DM allowed Drow Noble w/o any sort of LA or drawback?!
Can you use a DMG 3.5 kusari-gama, or would you have to use the UC version? You want a shield for Shield Block and Shield Counter, but you also want to have a reach weapon...
I love Crushing Vise, and it will completely halt a foe from reaching the mage w/o a save. But, it only works if both you AND the foe are on the ground. WR Hammer is excellent, too. It'll also halt someone for a round w/o a save if they're not immune to stunning. Your stance is Thicket of Blades, obviously. Are all 9 disciplines open ("only requirement is IL" means being of the right martial adept class also doesn't matter)?
Are teamwork benefits from 3.5 allowed? The Wall of Steel one lets you give an adjacent ally your shield bonus to AC instead of gaining it yourself. I have no idea if A+B=C here, but once that's in place, you could use the Shield Parry or Shield Ward feat (shield's AC bonus applies to touch AC) to boost the mage's touch AC by a lot...I think.
What are you doing with the Ranger levels? I suggest using the weapon and shield style to snag shield slam as a bonus feat. Every time you hit a foe with a shield attack, you can free action bull rush him and not move with.
