Once the party gathers enough coin, I’ll typically first equip Imoen with a Shortbow +1 from Thunderhammer Smithy. And then in Chapter 5 after completing Marek’s quest in the city of Baldur’s Gate she gets the “Protector of the Dryads, the Eagle Bow” which is a Shortbow +2.
But until just recently it’s been a challenge even finding a shortbow of any sort on eBay. A couple months ago when I was first looking to assemble gear for Imoen at that time the best I could find was “1/6 Scale Medieval Bow, Arrows, Quiver – Fantasy.”
Which is fairly decent I guess. But unfortunately after I applied a thin layer of Vallejo weathering paint wash to the pleather quiver it cracked in several places. And I also cut off the fabric shoulder strap which obviously has a modern day aesthetic, painting the white snipped off part brown. For the quiver shoulder strap I used a nice leather one that Gustavo Ponce Bautista had made for Minsc, but that I ended up not using for Minsc because I ended up using something else.
I used Vallejo weathering powder on the quiver and bow. The paint job on the simulated wood for the bow in its stock condition looked too shiny—more obviously like plastic. The weathering powder definitely helped it look more naturally like wood.
Anyway the quiver looks downright roached now, lol.
It’s not absolutely terrible. And it’ll do for a good while, I reckon. I think of this bow as the Shortbow +1 available at Thunderhammer. Which toward the end of the game will have seen plenty of road miles.
And today as I write this I’m seeing a fair number of pretty decent options for the Eagle Bow on eBay. I’ll probably apply minimal weathering to it if any, since it’s a high end enchanted bow.
So I expect to be updating this shortbow before long to give her something fancier looking. Some choices I came across just this morning:
I’m leaning toward the combo of the bow plus three arrows and the separate quiver at the bottom of the above selection. Just wish that the quiver was a bit fancier, though.
One Sixth Baldur's Gate 