Defending yourself:
- You parry better against weapons you know. That means your class has the weapon skill, and that you've practiced it. The better you know the weapon you are trying to parry, the better you will parry.
- If you are playing an intelligent race, practice everything you can. One practice is no great loss.

Turning this around, choosing a weapon that another class does not know, when fighting against them, will help a lot. e.g. Staff against an orc is nice.

Also, don't carry lots of stuff if you are a class with the dodge skill, unless you are wanting to bash well at the expense of dodging well.

Gold:
There are a number of areas listed in "help newbie3" where you can find people that will provide you with an easy income for mobs you kill.

Improving:
Get groups to tell you how they are getting from A to B.

Try to do it on your own later. Try to explore the area later. Don't worry if you die. Just remember how you died and don't do it again in the same way.