D&D 5e Point Buy Calculator
Spend your 27 points, add your origin bonuses and see your final ability scores and modifiers instantly. Switch between the 2014 rules (racial bonuses) and the 2024 rules (background bonuses) at any time.
How point buy works
Point buy is the fairest way to create ability scores in fifth edition. Instead of rolling dice, every player gets the same budget of 27 points. All six abilities start at 8, and you spend points to raise them. Higher scores cost more points per step, so pushing one ability to 15 is expensive and spreading points more evenly gets you more total value.
The limits are simple: no score can go below 8 or above 15 before your ability bonuses are added. Those bonuses come from your race under the 2014 rules or from your background under the 2024 rules, which lets you start with a 16 or 17 in your most important ability.
Point buy cost table
| Score | Total cost | Cost of this step | Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 0 | — | −1 |
| 9 | 1 | +1 | −1 |
| 10 | 2 | +1 | +0 |
| 11 | 3 | +1 | +0 |
| 12 | 4 | +1 | +1 |
| 13 | 5 | +1 | +1 |
| 14 | 7 | +2 | +2 |
| 15 | 9 | +2 | +2 |
Notice the jump at the top: going from 13 to 14 costs 2 points, and from 14 to 15 another 2. Because a 15 and a 14 only differ by one point of score, many builds stop at 14 or 15 and use their origin bonus to reach an even number.
How to use this calculator
- Choose your rules with the 2014 / 2024 switch at the top.
- Pick a race (2014) or background (2024). The calculator fills in the standard bonuses, which you can then adjust.
- Use the + and − buttons to spend your 27 points. The plus button is disabled when you cannot afford the next step.
- Read your final scores and modifiers in the results panel, and use Share result to send the build to your Dungeon Master.
Popular point buy spreads
All of these cost exactly 27 points. Assign the numbers to whichever abilities your class needs most.
| Spread | Scores | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Standard array | 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 | Balanced characters; the official default |
| Two 15s | 15, 15, 13, 10, 10, 8 | Classes that need two key abilities (Paladin, Monk, Ranger) |
| Triple 15 | 15, 15, 15, 8, 8, 8 | Focused builds that can ignore three abilities |
| Even spread | 14, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8 | Generalists and skill-heavy characters |
| Odd-number spread | 15, 13, 13, 13, 11, 8 | Builds that plan to take half-feats later |
2014 vs 2024: where the bonuses come from
The point buy budget and costs did not change in the 2024 rules. What changed is the source of your starting ability bonuses.
2014 rules: racial bonuses
Each race grants fixed increases. A Half-Orc gets +2 Strength and +1 Constitution; a Human gets +1 to every ability. The races available in this calculator are the ones included in the System Reference Document 5.1:
- Human — +1 to every ability score.
- Hill Dwarf — Dwarf +2 CON, Hill Dwarf subrace +1 WIS.
- High Elf — Elf +2 DEX, High Elf subrace +1 INT.
- Lightfoot Halfling — Halfling +2 DEX, Lightfoot subrace +1 CHA.
- Dragonborn — STR +2, CHA +1
- Rock Gnome — Gnome +2 INT, Rock Gnome subrace +1 CON.
- Half-Elf — +2 CHA, then +1 to two other abilities of your choice.
- Half-Orc — STR +2, CON +1
- Tiefling — CHA +2, INT +1
2024 rules: background bonuses
In the 2024 rules your species gives no ability bonuses. Instead, each background lists three abilities. You increase one of them by 2 and another by 1, or increase all three by 1. The SRD 5.2 backgrounds are:
- Acolyte — INT, WIS, CHA
- Criminal — DEX, CON, INT
- Sage — CON, INT, WIS
- Soldier — STR, DEX, CON
If your table uses a background from another book, choose Custom and set the bonuses yourself.
Point buy vs standard array vs rolling
Standard array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) is simply one point buy result. It is quick and balanced, but point buy lets you trade a little elsewhere to get exactly the scores you want.
Rolling 4d6 and dropping the lowest averages about 12.24 per score, or roughly 73 points of total score against 72 for the standard array. That sounds similar, but the spread is wide: one player may roll three 16s while another ends up with nothing above 13. Point buy removes that luck, which is why it is the default for organized play and many online games. Try our dice probability calculator with 4d6dl1 to see the full distribution.
Tip: Odd final scores only matter if you plan to raise them later. If a +2 bonus would turn your 15 into a 17, buying a 14 instead gives you a 16 — the same +3 modifier — and saves 2 points to spend elsewhere.