I put my playthrough of Ultima 3 (due to have too many games to play) and I wanted to continue with Ultima 4 (and eventually, I'll make a post like this with 5).

Like Ultima 4, you're pretty much left without an objective (except your obvious one from the beginning). I have no idea how I should start (I started with a Bard). I assume that I have to grind a bit for money, but I also heard that a pacific playthrough is possible. I looked up FAQs, but most of them are surprisingly vague about how to start out a game.

So, yeah. I need a bit of help to start on this 80s RPG.

With Ultima IV, there really isn't much to be said about starting a new game. You basically explore the world, talk to everyone, and make notes on EVERYTHING. As you talk to people you'll start to get quest leads. Once you've gotten a few leads, you simply follow them up as far as you can. The big thing to remember is that you're supposed to be the pinnacle of good, so don't steal, murder, cheat reagent vendors, etc.

If you want to get your character to Lord British quickly, die. You can basically always start in Britain that way. Not that you're supposed to. I think he'll fill you in on runes, mantras, virtues, and Avatarhood, if it wasn't already discussed. See Hawkwind in the castle to find out how virtuous you are, since you must be virtuous to be the Avatar.

Sorry for the long delay. I kinda forgot about this post.

The thing is that when you start the game, you have no equipment and little money and food. Since you need money for equipment and food (else you won't survive) and the virtue system makes grinding kinda hard (especially with no equipment), I was wondering if I should start grinding for money at the beginning. And are there some tips for grinding in this game (I know that a lot of money is needed).

Wow, yeah, that's quite the delay there. XD

In your case, it might be best to simply wander out into a swamp (or pick a fight with some monsters), get killed and resurrect at Lord British's Castle. Talk to Lord British, then go over to Britain and equip yourself. You start with 200 gold and food (IIRC) and that's enough to start killing a few monsters. Obviously, if you're near enough to LBC or you know how to use the moongates, you don't need to get killed.

Then, yeah, you need to grind a bit for some gold.

Grinding is actually pretty simple, stand in one spot (near Britain) and hit space until a monster group stops by to chat. Kill them, open the chest (if one drops, you'll need to move to see it), visit LB, have him heal, rinse and repeat. Remember to keep an eye on your food and restock every once in a while in Britain.

If I think of anything else I'll edit this or post a new reply.

I will add that IIRC, you don't need massive amounts of levels to get anywhere. The game is not so combat-heavy level focused. It's not like games where you need 20 levels, and to buy hyper-expensive gear, before you can tackle the end game. That said, monsters wandering on the world map are probably the easiest to start with. Pirates and sea serpents might be a little tough, but goblins/ogres/etc should be fine. You might consider attacking pirates just to get a boat.

Try crossing bridges back and forth. You often get attacked by trolls by doing that, (cute huh?)

If you need money, DON'T steal from town chests, and don't rip off the herb merchant. Your virtue will go down the toilet. Take monster's chests.

Also keep in mind, only the killer of the monster gets experience. If you have a wizard that's wiping out all the
monsters with powerful spells, only he will get experience.

Yeah it shouldn't actually take that much grinding. Only the avatar needs to be level 8 to finish the game, and he gets "quest" exp that more or less ensures he will. The rest of the party can hold their own at level 5, which is easy to reach. Or you could let them all die and just fly solo, resurrecting them just before the end.

Finding the mystic weapons and armor saves you a lot of money. The most expensive thing you might still want would be a nice ranged magic weapon, depending on your class. You could even rip off the reagent merchant pretty horribly, mix a ton of spells, then make up for the lost virtue by just buying a few at the correct price. No one said the avatar had to be perfect from the start.

The best thing about the mystic arms and armour is that you can find them, sell them and then go back finding them again. You need to be an eight part avatar to do that, but once you've reached that you have access to all the money you could ever want.