How to Mitigate Snowball Effect of Events
There are a couple of things you can do to make it less likely you'll get crippled:


Pick a character with balanced starting stats - Brandon Jaspers, Peter Akimoto, Jenny LeClerc and Madam Zostra all start with three of their stats on 4 and the 4th on 3.
When a room that boosts your stats (Chapel, Gymnasium, Larder, Library) appears, make your way there immediately if the haunt hasn't started yet (if the haunt has already started you may have more important things to do).


While I love the game it is pretty random and you have to accept that sometimes you get screwed. It's worth pointing out that you can't die until the haunt starts, in case you missed that rule.