jvolpert: Tough roadblock to hit in the first 2 hours, but it's better than hitting it at 20. :-P
Waltorious: What kind of character are you using? There are a few ways you can get past the bandits using items you find at the crash site, if you've having trouble beating them normally. I'm pretty sure that somewhere at the crash site there's an explosive grenade, which is actually quite powerful. If you can hit the bandits with that when they're all standing fairly close together, it will go a long way towards killing them. Also, grenades don't hurt you or your allies for some reason, so you can walk right up to the bandits and throw it in their faces, which has a decent chance of working even if you have no throwing skill.
If your character knows how to prowl, you can try to pickpocket the key from the lead bandit too.
I managed to kill them in melee after a few tries... if you can separate the three bandits and take them one at a time it's a little easier.
Anyway, the UAP is highly recommended so you should probably restart anyway, but when you get to the bandits again those are some other things you can try.
Thanks for the tips. I did find the grenades, but sold them. Spent my money on armor. I'm playing a half-elf fighter w/ a little bit of magic. I went with a healing spell to start first time, but considering Virgil appears to be a healer I'm thinking of going with some kind of defensive or buffing spell tree instead.
This time, I'll keep the grenades and stick a point into charisma so I can hopefully recruit the ogre and see if I can beat the bandits. Failing that, I'll make sure I keep 1000g available so I can always fall back on the cowardly route.