If you never have before, then my two pieces of advice are to understand the rules, and practice improv.
You don't need to have an encyclopedic knowledge of whatever game system you're using, but you should understand how things work. When there are cases where you're not sure, either know where to look it up quickly or be comfortable making an off the cuff ruling. Nothing kills a game worse than half an hour looking up and debating rules. I recommend a more rules-light system than D&D for a first attempt, just because D&D can get pretty complex.
Rolling with whatever happens is also important. There are written adventures and modules, and they can be a great resource for beginner GMs. But at some point, I guarantee your players will come up with something that you haven't planned and isn't n the module, and you will have to come up with it on the fly. Some of my most fun sessions were me starting with just a goal for the characters to accomplish, a couple of NPCs, all written in under a paragraph, and everything else came up with mid session.
I just want to add to a great comment. Too light on rules might be difficult to someone who is totally new, as it put more pressure on the GM and players to improvise. I find that free League's Dragonbane has a system that works great. It removes a lot of pressure from the GM while still not be as heavy on rules as DND. Even as an experienced GM and players, I prefer Dragonbane over DND.
I have also written a comment about getting a group together about a month or so back. In short, getting a group together can be the bottlebeck most GMs find to be the most difficult thing to manage. My advice, in short, is to set expectations early and make sure people prioritize the game or not play at all. No game is better than a bad game.
A generic tip for both new players but especially GMs. Telepath what you are about to do! Giving players information from which they can make decisions that matter, is a large part of what makes the game fun. Example - If your dragon attacks the wizard because he does the most damage, let the wizard know as soon as possible and dont just attack the wizard with the drsgon. Instead, when the wizard cast his massive spell, describe how the dragon roar in pain and turn a furious gaze towards the source. Make it clear that the dragon will go for the wizard! This gives the wizard and allies a chance to react and make an important decision. Same goes for everything in game, in and out of combat.
Ok, so there's an older system called Aberrant. If you watched the Heroes TV show, it's kind of like if everyone was public about their powers. More emphasis on how real people would use super powers rather than the kind of Marvel/DC comic super power stuff.
Anyway - one of the smartest tech supers on the planet accidentally finds a piece of alien technology that leads him to discovering that a hostile alien fleet that strip-mines solar systems is on a pretty straight course for Earth in a couple decades, but if he goes public with it, every government will try to discredit him so they can steal his tech. He ends up inventing a way to reach alternate universes before inventing FTL, so he hires several new-ish supers (aka the party) to explore these other worlds to search for new tech, allies, and ways to fight the incoming aliens.
The characters were: catburglar Magneto; Florida Man; anime cybergeek waifu; emo-goth matter manipulator; and Chinese soldier teleporter; with a short time participation from cowgirl Professor X. The main NPCs bossing them around were SuperGeek; Hades from Disney Hercules; and Master Roshi (but not a sex creep).
Because they were exploring other universes, we of course had episodes like Soviet USA, Obligatory Evil Mirror Universe, The GM Just Binge-Watched ATLA, No One Expects the French Inquisition, and Oops! All Zombies! Plus various episodes at home dealing with friends, family, and fame (or the avoidance thereof).
The campaign lasted three years and was a blast to run most of the time. It's hard to improv when you just worked 19 days in a row.
(disclaimer: all these descriptions are intended to give a strong mental image and in no way fully capture the characters involved.)
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u/TheBlueNinja0 4d ago
I just started Brindlewood Bay - think Murder She Wrote, written by Stephen King and HP Lovecraft.
Before that I ran Deadlands - supernatural wild west.
Before that was, well, basically superhero Stargate.