I'd love the addition of a crossbow in book 2. It would differ from a normal bow in that you could hold it AND a torch or shield since you need just one hand to fire it, but a bolt wouldn't do as much damage as an arrow. Possibly also could require a certain minimum strength to use it. For even more fun, make it slower than bows since you have to cock it to reload - maybe only shoot once every other turn. But you could see while using it, and have another couple points of armor.
[GryphonMD]

Sorry to nitpick, but realistically you need two hands to fire a crossbow, at least if you want to actually hit something (unless you're talking about pistol crossbows, of course).

If memory serves, BW has said, he will (if possible) add crossbows to Book II.

I was picturing smaller one-handed (pistol, if you will) crossbows with bolts 6-8" long. Something to do small amounts of damage from a distance and (relatively) easy to cock with a crank or similar.

[GryphonMD]

They had even smaller mini-crossbows in one of the movies made of "Dune". Attached to your wrist. Looked like bolt was 3-4 inches long?

Ok, THAT goes back a ways... honestly, I don't remember - it's been a LONG time since I watched it (or read any of the books).
[GryphonMD]

We've been talking quite a bit about the pros and cons of crossbows here in the studio. Several interesting articles were found on the net and the summery of the research was:

- Bows actually require more strength than crossbows to wield. The draw weight of an English Longbow is far greater than what is needed to hold a heavy crossbow up, and the loading of a crossbow is aided by a winch so strength is not needed there.

- Bows deliver more kinetic damage than crossbows. Although crossbows have a slightly higher projectile velocity, the increased length and weight of an arrow over a bolt means that an arrow has more penetrating power.

- There is little or no difference in accuracy between a bow and a crossbow. Once properly trained and practiced, a solider using either device can generally deliver a fatal shot over the same distance.

So why was the crossbow even invented if the bow is better in terms of lethal damage and rate of fire? Well, because to become good at a bow required many hours of training, whereas a field soldier could be proficient at killing with a crossbow with as little as 10 minutes of instruction. A unit of crossbowmen could be almost as lethal as a unit of longbow men with a far less investment in training.

So, giving this info, I am back to what I said about crossbows in Book I: I am not convinced that they are needed as they provide no benefit over a bow. However, if we have they time and resources, they could be added just to give players more weapon options.

I would like a full size crossbow, including several grades with the higher grades having better hit + damage points. Same for the bolts.

In the real world, bolts do more damage than arrows, mainly because of the power of crossbows in general.

The advantage of bows & arrows in the real world is distance. They are more accurate at long distance. In my youth, I did some bow hunting.