If you don't plan to grow anything, then I would definitely use weed barrier under the rock, if you are planting succulents per the OP , you will have to cut holes in the weed barrier wherever the succulents are planted.
I recently cleared a bed next to my driveway and I:
1. Dug out all the weeds with a shovel
2. Sprayed roundup
3. Put down weed barrier - Vigoro Weedblock (
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-3-ft-x-50-ft-WeedBlock-Weed-Barrier-Landscape-Fabric-with-Microfunnels-1242RV/302720132)4. Put down crushed granite underlay
5. Put down pavers sand for the 12 pavers I spaced out through the bed
6. Filled the rest in with pebbles (my wife's choice, I should have stuck to my guns on the larger river rocks, because the pebbles blow all around and the kids love to to play with them and spread them all over the driveway - a big pain the ass .... but the leaves and needles do blow out of it pretty easy on a lower blower setting since they just sit on top).