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HP Calculator 5e – Dungeons & Dragons

Created by Rijk de Wet
Reviewed by Steven Wooding
Last updated: Jan 18, 2024


Welcome to the HP calculator for 5e Dungeons and Dragons, which calculates your character's maximum hit points (or "max HP") as well as how many hit dice you have. You might be a new standard-array adventurer unsure about your hit points at level one or an optimizing point buy-loving munchkin who's lost track of your Sorcerer-Warlock-Paladin's hit dice. No matter which category you fall into, this calculator is for you! Read on, and you'll learn:

  • How to calculate your HP in 5e DnD;
  • What DnD's hit dice are and how you get more of them; and
  • How to level up your DnD character and increase your maximum HP.

🙋 This calculator and article are well-suited for players who aren't sure how to calculate hit points in DnD and for players creating complicated characters from scratch. Leveling up existing characters is also covered in this article, but their process is much simpler.

Ready for combat? Roll for initiative!

How to use the HP calculator for 5e

Don't want to make an Insight check into how to calculate hit points in DnD? Here's how you can determine the maximum hit points for your DnD character with our HP calculator for 5e:

  1. Select whether you're multiclassing or not. If you aren't sure about this, leave it at "No".

    a. If not multiclassing, select your character's class and level in the dropdown menus of the appropriate fields.

    b. If multiclassing, enter each class and corresponding level one by one in the series of dropdown menus. Be sure to select your character's class at level 1 in the Initial class field!

  2. Fill in the Other details of your character. These come from the features of your character and the choices you made when building them:

    • Your character's Constitution modifier;

    • Whether your character is a hill dwarf;

    • Whether your character is a sorcerer of a draconic bloodline; and

    • Whether your character has the Tough feat.

  3. You can find your character's maximum hit points under the Maximum hit points header. If there are dice rolls involved (such as 1d8 or 4d6), then you should roll them and add all these numbers together to get your maximum HP.

    • Don't want to leave anything to fate? We also show you the average result of these dice rolls.

    • Are you as lucky as a halfling? You can have the calculator roll the dice for you under the Roll for maximum hit points header.

  4. You can also find your character's hit dice pool under the Hit dice pool header.

🙋 The HP calculator for 5e provides an in-depth breakdown of how your character's classes, levels, and other details determine their maximum hit points and hit dice. The rules for determining hit points can be daunting — we hope this calculator helps you understand them for your specific character.

Now that you've learned how to calculate HP for 5e with our calculator, let's make an Investigation check to explore how hit points and hit dice work!

What are hit points in DnD?

In DnD 5e, hit points (or HP) measure a character's physical health and vitality. An unscathed character is at their maximum hit points. During battle, characters lose hit points. When reduced to 0 hit points, characters are incapacitated or killed. Characters can regain hit points with healing potions, magic spells, or by rolling hit dice when resting.

What is a hit die in DnD 5e?

In DnD, a hit die is rolled to regain lost hit points when taking a short rest and to determine how your maximum hit points increases when you level up. Beefier classes (like the barbarian) have bigger hit die, while squishier classes (like the wizard) have smaller hit die.

In fact, your character has a pool of hit dice, and your class and level determine the number and size of these hit dice. When you take a short rest, you can roll hit dice from your pool to regain hit points. The HP you recover equals the sum of the dice plus your Constitution modifier for each dice rolled. You can't exceed your maximum hit points, and you can't spend more hit dice than what's left in your pool. When you take a long rest, you regain all spent hit dice.

Below, we've tabulated each of the thirteen classes' hit dice.

Hit die

Classes

d12

Barbarian

d10

Fighter, Paladin, Ranger

d8

Artificer, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Monk, Rogue, Warlock

d6

Sorcerer, Wizard

For each level you have in each class, your hit dice pool expands by that class's hit die. So:

  • A fifth-level barbarian has 5d12 in their hit dice pool;
  • A second-level fighter that multiclassed five levels into bard has 2d10 and 5d8 in their hit dice pool; and
  • A third-level rogue that multiclassed four levels into monk has 7d8 in their hit dice pool.

