I must say that the design decision to eliminate even vague descriptions of what charms do is frustrating. I had the money to buy some charms, and found a merchant selling them... but unlike Divine Divinity, where I could choose what kind of protection/stat increases would be most beneficial for my best charm-able items, there's no way to know what these charms do(beyond running to this forum, where some fine folks have posted charm info). There are times when surprises are fun, and times when surprises are not so much fun. Rolling the dice when buying charms is one of those times when surprises are not so much fun.
Sadly, I give the "secret charms decision" a reluctant <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/down.gif" alt="" />