Quick question.

What would you say is an encounter? Anytime they went from lets say building to building? Or planet to planet?

Say they get in a scuffle in the alley outside just a few blocks down from the bandits safe house. And then obviously a shoot out at the safe house.

Or lets say a base where just about every other room there is a nemeses? Is the encounter the base? or the encounter the rooms?

^^ Answering this one would probably answer its best ^^

A loose definition of an encounter would be "are the PCs under threat", and the post-encounter phase is when they have a little down time to deal with the fallout. It's not an encounter to walk from one building to another or fly from one planet to another without an incident.

Or lets say a base where just about every other room there is a nemeses? Is the encounter the base? or the encounter the rooms?

^^ Answering this one would probably answer its best ^^

The encounter is the base, unless there is some time where they find a hiding place and have some amount of time to administer stimpacks, wrap wounds, take a deep breath, etc. But if they deal with one nemesis, then march to the next room in "combat formation" because they don't know what's coming...it's still the same encounter.

I have always considered an encounter to be "What the PCs are doing at this moment", be it negotiate a treaty with a hutt (all day) or kill these storm troopers (two rounds).

When you roll initiative through it's conclusion and until initiative is rolled again is what I consider to be the time frame for Medicine checks and what constitutes per encounter.

EoE CRB p. 198

"Structured gameplay events (also called encounters )such as combat follow these steps:"

When you roll initiative through it's conclusion and until initiative is rolled again is what I consider to be the time frame for Medicine checks and what constitutes per encounter.

EoE CRB p. 198

"Structured gameplay events (also called encounters )such as combat follow these steps:"

I agree. IMO one event which is one encounter in one situation can be multiple encounters in other. Personally I have very encounter driver design philosophy, so encounters come easy for me. So a base can be one or multiple encounters. I sometimes think encounters as scenes in movie (and sometimes that doesn't work at all).

Also, whafrog said it well: "the post-encounter phase is when they have a little down time to deal with the fallout". I think you should think logically, do PCs have time and opportunity to relax and heal themselves, if yes, then that's definitely an end of encounter in my books.

Or lets say a base where just about every other room there is a nemeses? Is the encounter the base? or the encounter the rooms?

It can be either... Sorry, I know this doesn't help you... But, If you want to make it really hard on your PCs then maybe it's a one encounter, if you want to make it easier then it maybe be multiple.

Anyway, I don't think there is a way to define borders of encounter definitely. It's always on GM discretion. Which is good and bad.

I handle the encounters like chapters in a book (even going as far as naming them) and put everything that happens due to this "chapter" in it and in the end I´ll award exp for each encounter/chapter

E.g.

0."Prelude" spending EXP if not done last time, telling what happend in the downtime after the last round, let the PC aclimate into the world - No EXP - Ends with the "Opening Crawl"

1."Breakfast with a Hutt" - beginning of the adventure, finding out about a job offer, meeting the client (a hutt in this case), negoiate about the salary.

End when ever the PC leave the hutts residence. Worth 3 XP

2."brewing trouble" - gaining further informations on the target (a small statue out of cortosis), hearing about the location where the target is, finding out that 4 Special Guardsmen (rivals that wouldn´t be good if they are in the location when breaking in) have to be dealt with, finding out about theire shifts and maybe theire most favourite places, gaining the plans of the targets location...

ending whenever the PC decide to approach the guards. Worth 5 XP

3. "The four guards" since the PCs can encounter each guard seperatly this can be done in 1 to 4 encounters (Worth 3-12 XP IF sucsessfull) Fighting,or bribing, or threatening the guards, and everything that will have to do with it. Each encounter ending always when one of the guards is out of the story and the PC can go on to the next one (so if they kill off one but got spottet by the local lawenforcement the chase or fight with them would count to the same encounter.

4. "coupe de hutt" going in! If they are well prepared they can be sneaky, or they rush through the door shooting and shouting. Each fight until the Boss fight is countet towards this encounter. Once they are spottet they find out that the target has all kind of minion henchmen and the Destinypoints will bringing in even more... and then there is the Boss... an evil looking Men with something that will do massivly damage. This encounter ends when ether the boss and his last minions are dead or when the players can grab the target and escape sucsessfully. Worth 15 EXP

5."Aftermath" bringing the statue to the hutt, getting the salary and jump to hyperspace. No EXP just a little wrap up and time to make announcements for the downtime.

That would be up to 35 XP for one evening with 4-7 Encounters at my table.

but in the end it is up to you what feels for you the best.

For your "Base full of Nemesis"-Quest I would provide them one empty room with something entirely different to do and make it one encounter up to this room, one encounter in this room and one encounter the rest of the rooms.