I see a lot of questions posted like these:

"I killed off the entire toad village...how can do the toad quest?"
"I killed all the gypsy's...how do I get to their treasure?" (I'm guilty of this)
"I killed Kol the Heretic...what is this key?"
"I killed the Arcane Prisoner...how the heck do I open up the big snake head?"

See the common thread? People are treating the game like a FPS and killing anything that pops up on the screen. This tip is actually in the manual, but I thought it worth repeating here: DO NOT KILL ANYTHING THAT IS NOT ACTIVELY ATTACKING YOU. Shooting first and asking questions later is *not* going to solve anything in this game. If you encounter a non-hostile NPC and can't figure out what to do with them, leave them be! You may need them later!

It sounds simple, but based on a lot of the questions people are asking, I thought I'd bring it up.

hehe, but the Toad people attacked me first! I reloaded several times and every time said that stupid Ukabu word. I even watched my friend do it on his computer. He had no problem. I kinda think it might relate to your presence stat.

Other than that, you are right!

Two other things to note. One is that you can use Charm if you decide that halfway through a fight you shouldn't be attacking a monster.

The other is that some NPCs are actually *worth* killing after they have served your purpose. The mystical assassin quest is a perfect example.

Timing is everything.