When creatures surrender but you don’t want to risk killing them. Some situations can naturally be neutralized by dropping a cage in the right place, but such conveniences are rare. More often restraining your foe is going to involves rope and cuffs.
Poise breaking an already grappled creature allows you to put cuffs on them. This completely prevents the use of their arms outside of simple item interactions. Cuffs can also be placed on the legs to reduce a creatures speed to 15. Combat maneuvers made against a cuffed creature have advantage.
Cuffs are difficult to escape, and even harder to break. They typically require outside assistance in order to be removed. Because cuffs are typically made from iron and steel, they can take a significant beating.
Poise breaking a grappled creature allows you tie them up, having the same effect as applying cuffs. The main difference is that rope is easier to destroy, but it is also easier to make the restraint more intense. By successfully poise breaking a creature a 3rd time, you can prevent the creature from acting completely.
Rope tends to be a good way to bind singular creatures without allies, since anybody with a sharp implement can handily free a bound creature.
By having 3 different creatures simultaneously grappling another creature, you can prevent that creature from acting completely as long as all 3 maintain their grapple. By spending all of your turns, you can move the creature 15 ft a turn.
Dogpiles are broken the instant one creatures stops grappling, making them unreliable.
By succeeding at breaking an already grappled creature's poise, you can forcefully shove them into an object within reach such as a bag, barrel or box, so long as they can handily fit in the object.
Whether or not they can escape generally depends on the object and the tools the captured creature has on hand. Wooden crates don’t do to well when trying to hold barbarians or crafty characters with crowbars.
Below are more precise details on the DCs to break, unlock and escape if you find yourself in a bind.
DC to break (athletics) or lockpick (SoH) is dependent on the type of material. Athletics tends to be less subtle.
Solid toughness is DC 25.
Adamantine toughness is 35.
Transmundane is 40.
Creatures that are bound can try to free themselves, but take a -5 penalty.
Rope can be destroyed with an attack from any slashing weapon.
Using athletics you can tear the ropes apart, but the DC is determined by the athletics bonus of the creature who bound you (20+their athletics bonus).
Creatures that are bound can try to free themselves, but take a -5 penalty. This penalty can be ignored with a sharp natural attack or concealed weapon.
DC to break (athletics) is dependent on the type of material. Some objects can be handily dealt with, not requiring a skill check. A knife makes quick work of a bag, and given enough space, hammers break boxes.
Fragile toughness is DC 15
Average toughness is DC 20.
Solid toughness is DC 25.
Adamantine toughness is DC 35.
Transmundane toughness is DC 40
Creatures that are bound can try to free themselves, but take a -5 penalty.
