Rope strength

[Forceally]

I know that in Star Wars, you have a lot of high-tech gadgets and gizmos to restrain someone. But after capturing our heroes, the Ewoks bound them with ropes. So, this may be a silly question to ask, but what strength does rope has? I know binders have Strength 5D, so chances are a rope's Strength would be much less.

[CRMcNeill]

A few more points...

Magnacuffs (GG10, pg. 89) have "a Strength of 6D+2 to hold individuals."

A Magnaharness (GG10, pgs. 89-90) have "a Strength of 8D to hold individuals."

A Man Trap (GG10, pg. 90) has a variable Strength of 5D to 15D.

A Restraint Capsule (GG10, pg. 90) has a Strength of 7D.

Stun Cuffs (Jedi Academy SB, pgs. 140-141) don't list a Strength, but do say that they inflict Stun Damage equal to the character's Strength when they struggle, so presumably, this could be combined with Binders or Magnacuffs.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Forceally]

That's all fine and good, but I'm asking about a rope. A simple length of rope. What the Ewoks used to bind Han and the others to branches before hauling them to their village.

And it might have been against Threepio's programming to impersonate a divinity, but I don't recall him protesting the Ewoks giving him the divine treatment - carrying him along on a wooden palanquin, so as to speak.

[garhkal]

Based on RL, the thicker the rope, the stronger it is.. So it depends.. IIRC someone tied up with say 1 inch thick rope, needs to push upwards of 600lb a sq in, to break it. So rather than STR to get out, how's about Dex to try and wiggle free.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[KageRyu]

Also, in addition to Garhkal's not on thickness, if used to bind someone it is often looped a few times, so every doubling of loops should ad +1D to strength - additionally with Rope it is often less about the strength of the rope and more about the quality of the knots -can a captive slip out or undo them?

Just some thoughts.
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"There's a set way to gain new Force Points and it represents a very nice system, where you're rewarded for heroism, not for being a poor conductor to electricity." ~Jachra

[garhkal]

You also have to consider HOW they are tied up? IS it to something? Are they spread eagled to where they can't GET leverage, other than by 'pulling in'? Are they hung upside down?
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Glelukun]

At first the OP proposal, that rope should be much weaker than binders, made perfect sense to me, but on reflection I’m not sure we need to take it precisely as a given. Well-made rope is pretty tough stuff, putting up with gales on sailing ships, etc. Why did we come up with handcuffs? I’m not 100% sure it’s just that folks whose hands were tied with rope were constantly muscling out, it’s more down to a wide combination of factors. Others that come to mind are

• Long term durability: if your prisoner finds a stray nail or splinter, or their pal comes along with a blade, it takes far, far longer to wear away at metal restraints.
  
• Convenience: you don’t need to be good at knots etc, or take much time, to clap someone in irons, get them out or reposition them.
  
• Specificity/security: anyone can come along and untie/cut a rope, but perhaps only the gaoler has the matching key to this set of cuffs.
  
• Safety: (unfortunately not the highest priority on a stormtrooper’s mind...) rope bindings generally need to be tighter to do their job due to their inherent material flexibility, and are more likely to cut off circulation etc
  

So I think we could be justified in saying that when it comes to tearing loose from your restraints with raw physical power, there might not be that much of a practical difference between sturdy ropes and standard binders, and 5D pure strength might still be appropriate — especially in a pulp adjacent setting like Star Wars, where a character bursting free from their bonds is unlikely, but feels like it might sometimes make sense (say, if they’re inspired by the power of the Force.)

As other folks are mentioning too, context could come into it when considering assigning difficulty, possibly in more dynamic ways than with standard issue binders. Are they bound up like a pretzel in a stress position or simply with their wrists in front of them? was the silver-tongued scoundrel knocked unconscious and tied up, or did they work on their captor with a lot of distracting patter while the knots were being fastened? etc.
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"Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. [...] Remember this. Try."
— The Trail of Political Consciousness, Karis Nemik

[garhkal]

[KageRyu]

I feel obligated to point out, Star Wars D6 is meant to simulate cinematic action adventure, and I think we are all, including me, overthinking this and making it too crunchy.

I would just suggest setting a difficulty to escape the ropes, based on type and quality of rope, and situational modifiers (how tied up). Say Easy for weak rope or poorly tied up, Moderate for good quality rope tied by someone somewhat competent, Difficult for someone with good knowledge of ropes and knots, and Heroic for someone who is an expert in Kinbaku.

I feel the D6 motto should be "Keep it quick, Keep it fun."
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"There's a set way to gain new Force Points and it represents a very nice system, where you're rewarded for heroism, not for being a poor conductor to electricity." ~Jachra

[garhkal]

Which skill (or attribute) do you see being used for that roll off? Some ropes/knots would be easier for say someone trying to agile wriggle their way out, but strong arming it would make the knot Tighter.. While others would be the other way around.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[KageRyu]

[Forceally]

[CRMcNeill]

[CRMcNeill]

[Whill]