DnD stats explained

The six DnD stats - Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma - represent a character's strengths and weaknesses. Fighters need a high Strength score to swing a blade, Wizards need great Intelligence to understand the secrets of magic, and Bards must have plenty of Charisma to charm people with their honeyed words. This comprehensive guide explains all the Dungeons and Dragons stats, what different Ability Score values actually mean, how to calculate stats, and much more besides.

You can also use our compendium of DnD classes to track which stats are most important for each type of character. If you're playing with the 'classic' 2014 DnD 5e rules, our guide to DnD races will help, as your hero's species will modify some of their stats. In the 2024 rules, it's a character's background that modifies their stats - read our DnD backgrounds explainer for details.

For now, use the links below to learn more about specific stats, or explore our rules FAQ to find out how they all work in-game!

What do DnD stats mean?

The six DnD stats, or 'Ability Scores', are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. The first three (STR, DEX, and CON) represent a character's physical attributes, while the second three (INT, WIS, and CHA) denote their mental and social characteristics.

This classic Tumblr post gives an excellent description of what each of the stats allows a character to do, in terms of a tomato:

• Strength - helps you crush a tomato.
• Dexterity - helps you catch a thrown tomato.
• Constitution - helps you eat a bad tomato and not be sick.
• Intelligence - helps you understand why a tomato is a fruit.
• Wisdom - helps you recognize that a tomato shouldn't be in a fruit salad.
• Charisma - helps you to sell a fruit salad made of tomatoes by marketing it as salsa.

For each of these stats, you will record a number on your character sheet, called an Ability Score - the higher the number, the more effective the character is with that stat. This is mostly represented by a bonus or penalty called the Ability Modifier, which is used to modify 'D20 test' rolls.

For example, when making an attack with an axe, you would add your Strength Modifier to the Attack Roll to determine if you hit. If your character drank poison, they would add their Constitution modifier to the Saving Throw to see if they survive. Or when trying to balance on a tightrope, they would add their Dexterity modifier to the Skill Check.

Some stats also modify other parts of your character which aren't used for rolls. Let's explain what each of the stats represents, and what it's used for, in more detail:

DnD Strength

Strength measures bodily power, athletic training, and the extent to which you can exert raw physical force. The DnD Strength modifier helps you calculate Athletics skill checks; most melee attack rolls and damage; and how much you can lift and carry.

A character's Strength score and size affect how much they can carry, push, drag, or lift. Generally, a character can carry 15lb of equipment for each point of Strength they have, and they can push, drag, or lift twice that much.

However, the size rules make the calculation a little more complicated. Here's how the Player's Handbook does the math:

To help paint a mental picture, we've worked out some real world objects that a Medium or Small character would be able to carry based on their Strength score. We've taken off 5lb for their clothes, shoes, and a rucksack:

• 1 - a pet cat.
• 2 - a box of paper reams.
• 3 - a bag of dog food.
• 4 - a husky.
• 5 - a packed suitcase.
• 6 - a truck wheel.
• 7 - a punching bag.
• 8 - a North Pacific Giant Octopus with a bag of hard candy in each tentacle.
• 9 - an Irish wolfhound.
• 10 - three bags of cement.
• 11 - a beer keg, plus some glasses.
• 12 - a Russian gray wolf.
• 13 - an adult male red kangaroo.
• 14 -  a large wardrobe.
• 15 - two toilets.
• 16 - a bedroom dresser.
• 17 - a tapir.
• 18 - a gray seal.

DnD Dexterity

Dexterity measures agility, reflexes, and balance. The DnD Dexterity modifier contributes to Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth checks; most ranged and some melee attack rolls and damage; your Armor Class; and Initiative rolls.

Here's what different Dexterity scores mean for a character:

• 1 - barely mobile.
• 2-3 - badly uncoordinated, with little or no hand-eye coordination.
• 4-5 - often trips or stumbles, struggles with tasks that require manual precision.
• 6-7 - graceless, artless.
• 8-9 - sometimes clumsy.
• 10-11 - totally average.
• 12-13 - well poised and balanced, careful and crafty with their hands.
• 14-15 - moves elegantly, manipulates things carefully and precisely.
• 16-17 - has a dancer's control over their body, and is capable of extremely subtle and precise manual tasks.
• 18 - the body of a ballerina and the hands of a locksmith.

DnD Constitution

Constitution measures health, stamina, and vital force. The DnD Constitution modifier isn't used for any specific skill checks, but it's relevant to feats of endurance like holding your breath, surviving poisons, or going without sleep.

