Here's a quick and dirty list of things you should do to raise your Virtue scores in Ultima IV, if you're having trouble getting out of the blocks:

* Never run from battle unless the situation is hopeless, or your Valor will go down.

* Never attack non-evil creatures such as bears.

* If you see chests in a town or castle, don't open them unless someone has explicitly said you can!

* Chests you find in dungeons or win in battle are yours for the taking, however.

* Always pay blind shopkeepers the correct amount you owe, never less. Overpaying can be good for your Virtue, however.

* If asked, and you can afford it HP-wise, you should always donate blood to healers.

* Whenever you're at Lord British's castle, you should always check in with Hawkwind the Seer.

* If anyone in this game asks you if you're "the best" at something or "the most" something, THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "NO!"

* Exception to the above rule: If someone asks if you're the most humble. You can say "yes" to that, paradoxically enough.

There are longer and more detailed FAQs out there about how Ultima IV's Virtue system works, and how it can be manipulated to your benefit. I highly suggest seeking these out for more and more detailed information; all I've done here is provide a jumping-off point. Take it as you will.

Yes this game taught me so much.

That why I was too nice in U7

on http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/562660-ultima-iv-quest-of-the-avatar/faqs you can find some guides and walkthroughs.

Hey what are the keyboard controls? I can't seem to figure out how to loot.

To collect a chest, press G (Get), then (if you're not the only one in your party) the number of the party member you want to have open it.

You can try to Get the chests you find in towns and castles, or Steal (S) from shopkeepers, but it's not recommended; in fact, it's counterproductive the goal of the game.

Some basic keyboard commands you may want to know:

A - Attack in direction
B - Board vehicle
C - Cast spell
D - Descend ladder
E - Enter town, castle, or dungeon
G - Get chest
H - Hole up and camp (may recover some HP, but you may be attacked!)
I - Ignite torch
J - Jimmy lock (may open a locked door if you don't have a key)
K - Climb ladder
M - Mix reagents
P - Peer at gem (reveals map, if you have a Peer Gem)
Q - Quit and save (note: does not exit game program)
R - Ready weapon
S - Search tile you're standing on
T - Talk in direction
W - Wear armor
Y - Yell
Z - Statistics

Z has another useful function. Note that even if you stand still, the game does not pause (instead it'll keep saying "Pass" in the input box) and you'll consume food. This doesn't happen if you call up the stats for a character, so use Z as your pause button.

There's one command for every letter of the alphabet. They are:
{A}ttack - either start a fight, or cause damage within one.
{B}oard (ship, horse, or other...)
{C}ast a spell (also one for every letter of the alphabet, but they need to be pre-mixed)
{D}escend (go down a ladder)
{E}nter (a towne, castle, shrine, village or dungeon)
{F}ire (cannons, while on ship, broadsides only)
{G}et chest (note: you might hit a trap doing this)
{H}ole up and camp - which can help recover health. Or you might get ambushed. Or nothing at all. If the latter, go gain a little bit of experience, then try again.
{I}gnite torch (requires a torch; gives light in the dungeons)
{J}immy lock (requires a key)
{K}limb (go up a ladder. 'C' is in use, so Origin Systems has to apologize for poor spelling)
{L}ocate position - use a certain object to determine your position on the grid
{M}ix reagents (for a spell - spells must be pre-mixed before they can be Cast)
{N}ew Order - rearrange the party; the player character must remain #1
{O}pen Door (presuming it's not locked)
{P}eer at a gem (requires, oddly enough, a gem; shows you the surroundings)
{Q}uit and Save (save, not quit; don't worry, they just needed 'S' for Search)
{R}eady - equip a weapon
{S}earch (the square you're standing in)
{T}alk - start a conversation
{U}se (an item)
{V}olume - turn the sound on or off
{W}ear - equip armour (cannot be done in combat)
{Y}ell (either in frustration, or perhaps there are some words with some power in them...)
{Z}tatus (check Statu - sorry, Ztatus - of your team; also, unready weapons and armour, items, prepared spells, etc...)

