Abstract
Problem: What did each SPECIAL attribute actually do under the hood in the original Fallout? Online wikis are incomplete or incorrect.
Approach: Tim Cain shares a detailed breakdown from his own post-ship notes, covering every systemic (code-level) effect of each attribute — excluding perk prerequisites, scripted checks, and dialogue gates.
Findings: Strength, Perception, Endurance, and Agility are mechanically dense stats with wide-reaching effects. Intelligence controls skill point growth and reading speed. Charisma is notably thin — only affecting speech, barter, NPC reactions, and companion limits. Luck has surprising depth, influencing criticals, gambling, special encounters, and even eye-shot blindness resistance.
Key insight: Agility was the most powerful stat due to action points and armor class alone, while Charisma was a justified dump stat — something Cain says he would redesign today.
References
- Tim Cain. YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxIisf8fQtE