D&D 5e Ability Scores Explained

What Are Ability Checks in 5e?

Ability Checks in 5e are certain rolls that use a corresponding Ability Score.

Ability Checks are rolls that use an Ability Score. But, not every roll that uses an Ability Score is an Ability Check.

Confused?

Alright, so, here’s the deal; you have ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls. Even though the latter two use Ability Score Modifiers, saving throws and attack rolls are not Ability Checks. Basically, Ability Checks are for any roll that isn’t an attack or save.

If this sounds like it’s a matter of semantics, you’d be right. But, the distinction is important because of certain in-game spells and effects.

For example, the guidance cantrip states "…the target can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to one ability check of its choice." While the 1st level spell bless states "Whenever a target makes an attack roll or a saving throw before the spell ends, the target can roll a d4 and add the number rolled…."

Guidance affects ability checks while bless affects attacks and saves.

This demonstrates that each of these rolls are, in fact, different from each other. So, it’s important to understand the difference between ability checks and the other types of rolls.

Wizards even addressed this in a Sage Advice article asking if attack rolls are ability checks. So, don’t just take my word for it.

Basically, skill checks or other rolls that use an Ability Score Modifier that aren’t saving throws, attack rolls, or spell effects are Ability Checks.

D&D 5e Ability Scores: Strength

Strength in D&D 5e measures how physically strong your character is.

Fairly straightforward. A high strength score means your character is very physically capable. You use Strength for the Athletics skill (usually) and for melee and Thrown weapon attacks and damage.

Some examples of when you’d make a Strength ability check would be:

• Making an attack with a longsword
• Lifting a heavy boulder
• Kicking in a door
• Carrying a wounded ally
• Throwing a javelin at a target

D&D 5e Ability Scores: Dexterity

Dexterity in D&D 5e informs you of how quick and agile your character is.

This Ability Score has a bit of a reputation because it affects so many aspects of your character. It affects your Initiative Modifier, Armor Class, certain skill rolls, and ranged and Finesse weapon attacks.

A high Dexterity means your character is more agile. They’re able to act quicker in combat. And, they affect a few skills.

• Acrobatics
• Sleight of Hand
• Stealth

So, some examples of when you use the Dexterity Ability Score include:

• Making an attack with a longbow
• Increasing your Armor Class for light and medium armor
• Rolling out of a short drop to reduce fall damage
• Sneaking past a group of guard
• Picking the pocket of a drunk nobleperson

D&D 5e Ability Scores: Constitution

The Constitution Ability Score affects how hardy your character is.

Constitution is a bit more of a passive Ability Score for D&D 5e. It doesn’t have any associated skills. So, you use it mostly as a Saving Throw against certain affects.

The biggest aspect of Constitution is it determines how many hit points you have in D&D 5e.

That being said, spellcasters use Constitution to make Concentration saving throws for certain spell effects.

Some examples of when you use Constitution are:

• Adding your Constitution modifier to your hit point increase at level up
• Making a saving throw against an ingested poison
• Rolling a Concentration save to maintain a spell’s effect

D&D 5e Ability Scores: Intelligence

Intelligence in D&D 5e is how smart your character is.

Usually, this means "book smarts." Your character gained knowledge through tutelage or academic learning. So, the Intelligence Ability Score covers quite a few skills in 5e:

• Arcana
• History
• Investigation
• Nature
• Religion

Each of these skills use Intelligence as each one requires some form of education to understand.

Now, Artificers, Wizards, Eldritch Knight Fighters, and Arcane Trickster Rogues all use Intelligence as their Spellcasting Ability. So, this Ability Score determines these a player character’s Spell Save Difficulty Class (DC) and Spell Attack Modifier.

Some examples of when you use Intelligence in D&D 5e are:

• Attempting to understand an enchantment on a door
• Recalling the history of an ancient battle site
• Sorting through papers to decipher a code
• Knowing which plants are poisonous
• Making spell attacks as a Wizard

D&D 5e Ability Scores: Wisdom

Wisdom in D&D 5e is your character’s ability to read and understand the world around them.

This Ability Score is one of the more nuanced ones. It’s difficult to explain exactly what is stands for.

