Need Advice for new dm

So I've recently been asked by some friends to be a dm for their D&D game, while Ive known about D&D for years and even played BG3, i have no idea how to  Dm to 5 new players who have barely heard of the game. I'm just looking for some tips on how to prepare and start

Read the DM’s guide cover to cover. 

Stormreck island with martials/half caster

Quote from BladeTheDm >>

So I've recently been asked by some friends to be a dm for their D&D game, while Ive known about D&D for years and even played BG3, i have no idea how to  Dm to 5 new players who have barely heard of the game. I'm just looking for some tips on how to prepare and start

 First piece of advice is DON'T PANIC! We've all been there and you'll get through this.

Second piece of advice is yopu don't need to read through the entire Dungeon Master's Guide. I'd be surprised if even half of DMs have read itb cover to cover and the fact no one reads it is a meme in itself at this point. You don't even need to read the full Player's Handbook, just download the free rules from this site and read the 30-40 pages of that and you'll know enough to run a basic game.

Now for the real advice; choose something that's easy to run. A lot of new DMs jump straight in the deep end and try writing some elaborate story they've had for years if this is your first time keep it simple and spare yourself the cognitive load. Your best bet (in my opinion) would be something like Dragon of Icespire Peak, you can buy it on D&D Beyond for $15 or grab a copy from Amazon or eBay where you'll find it called the Essentials Kit, a box that contains the adventure and a lot of other helpful DM stuff like a screen and a set of dice. It's designed for first time players and first time DMs and contains lots of helpful advice and tips on what you need to do.

And lastly don't be embaressed to admit to players if you get stuck. It's their first time too so they should understand and if something comes up you don't have an answer for just say and take a couple of minutes to look up a rule or think of an answer. We all do it from time to time and even if you're wrong it's ok to say "I was wrong, we'll play it like that this time but next time the rule is..."

Good luck  

Quote from CunningSmile >>

Quote from BladeTheDm >>

So I've recently been asked by some friends to be a dm for their D&D game, while Ive known about D&D for years and even played BG3, i have no idea how to  Dm to 5 new players who have barely heard of the game. I'm just looking for some tips on how to prepare and start

 First piece of advice is DON'T PANIC! We've all been there and you'll get through this.

Second piece of advice is yopu don't need to read through the entire Dungeon Master's Guide. I'd be surprised if even half of DMs have read itb cover to cover and the fact no one reads it is a meme in itself at this point. You don't even need to read the full Player's Handbook, just download the free rules from this site and read the 30-40 pages of that and you'll know enough to run a basic game.

Now for the real advice; choose something that's easy to run. A lot of new DMs jump straight in the deep end and try writing some elaborate story they've had for years if this is your first time keep it simple and spare yourself the cognitive load. Your best bet (in my opinion) would be something like Dragon of Icespire Peak, you can buy it on D&D Beyond for $15 or grab a copy from Amazon or eBay where you'll find it called the Essentials Kit, a box that contains the adventure and a lot of other helpful DM stuff like a screen and a set of dice. It's designed for first time players and first time DMs and contains lots of helpful advice and tips on what you need to do.

And lastly don't be embaressed to admit to players if you get stuck. It's their first time too so they should understand and if something comes up you don't have an answer for just say and take a couple of minutes to look up a rule or think of an answer. We all do it from time to time and even if you're wrong it's ok to say "I was wrong, we'll play it like that this time but next time the rule is..."

Good luck  

 If you run Lost Mines of Phandelver and your players want to continue and you’re hitting the end, buy Phandelver and Below. It’s worth it.