So my character prefers things to live (in peace) but if they can't he needs to be able to defeat his opponent in a non-lethal manner.
He will kill to defend his or another's life, but otherwise would prefer to just subdue his opponent if possible.
He will kill monsters/beasts (things it's not possible to reason with) but will hesitate if it is sentient and can be dealt with non-lethally.
Even a wolf he'd rather frighten off (with fire) than kill it (but he would if it had a friend pinned).
In a previous thread it was stated that "the enemy will just come back to kill you so it's not worth letting them live." However, Batman is still a thing and my character has the same values.
I had thought of a magical item I called "binding vines" that could be used as a sort of "hand-cuff" for arms and feet or even to bind someone's arms to their torso. They would be small vines you could keep in a pouch and they would magically expand to bind the foe. They could be magically activated/deactivated or even given a time limit where they would release after a set period (like 2 hours to give the party time to get far away before letting go).
Does Pathfinder have anything like that? Would it be something that could be allowed in the game?
Also, I've been given tips like "blade of mercy" and "enforcer", are there any other ways as well that would be effective ways of defeating an enemy without killing them? And how about restraining them?