Personally, Wisdom is your character’s perceptiveness. It also represents your willpower, how well your character resists outside forces that attempt to affect their mind, and their intuition.

The biggest thing that Wisdom affects that applies to all player characters is your Perception skill. Basically, this skill is how well you perceive your surroundings. Looking an area over, listening for a patrol, smelling for leaking fumes, and many, many other situations call for a Wisdom (Perception) check. So, having a high Wisdom helps a lot.

There are quite a few skills that Wisdom affects:

• Animal Handling
• Insight
• Medicine
• Perception
• Survival

Now, Wisdom is another Spellcasting Ability for some classes. Clerics, Druids, and Rangers use Wisdom. So, if you’re playing one of these classes, you should have a decent Wisdom score.

Some examples of when you use Wisdom in D&D 5e are:

• Attempting to hear when a patrol returns
• Reading a shady non-player character to see if they’re trustworthy
• Resisting a fear affect with a Wisdom saving throw
• Finding food for the party while out in the wilderness
• Making saves harder for spellcasters that use Wisdom

D&D 5e Ability Scores: Charisma

Charisma in D&D 5e is your character’s force of personality and how well they interact with other people.

Basically, if you have a high Charisma, you’re good at talking to/with/at others. As such, there are a few skills that Charisma affects:

• Deception
• Intimidation
• Performance
• Persuasion

Each of these skills represent some form of Charisma. Your ability to lie, subjugate, entertain, or placate all fall under these. If you’re interacting with an NPC, you’re probably gonna roll one of these Ability Checks.

As the last of the "cerebral" Ability Scores, Charisma acts as the Spellcasting Ability for Bards, Paladins, Sorcerers, and Warlocks. So, you should have a good Charisma score if you’re playing one of these classes.

Examples of when you use Charisma in D&D 5e are:

• Lying to a guard about who started the bar fight
• Intimidating a captured bandit for information about their boss
• Playing an instrument for a crowd in the town square
• Smooth-talking your way into a high-end gambling den

Rolling Ability Scores: 3d6

The most basic way to roll Ability Scores in D&D 5e is roll 3 6-sided dice for each stat.

This is the traditional way to roll for stats. There’s little fluff to it. What you roll is what you get.

On average, you’ll roll a 10 or 11 (the actual average for 3d6 is 10.5) for your Ability Scores if you roll 3d6. But, you can roll as low as a 3 or as high as an 18. Resulting in characters who are awful at something or amazing at something starting from 1^st level.

Rolling Ability Scores: 4d6 & Drop the Lowest

One of the more popular methods of rolling Ability Scores in D&D 5e is rolling 4 6-sided dice and dropping the lowest.

This is much the same as rolling 3d6. But, it results in a higher average and more capable player characters.

But, what does it mean?

Basically, you roll 4d6, take out the lowest number of those, and total up the remaining 3 dice. For example, if you roll two 5s, a 4, and a 3, you’d only add the 5s and 4 for a total of 14.

Now, this skews the average number up from 3d6. The average for rolling 4d6 and dropping the lowest is 12.24. I’m not a mathematician or statistician, so you can see the full breakdown on 4d6 averages here. So, you increase the average Ability score by almost 2 points.

Doesn’t sound like much. But, that 2 point increase means a +1 increase to your Ability Score Modifier.

Rolling Ability Scores: 1d20 (Or, the Chaos Method)

And now for complete chaos.

If you’re feeling particularly spicy, you can roll a single 20-sided die for your Ability Scores.

That’s it. That’s the method.

1. Step 1: Grab a d20
2. Step 2: Roll that d20
3. Step 3: ????
4. Step 4: Profit

In all seriousness, unless you’re cool with the swinginess of the d20, I can’t recommend this method to determine your Ability Scores.

You’ll get some wild numbers for your player characters. And, if rolling 3d6 has the chance of spitting out power gaps, rolling 1d20 is a much worse offender.

But, if you and your players embrace chaos, go for it.

Rolling Ability Scores: Allocating Rolls

This isn’t a method of rolling for Ability Scores but for assigning your rolls.

