You're going to fail a lot. A moderate save on a level 16 creature is +28, so lets look at a DC 38 as a sample difficulty.
You're going to have +16 (level) +8 (legendary), -1 (STR), +2 (ABP item bonus) = 25. So that's a 13 on the dice to succeed against an on-level, moderate save. If you get something above level with a good save, that goes up real fast. ie: a creature 17 with a good save is DC 42 so now you need a 17, and I'm just assuming you never try this against an extreme DC.
Critical failure is actually a real threat for you, which is something to be aware of because it can be not great. In the first case you crit fail on a 3 and in the second case you crit fail on a 7 (this is more likely than success is).
With a +4 STR, that 13 changes to an 8 and the 17 becomes a 12.
I also don't recommend taking the Halfling ancestry penalty if you want to do this. Use the alternate ancestry boosts instead.
Either that, or get assurance and accept you'll only be able to do it against weaker enemies, but you'll always succeed at that.
What they said, but also you'd be putting your PC (a more vulnerable one than theirs) in harm's way or even wasting actions moving forward, not to mention how mobile a lot of enemies will be. Helping your warriors mobility will often help more than a trip would.
Look at Telekinetic Maneuvers where all the numbers naturally scale w/o such risks or investment (except Cha of course). Check with your GM that your size doesn't alter who the spell works on (as technically the size limitations apply though intuitively they shouldn't). You could pick up MCD Sorcerer to get more 2nd level slots (and damaging Focus spells, w/ Blinding Beauty or Horrific Visage for debuffs).
There's also Falling Sky, Telekinetic Bombardment, Heightened Sleep, and other Occult spells that can make enemies prone. Or if it's just to debuff for your buddies, there's the famous Synesthesia where even getting 1 round is a 50% damage boost for your warrior buddies (and other allies attacking AC or Ref saves).
I also don't think you can be effective at tripping if you leave your STR so low. You are going to need to buff STR at least a bit. It doesn't have to be maxed though.
Halfling has a penalty to their STR attribute. That doesn't mean that your final attribute bonus is going to be -1.
At the very least, they could use the alternate ability scores and get two chosen boosts with no penalties.
Then put a boost or two into STR at level 1 and boost it again at each level up that gives ability boosts. That will end up with a +4 STR by level 10 or 15.
Since the campaign is starting at level 16, that should be fine.
Put some skill boosts into Athletics and the whip bard will only be a point or two behind a barbarian at being able to trip things.
Interesting, so essentially I need Str that's the only way to make it work.
The most effective way is to just use the Telekinetic Maneuver spell on high value targets.
Although there are probably more effective spells that you could cast first (Synesthesia ) but it's not bad as a backup.
Especially because Telekinetic Maneuver is a 2nd level spell, as you level those spell slots are less needed. You can also buy lots of scrolls of it as backup. At level 16, cheap consumables like scrolls give you a lot of staying power.
As a bard, start of combat with your preferred song, synesthesia on a high value target (if any), and then you can start casting from scrolls to generally debuff appropriate enemies. Remember, spell DCs/attacks are all the same even when cast from scrolls.
You could also consider playing a fighter with the bard dedication (from Free Archetype). That would give you a great platform to do maneuvers and give you access to spells for buffing your party. And even certain spells (again Synesthesia) can have powerful debuffs even on a failed save.
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Yeah, you could lean into being more martial, because as a Bard you do get better weapons and armor than a wizard for instance, but not by a lot.
Your weapons and armor proficiency doesn't increase beyond expert. Unlike previous editions where Bards were 6th level spell casters with more martial capabilities, bards are full on casters in this edition and even though they have light armor and the access to martial weapons, their proficiency rank doesn't increase beyond expert. Like other full casters.
Bards are not a good choice for martial pursuits.
Now, that doesn't mean you can't trip, it just means doing it via athletics and weapons isn't a great idea.
In order to cast Slow + be able to trip the enemy. Prone but Slow is pretty nasty, on top of having two companions who can Reactive Strike the enemy as he attempts to stand up.
It's a neat idea, but you can coordinate with your team mates and get them to trip. Fighters have some good options for tripping.
You would also have to contend with casting in close range to the enemy. And while a lot less enemies have attacks of opportunity in PF2, it's still a risk.
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Also, you're a bard, you have composition cantrips to suck up your actions and instruments to fill your hands, why do you want to use a whip?
Reach Trip is a pretty solid thing to do with 1 action. I had a Thaumaturge doing it and it was really effective.
A Bard with the STR to do it could definitely help the party out with that action, because sometimes even Bards have a spare third action (if Linger is active for example). And Reach lets them stand behind the Fighter while doing it.
It's a pretty fun build, just not one for a -1 STR character.
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An alternative way to Trip would be to take Acrobat dedication and Tumbling opportunist, and basically Trip using your Acrobatics, as part of a tumble through action, once per 10 minutes.
I agree with this proposal, acrobat is a very good archetype for a dex character.
It is 1/minute, not per 10min, and with auto-scaling acrobatics and probably kip up in case of a crit fail it is a strong option.
Also, you're a bard, you have composition cantrips to suck up your actions and instruments to fill your hands, why do you want to use a whip?Reach Trip is a pretty solid thing to do with 1 action. I had a Thaumaturge doing it and it was really effective.
A Bard with the STR to do it could definitely help the party out with that action, because sometimes even Bards have a spare third action (if Linger is active for example). And Reach lets them stand behind the Fighter while doing it.
It's a pretty fun build, just not one for a -1 STR character.
Yeah, this is really the point you have to start talking about expected actions per turn, to evaluate how often you're going to actually use an option like trip.
Or look at the Fighter getting Crashing Slam w/ you casting True Target (+Slow in same round if desired). Far more effective. A Bard simply shouldn't have the actions to position themselves to trip much less invest in tripping, plus I think the Str investment takes a big toll on saving throws (assuming one bumps Cha too). At least if not building a melee Bard already (likely w/ MCD Champion).
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Honestly, unless you really want to trip, it's an uphill battle with a halfling bard. It also puts you in harm's way, which depending on your DM might be a death sentence.
Even starting at higher level with effortless concentration, the bard is always short on actions, and you already have tens of things to do with your basic chassis.
You can use your third action to move, use a composition spell like fortissimo, make a bon mot, intimidate someone or give your friends a free, no question asked, +4 on any athletics check if they want to trip themselves (legendary performance + Uplifting overture), use True target...
If you really want to double down on helping your martial friends, you can also:
- Grab the swashbuckler dedication for "one for all" and hand them +4 bonuses to hit if you take legendary diplomacy.
- Grab the warrior muse for courageous assault (free attack of opportunity for your action)/shared assault (free attack of opportunity if someone crits, which should be often with a fighter).
Unless you really really want to play a trippin' bard (nobody will judge you for getting high), it's way too big an investment for too little gain
- You need to get high STR, so your other stats will suffer
- You need to get legendary Athletics, so your other skills (including performance) will suffer.
- You need to keep your weapon runed up, so your other stuff will suffer.