I never really got the hang of 2e D&D. Does someone have a link to some basic rules or do I need to seek out an old Player's Handbook?

What I really don't understand is: When ability scores go over 17, they get these strange slashes in them, e.g "18/1". What do these mean?

Strength scores over 17 can be considered like decimals. So a strength of 18/5 would be 18.5 it goes up to 18/99 - a certain belt/girdle will increase your strength if you happen to find it.

There's a concise Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules FAQ here that explains the basics, including the ability scores :

http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/75251-baldurs-gate/faqs/8566

Ahh, that is handy. Thank you.

No problem :)

Only strength scores of 18 have the /xx value after them.
18/00 is the highest score for an 18 strength.
However, you can find items that will increase strength even further, at which point it returns to 19, 20, 21, etc. I don't know what the max strength is in BG1.

One note about items. Some items set strength to a set value. You cannot always combine these with other items that increase strength. E.g. you might equip an item that increases your strength, say to 19. Then you equip something else that has the property of setting strength at 18/50. This negates the effect of the first item as it sets the strength at 18/50 ignoring the previous modifier.

Dumb question: is 18/00 equivalent to 19? If not, which is stronger? I haven't played D&D since I was a kid, and I don't recall there being any of this 18/xx business back then (early '80s). 18 was the max, period. (I think.)

Generally there are improvements as you increase the stat - - in this case 19 strength gives an extra +1 to damage and increases carrying capacity by 150.

http://www.ancientscrossroads.com/adnd_tools/str_table.htm

In 2nd edition D&D, there were 'basic' and 'advanced' rule sets - the latter could have an effect on just about every facet of the game.

It seems this mechanic is called "Exceptional Strength" and only applies to Strength and only applies to Fighters. From what I have gleaned from the sources above and from Google, it appears that when you roll up a Fighter in tabletop D&D2e, if you are lucky enough to roll 3x6 = 18 for Strength, you also get to roll d100 to see just how awesome your awesome 18 Strength actually is. You record that as 18/xx where xx is the d100 roll. A fighter with 18/70 has better bonuses on strength-based actions than a fighter with, say, 18/05.

Rangers and Paladins can get the extra strength as well. As for max stats, 18 or 18/00 are the max stats at character creation for humans - other races can have slightly higher or lower maxes due to racial bonuses and penalties.

As some others have now commented, this is a 2nd edition rule that only applies for strength stat (and only certain classes).

But yes, as you would expect, Strength 19 is better than 18, even if that is 18/00.

Warning: don't bother reading if you don't actually care about editions or revisions of old tabletop RPGs.

Actually, they were completely different rulesets and editions. There was no 'basic' version of AD&D 2nd edition, and 3rd edition D&D is a continuance of AD&D 2nd edition they just dropped the advanced part due to the basic version being discontinued, which never had a '2nd edition' and was never intended to be directly compatible. In fact, it could be argued that AD&D 1st edition could be considered the second edition of the original basic D&D.

Just thought I'd stick my oar in. :)

19 is better than 18/00; at a minimum you can carry more stuff. All stats in the BG series are capped at 25, IIRC.