Usually, after rolling your stats in D&D 5e, you’ll assign your totals to each of your Ability Scores.

With this method, you have control over how you build your character. And, this is the typical way you allocate your rolled scores.

You’ll roll 6 times (once for each stat) and assign your totals depending on the character you want to play.

That’s it. Easy as that.

Rolling Ability Scores: Rolling in Order

I learned of this method from Matt Colville’s "Making Characters" video a few years back.

Using this method, you roll for your characters Ability Scores in order according to their character sheet.

Basically, instead of assigning your total die rolls, you don’t get a choice in where the numbers go. You start from the top with Strength and go down the list to Dexterity, to Constitution, etc.

This is an interesting way of assigning Ability Scores. It removes some agency (which I’m not a huge fan of), but Matt makes a point that it’s great for new players who want to roll dice but don’t know the archetypes of your typical fantasy-adventure characters.

I think it’s a valid point. And, this method removes some of the confusion that new players might have.

That being said, I’m a big advocate of players being able to make the character they want (within reason). But, I do think this is a good way to introduce players to the idea of rolling dice for Ability Scores.

Ability Score Improvement: +2 in 1 or +1 in 2

The typical thing that happens with an Ability Score Improvement is you either increase 2 Ability Scores by 1 each or your increase one Ability Score by 2.

Normally, you want to use your ASI to increase your Ability Scores.

This reflects a numerical measurement of your character getting better in that chose stat. They’ve gotten stronger, they’re faster, they’re smarter, etc.

Usually, you’ll want to use your ASI to even out your Ability Scores. Remember; your Ability Score Modifier increases by +1 at even intervals. So, if you have a 13 in Dexterity (a +1 modifier), you could use your ASI to add +1 to make it a 14 (a +2 modifier).

There are two things you can do here; you can increase one Ability score by +2 or increase two Ability Scores by +1. The choice is up to you.

Basically, you get 2 points to use and you decide where you want to put them.

For new players, this is the easiest way to use their ASIs. It’s straightforward and only involves basic addition. And, it’s always a benefit for your character.

But, if you’re playing with the variant rule, you can use your ASI to take a feat instead.

Ability Score Improvement: Feats

Some feats give you an increase to an Ability Score as well as another feature. These are sometimes called "half-feats."

If you’re playing with the optional Feats rule, you can instead opt to take a feat when you get a Ability Score Improvement instead of the base stat increases. And, certain feats give a stat bonus on top of a new ability.

For example, the Resilient feat gives you a +1 in an Ability Score of your choice and proficiency in the corresponding saving throw of your selected stat.

No feat gives you a +2 in an Ability Score. So, if you’re looking to max out a stat as soon as possible, you might want to stick with the typical ASI.

But, if you want to add some flair to your character or want to customize their abilities a bit more outside of their class features, half-feats are a good choice for both improving your Ability Scores and building out their abilities.

What Are the 6 Ability Scores?

The six Ability Scores in 5e are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.

How Do You Determine Your Ability Scores in D&D?

There are three basic ways to determine your Ability Scores in D&D 5e; rolling, Point Buy, and Standard Array. There are a variety of methods for rolling for your Ability Scores but the most common are rolling 3d6 for each stat or rolling 4d6 and dropping the lowest for each one. 5e’s Point Buy system allocates a player character a certain number of points they use to "buy" increases to their Ability Scores during character creation. Finally, the Standard Array method for determining your Ability Scores gives your six set numbers you then allocate into each stat; 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.

Can Ability Scores Be Higher Than 20?

Ability Scores in 5e generally may not be higher than 20. That said, some magic items or class features (like the Barbarian's 20th level, capstone feature, Primal Champion) may allow you to push an Ability Score above 20.

Can You Reroll Stats in D&D?

Usually, you may not reroll your stats in D&D 5e. Once you finish setting your character’s Ability Scores, they may get increased or decreased over the course of your game but you can’t reroll them in their entirety.

What is the Best Stat in D&D 5e?

Dexterity is generally considered the best Ability Score in D&D 5e. This is because it affects Initiative and Armor Class for every character, regardless of their class, it affects the attacks and damage of many weapons, and Dexterity saving throws are some of the most common in the game.