I've just started, and my characters are about level 10. I've noticed that when I level up, I increase stats randomly, but for some reason I can't get more than 18 of a stat. Like, I have a Paladin with 18 STR, but I've been getting +1 DEX or +1 CON, but never +1 STR.

I read somewhere that the max level in this game is 255. Which means, I feel like at some point I'll have more than 18 of every stat, right? Or at some point do all of my characters max out at 18 for every stat?

EDITED: SOLVED

in BT1 the maximum is 18. The maximum is 30 in BT3.

It was 20 or 22 in BT2. I can't recall off-hand, been too long and I'd have to get my Apple IIGS out of mothballs (well, it's packed up in a sealed box) in my mom's basement to check an old saved game.

Actually, I'm pretty sure it's still 18 in classic BT2. (It's 20 in the BT2 remaster.) In some classic versions (MS-DOS BT2), the maximum level is 255, but you can continue to level up past that, causing your level to wraparound to 0. (At this point, if I understand how it works correctly, you can now level up endlessly. as long as you don't get level drained or your XP overflows.)

In other classic versions (including MS-DOS BT1), the maximum level is 65535; I don't know whether XP will overflow before that.

In the remaster, I suspect the maximum might be 2^31 - 1 (over 2 billion), but that your XP will overflow well before that (probably at 2^31 XP).

Incidentally, at least in the classic games, many things stop improving after level 255. I believe scaling spells like Arc Fire stop gaining power, and in BT3 DOS, AC stops improving (though note that, at that level, your AC is actually 1 point *worse* than it would be for a non-monk with the same stats and equipment). (Oh, and before you ask, yes AC does eventually underflow and become large, and having over 100 AC *will* cause you to consistently get hit.)