Statlines 

Body [1-5]
The Body stat denotes a character’s relative physical strength and resilience. The value of a normal starting character is a reflection of its Size stat, though they can vary among Heroes and even more wildly among monsters as they grow.

Body 0: A creature with no body stat has no body. These are the ghosts of the dead, wisps of living energy or the manifestation of other worldly beings, projecting themselves into the game world. They cannot be harmed or influenced by normal physical means. Magic created them, and only magic can unmake them.

Body 6: Heroes of such physical might are very rare, titans among giants. Monsters can more easily reach and exceed this value as they grow stronger and more massive over time.

Life: A character’s base Life Points (Health, Hit Points) is based on their Body stat. This dictates how much damage a character can take before being incapacitated or killed.

Mind [1-5]
The Mind stat indicates a variety of things, from a character’s relative intelligence and talent to their magical or spiritual abilities. Some games may make relatively little use of this stat but it remains vital. All Hero player characters generally start with a Mind of 2, 3 or 4 while monster player characters start with a mind stat value based on their size.

Low Mind: A mind stat of 0 is not a living thing in any sense and would reflect something like a remote operated machine, a vehicle like a carriage or Hologram. A Mind of 1 is a very simple minded person, or one almost incapable of using magic or skills. These would be the minimum entry for NPCs of any kind.

High Mind: A Mind stat of 5+ is characteristic of an experienced magic using Hero in possession of magic boosting items. Also, Huge and advanced monsters that have developed deep reservoirs of magical energy can surpass the limits of heroes, allowing them to use more and more powerful spells and techniques.

Energy: Energy Points are based on a character’s Mind stat. Energy Points (EP) are used for special actions like casting spells, special attacks, using equipment and ero bouts.

Size [1-5]
Each character fits into one of five size categories; Tiny, Small, Medium, Large and Huge. This is an indication of their overall mass, speed and reach, allowing players to portray a broad variety of creatures. Normal characters only occupy one square on the map, regardless of their size, while multi-part creatures and vehicles occupy more. MonBuilder is built primarily around Medium sized characters, however it is about relative size, not universal scale.

Example: GM creates a game themed around fairies and other tiny creatures, making the world around them much larger. Since these are the average Hero characters, he uses a Medium statline for players instead of Tiny.

Tiny: The smallest creatures possible, like fairies, wisps and vermin. Tiny characters are difficult to play as among medium characters, relegating them to scouts, tiny thieves or swarms of critters. A group of tiny monsters can be represented in a single space, making them a greater threat. Multi-space swarms of even the smallest monsters can become devastating.

Small: Generally half the size of an average human character, these are equivalent to medium sized animals, halflings or goblins. They can squeeze into more places than medium characters and can be strong enough to fight a human on equal terms, despite their difference in stature.

Medium: Average characters like humans, elves, dwarves and most monsters in disguise. This is the most common size that most games will be built around.

Large: Tall and heavy creatures like Giants, Trolls and most attacking monsters are roughly twice the size of a human either in height or bulk. They have a hard time moving and living in a world built for medium sized creatures but their superior strength makes them formidable.

Huge: Massive creatures like giant animals, dragons, robots or boss level monsters can be enormous to behold and are often multi-part behemoths. These can be very tricky to play as hero characters as it is nearly impossible for them to live among human sized cultures except as transportation or super heavy NPCs. It is possible to make Godzilla sized Kaiju, but the total variety of scenarios and use for such creatures is extremely limited.

Accuracy Bonus/Penalty: The larger a target is, the easier it is to hit. An attack against a larger target gets a bonus to hit them while attacking a smaller target incurs a penalty. These values are based on the difference in Size stat.

Example: A medium attacking another medium is 3-3=0 so there is not bonus or penalty, however a medium attacking a large is 4-3=1 incurring a bonus. In the extreme opposite, a Huge attacking a Tiny is 1-5=-4 causing a significant penalty in the huge character ever being able to hit the target. 

Speed: A character’s base speed is the same as their Size, reflecting their relative stride.

‘Scale’ 
The worlds and creatures in MonBuilder are not meant to be true to life or factually adherent. This is a game about monsters after all! Rather sizes and scales are a cartoon, a metaphor, an aesthetic representation of the concepts and tropes that go along with monster narratives. So buildings that are bigger on the inside, mighty dragons that take up the same space as a human knight but not as many spaces as a horse drawn carriage are a function of game mechanics and artistic style, not a mirror of reality.

‘Appearance vs Stats’
A character’s physical design and appearance will likely not be reflected by their stats and traits. MonBuillder uses an a la carte system to group upgrades. What they are named is not important compared to what they do. How the player chooses to represent a character’s attributes and their explanation is entirely up to them.

Example: A player wants to make a cybernetic monster with a jetpack, they choose to give the monster the Flight spell, which requires energy to activate rather than use the wings augment which is always on and doesn’t cost energy. The Flight spell offers customization to its effects, allowing the character to reach higher speeds while simulating the machine’s limited usage.