Holy smokes, Squeak! Haven't seen you around these parts in ages! Good to see you around.
As to the OP, the cams absolutely need to be degreed in. I used to be of the opinion that it wasn't that important, but after I put my cams in and they were off by SIX degrees, I realized just how important it was. Mine were 6 degrees retarded, which wouldn't have hurt anything other than power, but if they happened to have been 6 degrees advanced and I installed them straight up (i.e. without degreeing), I'd likely be pulling everything back apart to fix the broken valves....
With enough time and patience, and the right tools, I think most anyone that is somewhat mechanically inclined can degree in cams. It's not a very technically challenging task, just one that takes some attention to detail. However, I'd echo Squeak's comments that it may not be the best idea for someone to try on their first time even having the valve covers off. I'd opt to pay someone else to do it in that case.
The TFS adjustable crank gears are by far the easiest and best way to degree the cams in. Don't use the adjustable cam gears.
I believe that a tune is required to get the most out of a set of cams. No major changes are needed for a mild cam, but there are some small things I'd adjust if it were my car. Idle quality, part throttle responsiveness, fuel mileage, and overall power output will suffer if the tune isn't tweaked a bit.
