D&D 5e Point Buy Calculator

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D&D 5e Point Buy Calculator

Distribute 27 points across ability scores following official PHB rules.

Points Remaining

27/ 27
00 spent27

Ancestry / Race

Class Presets

STR

Strength

0 pts

Mod-1
8
DEX

Dexterity

0 pts

Mod-1
8
CON

Constitution

0 pts

Mod-1
8
INT

Intelligence

0 pts

Mod-1
8
WIS

Wisdom

0 pts

Mod-1
8
CHA

Charisma

0 pts

Mod-1
8

Final Summary

StatBaseRacialTotalModCost
S
Strength
8—8-10 pts
D
Dexterity
8—8-10 pts
C
Constitution
8—8-10 pts
I
Intelligence
8—8-10 pts
W
Wisdom
8—8-10 pts
C
Charisma
8—8-10 pts
Total Points Used0 / 27

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How D&D 5e Point Buy Works

The Point Buy system gives you a budget of 27 points to distribute across your six ability scores: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Each score starts at 8 and can be raised to a maximum of 15 before racial bonuses. The cost increases as scores get higher — linearly up to 13, then at an accelerated rate. As an ability score calculator dnd 5e players can rely on, this 5e point buy tool handles the official PHB cost table automatically so you never overspend your budget.

Point Cost Table

80 pts
91 pt
102 pts
113 pts
124 pts
135 pts
147 pts
159 pts

The jump from 13 to 14 and 14 to 15 costs 2 points per step instead of 1, making high scores expensive.

Ability Score Modifiers

1-5
2-4
3-4
4-3
5-3
6-2
7-2
8-1
9-1
10+0
11+0
12+1
13+1
14+2
15+2
16+3
17+3
18+4
19+4
20+5

Frequently Asked Questions

Point Buy is one of the three official methods for determining ability scores at character creation in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (alongside rolling 4d6-drop-lowest and the standard array). You receive a fixed budget of 27 points and spend them to raise each of your six ability scores from a baseline of 8. The system ensures every player starts on equal footing — no lucky or unlucky dice rolls — making it the preferred method for organized play like D&D Adventurers League and for tables that value fairness and predictability.
No. The hard cap on any score purchased through Point Buy is 15. You cannot spend more than 9 points on a single ability score, which is exactly what it costs to raise it from 8 to 15. To reach 16 or higher at level 1, you must rely on racial or species bonuses applied after Point Buy. For example, a Mountain Dwarf gets +2 Strength and +2 Constitution, turning a purchased 15 into a 17. Reaching 18 or 20 requires waiting for Ability Score Improvements at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 19.
Racial (or species) ability score bonuses are applied after Point Buy — they do not count against your 27-point budget. This means you should plan your purchased scores with your race in mind: if your race grants +2 to Dexterity, you only need to buy Dexterity up to 13 (costing 5 points) to reach a final score of 15, saving 4 points compared to buying it to 15 directly. With the Custom Lineage option from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, you can place a +2 bonus on any single ability score, giving you maximum flexibility to optimize your build.
The cost scales linearly from 8 to 13, then accelerates: score 8 costs 0 points, 9 costs 1, 10 costs 2, 11 costs 3, 12 costs 4, 13 costs 5, 14 costs 7, and 15 costs 9 points. The jump from 13 to 14 and from 14 to 15 each cost 2 points per step instead of 1. This means pushing a single score to 15 consumes one-third of your entire budget, so the system rewards balanced spreads like 15/14/14/12/8/8 over extreme ones like 15/15/15/8/8/8 (which actually costs 29 points and is illegal).
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Points Left27