Okay, Daggerfall is installed, running, and very cool. But the thing is, I die incredibly easily with each character I make, and have not come close to exiting the first dungeon. There does not appear to be any way to heal myself, and I usually end up getting dropped by the second humanoid enemy I meet. Any useful skillsets or tips on building a solid character that can hold it's own would be most appreciated. Morrowind kicked my ass when I first tried to play it (have never made a good character or any progress within that one), whereas Iv'e scoured Oblivion for hundreds of hours. I'm a noob that needs Elder Scrolls direction.

Hello,

did you getthe ebony dagger? Withou that it's pretty darned hard. Just keep going at it
me too I just died against the first few enemies but gradually you will learn how to fight without dieing.

You also have the rest option which can heal you to full health. Oh and save often the realm of Daggerfall is a dangerous place you never who (or what) awaits you 'round the bend.

Other than that I'm too new to give any more info but hope it helps!

And every so often in a dungeon, check your status by clicking on the compass in the lower right corner. It'll tell you whether you're healthy, poisoned, or diseased. Sometimes it's easy to not realize you have a disease until it kills you.

Levitation is a vital aspect of this game. There are lots of dungeons where it's really difficult/impossible to get around without it. So as soon as you can, buy/make a spell of levitation, otherwise you'll need to find a magic item that does it.

The beginning dungeon has always been the hardest for me because you don't have any stuff and only a couple pathetic spells. If you're a warrior type character, you'll want to start off with the ebony dagger, as there are some creatures that can only be harmed by better material (it's possible to find a silver or elven weapon from loot, but that doesn't always happen). But after you get out and get more gear and spells and such it becomes a lot easier.

These might help, if you have not found them already:
http://www.izhtex.com/tes2/
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Daggerfall:Hints

Thanks, I'm doing a little better now, but I'm a next gen baby that's having a hard time getting used to the 2D trees that turn towards you..........always towards you............

Combat's cool though.

Haha those trees have always creeped me out as well. Good on you for persevering and getting the most you can out of Daggerfall.

Something I find useful is lowering the attributes I don't plan on using. If my warrior isn't polite, I'm going to lower the personality. My current thief doesn't have any magic skill, so he's got low intelligence and willpower, letting him start with 80 luck, letting him start with two ebony daggers. Good times.

Man, the first time I played this dungeon I was like 12 and I didn't see the lever next to the throne so I climbed over it and scaled the wall. Things are easier now that I know. Hah! Seriously though, you have to play to your class' strengths, I'm a Nightblade and I died constantly for a while until I got the hang of using Chameleon to sneak behind enemies and backstab them. Now that I do that I can knock out like 60% of their health in one hit and I'm rolling them. Elvish blade doesn't hurt either.

Also, remember to check everything, back when I originally did this game I used to bust out of the opening dungeon with my character as fast as humanly (or Elvishly or Argonianly) possible, but now that I'm being more systematic and checking all the rooms and looting all the corpses I have six hundred gold already, some nice gear to start me off, I've levelled up twice, and apparently the Thieves' Guild wants to recruit me after I pickpocketed every humanoid I found before knifing them.