D&D 5E Help with power gaming

So a friend is making a new campaign in which we have to power game as much as we can because we will be dealing with encounters of epic proportions. (Way over "deadly encounter" threshold)

There will be some special rules in this campaign:
- max level 40 this is very important (we will have multiclassing and you can bring 2 classes to level 20, or 8 classes to 5 or anything else except leveling any class above level 20)
- boosted experience for faster leveling
- some things will stack that shouldn't by the normal rules (a multiclassed level 2 Ranger and level 1 Fighter could have 2 Fighting styles, or a level 5 Paladin and level 5 Barbarian would have 2 extra attacks)
- we will have feats, classes, subclasses, races, backgrounds and spells from pretty much anything from 5th edition (including Elemental evil, Volo's guide, Unearthed arcana,... and the new book that is coming out soon)

Because the next book isn't out yet i'm just making basics of my character for which i want to deal as much damage as possible with all the extra attacks but i can't decide on the weapons i should use. I already rolled for the stats and here they are without any modifications: 17, 15, 14, 12, 9, 8
My first thought was to make a DEX based "in your face" Fighter and it would go something like this:
Take Stout Halfling for +2 dex +1 con and Lucky racial feature so my stats would then be STR 12, DEX 19, CON 15, INT 8, WIS 14, CHA 9
Do first 5 levels as a Fighter to get Two-weapon fighting (2x Rapier), Action surge, Battle master archetype, ability score improvement to get my DEX to 20 and STR to 13, extra attack.
Now i have enough STR to multiclass into Barbarian and take 1 level for Unarmored defense and Rage which makes me resistant to piercing, bludgeoning and slashing damage (i know rage works only on STR based attacks)
Then take 3 levels of Rogue for Cunning action, Assassin Archetype and Sneak attack.
Followed by 5 level of Ranger for the Colossus slayer from Hunter archetype, Dual wielder feat at level 4 and extra attack from level 5.
After this i could level Barbarian and Rogue to level 5 and Fighter to level 20 (because Fighter level 20 is my main goal) and i'm still left with 5 levels and i had a Monk in mind for that but not sure how it would work out.
So basically a level 20 Fighter and level 5 Barbarian/Rogue/Ranger/Monk with dual wielding and lots of AC (unarmored defense = 10+dex mod (5)+con mod (5) and a shield on the back for 20/22AC and +1 from Dual wielder feat)

But then i realized that Barbarian's features will go to waste because most are bound to STR. I haven't played many STR based characters so i'm kinda lost here but would it actually be better to have a Half-Orc STR based Fighter with Great weapon master feat and maybe Polearm master feat? But how would i get my AC that high then?
Or should i maybe make a ranged Fighter?
Are both of these really better than two weapon fighting?
Could i even use Monk's Flurry of blows to do more damage considering that a level 5 Monk uses d6?
Should i advance side classes to more than level 5?

So a recap:
- campaign where we HAVE TO power game
- max lvl 40 with multiclassing and pretty much all available content
- i would like to play a lvl 20 Fighter with 20 levels of other class/es
- as much damage (extra attacks?) and AC as possible
- no casting whatsoever except maybe few things from Ranger (Cure wounds and Hunter's mark for when i'm out of Rage)

Any tips and help with this would be really appreciated and i would love to hear your other ideas and power gaming builds that you guys have.

Ever consider playing a magic user? Though the important question is: How will the spell slots scale above lvl 20? Are there spells above 9th level?

The good ol' Sorcadin should still be valid.

That is a lot to think about! I think my plan would be to take 5 levels of fighter, then 5 barbarian, 5 paladin, 5 ranger and 5, uh, cleric. Then go the rest of theway as a fighter.

All for the extra attacks. No, cleric doesn't give extra attack but I can't actually think of what else to take for those five levels. Maybe warlock. Something anything to get more magical power gan the paladin and ranger levels give.

Y'know that movie From Dusk Till Dawn where everything was on a straight line until.......the bar scene...........and then everything.......went........@&%$'£ up?

This kind'a'feels like that.

You are no longer playing D&D. Strap your seatbelts and enjoy the wacky ride. I do sure hope this is a level 40 one-shot. I don't think I could stomach more than that.

Fighter 20
Monk 20
Warforged....You become the Matrix.


Fighter 20
Druid 20
Goliath....You become Groot.


Fighter 20
Mystic 20
Human....You become Skywalker.


Fighter 20
Ranger 20
Human....You become Strider


Fighter 20 Battlemaster
Valour Bard 10
Open Hand 10
Human Inspiring Leader Feat
You become CapA


I mean...What do you want to become?

