How this instrument works
Point buy is one of three official ways D&D 5e characters get their starting ability scores (the others being a standard array and rolling). Every score from 8 to 15 has a fixed point cost — 8 costs 0 points, 9 costs 1, and the cost keeps climbing by roughly 1 point per score until it accelerates at the top: 14 costs 7 points and 15 costs 9, reflecting that very high stats are disproportionately expensive on purpose.
This instrument sums the cost of all six ability scores — Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma — against the official cost table, so you can see your total spend as you experiment with different arrays. The standard budget is 27 points, letting you build anything from three high stats and three low ones (like 15, 15, 15, 8, 8, 8) to a flatter, more generalist spread (like 13, 13, 13, 12, 12, 12), as long as the total cost doesn't exceed 27.
Because the cost curve isn't linear, point buy rewards spreading investment rather than maxing a single stat: going from 13 to 14 costs 2 extra points, but going from 14 to 15 costs another 2 — meaning the last point of a score above 13 is twice as expensive as scores below it. This calculator makes that tradeoff visible instantly instead of requiring you to add up a printed table by hand.
- Enter each of your six ability scores — STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA — as a whole number between 8 and 15.
- Read Total point-buy cost (of a 27-point budget) for the summed cost of all six scores under the official cost table.
- Compare the total against your table's budget — 27 points is the standard D&D 5e default, though some DMs allow a different budget as a house rule.
- Every score must fall between 8 and 15 before racial bonuses are applied — the instrument will flag any score outside that range.
- Adjust individual scores and watch the total update to explore different builds within your point budget.
Worked example — a 15/14/13/12/10/8 spread
Enter STR 15, DEX 14, CON 13, INT 12, WIS 10, CHA 8. Looking up each score's cost: 15 costs 9, 14 costs 7, 13 costs 5, 12 costs 4, 10 costs 2, and 8 costs 0.
Total point-buy cost = 9 + 7 + 5 + 4 + 2 + 0 = 27 — exactly the standard 27-point budget spent in full. This is a classic 'one priority stat' build: a single very high score (15 in this case, likely the character's main attack or spellcasting stat), a supporting secondary score (14), a solid Constitution (13) for survivability, and the remaining scores dropping off toward the 8 minimum.
Questions
What's the standard point buy budget in D&D 5e?
27 points is the default budget in the official rules, spent across six ability scores each ranging from 8 to 15 before racial or other bonuses. Some Dungeon Masters offer a higher budget (commonly 30 or more) as a house rule for a slightly more powerful starting character, but 27 is what the published rules use by default.
Why does going from 14 to 15 cost 2 points instead of 1?
The official cost table deliberately accelerates at the top end: scores 8 through 13 each cost exactly 1 more point than the score below them, but 14 costs 7 (2 more than 13's cost of 5) and 15 costs 9 (2 more than 14). This makes the very highest scores disproportionately expensive, discouraging min-maxing a single stat all the way to the point-buy cap.
Can I go above 15 or below 8 with point buy?
No — 8 and 15 are the hard floor and ceiling for point buy before any racial or background bonuses are applied afterward. If you want a score above 15, you'll need a race, feat, or class feature that adds to it after the point-buy stage; point buy itself can't produce a score outside 8-15.
What if my total cost comes out under 27 points?
You can spend the leftover points on any of your six scores, since the official rules assume you'll use your full budget for the strongest possible starting array. There's no rule against spending fewer than 27 points if you deliberately want a weaker character, but most players use the calculator to confirm they've spent right up to (not over) the limit.
How does point buy compare to the standard array or rolling for stats?
The standard array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) happens to cost exactly 27 points under this table, meaning it's just one specific point-buy allocation among many possible ones. Point buy gives you flexibility to rearrange those same points differently, while rolling (typically 4d6, drop the lowest, six times) introduces randomness that can produce totals well above or below a 27-point-equivalent array.