Many people have been wondering why their characters gets so terrible when they die. That's because each time you are killed or die of hunger, you lose 1-3 points in any random category, such as strength, charisma, intelligence, constitution, dexterity etc. Eventually you'll get to the point where after a few deaths you'll lose a HP point too. Then your character will get to the point where you don't even want to play it anymore because it's so weak, it's attack is slow and it's speed is slow.
If you want to have a good character, and keep him, then I suggest you find a small surplus of food before you restart your character (such as 3-4 loaves of bread which would equal a full replenishment) and get to work immediately on creating some more tools to make more bread. Killing baddies for food is not exactly a secure alternative for finding food because given the fact that you'll make all your equipment in time (very difficult to do) then finding food will become even harder, as only a low percentage of baddies drop food. Personally, I've never seen any baddy drop some chicken although I've killed many, but I've seen some drop potatoes (replenishes 200 food points) and mushrooms (20 food points).
So that's for everyone wondering why their character sucks. I agree, it's tough to start out, but eventually it's a lot of fun walking between towns on the main isle, dueling baddies with a friend, then stopping in the adjacent town for a small meal and moving on
