A few questions to helps us help you.
-What classes are being played?
-Do your players have any gaming experience that would lend itself to group tactics being used in game? (eg; WOW, any of the various D&D-esque board games, any sort of co-operative gaming experience, etc.)
-What are the players interested in? (It helps get the players invested if you tailor the challenges to their interests. If one person has a problem with spiders, they are going to be REALLY interested if they come up against them in game...)
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Hollow's hope and I beleive master of the fallen fortress are free downloads. You should check them out to mine them for ideas.
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One of the hardest things to do in this game as a gm is balance encounters. It is more art then science and always depends on the group, the characters, and a variety of other factors that are difficult to measure.
My recomendation would be if you only have 3 players is to take the 4th pregenerated character and play it as an npc. With 4 pregens you first of all will have a full party, and you'll have all the abilities expected in the game covered.
After that I'd recommend first running through the adventure that comes with the begginer box. It is specifically designed to introduce both players and dms to the game, and has everything laid out for you. After you've done that you can then either move on to some other published book or working on your own adventures, but I wouldnt advise trying to make the first thing you guys play through something you create yourself. It can be done (most of us here started this way) but it is much harder, and generally is better attempted after gaining some experience dming.
Oh the memories...
I will never forget the first time I GM'ed (Dm'ed back then),afer I was given by a friend of mine, the started box of DnD. :)
I was so excited to try all the stuff i had in mind, even further than what the manual suggested.
Best advice I can give to you is to not be afraid to experiment and make mistakes. Soon , after some time, it will come to you naturally, and the game will start to flow. Practice makes perfect after all.
Have fun and best of luck to your future rp-gaming experience!
Welcome aboard!
I have been gaming for a long time (32 years).
I would suggest using the available tools already set up in the BB.
The game designers set it up to allow new players--and GMs--the opportunity to explore the basic rules and to learn how the encounters work.
I also agree with NPCing the 4th party member to allow easier fluidity with the given scenarios.
Have fun and good luck!
Goblins.
For pathfinder and low level players and inexperienced GMs that would always be my advice.
Goblins are fantastic tools for low level players because they're not too hard to kill and can show up in the proper numbers to give every PC one or two foes to really shine against.
In Pathfinder goblins are also fantastic as mitigation for themselves as well. If you introduce them in a somewhat crowded setting like say, your tavern the little buggers may just get far more interested in getting into a tug-of-war over a piece of roast mutton, or one might just discover that he looooves beer and drops his weapon to start sucking on a keg tap or any number of other antics. As a GM you can use this as an in-game device to scale up or down the actual number of monsters that the PCs are fighting mid-encounter, at the drop of a hat, without anyone being the wiser. It not only gives you a better idea of what your characters are capable of singularly, and as a group, it allows them a way to explore those options for themselves and gives them a few laughs in the process.
Bear in mind also that CRs are for all intents and purposes like posting speed limits on the autobahn. Just a friendly piece of advice for what's just about safe. With the introduction of die rolling into a numbers game you get a very random variable that can very quickly decide the outcome of any given encounter despite how carefully you calculate CRs so really it can be a surprise for even the most seasoned of GMs, but soon enough you actually learn to like that element.
A word of advice that you didn't ask for, but I think is very noteworthy for any GM looking to make their first adventure is to bear in mind that you alone are not writing the story, so avoid writing an exact narrative of events! Plan the game in a series of events and consequences instead. Plan for "ifs" and "thens" not "nexts" for example:
The PCs are enjoying the pub when suddenly monsters attack. IF the PCs defeat them THEN the mayor sends for them to investigate the old abandoned ruins in the north. IF the PCs run away, THEN they see a large section of the town burning and some hooting victorious monsters dragging enslaved townspeople and a large cart of plundered supplies and riches from the town toward the north.
If you structure your planning more like this there are less things to be taken surprised by it might help to plan events using a flow chart and try to think of how your characters will plan as evil selfish jerks or brave and stalwart heroes, if they stay or if they run, if they win or if they lose, of course players have a way of outwitting even the most well laid out plans so flying by the seat of your pants will be a skill employed often and your own improvisational techniques will develop over time in very fun, often surprising ways.
One last note: Don't be afraid to fudge the dice IF it facilitates everyone having fun. You always want to strive for having characters who can triumph through adversity, but that doesn't mean you should have them breeze through every challenge, and likewise it doesn't mean that they should have to roll up a new character every session. It can be very difficult to find that balance, especially at first. It's a great last resort to get out of sticky situations that you weren't anticipating but you won't be doing anyone any favors if you rely on it too much.
Anyway that's my course on game mastering 101 if you have any other questions, comments, or just want to get dazed and confused as to how people can have this much passion for a hobby, stop by the message boards compadre.