This point buy calculator handles the arithmetic behind building a fifth edition character with the point buy method: six scores, a fixed budget, and a cost table that is deliberately not linear. The non-linearity is the whole design — the last point of a high score costs more than the first — and it is what makes the allocation an actual decision rather than a formality.
Arb Digital publishes this in a free tools library covering the maths behind practical and recreational projects alike. This page counts points and derives modifiers. It does not recommend a build, does not know your class or your table's house rules, and does not replace the rulebook.
What This Point Buy Calculator Does
Set each of the six abilities to a value between 8 and 15, which is the range point buy allows, and the tool totals the cost against your budget. Add any bonuses your species, background or table rules give you, and it shows the final scores and every resulting modifier.
Four supporting figures make the trade-offs visible. Points remaining tells you whether the build is legal and whether anything is left over. The highest final score is the one your primary ability is capped by. The sum of modifiers is a rough measure of how spread out the build is. And the count of odd final scores flags points that are currently doing nothing, since a modifier only moves on even numbers.
The nearest tools on the site do different jobs entirely. The dice roller generates random results if your table rolls for scores instead of buying them, and the dice probability calculator computes the odds of particular dice outcomes — including how likely a rolled array is to beat a bought one.
How to Use It
- Confirm the budget. 27 points is the published standard; anything else is a table decision.
- Set the six scores. Every ability starts at 8 for free, and each increase above that has a cost.
- Add your bonuses separately. Bonuses are applied after the points are spent, which is why a 15 can become a 17 without costing extra.
- Watch the remaining points. Overspending shows as a negative figure, so the build is not legal until it returns to zero or above.
- Check the odd-score count. Each odd score means one point of increase is sitting unused until you can pair it.
The Formula: The Cost Table and Why It Curves
Point buy uses a published cost table rather than a formula. Under the rules published in the free character creation rules on D&D Beyond, you have 27 points to spend, and the cost of each score is: 8 costs 0, 9 costs 1, 10 costs 2, 11 costs 3, 12 costs 4, 13 costs 5, 14 costs 7 and 15 costs 9.
Read the steps rather than the totals and the design becomes obvious. Going from 8 to 13 costs one point per step. Going from 13 to 14 costs two, and from 14 to 15 costs two again. That escalation at the top is what stops everyone simply maximising two abilities and leaving the rest at 8.
Modifiers come from a separate rule. As the basic rules on using ability scores state, you subtract 10 from the score and divide by 2, rounding down. A 15 gives +2, a 16 gives +3, a 17 gives +3 as well, and an 18 gives +4.
Worked example, which is the default on this page. Scores of 15, 14, 13, 12, 10 and 8 cost 9 + 7 + 5 + 4 + 2 + 0 = 27 points exactly, leaving nothing. Add a +2 to Strength and a +1 to Constitution and the final scores become 17, 14, 14, 12, 10 and 8, with modifiers of +3, +2, +2, +1, +0 and −1 — a total of +7. The highest final score is 17, and one score, that 17, sits at an odd number, so the next single-point increase you earn will be worth a full modifier step.
The Odd Number Problem
Because a modifier only changes on even scores, an odd score is a half-finished purchase. A character with a 15 and a character with a 14 have identical modifiers of +2. The point that took 14 to 15 bought nothing at all — yet, and it costs two points rather than one.
That produces the single most useful heuristic in point buy: spend to an even final score wherever you can. If a bonus is going to add an odd amount, buy an odd base so they pair up. A 15 plus a +1 is 16 and a +3 modifier; a 14 plus a +1 is 15 and still +2. The same two points do very different work depending on what lands on top of them.
The exception is a score you plan to increase later. Ability score improvements arrive as the character advances, and a 15 that becomes a 16 at the first improvement is not wasted — it is prepaid. Whether that is worth two points now depends on how long the campaign is expected to run, which is a table question and not an arithmetic one.
Point Buy Against the Standard Array and Rolling
There are three common ways to generate scores and they produce different distributions. The standard array of 15, 14, 13, 12, 10 and 8 is exactly what 27 points buys if you spread them evenly, which is why it is offered as a preset here — it is a point buy result, pre-solved.
Rolling produces a wider spread. It can generate scores above 15 and below 8, neither of which point buy allows, so a rolled character can be considerably stronger or weaker than any bought one. That variance is the appeal for some tables and the objection for others, and it is why many groups use point buy specifically to keep six characters at comparable power.
