What's the Point of Ability Scores? (A Brief Interlude)

Before returning to my examination of ability scores in D&D and AD&D, I thought it would be instructive to take a look briefly at how the second edition of Chaosium's RuneQuest handles abilities (or "characteristics," as it terms them). Bear in mind that this edition was released in 1979, five years after the release of OD&D, but roughly contemporaneously with the completion of Advanced Dungeon & Dragons. 

Unlike D&D, RQ has seven characteristics: Strength, Constitution, Size, Intelligence, Power, and Dexterity, and Charisma, whose scores are determined by the player rolling 3d6 in order. Each of the characteristics provides bonuses or penalties to tasks or skills in which a character engages. For example, defense rolls are influenced by a character's scores in Size, Intelligence, Power, and Dexterity. 

If you take a look at the chart above, you'll notice something very interesting. Take a look at the line for the Size characteristic. What you'll see is that having a low score is actually a benefit to defense, while having a high rating is a drawback. Here's another, this one dealing with stealth.

In this chart, there are two characteristic where having a low score is advantageous, Size and Power. Forgive me for finding these two charts remarkable, but this is a topic that's very dear to me. I've long felt that there ought to be benefits as well as drawbacks for scores at both ends of the curve. The fact that RuneQuest – at least in its second edition – takes this into account is commendable and an unusual counterpoint to the way Dungeons & Dragons (and other RPGs) handles ability scores.