Typically, a character's maximum hit points increase by their Hit Die plus their Constitution modifier at every level. Constitution is also particularly important for spellcasters, who must make Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration on certain spells when they take damage.

Here's what different Constitution scores mean for a character:

• 1 - just about breathing.
• 2-3 - frail, brittle, permanently exhausted.
• 4-5 - usually sickly, little resilience.
• 6-7 - out of shape, prone to illness.
• 8-9 - a little out of shape, a little more prone to getting sick.
• 10-11 - totally average.
• 12-13 - sturdy, in good health, pretty fit.
• 14-15 - tough, in great health, very fit.
• 16-17 - physically robust, almost never ill.
• 18 - a perfect physique, tireless, unyielding.

DnD Intelligence

Intelligence measures mental acuity, accuracy of recall, and the ability to reason. Your Intelligence modifier helps calculate Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, and Religion skill checks, plus the spellcasting ability score of Wizards and Artificers.

Here's what different Intelligence scores mean for a character:

• 1  - an instinctual animal.
• 2-3 - a conscious animal.
• 4-5 - minimum level for sentience - struggles to reason logically at all or to retain information.
• 6-7 - dim, may struggle to connect ideas, often comes to the wrong conclusions from information.
• 8-9 -  makes more errors than usual when reasoning, sometimes struggles to retain knowledge.
• 10-11 - totally average.
• 12-13 - can reason quickly, make novel connections among ideas.
• 14-15 - can reason rapidly and accurately, retain and process complex information.
• 16-17 - can understand, retain, recall, and reason with very complex information rapidly.
• 18 - profound genius.

DnD Wisdom

Wisdom reflects how attuned you are to the world around you and represents perceptiveness and intuition. Your Wisdom modifier contributes to Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, and Survival skill checks, plus the spellcasting ability of Clerics, Druids, and Rangers.

Here's what different Wisdom scores mean for a character:

• 1  - extreme perceptual difficulties, a profound disconnect from reality, or both.
• 2-3 - struggles to perceive their surroundings and situation correctly, either due to sensory impairment or a lack of mental focus.
• 4-5 - usually distracted and easily misled - frequently misapprehends the situation.
• 6-7 - prone to zoning out, taking things at face value, or overlooking obvious clues.
• 8-9 - prone to errors or oversights in judgment and perception.
• 10-11 - totally average.
• 12-13 - a good eye for detail, quick wit, or clear head.
• 14-15 - very good senses, great situational awareness, canny in social situations.
• 16-17 - keenly aware of the environment and changes within it - seldom misses a clue, insinuation, or lie.
• 18 - perfect awareness of surroundings, context, and implications - extremely hard to get anything past them.

DnD Charisma

Charisma measures your ability to interact effectively with others. Your Charisma modifier helps calculate Deception, Intimidation, Performance, and Persuasion skill checks, plus the spellcasting ability of Bards, Paladins, Sorcerers, and Warlocks.

Here's what different Charisma scores mean for a character:

• 1 - profoundly hateful, repellent, or boring.
• 2-3 - deeply disagreeable, whether through incompetence, malice, or blandness.
• 4-5 - unlikable, tedious, or simply socially oblivious.
• 6-7 - prone to making gaffes, over-estimating their abilities, or boring others.
• 8-9 - somewhat socially inept or dull.
• 10-11 - totally average.
• 12-13 - good presence and social skills.
• 14 -15 - assured social skills, a smooth operator.
• 16-17  - an accomplished orator, performer, diplomat, or liar.
• 18 - even their worst enemies can't help but respond to them - their personality lights up a room.

How to pick stats

It can be easy for new players to assume that increasing all your DnD stats equally is the best tactic. Surely a jack-of-all-trades approach is best, right? That way you'll have no weaknesses.

Unfortunately, you don't have enough Ability Score increases to sustain this attitude. Stat boosts are far and few between, so trying to maintain all six means that, overall, you'll be worse off than someone who chose to specialize.

Most experienced character builders opt to increase their most important stats first and as fast as possible. Other stats are either increased later on or not at all (this is when they become known as a 'dump' stat).

When deciding how to pick stats for your character, start by prioritizing your 'primary ability score'. The Player's Handbook lists a key ability score for each class. This is usually your spellcasting ability or, if you can't use magic, your main method of attack.

Most classes only rely on a single stat to function. We call this SAD (Single Ability Score Dependent). For example, a Wizard only really needs a high Intelligence to be good at casting spells.

For SAD characters, your second stat to focus on is usually Constitution. This boosts your maximum hit points and your ability to concentrate on spells, so it's key to the survival of pretty much any character.

