No , I just have a few basic questions for encounters.

What Motivates the NPCs in this encounter.(ie money)

What are the NPCS goals in this encounter. (ie to rob or con money from the PCs)

What would the break point be for the encounter.

(ie if the PCs refuse to hand over cash or threaten back, combat ensues. The thugs fight to the death or run/surrender when they get to 30%, 50%, 75% damage).

What loot does the encounter yield ?

(Cash/equipment, maybe information?)

We played again on Friday night... I'd say I probably put about 3 hours of prep in plus a fairly detailed map of a facility that the PCs need to infiltrate & steal from... After about half an hour of meeting their contact my players spent the rest of the session examining the map & having an in character discussion of how they were going to pull the job off... Easy life

No , I just have a few basic questions for encounters.

What Motivates the NPCs in this encounter.(ie money)

What are the NPCS goals in this encounter. (ie to rob or con money from the PCs)

What would the break point be for the encounter.

(ie if the PCs refuse to hand over cash or threaten back, combat ensues. The thugs fight to the death or run/surrender when they get to 30%, 50%, 75% damage).

What loot does the encounter yield ?

(Cash/equipment, maybe information?)

These are good criteria - I'm trying to work out a system leveraging much of what I've read before to simplify the process. I like this system but it's one of many. My ultimate goal is to be able to create a framework wherein I can sit down and brainstorm, pick over my GM Holocron, and BOOM, session is prepped, maybe 5-10 minutes later. The trick, for me at least, is to find the sweet spot between too much and not enough.

At the moment not very much. I brainstorm a bit and then mostly just wing it during the session. It's been going pretty well, but I think that with a bit more preparation I think I can do better.