What do I need to be aware of when running a published adventure path?

[togapika]

I'm going to be running the Skulls and Shackles adventure path from pathfinder soon, and I just wanted advice from more experienced gm's as to what I should be aware of/careful about.
Tips, suggestions, pitfalls, etc...

[Malachei]

I think most adventure paths are excellent quality and among the best offical campaigns. Still, you may find a lack of plot credibility in certain situations, and for an experienced group, I'd definitely work on the storyline and customize it.

In general, the maps are outstanding, and the encounter areas are not huge. For players who carefully design their characters towards capability (:smallbiggrin:), you would need to increase the threat level somewhat.

And Skulls & Shackles in particular requires you to play out scenes with a large number of NPCs in the ship's confined area. This would be ideal to integrate a Co-DM or temporary player, otherwise you'd need some more preparation time to make the NPCs really distinctive and memorable.

[Hopeless]

Be prepared to throw in a few ideas of your own just in case your players might try to read up on these without letting you know...