In BESM, a character is made of 3 main parts: Attributes, Stats and Skills. All characters are assigned a certain number of Character Points, with which they may buy items in these 3 categories.
Stats
There are 3 Stats in BESM: Mind, Body and Soul. While these Stats’ ratings can range from 1 up to 12, most characters will have ratings between 2 and 6. The human average for a given Stat is 4.
Body
The Body Stat represents the character’s raw physical ability. It represents a character’s base ability for feats of strength, speed, dexterity, or stamina, amongst other things. The Body Stat contributes to a character's base Health Points.
Mind
The Mind Stat represents the character’s mental ability and perceptiveness. It covers a character’s base ability for feats of wits, perception and intelligence and may be used to decipher an obscure manuscript or to notice a trap. The Mind Stat contributes to a character's base Energy Points.
Soul
The Soul Stat represents both the character's connection to the supernatural and their charisma. It contributes to most social checks, as well as many magical or supernatural abilities. The Soul Stat contributes to both a character's base Health and Energy Points.
These 3 Stats are used to determine several derived values: Health Points, Energy Points, Combat Value, and Defense Value. This set of derived values make up the numbers that you will most often interact with during combat scenes.
Attributes
Attributes are those special traits and abilities that make a character unique. They can represent anything from incredible toughness to a unique attack to a particular magical ability or incredible speed. Attributes may be either beneficial or detrimental and will either cost Character Points or will grant bonus Character points.
Skills
Skills are what your character is good at. Various skills may be used in various situations (for example, the Technology skill will grant a character bonuses on attempts to use Technology, be it to disable or repair it). Depending on the setting and on how useful the Storyteller expects a certain skill to be in the game, a skill will have a variable cost, ranging from 1 to 6 Skill Points. A single Character Point may be converted into 10 Skill Points via the Attribute: Highly Skilled.