This D&D hit points calculator implements the hit point rules of fifth edition as revised in 2024, using the Level 1 Hit Points by Class and Fixed Hit Points by Class tables published in the free Basic Rules. The arithmetic is identical in the 2014 rules for a single-class character, so the totals here apply to both, but the source and the wording follow the 2024 text and the tool says so rather than leaving you to guess.
Arb Digital builds free calculators that name the source of every constant they use. There are only eight numbers behind this page — four class base values and four fixed level-up values — and all eight come from one published table linked below. Everything else is addition.
What This Hit Points Calculator Does
It answers the question most character sheets get wrong at least once: what should my hit point maximum actually be at this level? It splits the total into the part that comes from the class hit die and the part that comes from Constitution, because those two behave very differently as a character levels, and seeing them apart explains most of what is interesting about hit points in this system.
It also shows all three level-up methods at once. Fixed values are what most players take. Rolling has a genuinely different average, and it has a range that is much wider than people expect. Maximum every level is a widespread house rule and worth seeing costed. The headline number follows whichever you select, but the breakdown always shows the others so you can compare.
The two extra fields handle the things that modify hit points without being part of the core formula: anything that adds a fixed amount per level, and anything that adds a one-off lump. Keeping those as open fields rather than a list of named feats means the tool does not go stale every time a new option is published.
How to Use It
- Pick the class group. Classes are grouped by hit die because that is the only thing about the class this calculation cares about.
- Enter the level and the final Constitution score, after every species, feat and ability score improvement has been applied.
- Choose how you gain hit points after level 1. If your table lets each player choose, this is where you see what the choice is worth.
- Add anything that scales per level, such as the Tough feat at plus two per level, in the per-level field.
- Read the rolled range in the grid. It is the spread you are accepting if you choose to roll rather than take the fixed value.
The Formula: How It Is Calculated
At level 1, hit points are the class base + Constitution modifier. The 2024 Basic Rules on creating a character give the base as 12 for barbarians, 10 for fighters, paladins and rangers, 8 for bards, clerics, druids, monks, rogues and warlocks, and 6 for sorcerers and wizards — the maximum of the class hit die in each case.
At every level after the first you add either the class fixed value or a roll of the hit die, plus the Constitution modifier again. The published fixed values are 7 for the barbarian, 6 for the d10 classes, 5 for the d8 classes and 4 for the d6 classes. So the whole thing is:
HP = base + (level − 1) × per-level value + level × Constitution modifier, plus any extras.
Work through the defaults. A level 5 fighter with Constitution 16 has a modifier of floor((16 − 10) ÷ 2) = +3. Level 1 gives 10 + 3 = 13. The four levels after that give (6 + 3) × 4 = 36. The total is 49 hit points, of which 34 comes from the hit dice and 15 from Constitution.
If that fighter rolled instead, the true average of a d10 is 5.5, so the expected total is 13 + (5.5 + 3) × 4 = 47. The worst case is 13 + (1 + 3) × 4 = 29 and the best is 13 + (10 + 3) × 4 = 65. That range of 36 points, on a character whose fixed-value total is 49, is the real argument about rolling for hit points.
The Fixed Value Is Better Than Average, On Purpose
The fixed value for each class is exactly half the die plus one: 4 for a d6, 5 for a d8, 6 for a d10, 7 for a d12. The true average of those dice is 3.5, 4.5, 5.5 and 6.5. So the fixed value is always half a point better than the mean roll, at every level, for every class.
Over nineteen level-ups that is 9.5 hit points of quiet advantage, and it means that taking the fixed value is not a cautious choice trading expected value for certainty — it is the higher-expectation choice as well as the safer one. A player who rolls is accepting both a lower average and a very wide spread in exchange for the possibility of a big total.
Whether that is a good trade depends on things arithmetic cannot settle. Some tables let you reroll a 1, or set a floor at the fixed value, which changes the picture completely. If you want to see what a particular house rule does to the distribution rather than just the average, our dice probability calculator will model the underlying die, and the expected value calculator handles the comparison once you have the probabilities.
Why Constitution Matters More Than the Class Die
This is the result that surprises people. The class die contributes a fixed amount per level that you cannot change once the class is chosen. The Constitution modifier also contributes per level, but you can change it, and when you do the change applies retroactively to every level you already have.
At level 12, moving Constitution from 14 to 16 does not add two hit points. It adds one to the modifier, and that modifier is counted twelve times, so it adds twelve. At level 20 the same two points of Constitution are worth twenty hit points. That is the single largest lever any character has over their durability, and it is why Constitution is the ability score almost every build wants some of.
