Kick 'em While They're Down
After the farcical tug o' war I played with the black skeletons, my tripping technique improved slightly. With a more concentrated effort I was able to trip the skeletons over more frequently. By this time we had also positioned the party so that the Rogue could also attack the skeleton fighting me, even though it meant the brave Paladin faced an extra attack per round from another enemy. Despite the help of an extra blade, it seemed that we were having trouble geting past the skeletons' dextrous dodging to strike them solidly.
However, whenever I managed to trip up one of the skeletons, so that it ended up prone, both the Rogue and Paladin had no trouble hitting it. Whilst one of the reasons I trained in tripping foes was because a prone opponent is easier to hit with melee weapons I think there was something more to what was happening here. The Rogue, being a Gnome, was clearly more comfortable hitting something that was closer to his own height, whereas our brave and noble Paladin relished the idea of striking an opponent whilst it was lying face-down on the floor.
I wonder if there's anything in the Paladin's moral code about this.