Hello, I am new to this game, but I became quickly charmed by its Monty-Pythonesque absurdity and open-worldly goodness. I admit I am a bit discouraged by the extremely steep learning curve of the fortress mode, so I decided to have a little fun as adventurer. What I can't get enough is the combat system - it's amazingly detailed, combining ridiculous and brutal in a surreal, bizarre way. I think whips are a bit off now (after all, no army ever used them in battle), but I think everyone knows that.
Anyway, back to the topic - after a few short and very unsuccessful tries (starting as an elf swordsman with wooden sword is appropriately airy-fairy Avatarish, but extremely impractical, I must tell you), I managed to get a good start as human outsider spearman. I managed to wipe out a small gang of 5 goblins, leaving my useless copper knife in someone's belly, stealing a nice bronze shield as well as appropriate attire (almost full cat/warthog skin battlesuit, nicely complemented with left copper glove, right iron sandal and a bronze cap). I must say spears are nice against unskilled humanoids, turning them into bleeding Swiss cheese imitation with satisfying speed.
This encounter left me a bit overconfident, which lead to my fatal error - accepting a challenge of some giant eagle. It all started quite nicely with me stabbing him into a leg, then grabbing his wing... when that damned beast latched onto my right leg with his beak, tearing some nerves in the process, making me an instant invalid. Fighting prone is a bit difficult, and indeed, that feathered terrorist immobilized also my right arm (I lost my first toe to the goblin already - I wonder how one manages to wield a spear without a thumb?) when I kicked him in the belly with my remaining leg, sending him flying (literally).
After this encounter, I consulted the map and began crawling towards the nearest human settlement (but I guess medical service for hire is not implemented, right?). When suddenly, voila!, a dragon! Later, I read in the legends that the beast was over 500 years old, fed on steady diet of elves and humans. The beast was upon me soon enough, but I managed to roll away from his initial barrage of attacks. Then I spotted an opportunity and bashed his belly with my bronze shield, bruising his pancreas. I think that was the moment he went mad. To my surprise, the dragon proceeded to grabbing my neck with his left wing(!), and choking me to death. I laughed so hard I nearly suffered a heart attack. Now that's something you don't read in Tolkien!
A few questions:
1) Can nerve and tendon damage be healed in the game? Will medical service be implemented for adventurers?
2) Does bleeding weaken you in combat?
3) Does grabbing opponent's limbs modify your chances to hit in combat? for example, after grabbing someone's head, I should have a better chance to slit his throat, no?
Generally, I think trauma is a bit underwhelmed in the game. I am amazed about combatants losing a leg and nose and finger and still being able to fight back.
Anyway, superb game, amazing complexity under the seemingly obsolete ascii-based interface!