For more context, I’m thinking of playing a centaur barbarian which means with the practiced brawn ancestry feat I can get +1 to athletic checks to shove and any succesful shove is a critical success.
Despite the potential for cool Trip just seems better though? it targets a save which most monsters are worse at than fortitude, also steals a movement action and puts the enemy off-guard until their turn. Is there something I’m missing or is trip just a better option every time that doesn’t involve a convenient cliff or river of lava?
You can get an approximate DC without metagaming based on how the creature is described.
If the creature is slow, big, or tough, it probably has a higher Fortitude than Reflex.
If the creature is small, fast, or wily, it probably has a higher Reflex than Fortitude.
I don’t know if they carried it over to 2e, but in 1e a creature that has more than two legs is more resistant to being tripped. Creatures with no legs or who are flying/swimming/burrowing are probably immune to being tripped.