D&D 5e Point Buy Calculator

In D&D 5e point buy you have 27 points to spend, every ability starts at 8, and each score costs 0–9 points: 8 is free, 13 costs 5, 14 costs 7 and 15 costs 9. No score can go above 15 before bonuses. Then add your 2024 background bonus (+2/+1 or +1/+1/+1) or your 2014 racial bonus, and read off each modifier.

This point buy calculator checks the rules as you go: points remaining, the 8–15 range, the 2024 background limits and the 20 cap. It also does Pathfinder 1e point buy with the 10, 15, 20 and 25 point budgets.

How to use the calculator

1. Pick D&D 5e or Pathfinder 1e. For 5e, choose whether bonuses come from a 2024 background or a 2014 race.
2. Choose a background or race to fill in its bonuses, or pick “Other” and set the bonus column yourself.
3. Set each base score. The cost column and points remaining update instantly; a warning shows if you go over budget.
4. Read the final score and modifier for each ability. Copy the link to save or share the build.

5e point buy cost table

From the Ability Score Point Costs table in the SRD 5.2.1 (“a score of 14 costs 7 of your 27 points”), identical to the 2014 Basic Rules variant:

Scores 9–13 cost 1 point per step, and 14 and 15 cost 2 points per step. Because 13 → 14 costs 2 points for a +1 modifier jump, odd scores like 13 and 15 are only worth it when a bonus will make them even.

Ability modifiers

Modifier = (score − 10) ÷ 2, rounded down, from the Ability Scores and Modifiers table in SRD 5.1:

2024 rules: background bonuses

SRD 5.2.1 moves ability score increases to your background. Each background lists three abilities; increase one by 2 and another by 1, or all three by 1, and none can go above 20. The four SRD backgrounds:

Example: a Soldier fighter buys the standard array with 15 in Strength and 14 in Dexterity, then takes +2 Strength and +1 Dexterity: 17, 15, 13, 12, 10, 8 gives modifiers +3 +2 +1 +1 +0 −1. The Player's Handbook has more backgrounds; choose “Other background” and set the bonuses to match yours.

2014 rules: racial ability score increases

Under the 2014 rules the bonus comes from your race. These are the races and subraces in SRD 5.1:

Every 27-point array in 5e

There are exactly 65 ways to spend all 27 points (scores listed high to low, before bonuses). The standard array, 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8, is one of them; so is 15, 15, 15, 8, 8, 8. The full list is long, so it's collapsed; open it to compare spreads before you assign scores to abilities.

Standard array by class (2024 rules)

If you are unsure where to put your points, SRD 5.2.1 gives a suggested standard array for each class. Every row is 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 in a different order, so each one costs exactly 27 points and is a legal point buy. Choose your class in the calculator's “Quick build” menu to load the row, then move points around or add your background bonuses.

The suggestions put the class's main ability at 15 and, for most classes, Constitution at 13 or 14 for hit points. They are a starting point, not a rule. A Wizard who expects melee trouble might swap Wisdom and Constitution, and a Charisma-heavy Paladin might trade Dexterity for Charisma.

Worked example: a 2024 wizard

Start from the Wizard row, 8, 12, 13, 15, 14, 10. Take the Sage background, which can raise Constitution, Intelligence or Wisdom, and apply +2 to Intelligence and +1 to Constitution. The final scores are 8, 12, 14, 17, 14, 10, with modifiers −1 +1 +2 +3 +2 +0. Intelligence 17 is the highest a level-1 character can reach with point buy, and the Constitution bonus turns 13 into 14, so that +1 isn't wasted. At level 4 the Ability Score Improvement feat can take Intelligence from 17 to 19 or, with +1/+1, to 18 alongside another odd score.

If you instead had 2 points left over and an odd score, spending them on that score gains a modifier. The calculator lists these cheap upgrades under the table when your remaining points allow one.

Point buy vs standard array vs rolling

SRD 5.2.1 gives three ways to generate scores: the standard array, rolling four six-sided dice and keeping the highest three, and point buy. The standard array is simply one point buy option. Rolling is the gamble: counting all 1,296 outcomes of four dice, the average kept total is about 12.24 per ability, or 73.5 across six abilities against the standard array's 72. But about 5.7% of rolls land at 7 or below and about 1.6% hit an 18, so two players at the same table can end up far apart. Point buy keeps every character on the same budget, which is why many groups and organised play prefer it.

Buying lots of 14s and 15s lowers the total, because the top steps cost 2 points each. Spreading points into 12s and 13s gives the biggest total but fewer high modifiers.

Planning ahead: multiclassing and level 4

Two later rules in SRD 5.2.1 affect what you buy at level 1. To multiclass, you need at least 13 in the primary ability of both your current class and the new one, for example Strength and Wisdom for a Barbarian taking Druid levels. A 13 costs 5 points, so buy it now rather than hoping for an increase later. The Ability Score Improvement feat, at levels 4, 8, 12 and 16 for most classes (and also 6 and 14 for Fighters and 10 for Rogues), gives +2 to one score or +1 to two, up to 20. An odd score of 17 therefore reaches 18 with half of the feat, leaving the other +1 for a second odd score.

Pathfinder 1e point buy

The Paizo Pathfinder Reference Document purchase method starts every score at 10. Raising a score costs points and lowering it (to a minimum of 7) gives points back; no score can go above 18 before racial modifiers.

With the standard 15 points you could buy 15, 14, 13, 10, 10, 10 (15 points), or dump one score to 7 for more room: 17, 14, 11, 10, 10, 7 also costs 15. Add your race's modifiers in the bonus column.

Pathfinder applies racial modifiers after the purchase, so a score bought at 18 can reach 20 with a +2. The core races in the Paizo Core Rulebook races chapter are:

For a 20-point high fantasy dwarf cleric, 16, 14, 12, 12, 10, 10 costs 19 points. Put the 16 in Wisdom and the 14 in Constitution, and the dwarf's +2 to each makes them 18 and 16; the −2 Charisma should land on one of the 10s. Enter the race modifiers in the calculator's bonus column (−2, 0 or +2).

Common mistakes

• Adding bonuses before buying. The 8–15 limit applies to the base score; bonuses go on afterwards, so 15 + 2 = 17 is legal.
• Mixing 2014 and 2024 rules. Use racial increases (2014) or background increases (2024), not both — unless your DM says otherwise.
• Putting +2 on an ability the background doesn't list. 2024 increases only apply to the background's three abilities.
• Leaving an odd score without a bonus. 13 has the same +1 modifier as 12 but costs one more point.
• Using the 5e cost table for Pathfinder. Pathfinder starts at 10 and 18 costs 17 points.

Once the sheet is done, you can count down to the next session with the days from today calculator.

This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast or Paizo.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & method

• System Reference Document 5.2.1 (2024 rules, CC-BY-4.0) — Character Creation: Point Cost, Ability Score Point Costs, backgrounds
• System Reference Document 5.1 (2014 rules, CC-BY-4.0) — Races: Ability Score Increase; Ability Scores and Modifiers
• D&D Basic Rules (2014), D&D Beyond — Variant: Customizing Ability Scores (27 points, 8–15)
• Paizo Pathfinder RPG Reference Document, Core Rulebook — Purchase method, Ability Score Costs and Points
• Paizo Pathfinder RPG Reference Document, Core Rulebook — Races (racial ability modifiers)

Results are estimates for general information. Found an error? It helps everyone — see our methodology.