I think I found a bug/exploit
Played around with the game a bit (mostly for the story, up to Act II, so really not that far), then decided to restart, but this time concentrating a little more on combat/gem allocation/poker (on my first run, I always lost rather quickly, never won more than one fight per visit in Elsewhere)
So, started a new game from the top, with mom's tearful goodbye.
This time, I wanted to see all the dialog options too, while I was at it.
So, very first screen, MC has two choices:
A) Look, I'm 21. [etc.]
B) Don't worry, I'll be fine.
And his stats are Strength = Intelligence = Charisma =1.
Step 1: Make a save (Save/Load icon, top left).
Step 2: Choose either answer. No changes in player stats.
Step 3: Now, click Save/Load icon again, and Load previous save: magically the stats are now Strength = Intelligence = Charisma =2.
(From what I've seen, this is the only such stat increase – no amount of save/load on any further dialog choices seems to affect player stats.)
To be clear: this is for Book 1, Act 1, version 1.6.11f