28 point buy

It uses standard pointbuy rules from DMG, so each stat starts at 8 and it can't be lowered. You have 28 points to allocate, and the cost and stat is like this: Quote: 8:0 9:1 10:2 11:3 12:4 13:5 14:6 15:8 16:10 17:13 18:16 Racial modifiers come after pointbuy.

Or you could thing about it like this: 1st to 4th ablity increase cost 1 point per increase. 5th to 6th ablity increase cost 2 point per increase. 6th to 7th ablity increase cost 3 point per increase.

--Tips--

Character creation isn't the only time to get stat points. They also come at levels 4 and 8, and from racial/class enhancements as well. And there are wearable magic items which boost a stat anywhere from +1 to +4. All of the other ways to increase abilities treat each ability score equally- it is only in point-buy where going from 16->17 is more costly than from 8->9. Therefore, stay away from high attributes at creation if you can, and use other means to get abilities above 16.

Example: a fighter who starts with an 18 strength can increase it to 20 at level 8 (before enhancements), for +5 hit/damage. But if he had started with 16, then at 8th level he'd have 18 and +4 hit/damage, almost as good... and he'd have 6 points saved at creation, which could be used, for example, to bring wisdom from 8 to 14, for +3 Will saves and a 15% less chance that a single spell will paralyze him.

Also, be aware that items which give a +1 to a single stat are pretty common, and you can easily find at least one by level 2. Even if you are using some stats as "point dumps", it might help to leave them at 9 instead of 8, to take advantage of those fairly cheap items. On the other hand, at high levels you can occasionally find items giving +4 to a stat, making that one odd-numbered point no longer useful. Therefore, in the short run, odd numbers help, but even numbers are better for your prime stats, or for eventual high-level action. Be aware though, that many useful feats like Expertise, Power attack and Dodge have odd ability prequesits. Only your starting ability points and the 2 extra ability points from level 4 and 8 are taken into consideration during level up. It's a good idea to make sure during character creation, that you fulfill the requirements of your favorite feats.