Saga Edition Web Enhancement 2: Encounter Design 101

From the introduction:

Designing fresh, exciting, and (most importantly) fair encounters for Star Wars Roleplaying Game heroes can be one of the greatest challenges for a Gamemaster. In many ways, encounter design and balance are more art than science. Despite the organized and numeric nature of the rules, sometimes factors outside of the raw statistics can alter the difficulty or fun of the encounter. For example, a Gamemaster might design an encounter that would be perfectly appropriate for most parties, but since her players have just the right mixture of talents, feats, and tactics, the encounter is over too quickly - either in the heroes' favor, or to their dismay.