u/tsjb

I'm torn between 3 games. I want to get into DMing to give it a go, for fun, be able to try out different games, and meet new people outside of my 5e friends.

D&D 5e:
Pros: This is the game I am by far the most familiar with. It's so popular that the hope would be that I'd be able to more easily be able to find players willing to try a game with a new DM.
Cons: One of the main reasons I want to try to DM is to play games other than 5e! 5e has a reputation (quite fairly maybe, from my experience) of having some players more likely to turn up never having read any of the rules. I don't mind this in general and think 5e is a super cool RPG to get started with, but I worry I'll have too much to juggle trying to learn to DM while also helping somebody learn to play 5e and TTRPGS in general.

Pathfinder 2e:
Pros: My current favourite system. Seems to have plenty of players in my region. I'm fairly confident with the rules and system in general, though nowhere near as confident as 5e.
Cons: The game is so rules dense that I worry I'll fluster on the night. Even though I'm fairly confident with the rules and style of play, a lot of that knowledge comes from a videogame of the system, and PFS (PF2es organised play) games.

Dolemwood/Shadowdark:
Pros: I am most excited to try some OSR-type games, and they don't seem very popular in my region so DMing them might be my best shot. Since they are rules-lite they will hopefully be a little easier to DM.
Cons: My experience playing either of these games is literally one single game of Dolmenwood that I will be playing on Saturday as part of free RPG day. My knowledge of the game comes exclusively from an actual play I love to watch.

The prevailing opinion on the internet would make this seem like a terrible, terrible idea, but there are a few things that are making me think maybe it's not so bad? Please help me make up my mind either way.

• They seem to have been made easier to play to at least a basic level during the remaster.
• I have played the absolute heck out of Dawnsbury Days, while that's definitely not a proper replacement for a real game I do feel comfortable saying I know the basics of the system.
• I would be playing as a Chirurgeon, so my hope would be that this game is similar to other games where supports are hard to come by so even a subpar support is still something you're happy to see?
• I am willing to do some reading/watching/studying of guides, my corebooks, Archives of Nethys before I start.

What do you guys think? Thanks!