So, a lot of people, me included, have expressed their dissatisfaction with the difficulty that Master setting provides. But now there's a light at the end of the tunnel! Since not everyone browses Mods section of the forum, I'll paste the link here (note that mod is still a work in progress). All credits go to the author of the mod, Plutoman:
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1288727-relwip-increased-spawns-loot-and-ai/
I'm about to start a new playthrough with this, along with some, as much as I hate it, policing on my part, by not touching crafting professions. Will report here on results!