I absolutely love Stronghold, from the awesome animated pixel art to the quirky interface, but one thing I've always wondered about:

For the characters you create to "lead" each community, do their attributes mean anything? Like does having good Strength as a fighter do anything for your buildings and people?

They literally tell you in the manual....

Attributes

First you roll up your leader's attributes - Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. Units have the same attributes as their leader. The maximum (best) attribute rating in any category is 18. Press the "REROLL" button as many times as you like to regenerate a new set of attributes.

Character attributes affect game play as follows:

Strength: Units with high Strength do greater damage to opponents in combat.

Intelligence: High Intelligence is useful for mages and elves in casting spells.

Wisdom: Aids clerics in casting clerical spells. High Wisdom also gives a bonus for defending against spell-casting monsters.

Dexterity: Higher Dexterity units attack first.

Constitution: High Constitution gives units extra hit points when they advance levels.

Charisma: Higher Charisma units attract followers more quickly.