Why tables break
A stat block in Word is usually a table or a run of tab-aligned lines. Reflowable ebooks re-wrap text to the screen width, so a table that fit a 6-inch page becomes a smear of wrapped cells on a phone, and tab alignment simply vanishes. Readers of the genre see it constantly and hate it.
What works instead
Format the block as a styled box: a bordered region with its own background, monospace or clean sans type, and one line per stat. A box reflows gracefully, a table does not. Keep each line short enough for a narrow screen: Strength: 14, not a sentence.
In the EPUB Creator
- Write the block in the manuscript with one stat per line, between two blank lines.
- In the editor, select the lines and mark them as a data block.
- Choose the block style: Terminal (dark, monospace), Panel (bordered, light), or Minimal.
- Switch the preview to the phone width and check the longest line.
The LitRPG style preset sets the whole book up for this: fonts, block style, and colours in one click, and you can still adjust each.
Keep the box width to the text, not the screen. A block that hugs its content looks like a game window; one that stretches edge to edge looks like a spreadsheet.
Other genre conventions
- System messages in the flow of prose: a short italic or bracketed line, not a box, so they do not interrupt the paragraph rhythm.
- Level-up screens between scenes: a box, with a scene break before and after.
- Skill lists: a real bulleted list rather than a table, which survives reflow.