Originally posted by d¢:

I had like 8 greydwarfs after me, a shaman 1*, some greylings, and a massive troll. I don't have resist poison potions on me, and I have the crude bow, which I am not used to. I can't kill them all.

Running away is usually possible and recommended over fighting to the death. Pretty sure one of those launch trailers for the game showed repeated death scenarios. But the penalties for dying are not very large, the biggest issue is retrieving gear and for that reason it's important to create backup gear as you progress.

You could also just put down the game instead of breaking your system in the way you described and try again later in a narrow time frame or when the game is complete. But even with difficulty sliders things probably won't be getting that different. Mods also exist.