Advice for a fresh new GM

>>50630759
>it's good for new DM and players
I respectfully disagree.

>I don't like one shots since the players don't have the joy of creating their character.
What do one-shots have to do with using pre-gens?

>All of my DM friends say I'm fucked (I probably am) but what are some advice so I don't get overwhelmed?
You're fucked.
Switch to a more suitable system or run two separate games.

>I know it's all about the player's stories and not mine
That heavily depends on whether the players actually have a story.
Also, since you're new and running a pre-made scenario in a system inimical to sandboxing, your story has to take priority over that of the players if you don't want to crash and burn five minutes into the session.

>instead of directly have the players introduce themselves, I have an NPC following them ask them who they are
Why would an NPC follow around a bunch of strangers and coax an introduction out of every single one of them?

>But are there other advice and surprises for a new GM starting with a lot of new players?
Your first session is going to suck.
You can mitigate some of the disaster with good system choice and proper communication with the players, but that ship has apparently already sailed.

>>50630759
If everyone's green you'll get hiccups and snags--but that's okay, it's part of learning. There will be downtime for people between turns, so be prepared to remind people to not get distracted with phones or something.

Delegate rule responsibilities amongst the group. "You're in charge of spells. If we need to know the specifics, we'll go to you, so bookmark the start of each letter in the alphabet in those spells."
"You're in charge of combat rules if we dunno what's up"; etc.
It'll also probably keep people involved.

Maybe also bring people into helping track monster's HP, or writing down and tracking order. Again, it keeps people involved, and helps you not be overwhelmed.

>>50630759
>>50631131
^This
But I personally think that 5e is good for new players and DMs as 5e is basically "D&D for Dummies" cause almost everything is simplified and streamlined.

Also be careful about having a random NPC follow around the characters, as a badly implemented NPC can turn into a DMPC or will be forgotten about.

>>50630759
They're going to absolutely steamroll any campaign you throw at them. Campaigns are designed for four players, which means seven is almost twice as many. You're going to have to do a lot of balancing of any premade adventures you use, and add significantly more monsters to any encounter you design.

>>50634069
I beg to differ.
5e is a good D&D for new players and DMs, but it is not good for players and GMs.

It still wallows in decades' worth of accumulated dung of sacred cows, with an inflexible system that breeds bad habits and expectations for players and GMs alike. Not to mention that the DMG contains plenty of false advice that prospective DMs have to learn to work around, in addition to the flaws of the system itself.

>>50634069
>Making a system not a clusterfuck is "dumbing down"
I'm calling the police

>>50634326
Where did that Anon say anything about "dumbing down"?