Hints for Beginners
Run Away. Know the monsters in the area, and if they are too strong for your team, Run.
You want to avoid monsters that hit hard and exceed your ability to heal.
In the initial Skara Brae area, hard hitting random monsters include Nomads, Barbarians, Skeletons, Orcs, Dwarves, and Mercenaries. Don't fight these with your low level party. Run away at all costs.
What do you fight at low levels? Find small groups of weak monsters... Hobbits, Kobolds, Thieves, and so on. Monsters with weak damage dice allow your team to survive a bad round of combat.
Survival and advancement... That's the grind you'll need to repeat over and over.
Kill weak monster groups and take their stuff. Gear up, repeat. In Skara Brae, you can easily raise a few levels on weak monsters if you grind well. Once you've leveled a couple times, then seek out the Wine Cellar.
One method of grinding in Skara Brae... The endless door kick. When you exit the Adventurers' Guild, turn right.
There are two houses that face each other, 1 step south of the Guild hall.
You can keep moving forward, shuffling between those two houses with the "W" key to walk forward. No need to turn around... The buildings do that for you. The idea is to repeat this over and over, grinding the random encounters until you level up.
