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There are some things, like alignment and charisma, that seem to have no effect on the gameplay. It also looks it doesn't matter who's in charge of your party (other that he walks on the front).
Is this true, or what?

Aligntment doesnt much, but charisma sure does. A high charisma means lower prices in stores which can come in very handy. I dont know if or how the reaction adjustment was worked in though, and that is supposed to rely on Charisma. Alignment stuff only matters in regards to reputation and how the characters react if it is too high or low

If you have 18 charisma you get a magical weapon during the prologue in candlekeep.

[QUOTE=Skuld]If you have 18 charisma you get a magical weapon during the prologue in candlekeep.[/QUOTE]

Nooo, you don't. Unless you have a special expansion or a strange patch. if you have high charisma you get more gold in the proulouge, that's for sure.

No you can. If you want to know, highlight the next line, its a spoiler though:
With Charisma of 18, Fuller, the guard who needs crossbow bolts in the garrison, gives you a Dagger+1 which apparently killed a hobgoblin in one hit. Hmmm.

Excellent, I will have to check this out today!

Same question

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. What exactly does Wisdom do? I know that Dexterity helps in diverting hits, Strength helps with damaging the enemy and carrying crap, Constitution helps in hit points, Intelligence helps memorize spells, Charisma helps in being on the better side of NPC's you talk to (ie, better prices on products). And I know that the abilities of the leader of the party is the one that the game defaults to when any member of the party engages in dialogue with an NPC outside the party. However, I have absolutely no idea what Wisdom does!

Unless you are a cleric, not much. If you are a cleric, it determines how many bonus spells you get per level and what your highest level of spells you can learn. For level 6 spells you need a 17 wisdom, for level 7 spells you need 18 wisdom, but that doesnt really apply until BGII

For extra spells due to wisdom, it is as such, and they are cumulative:

13 +1 1st level
14 +1 1st level
15 +1 2nd level
16 +1 2nd level
17 +1 3rd level
18 +1 4th level
19 +1 1st & +1 4th
20 +1 2nd & +1 4th
21 +1 3rd & +1 5th

according to the BG manual high wisdom,(15 and higher) is also responsible for a +1 to +4 "magic defense adjustment" which to my experience was never implemented.

And it helps on will saves (against charm etc.)

[QUOTE=Stilgar]And it helps on will saves (against charm etc.)[/QUOTE]

But this feature don't seems to be implemented either.

The Elven and Half-Elven resitances to charm and sleep arent implemented either, i dont know about the long sword/bow bonus though.

The elves bonus to bows and long swords was implemented.

[QUOTE=Rhûn]The Elven and Half-Elven resitances to charm and sleep arent implemented either, i dont know about the long sword/bow bonus though.[/QUOTE]
At least for BG2 there is a mod that restore the resistance.

Aligntment doesnt much

Alligment doesn't very much, the important is reputation when you but items: if with a medium reputation you would pay a item 100 gold, if your reputation is 20 you will pay 50 and if is 1 or 2 up to 1000 gold pieces.

Reputation is somehow connected with alligment because if you act like a good alligment character you gain reputation, while you lose it if you act like an evil character.

Also with a good alignement you start the game with a better rep.

SPOILERS

Alignment mainly matters in terms of what special abilities your character gains. You alignment effects this. It also determines which NPCs will get along, or how well they'll get along with you. This is mostly not an issue, but I know it can come into play with evil NPCs.

As for Wisdom, while its not hugely useful in Baldur's Gate, it is relevant for a lot of spell casting classes (Clerics, Ranger, Paladin), so its important to at least those groups. Likewise, Intelligence is mainly only useful to Bards, Wizards, and the like.

It's unfortunate that the attributes don't come into play more than they do. I suppose the 3.5 rules and their implementation, which focus more on a skill based system, improves that situation somewhat. It's partially a limitation of 2nd edition rules, though, and partially a limitation of how they've been implemented.

Re: Faust:

I think your special abilities are affected by your reputation, not alignment.

Also, Wisdom only really matters in this game for Druids, Clerics, and roleplayers. If you're number-crunching, you may as well drop it as low as it will go for anybody else.