You AWAKE in the center Plaza of Caravan Way, and you are "welcomed" by some town guards. You can just stand still, and listen to whatever uninteresting things they say, so you will not go to Jail and have some debts to pay. As far as having debts might interfere with things that you will do later...
But also you can be a black sheep and insult them for free in some ways, just ask them "Must you shout?", then "Will you tell you underlings to be quiet?", "Some help you are, do you get paid for this?", "Just where am I supposed to sleep?" and "You know nothing of respect".

The City-State of Tyr, formed by Caravan Way and Shadow Square, is safe. You won't be attacked by monsters or other players here, so you can wander around and TALK TO PEOPLE. You can press F7 to get rid of the very boring quote related to what you mustn't do in Athas, unless you want to listen to other players chating in central plaza (press F7 again then). Press F2 if you want to have a list of all players in current area, or F3 to have a list of all players in game. You can be "guided" to some places in Caravan Way by "Viewing" the central flame in plaza...

First I recommend that you disable Followers and Item Receiving, then head to Thrane's place. You might want to do some DELIVERY JOBS, in order to gain some easy XPs and CPs (Copper Pieces). By this mean you will have the opportunity to discover Caravan Way and Shadow Square, the two parts forming the City of Tyr. For the first job, Thrane will give you a item to bring to someone, but for next delivery jobs you will have to buy the items to deliver (You'll find them in Shadow Square merchants). The tip is that when you deliver a item to a person, ask that person if he/she has some delivery work to do. If not, just start dialog again till he/she gets one... You can even refuse a job if you don't like it. If ever you can't get a job, just try Thrane again, he ALWAYS has one (Unless you are at VERY high level).

After some contemplation of the marvellous way you are walking in the streets, you might think that you really move too slowly, so just TURN ANIMATIONS OFF (hit F6 key to toggle), you'll be much faster!

Heard something important on chat or ESP? Save it! Hit Alt-L, and a chat.txt file will be created or appended in you DSO directory.

Somebody really annoying? MUZZLE him, by typing //muzzle guyname...

Too much noise? Hit F5 and silence will fall around you. Note that you'd better turn sounds back on after a moment, so you can hear sounds produced by spells during fights... Or skimmer departs in Altaruk.

After some work you might be bored with walking all along the city streets. It's time to begin QUESTING, time to become a member of the Veiled Alliance or of the Templar Council. And then you can search for some Tavern Items, that's easy money and XPs...

Don't QUIT GAME anywhere. You can quit game by resting in the Golden Inix, but it's expensive. Otherwise, you can just "CAD"! Under Win95, use Alt-Tab, you will return in the Inner Sanctum, then Ctrl-Alt-Del and close Darksun. Log off from the Inner Sanctum to quit TEN. Next time you enter, you will find yourself in Caravan Way central plaza, with the HPs/PPs you had at moment of CAD, but no spells effects on. Note that if you do that in Altaruk, you'll reenter in Altaruk main gate. Some staff member mentionned the possible "fixing" or CADing, i.e. CAD = die, but I doubt they ever do that... But don't use that to avoid death when fighting. If you are defeated, die with honor!

If you want to change of character quickly, then go to the "Golden Inix" INN in Caravan Way. It's expensive (1.000 CPs), but at least you will not get killed. You can also go to other Inns, but the less expensive it is, the more chances you have to be robbed or killed during your sleep (only if you quit game).

REST in whatever bed or campfire you find. As far as you continue playing (don't quit game), it's 100% safe. At low level if you are injured and have no money, rest in one of the two beds that you'll find in Shadow Square, or in Caravan Way's hospital... Just don't rest while diseased, you'll die! You will be warned that you are diseased, normally.

You can HEAL in some places, like at Friedla's in Caravan Way, but beware, she'll cast a sort of "Cure and Dispel everything" spell, and all your defensive spell effects will be gone.

You will surely survive longer if you buy some MAGICAL FRUITS. If you want to bash some monsters, you'd better buy some IronSkin fruit. It's the 750 CP acorn, and you can check by "right-click" on the fruit then "right-click" again on the icon that will appear. To use it, "right-click" on from your inventory, then move the icon to to character, you will "eat" the fruit... Thus becoming invincible for a brief period of time! Of course, don't eat the fruit in town or you'll be arrested. Some other fruits are useful, such as lemons (Restore Psi, for psionicists), white grapes (Haste, for non-preservers), limes (Cure Critical Wounds) or bananas (Cure Disease, for non clerics).

Beware of MUSHROOMS, they have "magical" properties. If you eat one in Shadow Square or Caravan way, you will go directly in jail, and have some debts to Tyr. Worst, if you eat one in Altaruk, you will be banished (temporarly) from town with all your items confiscated! In that case, hurry to the Nomad Camp in the Three Sands, and pay attention to dialogs when enterring the camp. You might regain your items (I never checked that by myself, though)...

You died? Get RESTORED, at least you'll regain last level (XPS over that level will still be lost, though). Friedla in Caravan Way will restore you but it's very expensive, and Mila in Altaruk will do the same for half of what Friedla requires if you have one of the Clockworks amulets. Of course, when you die, you loose the amulets ;-)

Don't Carry too much MONEY. You can loose it if you die, but (as you might not die) there are some other reasons, the best being that you can be taxed if you carry more than 10.000 CPs when you enter Caravan Way... At 8% rate (well, it used to be 22% before)! Well to a certain extend you don't care, but personally I hate giving money to these damn Templars!

BUYING ARROWS is no more the best way to save money, as you will now loose them when if you die. It can be faster to transfer money between characters though, as you can still pass a bag with 6 stacks of 65.535 arrows. When buying arrows, don't use the mouse to select number, type 99999999, else it will take forever!

Else you can buy some LETTER OF CREDIT in the House of Shom, in Caravan Way. You can have letters from 1.000 CPs to 1.000.000 CPs, depending to who you speak. You will loose 10% when sellling letter, and you are obliged to sell a letter to have another one...

Otherwise, you can buy some GEMS at Tarill in Caravan Way (Start dialog till she has some of 7.500 CPs value), but don't sell them back to her! You can sell gems to Plute in Shadow Square (for 4.500 CPs), for example... Note that you can stack gems like arrows, till 65535 :-)

If you are a preserver (mage), be careful when you change level and LEARN SPELLS, as you can learn only 1 spell each time... So be sure not to learn a spell that you can have by buying a copyable scroll in a shop, and miss a useful spell that you can't buy! See "Character generation" for the list of spells you will really need to learn...

In the same way, if you are a psionicist, be careful when you change level and LEARN DISCIPLINES... There are some Psionic bracelets that you can buy!

At level 1 or 2, there are a couple of USEFUL SPELLS that you might want to use... Druidic "Sanctuary" spell will make all monsters ignore you so you can flee fight. Otherwise, a Preserver can create a "Wall of Fog" between him and his oponent. Low level monsters can hardly save a "Color Spray", too... You can check here for more useful spells, but you will have to make your own experience about that.

Now you are seeking for more adventure? Well here are some MAPS of Athas...