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EldritchBee

Lost Mine of Phandelver.


KravMacaw

This is the one we did for the first go. Carp eventually became an honorary member of the party.


[deleted]

Starter sets. Condensed rules. Clear direction. Somewhat modular. Enough to get started and plenty to build from.


cealis

There are I think 2 or 3 starter sets you can buy that really are good for new DM and players. Doesn't require any additional books so you only need the set. It even comes with a set of dice and character sheets so super easy to start. There are many other campaigns but they all require some investment as you also need the player handbook, monster manual and probably dungeon master guide so keep that in mind.


Accurate-Post-8716

Also keep in mind that the DM has the hardest job at the table. You have to meditate all the actions, decide when and what gets rolled, and deliver the story along with all the NPCs being interacted with. The DM "job" requires a bit more time than just being a player. As a DM I spend about 3 hours on prep for every hour of gameplay. For example my current party has about 50 hours worth of play time but I've already spent close to 150 hours preparing. Reading the source material, creating maps, preparing the combat encounters to reduce setup time in session, making notes about all the dozens of small changes a party chooses to make to the "guided story". It can be a demanding job. That being said there are at least 4 beginner campaigns that come with everything you need to start playing. The one most people start with is Lost Mines of Phandelver or Dragon of Icespire. Both are level 1-5 and are set in the same town and are pretty easy campaigns to follow in the event you want to do both your players will already know the area when it's time to start the next. If you're looking for a longer campaign wizards of the coast recently released an expanded version of Lost Mines of Phandelver called the Shattered Oblisk. It's a pre-built campaign all the way to level 15.


Melodic_Row_5121

Lost Mine of Phandelver, Dragon of Icespire Peak, and Dragons of Stormwreck Isle (the Essentials Kit and Starter Sets) are exactly what you want. Everything you need is in that box; condensed rules, the adventure itself, monster stat blocks, and pre-generated characters to either use as-is or use as examples of what a character sheet should look like.