For some classes, there is an argument for making Dexterity your second-most important stat. This increases your armor class, so it's handy for defense. It's also tied to a lot more useful skills than Constitution.

Not every class is SAD, though. At the other end of the scale are MAD (Multiple Ability Score Dependent) characters. These classes must focus on two or more stats in order to excel. For example, a Paladin uses Charisma for spellcasting, but they also need a high Strength score for smites. Similarly, a Monk fuels their Focus with Wisdom, but they'll need Dexterity for attacking and defending in melee.

In this case, some players aim to increase these stats at an equal pace. Others prefer to lean more heavily on one than the other. A Paladin that doesn't do too much spellcasting with Charisma is still perfectly playable as long as you build around their Strength score.

MAD characters still benefit from high Constitution or Dexterity scores, but these become tougher to prioritize when you want to juggle more than one primary Ability Score.

How to calculate DnD stats

You will generate a character's base DnD stats using one of three main methods - your Dungeon Master can tell you which they prefer you to use in your campaign.

The three methods of calculating your base DnD stats are:

1. Rolling
2. Standard array
3. Points buy (27 rule)

If you're using the 2014 rules, your character's race or species will increase some of the stats that you just generated. Once this is done, you have your starting stats, and these determine what modifiers your character has.

If you're playing from the 2024 Player's Handbook, your background decides these ability score increases instead. The process of rolling your stats remains the same, however - roll up your numbers with a method of your choice and then select a background that buffs your class' most important stats.

How do you roll for DnD stats?

To roll for a character's DnD stats, roll 4D6, remove the lowest die result, and note the total. Do this six times to generate six numbers between three and 18, then assign each of these numbers to one of your stats. Voila! You have your base stats, ready to add any bonuses from your character's race.

Randomly rolled stats can have more extreme results than other methods, and you are at the mercy of luck. It's the only way to get a base stat above 15 (before you add bonuses) at character creation. It's generally more favored by players that enjoy exploring characters' big weaknesses - because you could well end up with some stats so low you'll take a minus two or minus three to your roll every time you use them!

Things used to be even more extreme, though. In the very first edition of D&D, character stats were always generated by rolling dice, with a strict system: you'd roll 3D6 for each stat in order, and weren't allowed to rearrange them - meaning your Fighter could end up lumbered with a Strength of four and and Intelligence of 18. Modern stat rolling is much more forgiving!

What is the DnD standard array?

Standard array is a fixed, balanced set of numbers that you can use for your characters' base stats: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. You will use each number in the array for one stat. It's equivalent to making average dice rolls, or building a balanced character with points buy.

The main advantages of using the standard array system are speed and reliability. There's no random chance involved - you can simply plop the bigger scores onto the most important stats for your chosen class, giving your a character a basic statline that's optimized for the type of role you're intending to play in the party, but also balanced across other stats. Most importantly, you'll only have one true 'dump' stat below ten.

On the downside, of course, you won't have any truly excellent ability scores. Not only is it impossible to get any ability score higher than 15, but you'll only have one stat at 15. By rolling for stats, you could end up with 18s for everything - so the question is: are you feeling lucky, punk?

How does the DnD points buy system work?

The points buy system gives you 27 points to spend on your DnD stats, with each stat value costing a fixed number of points. This is sometimes called the D&D '27 rule'.

The points buy system is the most fiddly way to calculate stats, but it gives you the most control over your character's core abilities.

How to increase DnD stats

When a character levels up, they may be able to improve their stats. At certain specific levels, the character will have the option to either improve one stat by two points, or two stats by one point. This may change the modifier they receive from that stat.

Most classes get stat improvements at fourth, eighth, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, but the Fighter and Rogue both also receive stat improvements at sixth and 14th level. A multiclass character does not gain stat improvements based on its overall level, but on each class level separately - so a second-level Fighter / second-level Wizard would not receive a stat improvement.

Whenever a character gains a stat improvement, they may instead take a feat. These provide different unique abilities and sometimes allow the player to increase one of two specified stats by a single point. Newer feats from the 2024 Player's Handbook and beyond function in the same way, but they're far more likely to give you a +1 stat boost along with their unique ability.

Magic items

Standard Ability Score increases can get your stats up to level 20, but there aren't many things in the D&D multiverse that can power a character's stats above 20 and up to 30. However, a few rare magic items will give your character a straight-up boost to key stats.

