You’ve explained the basics and have kept things simple. No homebrews or multi-classing, and they are starting at a low level. It’s time for them to pick race and class. Your friends are obviously looking to you to guide them, so you carefully consider their personalities and attitudes.
The doubtful newbie is going to get irritated with the details pretty quickly - there are just so many mechanics to learn. Best keep them to something simple.
Then there’s that eager beaver that is already dreaming of fighting the final Big Bad in all its brutality and grandiosity. Obviously they need to be a renegade fighter or frightening barbarian.
Come to find out, you were dead wrong.
Timmy was not dazzled by sitting in the same place for 4 hours while he watched everyone else have fun casting cantrips to mess with each other, riffing of each other’s ridiculous accents, and cutting into a desperate encounter with a creative, scene-ending usage of mage hand.
Jimmy got his wish, he played a horrifying bugbear with a long, dark past that hardened him into the stoic adventurer with a hero complex. He was sitting at the edge of his seat, waiting 2 hours for you to finally get to the battle. He was a little disappointed when it only took a few maw demons to lower him to single digit health, but at least there is a promise of bigger battles in 8 weeks after he’s leveled up a few times…
And this is where I make my point. . That is what you are showing your friends. Trust me, they want to do it. They will get good at it. But they have to practice, they have to be shown why it’s fun. It isn’t good enough for them to sit outside the group and watch everyone else do it - that translates directly to “yeah seems like D&D is fun, it’s just not my thing”.
Seasoned players will know that you can have just as many character moments playing a non-caster as you can a caster. But your new players need that extra bit of guidance toward a unique moment, and spells facilitate that. I’ll even dare to tell you that your new players should have just one damage-only spell. I‘m sure I lost a few folks there, so I’ll give you the bottom line and be done with it.
You really only need your player to learn one thing in their first session - the rule of cool. Encourage them to build a character that gets them there.