Or more importantly, what do you want to become?



.......Enjoy

Immoralkickass said:

Ever consider playing a magic user? Though the important question is: How will the spell slots scale above lvl 20? Are there spells above 9th level?

The good ol' Sorcadin should still be valid.

Click to expand...

I love spellcasters, my favorite class even in other games is Warlock (or Rogue if casters aren't available), but for this specific campaign i'd like a Fighter with no added magic (except Ranger as i said) because i play casters most of the time anyway.

Satyrn said:

That is a lot to think about! I think my plan would be to take 5 levels of fighter, then 5 barbarian, 5 paladin, 5 ranger and 5, uh, cleric. Then go the rest of theway as a fighter.

All for the extra attacks. No, cleric doesn't give extra attack but I can't actually think of what else to take for those five levels. Maybe warlock. Something anything to get more magical power gan the paladin and ranger levels give.

Click to expand...

That would be a STR based character? Also i'd like to avoid paladin or casting because in the next campaign i'm already working on my new character, Paladin who breaks his oath to gain more power (Oathbreaker) and multiclass him into a Warlock and renounce my patron if possible too. (a smiting bladelock who is mainly made for roleplaying not power gaming)

rgoodbb said:

Y'know that movie From Dusk Till Dawn where everything was on a straight line until.......the bar scene...........and then everything.......went........@&%$'£ up?

This kind'a'feels like that.

You are no longer playing D&D. Strap your seatbelts and enjoy the wacky ride. I do sure hope this is a level 40 one-shot. I don't think I could stomach more than that.

Fighter 20
Monk 20
Warforged....You become the Matrix.


Fighter 20
Druid 20
Goliath....You become Groot.


Fighter 20
Mystic 20
Human....You become Skywalker.


Fighter 20
Ranger 20
Human....You become Strider


Fighter 20 Battlemaster
Valour Bard 10
Open Hand 10
Human Inspiring Leader Feat
You become CapA


I mean...What do you want to become?

Or more importantly, what do you want to become?



.......Enjoy

Click to expand...

These are quite a few very interesting options, i will look into them. What would you recommend if i wanted most damage output, doesn't have to be through extra attacks? I'd like my main to be Fighter and at least add a level 3 Rogue for Assassinate.

Do STR based characters have higher damage output than DEX based?

Glitchezz said:

That would be a STR based character? Also i'd like to avoid paladin or casting because in the next campaign i'm already working on my new character, Paladin who breaks his oath to gain more power (Oathbreaker) and multiclass him into a Warlock and renounce my patron if possible too. (a smiting bladelock who is mainly made for roleplaying not power gaming)

Click to expand...

I was kinda picturing him with high Str and Dex, swapping between greataxe and longbow at my whim.

And to that end, a fighter with whatever bits of barbarian for melee and ranger for ranged might be neat.

Satyrn said:

I was kinda picturing him with high Str and Dex, swapping between greataxe and longbow at my whim.

And to that end, a fighter with whatever bits of barbarian for melee and ranger for ranged might be neat.

Click to expand...

That sounds interesting, i could have Great weapon master and Crossbow expert, both Great weapon fighting and Archery.
How would i go about my AC in this case? Unarmored defense and my HP would suffer because of low CON, should i disengage and switch to Archery when i'm getting lower on my HP?

Glitchezz said:

That sounds interesting, i could have Great weapon master and Crossbow expert, both Great weapon fighting and Archery.
How would i go about my AC in this case? Unarmored defense and my HP would suffer because of low CON, should i disengage and switch to Archery when i'm getting lower on my HP?

Click to expand...

To start, I'd think breastplate. It's only gonna get you to 16 AC. But after getting the couple feats you really want, use your ASIs to bump these all up to 20. Of course, as you play, you'll find out if what you have is good enough and the plans can change.

Also, I was thinking that you should start out trying to stay in ranged combat - but if the enemy engages you melee you switch to the greataxe and rage out on them (and to that end you ought to go all in on that as a berserker.)

Ok, if you really want to power game... stop thinking about "how can I get that extra +1" and start thinking about how the party can be a bunch of ruthless slippery MoFos. Combat isn't a sport, it's war. Use your magic to gather intel and obfuscate the party's doing. Hit and run, strike them where they sleep, burn their food supply down, desecrate their temples, etc etc. Always think outside the box. *never* fight on the enemy's terms. There should be so much magic that any trick is possible.

If there is a 5e DPR King thread on this site, you should review it and take as much as you can fit in.