Now I may have been drinking... But I am sure that I read somewhere that all strain is reduced to zero at the start of each session. Am I making making this up?? If this is the case where is it listed?

Strain clears after a full night's rest. If you end a session mid combat, or even mid "day", you shouldn't expect everybody is "refreshed" when you pick up the game again.

we carry it over, but clear it in story downtime.

It's found at the beginning of the Beginner Game's follow-on adventure as a general "Beginning a New Session" list of tips. At least it is in the Age of Rebellion one. I'd have to double-check the FaD one, but pretty sure it's there too.

I have done this for a long time now, and it's the way I prefer to run. Even if only moments have passed in-between sessions, it is nice and simple to clear the slate as far as strain goes.

That makes no sense to me. Strain is a critical mechanic to show the stresses of a current situation. If you're in a negotiation with a Hutt, Strain is a measure of your progress. If you have to halt a game mid-negotiation, and wipe out Strain at the start of the next, you completely interrupt the narrative. Same if the PCs are slogging through the wilderness and you want to know what shape they'll be in when/if they arrive at their destination.

"By session" is arbitrary, whereas a "night's rest" is not.

I tend to clear the slate at the beginning of each session, but that is more due to the fact my sessions are pretty fluid on how long they run and I rarely have to cut things off mid-action.

I certainly believe strain should be tracked between sessions, or at least that there are plenty of sources for removing strain such that it should never really be a long term issue.

What gets me though, is what is the definition of an "encounter" with regards to the Discipline/(?)Resilience check for recovering strain after an encounter. Is it only combat? Is it by logical story beat/screen wipe (i.e. we all hop in our airspeeder and travel one town over, about a 40 minute flight)?

Seems like its there to cover that sort of short rest type of recovery. Something less than a day to represent the PCs just catching their breath before moving on. Can't remember if the natural strain recovery rules cover less than a day interval though (besides adv on medicine checks).

"Encounters" are scenes. The alley gunfight, the job negotiation, the hyperspace jump while being chased by Black Sun, the Gala on Brentaal where you meet the contact in disguise, all of these are encounters. Anytime there is a slight "break" in the story's flow, you could call that encounter over. Basically, every time the party gets a slight chance to catch their breath, an encounter probably just ended.

If I literally left things on a cliffhanger...like, dude's-hanging-from-a-cliff-type cliffhanger...then I would probably tell everyone to keep their strain. But I usually don't do that sort of thing, since recapturing the tension next session is so freaking hard.

I'd rather resolve things at that point, and then leave things on an "intrigue" cliffhanger ("Wait...it wasn't the Pantoran mercenary, because now he's dead too! Who is it?"), or on an "anticipation" cliffhanger (falling through atmosphere, in a dropship, heading right for the heavy combat zone).

If I literally left things on a cliffhanger...like, dude's-hanging-from-a-cliff-type cliffhanger...then I would probably tell everyone to keep their strain. But I usually don't do that sort of thing, since recapturing the tension next session is so freaking hard.

How so? And what does the narrative tension (the interaction between players and GM) have to do with the PC's state?

I prefer to end on a down-time spot, in which case all Strain would probably go away. What you seem to be saying is that you reset Strain after each session because that's normally a down-time moment anyway. But that's just accidental.

How so? And what does the narrative tension (the interaction between players and GM) have to do with the PC's state?

It's like, we've got this momentum going, and people are being creative, and everyone's got this cinematic scene in their head, and they're playing off each other, and the drama is high. I hate going from that to next week, when everyone comes in and it's joking and catching up and did-you-see-the-last-episode-of-Agents-of-SHIELD, and then we try and sit down and play and everyone's like "Oh yeah, what's happening again? Something about being on a moving conveyor belt in a droid factory, about to crushed by mechanical arms, oh hey can I install a mod on my lightsaber right now?"

It's always been a challenge for my groups to get started in that sort of situation, and maybe that's my fault, but it's like we've just lost all the momentum we were building the previous session and getting going again is like stirring up a jar of cold peanut butter. So I tend to not end the sessions in those places.

I seem to be able to find a "good place to stop" for the night. It's not too hard for me, finding the right mix of suspense and resolution. However, thinking about it, if I can't give a reason for why it works for me, then it is (on some level) accidental I should probably try and figure that out.

I can't think of the last time I stopped mid-encounter, but if I did, I suppose I'd have everyone hang onto their strain there as well.

It's not a hard-and-fast rule. But it's just something I do at the start of most sessions after reading & running Operation: Shadowpoint. Clear your strain, and then let's go.

MEALS

Luxurious. 100 credits. Recovers 2 Strain.

Upscale. 50 credits. Recovers 1 Strain.

Average. 15 credits. Recovers no Strain.

Budget. 5 credits. Recovers no Strain. Could cause Strain with a related bad die roll?

LODGING (per day)

Luxurious. 200 credits. Recovers all Strain.

Upscale. 100 credits. Recovers all Strain.

Average. 50 credits. Recovers all Strain.

Budget. 20 credits. Recovers 6 Strain.

Sleeping aboard ship is usually considered Budget depending on conditions.

Strain should generally be tracked between sessions, especially if you are forced to end in a not so restful situation.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not always the best at recording what my strain was at the end of the session. I tend to keep track on a white board which has a reasonably good chance of being erased or smudged between sessions. In that case I'll usually best guess it, usually to my own detriment. If I'm forced to guess because of my own negligence I'll err against my favor.

I am with what seems to be the majority of people here.. I don't feel strain should reset simply because it is the end of the session but at a time when the characters have a reasonable opportunity to rest and recuperate. Now, I think for most groups, it also is the tendency to end sessions at similar quiet moments which means it can be reasonable for their strain to reset for the next session, though I would also think that getting some sleep is a reasonable requirement and would likely do this myself. However, it doesn't make sense to reset strain if, because of time constraints, a session ended in the middle of a fight or other situation where the players could not rest and recover. This would be similar to recovering all HP in the same situation.

If the group is in a prolonged battle with the major villain of the story arc and it's suddenly time for Jimmy to go home because he needs to get some sleep before the big test tomorrow it would not make sense to come back the next week and suddenly the challenging, prolonged fight isn't even a threat anymore because they PCs have recovered their wounds and strain. If you then even it out by setting the enemies back to their full health and strain, well.. you might as well not have started the fight in the previous session because you've effectively just reset the entire thing.

Luxurious. 100 credits. Recovers 2 Strain.

Upscale. 50 credits. Recovers 1 Strain.

Average. 15 credits. Recovers no Strain.

Budget. 5 credits. Recovers no Strain. Could cause Strain with a related bad die roll?

Ha ha!

"You've gotta buy some food for your cadre. There are several options for dining here on the mid levels of Coruscant. There are some rather upscale places, up at about 100 credits a plate, but then there are your budget places. And across the street, you see a nerf sausage vendor. It's only 3 credits for a meal! But you'll need to roll a Resilience check if you eat there."