Class based around Use Rope?

[greywulf]

Use Rope..... voted Most Useless Skill Ever by my group of gamers who have a total of over 120 game-years of experience on the matter. And he wants a character /based/ on it......Ick. OK. I'll bite.

Cowboy. He wants a cowboy. He needs to grab hold of a copy of Deadlands d20, or knock up some kind of Rogue/Ranger who uses a Repeater Crossbow, wears a stetson and lassos steers, bandits and orney Goblins critters before heading to the local whorehouse to woo the proprietor.

Actually, that's kinda cool.............

I've always wondered why, as per the SRD, why it's a DC15 check to "Tie a rope around yourself one-handed", and why you would /ever/ need to do that other than in some kind of kinky auto-erotic fantasy. But I digress.

Or a sailor dude maybe, but cowboys are cooler than sailors. It's a fact. I read it somewhere.

 

[QuaziquestGM]

Great, now a cowboy vs pirate debate. (vs the "submissive" class from the upcoming CSI: Los Vegas D20*)

...ever need to tie a rope around yourself one handed..... never saw Temple of Doom, huh?

(* CSI:LV D20....Introducing the new skills Craft {pig human de-comp experiment} and the Feat "Run DNA by next scene". PCs gain no hit points per level and roll skill dice instead. CSI Class Skill die = d20)

 

[heirodule]

He's seen how powerful the skill is in the hands of an innovative player,

Like how?

 

[Umbran]

Base classes are not usually that focused for good reason.

I think any class based on only one skill greatly risks becoming a "one trick pony", which can become tiring very quickly, and be more limiting than your player may currently expect. You might want to consider this a prestige class, rather than a base class.

 

[KrazyHades]

Besides from what I've already written, he wants to do things like tie people up during combat (possibly with a flaming rope), grab items from a distance such as over a pit or from the hand of an opponent, set up traps like rope nets in the floor over a pit trap (which support weight for a few seconds before falling), swinging objects at the end of the rope to increase damage or do special things (such as using a magnet to grab an item or a holy weapon swing in a wide circle to repulse undead, etc...

Perhaps it should be a prestige class, but it would be one I would let him take at 1st lvl (which defies most definitions of the word) provided he agrees to take certain skills (like maximizing his use rope)...that way he doesn't take multiclassing penalties early on. Speaking of which, should there even BE multiclassing penalties? I'm going to start a thread on that.

 

[Thunderfoot]

<SNIP>

I've always wondered why, as per the SRD, why it's a DC15 check to "Tie a rope around yourself one-handed", and why you would /ever/ need to do that other than in some kind of kinky auto-erotic fantasy. But I digress. <SNIP>

A one-handed Bowline knot is taught to Boy Scouts in America (and I would assume worldwide) as a way to tie a non-slip rescue knot in a rope if you have only one hand available (whether through injury or hanging on for dear life).

You say you know of no reason; most people cannot tie a non-slip knot other than the "oh crap its tangled knot" which if used during a rescue attempt will actually sever a person in twain if enough time "on rope" is needed to pull the person up, at the very least you'll have to amputate a limb. Rope Use is not the most useless skill, it is the most useful skill, most people have too dim an understanding of it to make use of it.\ correctly.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Like how?

Useful things a rope can do (an abridged version)
1) Make a tensionable line for a makeshift tent
2) Make a tensionable line to secure a tent
3) Secure gear to a pack animal
4) Make a makeshift harness to use to repel from a cliff
5) Actually repel down to aforementioned cliff
6) Lash together poles to create a handy ladder
7) Lash together poles to make a handy cage
8) Make a lash/loop trap (w/ craft[trapmaking])
9) Make a turniquet (w/ Heal)
10) Make an expedient bridge (w/ the help of a rock/monky fist knot/ or grappling hook)
11) Climb anything (with the help of aforementioned knot/tool)
12) Line a party together while mountaineering so noone falls off the mountain (See Mt Everest climbers)
13) (Using Twine) Bundle books together for transport (Handy for found spellbooks)

I came up with 13 in 4 minutes (It took less time but I had to type them), there are hundreds more but the moderators will shoot me for bandwidth violations.

 

[Ealli]

Useful things a rope can do (an abridged version)
1) Make a tensionable line for a makeshift tent
2) Make a tensionable line to secure a tent
3) Secure gear to a pack animal
4) Make a makeshift harness to use to repel from a cliff
5) Actually repel down to aforementioned cliff
6) Lash together poles to create a handy ladder
7) Lash together poles to make a handy cage
8) Make a lash/loop trap (w/ craft[trapmaking])
9) Make a turniquet (w/ Heal)
10) Make an expedient bridge (w/ the help of a rock/monky fist knot/ or grappling hook)
11) Climb anything (with the help of aforementioned knot/tool)
12) Line a party together while mountaineering so noone falls off the mountain (See Mt Everest climbers)
13) (Using Twine) Bundle books together for transport (Handy for found spellbooks)

I came up with 13 in 4 minutes (It took less time but I had to type them), there are hundreds more but the moderators will shoot me for bandwidth violations.

And how many of these is a DM actually likely to ever call for? And of those, how long before magic takes over its spot?

My current character does have points in use rope and the couple times we needed to rescue a person from a hole, it proved helpful. Both times it prevented a TPK, but we only got into those situations via stupidity in the first place.

 

[Thaniel]

Useful things a rope can do (an abridged version)
(snip)

I find myself reminded of the String sketch from Monty Python's flying circus..
"A million household uses!.. Tying up very small parcels, attaching notes to pigeons' legs, destroying household pests.."

 

[Kaodi]

You could make a prestige class that required a certain number of ranks in Use Rope, as well as the ability to cast the Animate Rope spell. Become a master of magically animated ropes, gaining abilities that make the spell exponentially stronger. 3-Level Prestige Class...