TheKid965 is absolutely right - the game will not just wait for you. Either the Ztatus command or leaving it sitting waiting for a prompt from you (i.e. hitting 'C' but not designating a spell; hitting 'T' but not designating a direction) will pause the timer, allowing you to take a much-needed break.

To correct a touch of misinformation; the ability to {S}teal from shopkeepers or castle armouries only exists in the first trilogy of Ultima games; 'S' is your Search function, which you will need.

Without requiring you to seek out an FAQ (which, surprisingly, some people still don't do, and would have a significant impact on the overall effect of the game) I can recommend this: Your job, in this game, is not to slay an ultimate evil or defeat a designated villain; rather, in the absence of such a figure, your job is to become a paragon of goodness. Remember this, always. The world of Britannia needs an Avatar (basically a Messiah-like figure) and an Avatar shouldn't go around beating up defenseless townsfolk, stealing their money, or bragging about being the hotshot Chosen One. The game will punish you for acting evil, no matter what slack countless other RPGs have cut for you. This game doesn't care. If you want to win, you will be a good guy. Hawkwind the Seer, in British's castle, will tell you just how good a guy you are, and what you can do to be a better guy.
You will also need to do your reading. Read the source material "The History of Britannia," and read the spellbook carefully if you intend to use magic (and you do). It doesn't take that long, but it will flesh out your experience with the gameworld tenfold and it will give you some (not much) direction and some idea of what you're doing.

Now go, and be good.

Also, something else that's very important. In the overworld, don't step on the grass that looks a bit funny, it is poisoned.

It's swampland, and each time you step on a swamp tile there's about a 50:50 chance you or someone else in your party willl be poisoned.

Unfortunately, there's no way to avoid it for the entire game. There are more than a few times where you'll have no choice but to cross swamp tiles, and a certain reagent (Mandrake root) is only to be found on one specific patch of swamp in the overworld. Think of it as a way to test your devotion to Sacrifice...

There is certain boots which will protect from that nasty swamp... Or was it on later Ultimas only?

Fortunately, cure spells are cheap and easy to acquire. As long as you always keep a few mixed cure spells (An Nox in V and VI) on hand, you should be okay.

I haven't tried this yet in GOG's version to see if this was patched, but in IV at least there used to be an exploit you could use to cure poison without using up spells. All you had to do was make it to Hawkwind's room and step on the purple "curtain" (actually sleep tiles) until your poisoned party member(s) were put to sleep. Since the game wasn't intelligent enough to keep track of multiple status ailments for your characters, the "sleep" condition overwrote the "poisoned" one, and once he or she woke up the poison was gone. (Naturally, this worked wherever there were purple sleep tiles; Hawkwind's room is just the best-known example.)

In the C64 version, being poisoned prevented being slept, and vice versa, as the game couldn't overwrite one status with another - which became interesting when you camped, because anyone who was poisoned wouldn't lie down. They'd just stand there.
Also made life easier (as much as that was possible, anyway) fighting Balrons, with their sleep spell. Ugh.

Both you guys forgot: Xit (Exit transportation)

I'll just dump my personal notes on the commands. They are in a document I keep open while playing. First letter of the command is the letter pressed, with the exception of Space. Notes, in parenthesis, are used sparingly and reveal nothing that isn't in the manuals.

Attack
Board (vessel/horse)
Cast Spell
Descend
Enter
Fire (ship cannons)
Get Chest
Hole up and camp
Ignite torch
Jimmy lock
Klimb (climb)
Locate Position
Mix Reagents
New order
Open door
Peer at gem
Quit & Save
Ready (equip) weapon
Search
Talk ("name"/"job"/"health" +"look"/"bye" )
Use
Volume (sound on/off)
Wear armor
Xit (eXit transportation)
Yell ("giddyup"/"whoa" horse speed up/down)
Ztats (stats)

Space = Pass Turn

oh awesome! Thanks guys! The game went on Promo somewhere in EA, they had the keyboard commands and I looked it up there. Thanks tho!