Feeling....Phyrexian...Any ideas how to translate it to 3.5e?

[Maho-Tsukai]

With New Phyrexia having finally come out I have been in a Phyrexian state of mind and as a result have had a strong desire to play a character with a strong Phyrexian influence but have little idea wear to go with the concept other then "I want to play a Phyrexia-themed character" So I am very open to ideas. I was toying with the idea of some kind of Phyrexian cleric-esc character due to the existence of Vat Priests and the twisted "spirituality" that permeates Phyrexian culture but I am not fully sure how to make that kind of character without homebrew and I suck at making mechanical/crunchy homebrew. Thus, I am asking all of you here if you have any ideas for a "Phyrexian-themed" character build? No specific classes and such in mind, so go crazy...though I do prefer casters or caster-like characters though I am open to melee ideas too.

[Squiggles]

I think any character with a graft would work quite well, with the Phyrexian penchant for mixing and matching it's inhabitants parts. On that note something like a golemcrafter with a hint of undead grafting would be appropriate. You could also do something with an imprint like ability, maybe a mindbender of some kind or a psion who is fond of leaving small bits of his consciousness imbued in everything he touches?

I feel like anything with a mechanical flavor would be appropriate though

[Doc Roc]

Archivist!

Tainted scholar!

Body leech?
Subverted psion?

[IthroZada]

Craft poison would also be appropriate. The white decks are the ones with most of the priests, like The Grand Cenobite... So a buff spells because of the white, and debuff because of the Phyrexian sounds good.

Actually, a Summoner would be pretty awesome because of their Eidolon. A build your own monster class sounds pretty Phyrexian to me, and if you take the Graft feats you could alter it further, assuming you can put grafts on outsiders which I'm unsure of.

[Urpriest]

The character needs an "every part of the buffalo" scheme to exploit enemies. I'd recommend the Sacrifice rules and Liquid Pain from the BoVD. Focus on making enemies capturable for these uses. After all, any Phyrexian should be efficient!

[AslanCross]

I don't know if here have been any changes in the Phyrexian ideology since Urza's Saga as I've sworn off Magic forever, but from what I can understand it's about forcing evolution through necrotech. As such I can totally see an artificer/renegade mastermaker as a good candidate.

[Fearan]

Dragonmech

[IthroZada]

I don't know if here have been any changes in the Phyrexian ideology since Urza's Saga as I've sworn off Magic forever, but from what I can understand it's about forcing evolution through necrotech. As such I can totally see an artificer/renegade mastermaker as a good candidate.

This, plus that template that makes you a viable undead character.

[Fable Wright]

I don't know if here have been any changes in the Phyrexian ideology since Urza's Saga as I've sworn off Magic forever, but from what I can understand it's about forcing evolution through necrotech. As such I can totally see an artificer/renegade mastermaker as a good candidate.

Essentially, what's changed is now it doesn't specify necrotech...

Also, the best way to make a phyrexian themed character? Punish people for what they normally do, or things they have done, and make it feel unpleasant for them to do so. For example, with the Consecrated Sphinx card, one of the vest examples, you make your opponent begin to dread drawing more cards. Plus, the theme of taking things away from your foes, and using it instead: This is predominantly in the Praetor abilities, but it also applies all over, in places such as lifelink. Keep this in mind when you make your phyrexian character.

So, for Phyrexian: What color scheme do you want to play as? This can help make your build. Phyrexian seems more or less like a Gish to me: It kills you no matter what. If spellcasting fails? No bother, go to face-smashing. If that doesn't work? Battlefield control. If that doesn't work? Go away until you have more time to plan. Taking spells like Vampiric Touch, and that weapon crystal that allows you to spell store it, can help go with the whole phyrexian theme. Haste is also good in these scenarios, as it can buff you and your allies to ridiculous levels. While this in itself isn't phyrexian, what it can become is. Especially if you use Swiftblade (which, if flavored right, can be very phyrexian. Think about it- you deny opponents their ability to hit you. You deny their ability to spellcast at you. You deny their battlefield control. You deny their ability to take away your power. You deny them their turns. Your turns allow you to not only make their turns painful, but also keep doing what you already were doing). If you do take it, do Wizard 5/Crusader 1 for entry; not only do you gain life when attacking, but you can also gain DR, take away DR, and shift what you can do each round. What your powers are, and what you can do, keep shifting. Martial Study and Martial Stance are good with combos for this, giving you additional options for moves and different stances for different scenarios. What this equates to is you going first, hasting yourself and your allies, and blitzing the opponents before they can react. You can also apply defensive buffs such as Fire Shield (See if your DM will let you refluff it as a black aura of flame) or the Holocaust cloak stance, to yourself, which denies them the joy of damaging you. For more spellcasting fun, look into Fell Drain. Stick that onto some swift-action spell, drain foes during combat. You can also use it on your Vampiric Touch spells for more pain when they get hit, and changing the spell level outside of the realm of your Haste spells. It also works well with the Fire shield, downright killing mooks who try to attack you, and making people who do attack you think twice about trying to do so again. For combat, this is a very phyrexian way to shut down your enemies. Outside of combat, you are still a spellcaster, and you have any number of feats to bring out the inner phyrexian. Make mooks with animate dead that you can cast. Give more powerful allies demonic grafts, or better yet, give them to yourself. Find and breed symbiotes, from Fiendish Codex, possibly using an enslaved cleric to do so. Use drugs (from BoVD) on your allies, getting the most use out of them, and then make them reliant upon you for more. Counter out some of the bad sides with those enslaved clerics you have. Also, using poison, as stated above, is something that brings out some phyrexian powers, but Craft(Alchemy) gives you the drugs, as mentioned above, and other similar quasi-magical products. Liquid pain extractors and thinaun execution/torture machines can be useful for getting souls, liquid pain, and information out of your enemies, which you can use quite well. Farming villagers for these resources is also useful. Afterwards, you can just reanimate the burnt out body and use it to mine more resources for your engine. Another trick with Planar Binding is to capture Lesser Tieflings, which you can then control. Especially useful if they are clerics. Over time, you could slowly reshape their memories (with modify memory, optionally cast by other clerics you enslaved) to actually believe that your cause is correct, turning them into free-willed converts to your cause. Alternatively, rather than slowly reshape their memories, get Programmed Amnesia in a scroll form and use that instead. Alter Self is a great phyrexian spell, as you can instigate paranoia like no one's business: If people in a town know that your spies and agents can look like anyone, anyone at all, or, if you have ready access to Dominate (such as from a vampire), they could be anyone at all. Also pick up a scroll of Shapechange, and then go on a merry rampage for a day or so, in an unprotected village. Assume different forms of undead spawn-making creatures. After you're done, the created spawn still obey you- so, now, you have some small army of Shadows under your command, as well as a small number of vampires- which can be used to set up control chains. Anyone who disagrees with you or your will will become assimilated into the undead hordes. Using this, you can terrorize entire cities into obeying you, and begin corrupting them into your servants after that. Make a custom item that can use Modify Memory and Psychic Reformation on others, in the form of a black oil (using liquid pain to make it, of course), and make the powers 1/day for each amount if oil. The villagers are slowly corrupted by this amazing oil, turning their feats into Aberration feats from LoM, and giving them class levels you can use to your advantage, rather than just Commoner. You now have mutants with class levels, becoming willing to die for you. Pit them against each other, with corrupted healbots standing nearby, and let them level up in Phyrexian Arenas, making stronger allies for yourself. You can also cull the weak from your ranks, if need be. All in all, you can become Phyrexia.