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DnD stats explained

Each of the six DnD stats describes part of a
character's personality and capabilities - here's
what they mean and how they work in game..

Timothy Linward
Published: 1 month ago
Dungeons and Dragons

The six DnD stats, or ‘Ability Scores’, describe

a character’s natural mental and physical
abilities. A character’s Strength, Dexterity,
Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and
Charisma are each represented by a number,
typically between three and 18. When the
character attempts an action that calls for a
dice roll, they may get a positive or negative
modifier to the roll because they have a high
or low stat.

Wargamer’s guides to each of the DnD

classes explains which stats determine the
effectiveness of their powers. In DnD 5e, each
species is naturally better in certain stats than
others, which we explain in our guides to the
DnD races.

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This guide explains what the different stats

mean and what they’re used for; what it means
to have a high or a low score in each of the
stats; how to generate stats for a new
character; and how a character’s stats may
change as they level up.

Here’s everything you need to know about

what DnD stats mean and how they work:

What do the six DnD stats mean?

What are the DnD stat modifiers?
How do you generate DnD stats for a
character?
Do DnD character stats improve as they
level up?

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What do the six DnD stats

mean?
The six DnD stats, officially called ‘Ability
scores’, represent a character’s innate
capabilities. They don’t take into account their
specific training. A classic Tumblr post gives a
great 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.

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What do high or low DnD Strength

scores mean?

Strength measures bodily power, athletic

training, and the extent to which you can exert
raw physical force. Your Strength modifier
contributes to Athletics skill checks, most
melee attack rolls and damage, and how much
you can lift and carry.

A character can carry 15lb of equipment for

each point in strength they have, and push,
drag, or lift something twice as heavy again.
This isn’t necessarily comfortable for you –
anything above this is impossible.

Here’s the limit of what a character with each

Strength score can carry. We’ve taken off 5lb
for clothes, shoes, and a rucksack.

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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

What do high or low DnD Dexterity

scores mean?

Dexterity measures agility, reflexes, and

balance. Your Dexterity modifier contributes to
Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth skill
checks, most ranged and some melee attack
rolls and damage, your Armor Class and
Initiative.

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Here’s what different Dexterity scores mean

for a character:

1 – barely mobile
2-3 – badly uncoordinated, 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 capable of extremely subtle and
precise manual tasks
18 – the body of a ballerina and the hands
of a locksmith

What do high or low DnD Constitution

scores mean?

Constitution measures health, stamina, and

vital force. The Constitution modifier isn’t used
for any specific skill checks, but is relevant to
feats of endurance like holding your breath or
going without sleep. Typically, characters gain
their Constitution modifier in extra HP every
level.

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 catching 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

What do high or low DnD Intelligence

scores mean?

Intelligence measures mental acuity, accuracy

of recall, and the ability to reason. Your
Intelligence modifier contributes to Arcana,
History, Investigation, Nature, and Religion
skill checks, and the spellcasting ability 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

What do high or low DnD Wisdom

scores mean?

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, and 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

What do high or low DnD Charisma

scores mean?

Charisma measures your ability to interact

effectively with others. It includes such factors
as confidence and eloquence, and it can
represent a charming or commanding
personality. Your Charisma modifier
contributes to Deception, Intimidation,
Performance, and Persuasion skill checks,
and 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

What are the DnD stat

modifiers?
DnD stat modifiers are bonuses or penalties
to dice rolls as a result of a character’s stats.
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:

Ability Score Ability Modifier

1 –5
2-3 –4
4-5 –3
6-7 –2
8-9 –1
10-11 +0
12-13 +1
14-15 +2
16-17 +3
18-19 +4
20-21 +5
22-23 +6
24-25 +7
26-27 +8
28-29 +9
30 +10

There is actually a mathematical relationship

between the ability score and the modifier:

Ability modifier = (Ability score / 2) – 5,

rounded down.

How do you generate DnD stats

for a character?
When you create a new character, you will
generate their DnD stats. First, you will
generate their base stats using one of three
main methods: rolling for their stats, using the
standard array of stats, or using points buy.
Your Dungeon Master can tell you which is
used in your campaign.

You will then select the DnD race for your

character. Your characters race or species will
increase some of the stats that you just
generated. Once this is done, you have
your starting stats, and can determine what
modifiers your character has.

How do you roll for stats in DnD 5e?

The standard way to roll for character stats in

DnD 5e is simple. Roll 4D6, remove the lowest
die result, and note the total. Do this six times
to generate six numbers between three and
18. 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 is the only way to get a base
stat above 15 (before you add race bonuses)
at character creation.

In the very first DnD edition, character stats

were always generated by rolling dice, with a