I'm still sort of a wimp when it comes to monsters. The gate of the starting castle has a forest, and that's where I do most of my combat. By day I would wander around chopping wood and collecting resources, sometimes cautiously entering caverns and lighting them up. I'm still not comfortable going inside a large, dark tunnel teeming with mobs. By night I would pick off the mobs that walked close enough that I could safely snipe them or cut them up.
Here's a picture of my camp inside the castle gate. I've added a single chest since then.
For the large part of combat, I've had a wolf companion with me. I'm not quite as careful as others probably are when it comes to looking out for their dogs. While I certainly do aim to not hit the animal, if it gets in the way I'm not going to dodge, especially when I'm in a fight. My first canine companion died in a fight with a spider. Whether or not it was an accidental strike with my stone sword or a hit from the spider, I don't know.
Yes, I incorrectly wrote the year as 2012. We're almost there anyway, so it doesn't matter.
But right as I established that sign, located not too far from the gate, another wolf walked over, and was promptly tamed. Meet Dog 2.
In the Tale of Kingdoms world, I want to set up a small house, farm, and perhaps a couple other niceties for myself. There is a rather flat plain not far from the castle which would make a good spot to set up camp. It would be temporary because as soon as I had enough reputation to become king, I would leave the spot and establish a city in the game.
(Maybe I should install Millenaire, since the maker of ToK has made the two mods compatible and complementary.)
Here's my progress toward kingship:
