D&D 5E New DM looking for help!

[hillgobs]

Hello everyone! I'm not sure if this is the right subreddit, but I need some help! For the last 2.5 years, I've been playing Call of Cthulhu with my friends and absolutely love it!
So I wanted to start doing something with my husband's family, but I don't think CoC is gonna be their jam. My husband has minimal experience with CoCn I have minimal experience playing D&D and my SIL and MIL have never played a table top RPG before. I figured before I start buying books and graph paper and helping them build characters, I would make some basic characters and find a small, one- shot campaign to start them off with. Sort of a trial run, to see if they even like this type of thing to begin with before I start spending money.fedloan|irs.gov|easybib

Are there any resources online I should check out? Is my plan of attack for this a good one? Honestly open to any advice or ideas you guys have!
Thanks!!!

 

[jasper]

D&D starter kit or Essential kit. Go with the essential kit with the sidekick option if it is just going to be you and your spouse.

 

[pogre]

D&D starter kit or Essential kit. Go with the essential kit with the sidekick option if it is just going to be you and your spouse.

These are dirt cheap too!

 

[robus]

Sort of a trial run, to see if they even like this type of thing to begin with before I start spending money.

This is exactly what the Starter Set and Essentials Kit are designed for. It's literally "D&D in a box!" and comes with rulebook, dice, pre-gen characters and a decent adventure.

Don't worry about getting any of the core books until you've tried one of those starter sets out!

 

[Charlaquin]

Hello everyone! I'm not sure if this is the right subreddit, but I need some help! For the last 2.5 years, I've been playing Call of Cthulhu with my friends and absolutely love it!
So I wanted to start doing something with my husband's family, but I don't think CoC is gonna be their jam. My husband has minimal experience with CoCn I have minimal experience playing D&D and my SIL and MIL have never played a table top RPG before. I figured before I start buying books and graph paper and helping them build characters, I would make some basic characters and find a small, one- shot campaign to start them off with. Sort of a trial run, to see if they even like this type of thing to begin with before I start spending money.
Are there any resources online I should check out? Is my plan of attack for this a good one? Honestly open to any advice or ideas you guys have!
Thanks!!!

It is an excellent plan of attack. In my opinion, there is no better way to introduce someone to D&D that with some pregenerated characters and a one-shot. As people have mentioned, the Starter Set and the Essentials Box are two products designed specifically for this purpose. I haven’t gotten the Essentials Box, so I can’t comment on it, but I have heard good things about it. I have used the Starter Set and it is excellent.

 

[Oofta]

You don't even need to buy anything to check it out. Just download the basic rules

 

[HippyCraig]

check amazon there like 12 bucks it’s everything you need

 

[Campbell]

Matthew Colville has an excellent series on YouTube for first time Dungeon Masters. I highly recommend it.

The biggest thing is don't worry about being perfect. You got this!

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Here are a few resources that have heavily influenced my 5e DMing...

Running the Game - Matt Colville
How to Adjudicate Actions in 5e - @iserith
GMing, Basically - Angry GM
Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master - Mike Shea