Trip question

[Atalius]

When Tripping do you add your weapon proficiency bonus if your tripping with a spiked chain for example.

[FlashRebel]

Your proficiency with the weapon doesn't affect trip attempts with it: tripping requires an Athletics check and using a trip weapon adds at best its item bonus to attack rolls as an item bonus to the Athletics check. Note that Tripping with a trip weapon has other benefits:

Trip (weapon trait) wrote:

You can use this weapon to Trip with the Athletics skill even if you don’t have a free hand. This uses the weapon’s reach (if different from your own) and adds the weapon’s item bonus to attack rolls as an item bonus to the Athletics check. If you critically fail a check to Trip using the weapon, you can drop the weapon to take the effects of a failure instead of a critical failure.

Also note that apparently, you don't even need to be proficient in the weapon to get its benefits to trip unless I missed something.

[beowulf99]

This is correct. In lieu of your weapon proficiency you add your athletics proficiency. As far as I know you never add multiple proficiencies to a check. Doing so would result in wildly inflated numbers.

[krazmuze]

Trip has the attack trait, and if using a trip weapon of course your usual weapon attack applies. MAP applies to any attack, so if penalties apply then so do any bonuses. I think the rule is not explicit about this because it is in the trait itself, which is the point of traits that these are embedded rules.

Trip trait is just clarifying that the trip is being made with the weapon rather than your free hand, so would consider it an attack that includes the items bonus (and inherently because of the attack trait, you are attacking with an item you are proficient in). Of course you would not stack weapon proficiency with athletics proficiency because you cannot stack proficiencies, you are just replacing athletics. If you are not trained in trip with your offhand or legs, I just look at it as you are trained with tripping with your weapon.

For example Hallod in Plaguestone has a +1 kukri, would you deny the use of the agile bonus or no MAP for him tripping with the weapon just because the Trip action only mentions the item bonus? RAI he is tripping using a trip weapon he is trained in (aside from monsters do not have defined proficiency it does say you can assume from their bonuses as needed). The use of traits means you have to read between the lines, that not all rules are written explicitly in the action.

Escape action is also an athletic check, and it is explicit that unarmed attacks including its bonus can be used in place of it. But again because of the attack trait, it would only need to say you are restricted to unarmed attacks and not be explicit. (RAW, if the thief has a dagger hidden and wants to cut the ropes I would allow it, he is not escaping he is attacking an object the rope)