College assignment / aid for new DMs

Hello everyone! i have an assignment for college in which i must create a booklet, i want it to be full of tips for new DMs since in my country translations and official books are a hefty toll to try out, i have some notes on what to include, please keep in mind this is for absolute beginners:

-Simplified language.

-Basic rules.

-Worldbuilding essentials.

-Random tables.

Keep in mind this wouldn't be a replacement for the DMG just an entry point for new players who aren't sure to make the investment.

What would you have liked to know when you started? any help or suggestion will be appreciated. have a nice day!

Interesting topic for an assignment (though I guess I did a few similar as well).

1. You may want to emphasize identifying the table dynamic at Session Zero. Knowing the tone the group would like to have will save you a lot of headaches. Nothing worse than wanting to run a serious investigative campaign and your group is nothing but slapstick combat shenanigans (or vice versa).
2. Speaking of Session Zero, have the players find a reason why they are working together. It will help motivate them to act as a team instead of potentially against each other in a free-for-all "it's what my character would do" (unless that is precisely the tone you've identified). 
3. Try to have a low stakes encounter at the end of Session Zero, let your players test what they have been cooking for the past few hours instead of making it an entire homework session.
4. Don't feel too precious about your players missing/ignoring the obvious plot hooks you're throwing at them. These can easily be relocated elsewhere if they are truly that important. 
5. Remember that you as a DM and they as players are all meant to have a good time together. Unless they ask for a meat-grinder experience, you don't have to be adversarial. Remind them that your bad guys are antagonist, but that doesn't mean you want to kill their PCs.
6. Get comfortable with improv. You don't have to "yes, and" everything, but you will get better results if you don't deny your PCs creativity.
7. Involve your PC's in the world. Have one of them who wants to be the party chef? Ask them to describe their dish, make em roll for how effective and satiating it is. Got a bookworm in the group, scatter tomes every now and then for their collection. So on and so forth.

And then yeah, quick notes on the social and combat mechanics of the game. A few charts about travel time/distance. A quicklist of conditions and their effect for reference.

Thank you so much!! this is very helpful, do you have any mechanics you think a new dm would struggle with??

thank you very much:DD

It's very important to lay down that it's a game of the imagination, and not 100% defined by rules. The game is subjective to circumstance, and anything can happen. The DM decides how they think something can happen, and not everything is accounted for in the books. Make sure people know that the game isn't perfect enough to accommodate every scenario, and it isn't just some board game that you roll out and learn off a rule sheet. It is an investment of creativity, adaptability, and quite often a fair bit of time. It's different and unique, and that's the most important thing to know. 

Quote from Bisentebisentebisente >>

Thank you so much!! this is very helpful, do you have any mechanics you think a new dm would struggle with??

thank you very much:DD

The hardest part might unironically be the sheer number of mechanics and rules that are present. Then again, that's also why circumstantial interpretation as a DM is important. 

You forgot that fall damage was a d6 per 10ft? Maybe the landing spot was powdered snow and you decide it's now a d4 per 15ft, or d8 cuz the cliff is especially sharp and jagged. I forgot just how much damage being submerged in lava would be last session, a quick search fixed that real quick (and took care of the bad guy who fell about as fast).

My players literally asked how much damage the steel guardian would inflict if it was made to fly over and dropped on bad guys. Ain't no rules for that, so you improvise. 
Meanwhile, someone wants to start playing around with poisons? There's already a suggested list for ingestible, inhalable or contact/injury based poisons, just use that.

I guess you could call this a "get used to improv and be quick at googling" mention.

Top rule, this is not a competition nor is it DM vs players.   

Both players and DM should collaborate on the story..

Even though the DM ruling stands and is absolute, researching after the session should be encouraged and discussed for future correctness on both sides