Good point about HD. I was worried about the low (9) HD for the mind flayer, but I figured that since he's ethereal, he'll be okay in most encounters. Of course, if we fight a ton of ethereal bad guys he'll be toast.
A straight-up half orc barbarian is pretty strong, what with the DR 6 /- and all. Or a 20th level monk. But the way I see it, how often do you get a chance to play a monster?
My new idea is a young gold dragon (size Large) with Leadership; the cohort will be a beefy high level Paladin/cleric with a lance and the Mounted Combat/Charge feats. Mounted Combat negates hits to the dragon, and Charge gives double damage. Plus, the cohort effectively increases the melee damage. Not bad, not bad.
FYI, here are the other characters:
Pixie rogue
Human wizard
Ghaele (an ECL 20 celestial)
Djinn Fighter
Stone Giant barbarian
Monk (not sure what race)
-z