I create a character with high int, wisdom and charisma.

I'm assured by the game that my wisdom will grant me "substantial bonuses to experience earned", but whenever I receive experience it's in suspiciously even numbers like 1000, 5000 or 15000 experience points. I was expecting odd numbers based on my varying level of wisdom, so I feel cheated by the game from the start. Am I receiving my substantial bonuses in multiples of 1000?

The manual gives me a table of additional spell slots for each level of wisdom. At 20 wisdom it says I get 3x 1st and 3x 2nd level spell slots, assuming the table is cumulative the same way as the similar tables in the baldurs gate manuals. I currently have a total of 2x1st and 1x2nd level spell slots with 20 wisdom...

I don't get it. Is there any point in role playing this game or should I just close my eyes and assign ability scores at random, considering they don't appear to give me any advantages?

What is your exact level of Wisdom? You can check the XP bonus table here: https://torment.fandom.com/wiki/Wisdom. I don't remember what are the exact numbers of gained XP unfortunately. I think they might be rounded up or down. Mages gain bonus spells based on Intelligence, not on Wisdom. In D&D only Clerics gain bonus spells based on Wisdom, but Nameless One can't be a Cleric.

Thank you for the useful info.

Turns out I've had 15, 18 and 20% exp bonus from wisdom, but I haven't seen any "1150/1180/1200 exp gained" messages. It strikes me as an error.

I see. So the table isn't really an ability score table, but a cleric table? It sounds like I should put down the manual and look things up on the wiki you suggested from now on :)

I couldn't find any concrete numbers on extra spell slots from intelligence there though. And here I have 3 slots total with 18 intelligence at level 3 mage. That's the base number for any level 3 mage so no apparent bonuses there either.

The manual just lists Max # spells/level which I interpret as something other than spell slots. But on the other hand it's in the mystery table so there's no telling what it applies to.

I've checked a few things and it turns out that in the second edition of D&D Mages don't receive bonus spells depending on Intelligence. However there's a limit to the number of spells per spell level that can be put in your spellbook and this depends on Intelligence. Basically if you have Intelligence at level 19, you can add all of the available spells to your spellbook. There are also some additional dialogue options available if you raise this stat above 19.

Thanks for the help. Oh ok, that's unfortunate. I wonder why that wiki says "it increases the number of spells [mages] can memorize", if Torment uses these second edition rules.

It doesn't feel like my build is that great anymore... Maybe I can find a mod to redistribute my points.

You get the "normal" XP gain displayed on the main screen and the wisdom bonus is added afterwards, so if the game displays 1000 XP bonus your 20 wis character gets 1200 (or in a party of 4 your character gets 300 and the other three get 250 each).
Check the XP difference at the character screen for confirmation.

In 2nd edition intelligence affects the maximum number of different spells mages can learn per spell level, not the number of spells they can cast per day.

What exactly are your character stats (level and base attributes) ? It's possible that your character has optimal stats and you were simply mislead by what you've read.

Having high INT and WIS is the easiest way to go through your first game, that's all there is to it. Torment is not a game to be powerplayed (and this being told by me: I micromanage every point assigned to every character in almost all CRPGs I've ever played). If you don't get your satisfaction from Torment by the story and marvelous dialogue, you won't get it from 2nd Ed D&D's char advancement. Correct! The lore bonus/penalty for high/low WIS applies for everyone. The manual has copy-pasted tables and they forgot to include the note telling that the bonus spells are for priests

*** SPOILERS ***
You can get a priest in your party at one point of the game.
*** END SPOILERS *** *** SPOILERS ***
Are there any checks higher than Dak'kon's dialogue? I can't recall any. For those you just need INT 18 and WIS 19.
*** END SPOILERS ***

From what I've read, there's at least one attribute check for Intelligence higher than 19. I don't have details however where it is exactly.

There is one in the final conversation with the end boss.

Silly me. Thanks

Thanks for the explanation. I'll take your word for that the exp bonus works as advertised. It's not important to me whether I'm playing optimally or not, just that my choices matter.

Unfortunately it's not worth the risk for me to continue reading this thread when there are spoilers in plain sight that can be quoted in new posts. I'll stick with the character I have, even though I don't see the value in being able to write every spell into my spell book.