forgive me my ignorance...

[Leviathan]

...but just what is the number next to a strength of 18? 18/84 for example.

[Anatres]

They range from /01, lowest, to /00 highest and are strength modifiers. The larger the number the closer to strength 19 you are and the more you can carry, the harder you hit, etc.

[Bill]

Between 18 and 19 there are some other strength statistics varying from 18/01 to 18/00.These numbers after the / are considered to have a range from 1 (01) to 100 (00).Their meaning is that you have more strength than just plain 18.These numbers normally apply only to warriors (you can see the table in the game manual as to what bonuses to hit and to damage you gain).As you can see there,the 18/00 is the max strength number you can have in the 18/XX class.After 18/00,the strength ability increases normally 19,20,...

[Cloud]

What determins what the number is, is it given randomly at character creation or does it get affected by class and race?

[Yuusuke]

In the pencil and paper version, if you roll a 18 on strength, you get to a 100-sided dice that determines the str bonus you get for having 18 strength. The numbers affect your THAC0, extra damage dealt, how much stuff you can carry, and your chances of forcing open a locked door or trunk.

You only get the bonus if you're plaining a paladin, ranger, fighter, or barbarian. Possibly monks too, I don't know. All other classes just get a basic 18 in strength.

18/01 and 18/50 are identical in terms of the bonuses you get, everything within that range will give you a +1 to hit, and +3 to damage.

18/51 to 18/75 will give you an extra +1 to hit.

76 to 99 gives a total of +2 to hit and +5 to damage.

18/00 gives you a +3 to hit and +6 to damage.

There is suppose to be a bashing percentage thing involved as well according to the manual, I dunno what that means, I guess it means your chances of interupting spell casting.

[Cloud]

thanks for that, I knew what it does i just wondered how the number was worked out. the bashing percentage you are talking about is the chance you have of forcing a locked door/chest(breaking it open with a weapon)

[Alderion]

In the Pen and Paper version the Bashing was bend bars/open gates... used to determine if you could open a door or chest by bashing on it rather than a more conventional like a door handle, key, or lockpick.

P.S. In BG2 Monks don't get a modifier for 18 strength.

[Leviathan]

Thanx. Now I understand.