To all the Boy Scouts: What can you do with rope?

[Psychic Warrior]

You can make make shift armor and weapons. If you have ever been hit by a rope boat bumper they can hurt. You can actuall tie knots in a manner that you can make a failry stiff club. You can lash rope together to make armor sections that would protect as well as leather for a while.

You can laquer rope to make it quite hard and resilent. You can dress out other weapons by making grips and such as well.

Take a normal fairly straight stick add several layers of knotted rope to one end and use twine to shape a grip on the other and you have a nice mace. YOu could even lace in broken glass or spikes to make a morning star.

Later

For those that doubt these things are possible I have made some of them as a bored sailor with lots of rope at hand.

Wouldn't those all be versions of Craft(Weaponmaking) though? Sure they 'use rope' as building material but...

 

[The Shaman]

Get rid of Use Rope! (That's a paraphrase.)

I like the Use Rope skill, my characters (player and non-) take ranks in it, and I find it to be very useful.

I can understand the argument, to a point, about how it can be subsumed under different Craft skills, but then which Craft skill would you use as to provide a synergy bonus for Climb? or for a sailor handling the sheets? Which Craft skill would you use for securing prisoners, or picketing livestock? Does Craft (weaver) or Craft (carpenter) really apply to building a rope bridge? Or Profession (sailor)?

I feel that it's distinct enough to keep as a separate skill, particularly given the kind of life most adventurers lead, and I think it's a good skill for clever players to use for possible synergy bonuses to a number of other skills.

 

[Shallown]

Well PW that is true but... (there's always a But )

These are make shift uses for use rope. To be honest I would leave use rope off the skill list and make it a craft skill or part of a profession. I don't think peoples knowledge of rope use makes it useful enough to be its own skill.

To make armor and weapons out of Rope only requires the knowledge of tying knots. I don't think rope use gets more basic than being able to tie knots with the skill.

If a Carpenter wanted to make wooden stick with one end made to be gripped and the other a little bigger I wouldn't say he had to use Weaponsmithing becuase he made a club.

Some craft skills can be used to make weapons even if they aren't focused on making weapons. I think that is up to the GM how much leeway he gives and how important he wants to make craft skills in the game.

later

 

[Thunderfoot]

Let's think of it this way - with enough rope, you can lash together more than a lean-to. You can build a whole bloody house, complete with hinged doos and shutters. All it takes is enough skill, proper materians, and time. I wouldn't reccommend multiple story structures, unless your rope was really good.

So, it isn't so much what can you do, as what can't you do...

Actually at this latest Jamboree (in the USA) the pioneering projects (that's lashing poles together with ropes) they built a working carousel, the Effiel Tower, a 9 story lookout tower... The fact is, Rope Use is a widely overlooked skill, because most modern day folks have never had to actually build stuff without a construction crew to do it for them.

But seriously, I would check out some knot web sites and try to find pictures of some of the pioneering structures that have been built at this years and previous US National Scout Joamboree's (I'm sure the rest of the world has some similar projects done at their National Jambo's, I've just never been/seen/heard of them)

 

[Thunderfoot]

<SNIPPY>
As someone else in that thread pointed out, "I tie a pair of prussics,..." (roll, roll), "then attach myself to the line with a double bowline!" (Roll!) is more complexity than we really need to get into...

There's such a thing as too much detail!

No, no, no, it's easier to double rope in half, tie the double bowline to make an improvised Swiss seat, run the lines over your shoulder and have a "housebreakers harness". Tie off the loose ends with double figure eights and tie off your "lead lines for a repel seat."

And there is NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH DETAIL!!!

 

[Voadam]

Hmm...that's not the oath I remember. Maybe Canadian scouts had a different oath. I seem to remember we mention the Queen in there somewhere.

The one we had in full IIRC (but it has been more than a decade):

"On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty, to god and my country, to obey the scout law, to keep myself physically fit, mentally awake, and morally straight."

Nothing about any queens.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Don't forget each coutry's Scout program has a little different take on the Oath - Modern BSA oath -

"On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty, to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law. To help other people at all times and to keep myself physically strong, mentally straight and morally awake."

For those that are wondering I am an Assistant Scoutmaster and Chaplain for a Troop here in Maryland, US of A

 

[Zappo]

Depending on what it's made of, you could smoke it.

 

[Hand of Evil]

and a older thread That's Not A Spellbook, that's a rope!

 

[lukelightning]

Depending on what it's made of, you could smoke it.

Of course everybody knows that hemp is not the same as marijuana, and also that the parts of the hemp plant used to make rope contain no TCH.

And I'm surprised nobody meantioned hanging people....string 'em high!