Pathfinder, First time DM, need advice on designing things.

[Brendanicus]

Since you are a first-time DM, and want this campaign to succeed so as to stay in contact with your friends, I would recommend running a module, or pre-made adventure.

Modules are great because they typically think of things a first-time DM wouldn't, like NPC reactions to a variety of situations, more complex encounters, and the like. Plus, if you find a reasonably good one, it will be pretty likely that your game will go smoothly. If you are the creative type, modules are still good, as you can simply edit the module to make it better if you are so inclined. Plus, if you don't have much time to prepare new content for the module one week, you can fall back onto the existing content.

I'm not knocking your idea as bad, it's just that every DM has that awkward first campaign that doesn't quite come together well. Given the circumstances of your campaign, it would really suck if the game petered out.

If you are playing D&D 3.5, I'd recommend The Red Hand of Doom. It's the party waging a military campaign to save the land from an army of hobgoblins and dragons. Very LOTR, and very popular.

The World's Largest Dungeon is also nice too, but it requires much more editing on the DM's part due to much of it being mediocre. It's a gigantic dungeon crawler filled with all manner of nasties. I'm running it right now (my party and I are having a blast), so if you want tips just PM me.

If you are playing Pathfinder, I don't know many relevant modules, but I've heard that people like Rise of the Runelords.