Back in the saddle

[Morgarion]

I'd been trying to get a gaming group together for a while now. I ended up joining one off of craigslist, and it's alright, but they use an older edition I'm not used to and the DM's style isn't really my preference, but it's still really fun. But, a few of months before I found this group, I'd canvassed my friends to try and find some players. No luck.

Except, one of my friends just got back to me out of the blue and said he had a friend who had played and would be interested in joining. We had ourselves a fun little beer and pretzels game last night. They were both a little rusty with the rules and I haven't DMed in a while, so we kept it pretty casual - we didn't even select feats.

I would like to get a little more rulesy with the game, but I don't want to change the game itself. Have you had experience successfully changing the tone of the game? What are some things to watch out for? Or, should I just let it proceed as it is and enjoy the ride?

[HalfQuart]

Generally I'd say talk about it pretty much just like you did here with your group. I think clear communication about hopes, fears, expectations etc. is a good thing -- both for gaming groups and just life in general.

[Dawgmoah]

I would like to get a little more rulesy with the game, but I don't want to change the game itself. Have you had experience successfully changing the tone of the game? What are some things to watch out for? Or, should I just let it proceed as it is and enjoy the ride?

If you want to become more rulesy then in my opinion you should slowly add elements of the rules into your game and see what works and what doesn't. As your players progress you will need more rules to cover the situations you will find yourself in. You can either adjudicate it or have them look at the PHB on page whatever and see how it works.

Figure on things that are important at whatever level you are all starting at. If 1st level then go over the skills and whatever feats that are applicable just starting out. You can point out progression from there if they don't beat you to it. You might find one of your players suddenly optimizing things on you: you always want to be one step ahead.