Started up a new Daggerfall game, with the intention of really getting into it this time. Went with a Khajiit Thief.

I managed to kill the first rat and a rat/bat in the hallway after that. Since I have no way to heal - and apparently running out of fatigue means you die - there was plenty of resting involved (and reloading, in case the game decided to spawn some green-hooded assassin in my sleep).

Found myself eventually in a big room with a staircase leading up to a throne. Thanks to UESP, I guess that means I'm close to the exit, but there's too many enemies that I just can't fight (skeletons, imps), or ones that I'm afraid to even face toe-to-toe (muscly dudes), and they're relatively close together, too, which means I can't rest to restore my fatigue regularly.

I'm able to take out rats and bats if I'm lucky, but that's about it.

I'd love to get out of this place and, you know, experience the actual game. But maybe not, if I can't deal with what's in the *tutorial* dungeon!

And, side note, who the hell is this 'Privateer', and since when do pirate-hunters construct elaborate subterranean brick dungeons and populate them with unearthly undead horrors?

So is it just my class/race combo that is failing here, or my weak skillz?

Make me feel good about being a 34-year-old married father of 3 who svcks at a game that 16-year-olds probably mastered in about a week in 1996.

The game is incredibly difficult with pure thief classes. It might be better for you to start with some type of fighter class, or custom character until you are more comfortable with the game mechanics (how to fight, swing your sword, etc.). As a thief you definitely want to get out as quickly as possible and not spend a lot of time hunting for loot. You said you have read the uesp walkthrough of Privateer's Hold So I won't rehash that. There is a way to bypass the skeleton though, if you go through a hidden door on the right side of the huge stairs in the throne room, at the bottom. You only need to fight a bat when the door opens. then head for another door on the other end of the hall, which you will be facing. Go up the stairs after this door, and you should come out on the little hallway right above the throne. From there you can get to the exit without too much opposition (another rat or bat in the hall). The exit room does have a rat, a bat, and an imp in it, but it is possible to run past them and reach the door without fighting them.