Athletics to trip

[The Total Package]

So let's say I am using a Whip to trip my enemies, I would be using Athletics. If I cast inspire courage and I try to Trip my enemy using Athletics, would I get the attack bonus? Or is it not considered an attack roll?

[Castilliano]

Correct, it is not considering an attack roll, only an attack. So you also cannot use Dex/Finesse to Trip with a whip (something the developers explicitly clarified early on by making that distinction). Also no Sure Strike/True Strike.
That said, if you're a Bard, Trip is still an okay way to contribute, but I'd say only if the battle comes to you. Don't waste movement for such a minor contribution because Composition + Cantrip is usually better. And at later levels, you'll likely want to drop the whip to hold better items and/or have a hand free.

[Gisher]

The Total Package wrote:

Or is it not considered an attack roll?

Right, it's an athletics check not an attack roll.

Here's the clarification from the Pathfinder Core Rulebook Errata on the FAQ page:

Quote:

Page 446: Attack Rolls. There was some confusion as to whether skill checks with the attack trait (such as Grapple or Trip) are also attack rolls at the same time. They are not. To make this clear, add this sentence to the beginning of the definition of attack roll "When you use a Strike action or make a spell attack, you attempt a check called an attack roll."

To clarify the different rules elements involved:

An attack is any check that has the attack trait. It applies and increases the multiple attack penalty.

An attack roll is one of the core types of checks in the game (along with saving throws, skill checks, and Perception checks). They are used for Strikes and spell attacks, and traditionally target Armor Class.

Some skill actions have the attack trait, specifically Athletics actions such as Grapple and Trip. You still make a skill check with these skills, not an attack roll.

The multiple attack penalty applies on those skill actions as well. As it says later on in the definition of attack roll "Striking multiple times in a turn has diminishing returns. The multiple attack penalty (detailed on page 446) applies to each attack after the first, whether those attacks are Strikes, special attacks like the Grapple action of the Athletics skill, or spell attack rolls."

But since the whip has the Trip weapon trait, you would get the item bonus from the potency runes on it.