The comparison with the class die is instructive. The gap between a d6 class and a d10 class is two points per level after the first. The gap between a +1 and a +3 Constitution modifier is two points per level including the first. A wizard with Constitution 18 and a fighter with Constitution 10 have almost the same hit point total at every level, which is not the mental model most people carry. If you are allocating ability scores at character creation, our point buy calculator tracks the 27-point budget and shows what each score costs, which is where that trade-off is actually made.
What This Calculator Does Not Handle
Three cases fall outside the formula, and it is better to say so than to produce a confidently wrong number.
Multiclassing is the main one. A multiclassed character takes the level 1 base only from their first class, and every level in every other class uses that class’s per-level value. You can still get the right answer here by running each class separately and adding, but you must count the level 1 base only once and be careful that the Constitution modifier is counted once per character level rather than once per class.
Temporary hit points are not part of the maximum at all. They sit on top, do not stack with each other, and are lost on a long rest. Nothing on this page models them, and the rules glossary defines exactly how they interact with damage.
Effects that change the maximum during play — certain undead attacks, some magic items, particular spells — are also outside the formula. If you want to model one, put it in the flat field, including as a negative number.
How This Differs From Our Other Tabletop Tools
The point buy calculator allocates ability scores at character creation and derives modifiers; it stops before hit points. The D&D encounter difficulty calculator works in the other direction entirely, comparing monster XP against the party’s published XP budgets, and it never touches character statistics. This page is the piece between them: it turns a class, a level and one ability score into the number on the top right of the character sheet.
Arb Digital designs and builds free interactive calculators that name their sources, state which version of a rule set they implement, and earn links because they are genuinely useful. Browse what we have already published, or tell us what your audience keeps searching for.
Browse the Free Tools Hub Talk to Arb DigitalCommon Mistakes to Avoid
- Adding the Constitution modifier only once. It applies at every level, including the first, so at level 10 a +3 modifier is worth 30 hit points rather than 3.
- Rolling the hit die at level 1. You do not. Level 1 hit points are the maximum of the die plus the Constitution modifier, with no roll involved.
- Forgetting to update the total when Constitution changes. The change is retroactive across every level already gained, not just future ones.
- Counting the level 1 base once per class when multiclassing. Only the first class gives the maximum-of-die start; every other class level uses its per-level value.
- Treating temporary hit points as part of the maximum. They sit above it, do not stack, and vanish on a long rest.
Related Free Tools From Arb Digital
Set the ability scores first with the point buy calculator, then plan what those characters face with the D&D encounter difficulty calculator. On the dice side, the dice probability calculator gives you the distribution behind any roll, the dice roller handles the rolling, and the expected value calculator weighs one option against another. For a different game entirely, the Minecraft circle generator is on the same shelf. Everything else is on the free online tools hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fifth edition as revised in 2024, using the Level 1 Hit Points by Class and Fixed Hit Points by Class tables from the free Basic Rules. For a single-class character the 2014 arithmetic is the same, so the totals apply to both, but the tables and wording followed here are the 2024 ones.
Take the class base at level 1 and add the Constitution modifier. For every level after that, add either the class fixed value or a roll of the hit die, plus the Constitution modifier again. A level 5 fighter with Constitution 16 gets 10 plus 3 at first level, then 6 plus 3 four more times, for 49.
No. At level 1 you take the maximum value of your class hit die and add your Constitution modifier. Rolling only becomes an option from level 2 onwards, and even then you may take the fixed value instead.
On average, yes. The fixed value is half the die plus one, which is exactly half a point above the die's true mean, at every level and for every class. Over nineteen level-ups that is 9.5 hit points, so taking the fixed value gives both a higher expected total and no variance.
The whole total goes up, retroactively. The modifier is counted once per character level, so at level 12 raising Constitution from 14 to 16 adds twelve hit points rather than two. That retroactive effect is what makes Constitution the strongest lever on durability.
Not in one pass. Run each class separately, count the level 1 maximum-of-die base only for your first class, use each other class's per-level value for its levels, and make sure the Constitution modifier is counted once per character level rather than once per class.
Put 2 in the extra hit points per level field. Anything else that scales with level goes there too, and one-off bonuses or penalties go in the flat field, which accepts negative numbers.
This page reproduces a published rules calculation and nothing more. Tables vary in the house rules they apply to rolling for hit points, published options change between rule set revisions, and your Dungeon Master’s ruling governs at your table.
