Gaining stats.
The game tries to not be grindy, but there's an RPG element. It's important to note that the 'central' story-line will not ever block you by a stat-check. Side quests may temporarily refuse you if your stats are too low, but the core story should be playable by anyone, regardless of what grinding choices they've made.
The three stats are
STR (Strength, representing physical and magical strength). Strength gives you a HP bonus when fighting in Elsewhere by 10HP per point of strength. STR also gives you a damage bonus of 1% per point of Strength (so 10 STR would do additional 10% damage)
INT (Intelligence, representing knowledge, intuition and wits). In combat, INT will increase the amount of XP you gain by 1% per point of INT. So if you had an INT of 10, and defeated a monster worth 1000xp, you would receive 1100xp.
CHR (Charisma, representing charm, guile and the bonds that bind you to your Companions). In combat CHR boosts ally recovery time by 1% per point of CHR. So with CHR or 10, your allies recover 10% faster
Stats will go up just from playing the various story events; going to lectures, having dates or meeting up with friends will occasionally bump your stats. In addition you can:
- Go elsewhere, and fight monsters. Each time you defeat a monster you receive XP, and level up. Each time you level up you get a stat point to put into any of the stats
- Read books. All the books give stat bonuses each time you read it (with the exception of the Questline for the Black Rose). Books cost £100, and each time you want to read one you need to purchase a coffee at the Starcucks.
- Train Charisma at the Starcucks by talking to characters. Stat bonuses every second encounter, with a final +3 bonus. Expect some cameos from famous Edinburgh denizens.
- Train for free. This is less effective than fighting or using books, but it's infinitely repeatable
- Train Strength in the Gym. Goes up 1 point every two sessions
- Train Intelligence in the Private Library