D&D Point Buy Calculator
Spend your 27 points wisely — see the cost of every ability score as you build.
27 points, six scores
Every ability runs 8–15 in point-buy, with higher scores costing more each.
15s and 14s are pricey
The jump to 14 and 15 costs two points per step, not one — budget for it.
What is point buy in D&D 5e?
A fair way to build ability scores
Point buy is a character-creation method in Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition that lets every player build balanced ability scores from a shared pool of points. Instead of rolling dice and hoping for the best, you spend a fixed budget — 27 points in the standard rules — across the six abilities, each starting at 8 and rising to a cap of 15 before racial bonuses. According to the official rules, higher scores cost progressively more, so you cannot max everything; you trade strengths against weaknesses.
Each score from 8 to 15 has a fixed cost. The first few points are cheap; the last two steps cost double.
8→0, 9→1, 10→2, 11→3, 12→4, 13→5, 14→7, 15→9Reading the table, raising a score from 8 to 13 costs one point per step, but going from 13 to 14 costs two, and 14 to 15 costs two again. That is why a 15 costs nine points while a 13 costs only five. The total budget is 27, so the popular "standard array" of 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 spends every point. Drop a score to 8 and it is free, which is how most builds afford one or two 15s — they dump an ability they do not need.
Suppose you want a fighter with 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, and 8 across the abilities.
Look up each cost
15 = 9, 14 = 7, 13 = 5, 12 = 4, 10 = 2, 8 = 0.Add them up
9 + 7 + 5 + 4 + 2 + 0 = 27 points.Check the budget
27 spent out of 27 — exactly on budget, with 0 remaining.Adjust if needed
Want a second 14? Drop another score to make room, because you have no points left.
Point buy rewards planning. A few habits stretch the budget further.
Dump a dead stat
Set an ability you will not use to 8 for free, banking points for your main scores.
Mind the 14–15 tax
Two 15s cost 18 of your 27 points; often two 14s plus a 13 is a better spread.
Plan around bonuses
Racial or background bonuses apply after point buy, so a 15 can become a 16 or 17 — aim odd scores at a +1.
According to community build guides, leaving an odd score where a bonus will round it up to the next even number squeezes more out of every point, since ability modifiers only change on even scores. If you enjoy optimising numbers like this, our Pokémon catch rate calculator crunches another game's probabilities, and our win percentage calculator handles win-loss records for your campaign or guild.
The points-spent figure tells you how much of the budget your six scores consume, and the points-remaining figure shows what is left — or, if it is negative, how far over budget you are. A legal standard build spends 27 or fewer points with every score between 8 and 15; the calculator flags a build as over budget the moment the spend exceeds the limit you set. Because the budget is adjustable, you can also model the higher-point variants some tables use for more heroic campaigns. Remember that point buy sets your scores before any species or background bonuses, so your final character may have an ability above 15 even though point buy itself caps at 15.
The maths is exact; the table rules vary.
Check your table's variant
This calculator uses the standard 5e point-buy costs and a default 27-point budget, with scores capped at 8–15 before bonuses. Some groups house-rule a different budget, allow scores outside 8–15, or use the alternative arrays and rolling methods instead — none of which this tool models. Racial, background, and feat bonuses are applied afterward and are not part of point buy. Use it to plan and validate a point-buy spread, then confirm the exact rules your Dungeon Master is running before finalising your character.