💡 Multiclassing is a way to build a highly customized character that involves gaining levels in multiple classes. When multiclassing, you might obtain different sizes of hit dice, which you have to track separately. Multiclassing makes figuring out hit points harder but not impossible.

When you level up, you can roll your class's hit die, add your Constitution modifier, and increase your maximum hit points by the result. Your hit dice pool also grows by one die.

💡 Gradually leveling up a brand-new level-one character to your desired level delivers the same result as making a character of that level from scratch, whether you used our hit points calculator for 5e or did the calculations by hand. Our calculator simply fast-forwards the process!

How do I calculate HP in 5e?

When creating a character from scratch, you determine your maximum hit points in DnD with dice.

  1. Pool together the hit dice you gain from your character's class (or classes, if multiclassing).
  2. Discard one hit die from your character's initial class — you get the maximum roll for that one.
  3. Roll all remaining dice, add them together, and add the appropriate bonuses (such as your Constitution modifier or from class features).

Example #1: A first-level sorcerer's maximum hit points is 6 because, at level one, her max HP is the highest roll of the sorcerer's hit die (a 6-sided dice).

Example #2: A fifth-level barbarian gets to roll 4d12 (one d12 less than his level) and add 12 (he automatically gets the maximum of his d12 for level one). So, his maximum HP will be 4d12+12. He can roll these dice to get a concrete number, or he can take the average (4×7+12 = 40) if he wants to play it safe.

Example #3: A multiclass character who started with two levels in the fighter class (d10), then got two levels in barbarian (d12), and then two levels in paladin (d10) would determine her maximum HP by rolling 3d10+2d12+10. She starts with 10 at level one, then gets another 1d10 thanks to her second level in fighter, 2d12 as a second-level barbarian, and another 2d10 as a second-level paladin.

Then, the bonuses we mentioned: Your Constitution modifier and a select few class features, racial features, and feats further influence your maximum hit points.

  • Your Constitution modifier is added to your maximum HP every time you level up. Remember that this can be a negative number if your Constitution score is low!
  • If you took the Tough feat, your maximum HP is increased by 2 HP for each character level (for multiclassing characters, this is all your levels in all your classes added together).
  • If your character's race is the hill dwarf, you gain 1 HP for each character level.
  • If your character is a sorcerer and you chose the draconic bloodline, you gain 1 HP for each level in the sorcerer class.

So, if our fifth-level barbarian had the Tough feat, his maximum hit points would increase by 10 (because he is level 5 and 5×2=10). Our fighter-barbarian-paladin hybrid is sixth level, so if she was also a hill dwarf, her maximum hit points increases by 6.

And now you know how to calculate hit points in DnD 5e!

FAQ

How do I level up in DnD?

To level up in DnD, you need to gain experience points or reach a milestone in your campaign. Then:

  1. Roll one hit die (of which the size is determined by your character's class).
  2. Add your Constitution modifier to the result (or subtract it if your modifier is negative).
  3. Increase your maximum hit points by the result.
  4. Expand your hit dice pool with one hit die.

What is a barbarian's maximum hit points at level 1?

12 plus their Constitution modifier. At level one, a character's maximum hit points is the maximum roll of their class's hit die plus their Constitution modifier. The barbarian class's hit die is a d12, and its maximum roll is 12.

Rijk de Wet
Class and level
Are you multiclassing?
No
Class
Artificer (d8)
Level
1
Other details
Constitution modifier
+0
Are you a hill dwarf?
No
Did you take the Tough feat?
No
Maximum hit points
Your hit point maximum is 8.
At level 1, your hit point maximum is the highest roll of your class's hit die. The Artificer's hit die is a d8. So, your hit point maximum is 8.
Hit dice pool
You have 1d8 in your hit dice pool from your level in Artificer.
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