Question Arcanum Character Creation & other questions

I know there is another Arcanum thread about starting, but this is kind of specific, so I thought I'd start a new thread.

So I finally started Arcanum over Christmas. IIRC, I started my first character as a Gunslinger and ultimately didn't get very far because 1) I could not hit the broad side of a barn and 2) I couldn't figure out a lot of the interface as I had not read the manual.

Well, I spent a few hours reading through the manual over the past few weeks and started over yesterday. Well, my question is that while I remember choosing a 'Gunslinger' last time, this time I didn't see anything about choosing a profession such as Gunslinger (or Smooth Talker or anything else). I just got to choose my background and then allocate stuff.

So did I screw up? Did I miss a step? Or did I simply not remember correctly?

Also, I'm having two small issues:

1) About 50% of the time, the entry videos doesn't play properly. Mainly it pixilates a bit. It's not a big deal, but are there many videos through out the game? If not, then I'm not going to worry about it, but if there are, I might need to see if I can fix it.

2) The bandits that are guarding the bridge. They seem impossible to kill. I've tried lobbying a few grenades (but my aim is not so good), but they are so fast, they pretty much wipe me and my party out (me, Virgil and the Ogre from the inn).

From the walk-throughs I've looked at it, it seems like the only ways through this are kill them (very difficult), sabotage the towns other bridge attempt (evil) or steal the key (tried once and failed as I'm not a very good thief).

Am I missing something? Are there any 'good' solutions that are doable for a level 4 character?

a user on the RPGcodex.net is doing a letsplay of arc with a gun fighter(guns are underpowered in arc) and he used traps to get past the fight.

you might wanna check it out on their forums