Using 4E's revenant

[Mr.Kraken]

I'm in the process of converting a character I had in 4E to 3.5. He was, originally, a tiefling rogue but due to nat-20s, he died. Instead of rerolling another character, I've turned him into a revenant (Heroes of Shadow). That race worked similarly to a template, meaning that you still had some qualities of your previous race. Is there any similar template in 3.5 I could use? I don't want one that would turn the character into an outright zombie. Something subtle, please.

Thanks in advance.

[Zaq]

The closest thing is probably a Necropolitan. The fluff is a bit off (becoming a Necropolitan happens to living things, not dead things that come back, basically), but it's a pseudotemplate that makes you undead.

[Urpriest]

The closest thing is probably a Necropolitan. The fluff is a bit off (becoming a Necropolitan happens to living things, not dead things that come back, basically), but it's a pseudotemplate that makes you undead.

There are also actual Revenants, detailed in Monsters of Faerun. But Necropolitan is probably more balanced for a PC.

[Dimers]

Crypt Spawn template from Magic of Faerun, page 184 (and possibly other books). Keeping the 4e fluff, one can assume the Raven Queen or one of Her minions cast the necessary undeath after death or create greater undead spell on the character as an SLA to "choose" them for Her service.

Crypt spawn lose their Con score and all their hit dice turn to d12s. They get a little natural armor bonus based on character level, +4 to Intimidate, turn resistance +2 aaaaaaand ... that's it. I mean, becoming undead is kinda a big deal with lots of implications, but there's really very little change from the "base creature". There's no listed LA mod; CR is adjusted by +1.

Unlike crypt spawn, revenants are only sorta undead. ("If he's all dead, there's only one thing you can do." "What's that?" "Go through his pockets and look for loose change.") There are some very hefty differences you should be aware of. I think homebrewing would probably get you a lot closer than existing 3.X templates will.