Sacred Haven of Debauchery

I have no idea who Lord Nasher is. I haven't played the first game. And I don't know anything about the game's history. The only disc I have is the one I'm talking about; I bought it a long time ago and have tried to start playing it several times, but I keep running into the same problems – at the beginning, the kobolds brutally kill me. Arandor, could you at least suggest something? Maybe it's better to play as a warrior instead of a mage? Should I create a half-orc, and will that make it easier?