Back in the Saddle



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

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

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

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

You'll receive 60 5.56mm rounds upon agreeing to help and then run south east, towards the Goodsprings source. Once you get close to the first well, Sunny will tell you to sneak, by crouching, to surprise the geckos. Once the geckos are dead, speak to Sunny and continue on to the next two wells. There should be three geckos at the next well, and three geckos attacking a female Goodsprings settler near the final well. Kill the geckos and talk to the Goodsprings settler; she will give you 3 bottles of purified water and improves your reputation in Goodsprings. If the Goodsprings settler dies, you 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 dialog, if appropriate).

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.

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