I'm new to the game and kind of lost...

Hi, I just got the game last night and I'm kind of lost on what to do. Anyone have some good tips for absolute noobs such as myself to get the ball rolling? Also, I started my first game and I got my ass whooped by a pack of 5 spiders. I lasted till turn 25... Very embarrassing and kind of a motivation killer. I didn't even meet any other faction. Was the monsters' strength/numbers normal or was I really unlucky? Note: I did have world difficulty Normal and AI's Normal as well.