I've started DMing with 3 friends a few months ago. None of us have played before, and we've been playing the Essentials Kit campaign. It comes with a simplified rulebook for the pre-made characters and some really good pre generated quests and story. I'd highly recommend it as a guide where you can either follow it completely or make up some side quests as you want.
I also picked up the Starter Kit but honestly it didn't contain enough for me in the beginning so we went with the Essentials Kit.
The rule box set with the Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, and Monster Manual is also good, however the only one I've used each session is the Players Handbook to give more context and allow the players to expand a bit, but it's definitely not required at least for the first few sessions.
I've started DMing with 3 friends a few months ago. None of us have played before, and we've been playing the Essentials Kit campaign. It comes with a simplified rulebook for the pre-made characters and some really good pre generated quests and story. I'd highly recommend it as a guide where you can either follow it completely or make up some side quests as you want.
I also picked up the Starter Kit but honestly it didn't contain enough for me in the beginning so we went with the Essentials Kit.
The rule box set with the Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, and Monster Manual is also good, however the only one I've used each session is the Players Handbook to give more context and allow the players to expand a bit, but it's definitely not required at least for the first few sessions.