The comparison people usually want is whether rolling beats 27 points on average. That depends entirely on the rolling method the table uses, and it is a probability question rather than a rules one — the dice probability calculator is the tool for working out the distribution of a particular method, and the dice roller will generate the rolls themselves if you decide to take the risk.
Spreading Points Versus Concentrating Them
The escalating cost at the top of the table creates a genuine strategic tension. Buying a single 15 costs 9 points — a third of the budget on one ability. Buying three 12s costs 12 points for three abilities. Which is better depends on how much a character leans on one number.
A character whose effectiveness runs almost entirely through one ability gains a lot from concentrating, because that one modifier applies constantly. A character who draws on several abilities, or one who expects to be exposed to a wide range of saving throws, gains more from a flatter spread. The sum-of-modifiers figure on this page is a crude proxy for that: a spread build usually shows a higher total than a concentrated one for the same points, because the expensive top-end purchases buy fewer modifier steps per point.
The one thing point buy almost never rewards is dumping every unused ability to 8. Each 8 saves at most a couple of points compared to a 10, and the difference between a −1 and a +0 modifier shows up in exactly the situations you did not plan for. Two points is a cheap insurance premium.
House Rules and What Actually Governs
Point buy is a variant to begin with, and tables modify it freely. Common variations include a larger budget, allowing scores below 8 to refund points, allowing purchases above 15, and changing the cost of the top steps. The budget selector here covers the most common budget changes; anything more exotic is outside what a general calculator can model.
Bonus rules have also changed between editions of the rules, moving from fixed species bonuses to more flexible allocations. That is why this page takes bonuses as free numeric inputs rather than offering a species list: a list would be wrong for half the tables using it, and the arithmetic is identical either way.
Whatever your table has decided, the rulebook and the person running the game govern, not this page. Use it to count points and derive modifiers quickly, then check anything unusual against the rules you are actually playing with.
Arb Digital's free tools library covers the audience, content and measurement maths behind growing an online following, and our team is happy to talk through anything the tools cannot answer.
Browse Free Tools Talk to Arb DigitalCommon Mistakes to Avoid
- Adding bonuses before spending points — the cost table applies to the base score only, so bonuses never cost anything.
- Leaving a final score on an odd number — the modifier does not move until it is even, so that last point is currently doing nothing.
- Assuming costs are linear — the steps from 13 to 14 and 14 to 15 cost two points each, not one, which is where a third of the budget disappears.
- Dumping every spare ability to 8 — the saving is small and the exposure shows up in the situations you did not plan for.
- Building around a house rule nobody confirmed — 27 points is the published budget, and anything else needs agreeing with whoever runs the game.
Related Free Tools From Arb Digital
Use the dice roller if your table generates scores by rolling, the dice probability calculator to compare rolling methods against a fixed budget, the probability calculator for general event probability, the percentage calculator for quick proportional arithmetic, and the expected value calculator for weighing uncertain outcomes. Everything else is in the free online tools hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Twenty-seven. The published character creation rules give you 27 points to spend across the six abilities, with each score costing an amount set by the cost table rather than by a formula.
8 costs 0, 9 costs 1, 10 costs 2, 11 costs 3, 12 costs 4, 13 costs 5, 14 costs 7 and 15 costs 9. The jump to two points per step at the top is what makes maximising two abilities expensive.
No. The cost table applies to the base score you buy, and bonuses are added afterwards. That is why a purchased 15 can become a 17 without spending anything extra.
Subtract 10 from the score and divide by 2, rounding down. A 15 gives +2, a 16 gives +3, a 17 also gives +3, and an 18 gives +4. Only even scores move the modifier.
Because the modifier does not change until the score is even, so the last point spent is not doing anything yet. Pair an odd base with an odd bonus so the total lands on an even number.
The array 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 costs exactly 27 points, so it is one valid point buy result. Point buy simply lets you distribute the same budget differently.
Not under the standard rules — point buy runs from 8 to 15 before bonuses. Some tables house-rule wider ranges, which is a decision for whoever is running the game.
Rolling has a wider spread, so it can produce results well above or well below anything point buy allows. Whether that is better depends on the rolling method and on what your table wants from character generation.
This tool performs arithmetic against a published cost table. Dungeons & Dragons is a product of Wizards of the Coast and this page is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Rules vary between editions and between tables, and the rulebook and the person running your game are the authority.
