Tristan was involved with the original expedition that found the Pentagon ruins with Elder Lyons. He has trained Sarah Lyons since she was young and he has a professional relationship with her. Tristan is loyal to Lyons and follows his direction and ideals of the Brotherhood's future closely. Tristan is wise and has a serious nature.[Non-game 1]
Tristan has climbed through the ranks of the Brotherhood of Steel and attained the status of a paladin. He acts as an operation specialist, planning many of the offensives in defeating the Enclave in the Capital Wasteland. Tristan is responsible for the daily operations of the Citadel and he helps assist Paladin Gunny with training new members. He is often found wandering the Citadel's main control room area, which is the old bay for Liberty Prime.
Blood Brotherhood: Following the destruction of Adams Air Force Base, Tristan asks the player character to collect super mutant blood samples, so the scribes can research and develop a weapon that can destroy the super mutant population once and for all.
Effects of player's actions
He is the acting field commander of the Brotherhood forces in light of Sarah Lyons being unable to fight after the events at the purifier, and is in charge of all Brotherhood operations involving the Lone Wanderer and Liberty Prime, the first mission in the main Broken Steel questline.
"Well, you saw most of the fighting outside. The robot paved the way for us, we just mopped up the opposition while you and Sarah headed inside. After that... Hell if I know. Once we'd locked down the perimeter, and gotten word that the purifier was running, we headed in to look for you. Found you and Sarah both unconscious, and got you back to the Citadel fast as we could."
"With the setbacks the Brotherhood has suffered, we find ourselves in a difficult position. All our available resources need to be positioned for the inevitable counter-attack from the Enclave. At the same time, we believe we may have developed a tool to help our chances of victory. But with everyone needed to help defend against the Enclave, we have no one to send on a recovery mission. So I'm going to have you travel to the Olney Powerworks to secure some tech for us."
"I need you to go there, and quickly. That's the best chance to locate a key piece of experimental equipment, called a Tesla Coil. Information we've gathered suggests it's the best place to look for one, and for what the Scribes are cooking up, it's absolutely essential. If you can find one, get it back here right away. We don't have much time."
"Well, well. Look who's back amongst the living. Some of us were starting to wonder if you and Sarah were going to pull through."
"Not like they did at the purifier, no. We got the sense that after you took care of their headquarters, they didn't have anyone to give orders. So they haven't been as coordinated. Some surrendered, some tried to hold out... it's all ended the same. But don't let that fool you. If we can keep the pressure on them, we win. If not, we give them a chance to re-organize... Well, we don't want that to happen, do we?"
Appearances
Paladin Tristan appears only in the Fallout 3add-onBroken Steel.
Bugs
PCXbox 360 When first encountered in the Rockland car tunnel, he will sometimes be unarmed and in the "fist-fight" stance. Pickpocketing will reveal that he is carrying a plasma rifle and simply has no ammunition. He will find some ammunition by himself after Liberty Prime kills the first Enclave soldiers, but he can also be reverse-pickpocketed some microfusion cells while in the tunnel, which will make him fully operational after loading the next screen. [verified]
PCXbox 360 If Tristan suffers a crippled leg during the assault on the communications station, he will spend the rest of the game crippled.[verified]
↑Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.89: "Paladin Tristan Tristan is in charge of all the day-to-day operations of the Citadel and training new members. He follows Elder Lyons's ideals on the new direction the East Coast faction of the Brotherhood of Steel is taking very closely. He is serious and doesn't take any crap, but he’s also very wise. Like a few others, he was a part of the original expedition that discovered the Pentagon ruins with Elder Lyons. He has a close (professional) relationship with Sarah Lyons whom he trained since she was quite young. Tristan is usually found wandering the main control room area of the Citadel (the old bay for Liberty Prime)." (Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census)
When first encountered in the Rockland car tunnel, he will sometimes be unarmed and in the "fist-fight" stance. Pickpocketing will reveal that he is carrying a plasma rifle and simply has no ammunition. He will find some ammunition by himself after Liberty Prime kills the first Enclave soldiers, but he can also be reverse-pickpocketed some microfusion cells while in the tunnel, which will make him fully operational after loading the next screen. [verified]