Back in the Saddle

Back in the Saddle is a tutorial quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Synopsis
After being cleared as stable by Doc Mitchell, he urges the Courier to talk to Goodsprings local ranger Sunny Smiles who can teach them how to fend for themselves in the wasteland and not get shot in the head again.

Detailed walkthrough
After setting up the Courier via the small tutorial inside Doc Mitchell's house, he will direct them to the Prospector Saloon, stating that a woman named Sunny Smiles will be able to help the player character with their dilemma. When they enter, the player character will be greeted by Cheyenne, Sunny's dog, and Sunny herself. She tells the player character that the Doc informed her of their coming and to meet her out back. Follow her, and upon reaching her outside, she will give the player character a varmint rifle and 60 5.56mm rounds.

NOTE: dropping all 5.56 ammunition and talking to Sunny will result in 30 more rounds.

A shooting tutorial ensues, teaching the Courier about aiming down the sights and crouching. After shooting 3 of the Sunset Sarsaparilla bottles, Sunny Smiles will then ask the player character if they would like to tag along on a little job. At this point, the player character can choose to continue or end the tutorial, the latter ending in the forfeit of several rewards.

The player character will receive 60 5.56mm rounds upon agreeing to help and then run southeast, towards the Goodsprings source. Once the player character gets close to the first well, Sunny will tell them to sneak, by crouching, to surprise the geckos.

Once the geckos are dead, speak to Sunny and continue on to the next two wells. Unlike at the first well, Sunny and Cheyenne will also run along and try to kill geckos.

After killing the three at the second well, the player character should look for red pips on the HUD for the next group of geckos and move to engage those.

Should the Goodsprings settler being attacked by the geckos survive, she will give the player character 3 bottles of purified water and their reputation in Goodsprings will improve. If the Goodsprings settler dies, the player character won't receive the reputation boost or the purified water, but can loot her body for a cleaver, field hand outfit and a handful of caps.

Talk to Sunny afterwards to receive 50 XP, get paid 50 caps and have the opportunity to start By a Campfire on the Trail (and lament the settler's death in dialogue, if appropriate).

Save first, since going too far in some directions the quest ends at triggers the menus for redoing the Courier's specs.

Behind the scenes
The title of the quest is a reference to the song "Back in the Saddle Again" by Gene Autry.

Bugs

 * If you already have a varmint rifle, you will lose it and any mods it was equipped with, and it will be exchanged for the default one you are handed as part of the quest, even if the one in your inventory is not equipped. To preclude this, drop yours on the ground, wait for her to hand you a varmint rifle and tell you to shoot the bottles, then pick yours up again without incident.
 * There is a bug that may happen if you finish the tutorial after the shooting lesson, and then fail the quests Run Goodsprings Run and Ghost Town Gunfight before you talk to Trudy, the option that ends the quest may not work and the quest may never end.
 * It is possible for the mission to not continue automatically. If a random critter appears outside the saloon when you follow Sunny and she moves to attack she will not give you the rifle or the mission unless you push her back to where she was standing when you come out of the saloon.
 * If you already own the varmint rifle she gives you, you may auto equip the one you already have instead of receiving a new one.
 * Sometimes, the distressed settler will not talk to you after saving her and she will just back away towards Goodsprings, knife drawn and crouching.
 * Once the settler is saved and out of harm's way she may continue to yell for help when interacted with
 * Making a healing powder at a campfire and then starting the quest by talking to Sunny will cause her to immediately end the quest as though you had gone through it normally. The sarsaparilla bottles, geckos, and Goodsprings Settler never appear, and she does not give you a varmint rifle or ammunition.
 * Sunny will sometimes move to the chairs outside the front door of the saloon. If asked for training there, she will not walk to the backyard. Entering and exiting the bar again will teleport her there and fixes this.

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