The most impactful of these are the infamous, single-use Tomes and Manuals, each of which permanently increases a given stat by 2. All are Very Rare, Wondrous Items that you should expect to find very occasionally. You'll need to study the book for 48 hours over a period of six days to get the effect - after that it can be used again, but only after a century.

These items are:

• Manual of Gainful Exercise - increase STR by 2
• Manual of Quickness of Action - increase DEX by 2
• Manual of Bodily Health - increase CON by 2
• Tome of Clear Thought - increase INT by 2
• Tome of Understanding - increase WIS by 2
• Tome of Leadership and Influence - increase CHA by 2

Beyond that, there are a variety of magic items that grant you buffs to stats only while you have them equipped.

These are also all very rare, but the most commonly seen are:

• Ioun Stones - small stones that float around your head, conferring +2 to a given stat, depending on the type of stone - to a maximum of 20. Others can give temporary bonuses to AC, Proficiency Bonus, and more.
• Belt of Dwarvenkind - increases CON by 2 to a maximum of 20. Also gives you 60ft of Darkvision, resistance to poison and Advantage on saves against poisoned, makes you better at persuading Dwarves, and gives you a 50% chance of growing a beard every day.
• Gauntlets of Ogre power - sets your STR to 19 exactly, but has no effect if you're already at 19 or higher.
• Belt of Giant Strength - sets your STR to a given total between 21 and 29, depending on the type of Giant.
• Amulet of Health - sets your CON to 19 exactly, but has no effect if you're already at 19 or higher.
• Headband of Intellect - sets your INT to 19 exactly, but has no effect if you're already at 19 or higher.

DnD stats FAQ - all the rules to know

Above we've explained the six core D&D stats, what they mean in the game, and what they allow your character to do - but you'll need to know a bit more than that to apply your ability scores in the game, and use theme effectively when building characters. Read on for our expert, no-nonsense answers to the most important stats-related rules questions.

What are Ability Score modifiers?

For each of your character's core DnD stats, you get an Ability Score modifier that gives you a bonus or penalty to dice rolls when you attempt to do stuff in the game. 

Each Ability Score value has a corresponding modifier, which will apply to dice rolls made when using that ability. For instance, a character with a Strength of eight has a -1 penalty on Strength (Athletics) skill checks as a result of their Ability modifier.

These are all the Ability modifiers for different Ability Score values:

There is actually a mathematical relationship between the Ability Score and the modifier:

Ability modifier = (Ability Score / 2) - 5, rounded down.

What are the max DnD stats?

The Ability Score Increase feat can increase any DnD stat to a maximum of 20. However, it's possible to buff an ability score even further by magical means.

Certain magic items, such as the Belt of Giant Strength, allow you to bypass that 20-point ceiling. Plus, in the latest version of the rules, the Epic Boon feats can be used to increase a stat to a maximum of 30. 30 is generally considered the absolute maximum a stat can reach, and it's rare any character will buff an ability score to such heights.

What are the average DnD stats?

The Player's Handbook says that average humanoids have ability scores of 10 or 11 for each DnD stat.

This helps put your character's abilities into perspective: even if your Strength-focused Barbarian has an Intelligence of 10, they're still no dumber than the average human. They might struggle slightly in conversation with a Charisma of 8, but a Strength score of 14 means they already have superhuman muscles at fairly low levels.

Does your character's race affect their stats?

No, in the newest 2024 version of the DnD rules, your choice of species doesn't make any difference to your character's base Ability Scores. Instead, your choice of background will often apply stat changes.

However, in the original 2014 version of fifth edition D&D, your character's race did increase and decrease certain basic Ability Scores. For example Dwarves in the 2014 rules get +2 to Constitution and Wisdom, but a -2 to Charisma.

Wizards of the Coast decided to change these rules partly to move D&D away from the concept of 'biological determinism' - i.e. the idea that a character's species automatically confers certain traits, regardless of the individual. Characters' basic stats are now mainly influenced by their lives and experiences before the adventure begins, rather than which fantasy race they belong to.

How do monsters affect DnD stats?

In very rare cases, an encounter with a monster can affect your character's stats. This is a particularly brutal power as, in most cases, these creatures can kill you instantly when the stat they're draining reaches a certain number. Luckily, your stats return to normal when you take a long rest.

Examples of these monsters include:

• Shadow
• Intellect Devourer (2014 rules only)
• Vargouille
• Hydroloth
• Maurezhi
• Dyrrn

For more rules explainers, here's all you need to know about DnD damage types. Or, if you want to keep up with the latest RPG books, here's everything coming up on this year's DnD release schedule.

This guide directly presents rules text for DnD Attributes, published by Wizards of the Coast under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.