Bonam

The version I downloaded from the Spiderweb website seems to have no problem being full screen.

XP is not strictly limited - you can always find more outdoor encounters or a few respawning monsters in dungeons to get more xp. Quick learning and great wisdom are pretty much definitely not worth it. Not only will you reach past level 30 by the end anyway, but the xp rounds down so most times you kill an enemy, you will not get any extra xp from these traits. Dual swords were much superior to pole weapons in AEFTP, not sure if the balance has been changed at all for A2CS. Poles are always 2h. Razordisks have higher base damage, but there are a few rare bows that have stats that make them better to use. In almost all cases an archer is strictly inferior to having an extra mage or warrior though. Not sure about the racial dialogues or summon XP.

From the FAQ: Does melee weapon skill really not apply to broadswords or is that a typo?

There is plenty of fairly good combat description in some of the long epic fantasy series... Sword of Truth, Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones), Wheel of Time, etc. Sword of Truth features lots of magical combat, between small groups as well as large armies, combat description often includes lots of gore and unpleasant scenery. Song of Ice and Fire tends towards more realistic combat, with magic substantially less prevalent, actual combat description is somewhat less frequent than some other series. Wheel of Time features much more sanitized combat with less gruesome scenery. Personally, I particularly enjoyed a lot of the combat description in Sword of Truth. Another series which has some good magical combat description is the Name of the Wind; it's combat scenes are limited but they are of a high quality, in my opinion. Name of the Wind has a magic system whose function is described in great detail, almost as a science. The Lord of the Rings, which you mention, is a great novel primarily for the depth and intricacy of its backstory and the world within which it is set (as described in the Silmarillion and other books), but it is not particularly "action-packed" and has only a few scenes of combat throughout, focusing much more on the description of the world of Middle-Earth as the characters travel throughout it. As an aspiring author, it would probably do you well to read at least a few of the major works in the genre you are attempting to enter... If I had one general tip about writing combat scenes that are engaging, I would say that the main thing you have to do is to make it seem real and make it touch the emotions of the reader, usually done by evoking the emotions and sensory perceptions (all 5 senses or more if applicable) of the main characters, that the reader (hopefully) has an emotional investment in (either identifies with them or hates them). Having an emotional impact can be done by illustrating tragic events/situations, through visceral scenery, by demonstrating heroism/bravery in the face of hopeless situations, etc. Stay away from dispassionately cataloging a mere list of combat events, unless you are writing a history book.

Is there a way to easily fix broadswords by modifying the avitemschars.txt file?

It actually works quite well for me at 1920x1080. The high resolution makes the UI smaller, but not the things in the play area. It just shows more squares. I find it much easier to see the area around me and navigate when I can see that many squares at any given time. If thing are too tiny it may just be an issue of having a screen with too high of a DPI? If you have 1920x1080 on a 19'' screen that'd probably make things look way too tiny, but on a 24'' screen it looks great for me.

I don't think the dungeons fully respawn do they? Just a few basic enemies will respawn, and none of the special/named/boss ones that I've seen.

Yeah I found the crystals to be too much trouble and just resurrected my fighters with my priest several times.