By a Campfire on the Trail



By a Campfire on the Trail is a tutorial quest in Fallout: New Vegas. This tutorial quest introduces the player to crafting. Sunny Smiles shows the player how to use campfires, which in turn can help the player understand how to use both the work and reloading benches.

Detailed walkthrough
After finishing the quest Back in the Saddle, Sunny offers to show the Courier another trick for surviving in the wasteland; using campfires to cook food. If the player chooses to end the tutorial during Back in the Saddle, this quest is not available.

Sunny asks the Courier to retrieve a xander root near the Goodsprings schoolhouse, and a broc flower from the Goodsprings Cemetery. Both plants can also be found on a hill directly south of the campfire where she waits.

The plants Sunny directs the player to are newly added to the specified locations by the quest. At the schoolhouse, a new xander root is added to the patch where only two had grown near the east entrance, along with two giant mantis nymphs that now guard the area. The cemetery, previously without any broc flowers has a new one added near the open grave at the back, as well as four bloatflies and a bark scorpion. The new plants are permanent and will respawn after being picked, but the creatures will not.

After retrieving both items, the Courier should meet Sunny Smiles back at the campfire near the Goodsprings water source. After talking to Sunny Smiles, go to the campfire to make healing powder.

When this quest is over, Sunny will tell the Courier to head over to the Prospector Saloon and talk with Trudy.

Behind the scenes
As well as acting as a crafting tutorial for the player, retrieving broc flowers and xander roots is also a reference to the start of Fallout 2, particularly Hakunin who will make healing powder upon returning to him with the same two ingredients.

The title of the quest is a reference to the song "By a Campfire on the Trail" by The Sons of the Pioneers.

Bugs

 * When following Sunny Smiles and talking to her at the campfire, the quest will become marked as done on the Pip-Boy. Sunny will go back to the Prospector Saloon without teaching the Courier how to make healing powder and no broc flower nor xander root will appear on the hill south of the campfire. So it's better to go to the Goodsprings Schoolhouse and to the Goodsprings Cemetery and talk to Sunny with all the ingredients.
 * Once the player has collected sufficient ingredients, if they interact with a campfire before they have talked with Sunny, even if they haven't actually made anything (just exited), she will approach the player, tell him/her they have enough, then immediately enter the dialogue as if you just crafted healing powder.

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