always tell them in combat or -this might turn into combat- situations who's minion, who's rival. Nemeses are usually obvious. I do that to avoid the players miscalculating their odds - "we thought they were all minions!", "No, they're rivals standing together..." It doesn't ruin immersion and fun and takes only 2 words in a description of a scene.

For minions/Rivals/Nemesis usually I follow a naming pattern

Minons do not have a name beyond thug, mook, pirate, tough, trooper

Rivals will have first names or single names

Nemesis will have proper names, and maybe an adversary talent