Noob DM on Pathfinder

I've been gaming with the same group for about 3 years playing Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 and everyone kind of taking turns DMing the game. As we approached the holidays we also were coming to the end of our long term campaign and the question before us was- who's up? Who's going to run the next game.

It kind of felt like I should step up to the plate. I've been playing D&D for 15+ years and gaming in general for 25. But never did I run a game for these guys. Their gaming experience dwarfs mine. And they're really good at running a game. This intimidated me a great deal. My turn was inevitable. So I threw my hat in.

I also used my turn to promote our group moving up to Pathfinder. It was difficult to get some of them to go from 3.0 to 3.5 so I expected this to be more difficult! It wasn't actually. They were glad to convert which may be due to excitement about the noob DMing. I don't know. My idea was that while Pathfinder is very close to 3.5, it would give me slightly more level playing field having us all learn Pathfinder instead of me trying to DM a system these guys a lot more about than I do. While I've been playing for some time, I've never been one to min/max the crap out of the rules like they do.

I decided to start with a published module. The guys over at the Source suggested I use the Adventure Path series Paizo (Pathfinder) publishes. On top of that one of the Source employees ran out to his car (in the -20 degree MN cold) to dig out the first Adventure Path book for me to borrow!

Our first game of the year and my first DMing was today. We created characters and got started. In addition, we have a new player who joined us making our party the proper four players. He's a co-worker and it appeared the chemistry with the guys and the new guy was pretty good. I'm a new DM, but he's never played a lick of 3.5, so there was a good deal of noob-ness all around. It was clear I had under prepared and the storytelling was pretty rough and sloppy. I felt in over my head, but the fellows were encouraging and I actually had a blast. Every moment was valuable learning on how to do proper game mastering. Now I'm really looking forward to the next session.

The Adventure Paths are very involved and perhaps not the best choice for a beginner, but I think it'll be fine down the road. I can't wait to sit behind the screen again.