Yeah it's a shame those stats weren't fleshed out more. People likely came from a DnD background around the time and those are how I'd describe "meaningful" stats. Give me benefits, plural, for having a lot of something. Give me penalties, plural, for neglecting it.
I'm playing an RPG now where there's 6 stats and they all have multiple effects. STR makes your sword / axe / mace damage go up every 2 points and unarmed every 4 points. Increases carry weight and parry chance with those STR weapons. DEX does the respective same thing for bows / polearm / dagger and unarmed. It gives you stealth points as well. WIS is elemental resists and has a recovery aspect. END is physical resists and has a recovery aspect. INT vendor prices, tradeskill speed, and magic damage.
Between STR/DEX/INT, there's a favorable attribute. However, there's real tangible benefit to investing in those secondary/tertiary stats because they have a desirable effect. I really enjoy the flexibility of that type of design, where there's no bad options and specializing for dramatic impact comes at cost. The reality is this system just makes me wanna average everything, but it feels surprisingly good to do so. Nerd games should let nerds look under the hood see how things work and let them build how they think they'll have fun in unique and creative ways. Otherwise everything is just a homogeneous mess. Which makes me wanna rant about BIS as a concept now.
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