Dungeons & Dragons can always use interesting new character builds, and the recent announcement of the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves collection and the upcoming release of the live-action Uncharted movie has sparked a resurging interest in this iconic Naughty Dog franchise and its protagonist. The swashbuckling roguish nature of Nathan Drake lends itself well to a variety of different adventure stories, fitting itself into the mold of an exciting D&D build. This is exemplified in the video game franchise itself, which utilizes mesmerizing locales, action-packed set pieces and epic storytelling.
It's become a popular trend for D&D players to create specialized builds to portray their favorite fictional characters. These kinds of builds are rewarding in both a strategic and role-playing standpoint, emphasizing both a player's creativity and performance in a particular campaign. A build for Nathan Drake is relatively simple to create in terms of background, race and abilities, so the main challenge for the player would be in capturing Nate's mannerisms in conversation and what decisions they would make in various situations.
As far as race goes, a player can't go wrong with choosing Human for their build, especially since they receive a jack-of-all trades bonus to all ability scores and an extra language to speak, which is extremely fitting for an omniglot like Nathan Drake. A natural sharpshooter, brawler and explorer learned in a variety of different fields and disciplines, the versatile Human race is the ideal origin for the everyman treasure hunter. Nate is also greatly known for his natural dexterity and climbing ability, so a player also wouldn't go too wrong choosing a Halfling or an Elf, altering some details to fit the chosen race in question for their backstory and personality.
Players making a Nate build will want their background to be that of a thief of humble beginnings, as Nathan Drake is an orphaned child who had to live much of his life as a pickpocket and moving across criminal empires in the treasure hunting business. A Pirate, Urchin or Criminal background will each give Nate a variety of different skill bonuses to Deception, Acrobatics, Athletics and Sleight of Hand, with the addition of two extra languages to speak. However, Nathan would also fit right at home as an Archaeologist, with bonus skill modifiers in History and Survival alongside what is already added by his Intelligence score.
This may come across as obvious, but the most fitting class for someone to place their Nate build into is that of the Rogue, who is skilled in a wide variety of subterfuge and evasive skills. While there are stealth sequences in Uncharted, Nathan inevitably ends up in extremely loud and explosive encounters, so players should emphasize their character's pragmatism in battle and excellence in evading attacks. Since Rogues pick four skills, the primary skills to use should be Acrobatics and Athletics for Nathan's penchant for climbing and punching, while Investigation and Sleight of Hand are excellent skills to reflect Nate's puzzle-solving ability and his expert pickpocketing skills (which can also lead to stealing weapons or explosives mid-combat).
Once the player levels up, they'll be able to choose an archetype for their Rogue, to which Nathan most obviously fits into the role of a Thief. The Thief has the Fast Hands ability which allows for a bonus action involving anything requiring a Dexterity check, perfect for stealing weapons out of enemy hands or making precise shots while hanging off of a ledge. They also obtain Second-Story Work, which allows them to climb faster than normal, and Use Magic Device, which allows a Thief to ignore class, race and level requirements for magical items -- useful for magical artifacts from a lost city. Supreme Sneak and Thief's Reflexes are also particularly good for Nate, each giving him an extra turn and a DEX advantage in combat start.
When the player makes their rolls to decide Nate's ability scores, DEX should take paramount over other scores as an indication of Nate's climbing ability, stealth and defense, ensuring that most of his attacks will land and that most enemy attacks will miss. Since Nate is a very experienced brawler and has strong grip strength, a reasonably high Strength score would complement the DEX nicely. Lastly, Nate has an inherent love for archaeology and world history that drives most of his adventures, so a decently high INT score is borderline required, if not slightly overtaking the DEX and STR scores.
As a Rogue, there are over 40 to choose from, but Nate will most likely be best suited for the Lucky feat, granting him additional d20s to roll for a given encounter. This reflects nicely on Nate's tendency to survive impossible situations, with the invisible health bar in the games canonically described as a "luck meter." Other feats that are appropriate include the Sharpshooter feat, which grants Nate a bonus to all long-ranged weaponry and attacks from behind cover, perfect for recreating the hectic shootouts for which the Uncharted series is known. Complementing Sharpshooter is the Crossbow Expert, ignoring disadvantage at close range and allowing for a hand crossbow to be used in the middle of a melee attack.
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