I feel your pain! When I first started I hit every single one of those darn deathtraps, had the same hard time meeting ranking groups, etc etc.

Some advice:

Conjurer is hard to start with. I always suggest good ol' human assassin or warrior to start on. You'll be able to hold your own.

Play good, or neutral to start. Evil doesn't have a lot of friends.

Always - ALWAYS carry a potion of return and teleportation in your inventory. Always!

If a ranking group asks you to join them and asks you to meet in an obscure location you don't know of, just try in a very IC manner to let them know you don't know how to get there. "I'm afraid I've only recently come to these realms and I do not know where the Crypts of Arkham are. Could we meet in Hamsah instead because I do know how to get there?" You'll find a large chunk of the player base will see that you're a newbie and want to help you find areas. Some will even give directions.

If you're in an area you don't know make sure you LOOK in a direction before you go in it. Pretty much all death traps SHOULD be marked with some sort of warning ala "You see footsteps leading this way but none leading back".

Make use of the who list. If you see a hero level paladin on and you're trapped behind centurions, TELL them! You'll find a lot of goods will come help with that problem. Outlander, Battle, etc. Look for people with special titles. These special titles often designate people who's RP is above the bar. In many cases, these are the kinds of people who will help.

Lastly, use 'help newbie3' to learn low level ranking areas. It often comes with directions. The areas command in general is handy - you can type 'areas 5 10' to see what areas are recommended for players ranked 5-10. It makes the areas list less unwieldy.

Good luck, the learning curve is steep but you'll get there!