Rodeo, anyone? (a 3.5 feat)

[Jon_Dahl]

Lasso Grappler

Prerequisite:
Base attack bonus +1

Benefit:
When you start grappling holding nothing more than a rope or a chain, you can tie the opponent up by making ten successful grapple checks. Before these ten grapple checks are successfully rolled, the opponent suffers no ill effect and takes no damage from them. You must announce before a grapple check that you are using that grapple check to tie the opponent up.

[Grod_The_Giant]

This is, uh... perhaps the least useful feat I've ever seen. How about just "if you pin a foe while holding a rope or chain?"

[prufock]

It's not very good. As in I would never use it. How about this for the benefit:

"When you grapple an opponent while holding a rope or chain, you may use your Use Rope check in place of your grapple check. If you are pinning an opponent using a rope or chain, you gain the additional option to bind the opponent with the item as a standard action."

This has 2 benefits: 1) if your Grapple check is low (ie you're a small character, have low strength, or have a low base attack), you can still effectively grapple and 2) you can bind someone much more quickly, but you must pin them first.

Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=11468845&postcount=21) are some homebrew rope skill tricks as well.

Oddly, being bound doesn't have a specific condition associated with it, so it's kind of up to DM what effect it has. Even the Rules Compendium didn't clear this up. Condition summary notes that helplessness includes being bound, but being bound doesn't necessarily make you helpless. Especially since you can explicitly attempt Escape Artist checks.

[nikkoli]

Im pretty sure being bound up is mechanically identical to being pinned in a grapple, but a creature doesn't have to sit there and keep you pinned.