I'm going to be blunt. Crossbows are a one-legged runner in a marathon with Usain Bolt (hah, you like that pun? Me, too!). I'm going to skip over AvD and DF and such, all of which are fine, but that leaves a number of other issues.

Cons:
1) Crossbows force offensive stance when cocking.
2) Cocking time is a minimum of 5 seconds regardless of STR bonus.
3) Cocking forces out of hiding.
4) Crossbows are subject to a DS penalty compared to bows.

Pros:
1) When kneeling (which provides a huge DS penalty), crossbows provide an AS bonus.

In short, while I can fire an aimed longbow with a minimum RT of 3 seconds, I can fire an aimed crossbow with a minimum RT of 8 seconds. Even worse, I have to hang out in offensive stance for a minimum of 5 seconds, I can't stay in hiding to snipe (which makes half of archery utterly useless), and I get a DS penalty on top of hanging out in offensive stance.

Basically, it's like the designer of crossbows just said, "LOL NO."

Please fix crossbows so they're viable weapons.

Suggestions:

1) Drop cocking RT to a minimum of 2 seconds and firing RT to a minimum of 2 seconds aimed, which is a total minimum RT of 4 seconds (still one second slower than a longbow).
2) Remove the forced offensive stance when cocking.
3) Remove the hiding drop when cocking.
4) Remove the DS penalty.
5) Keep the kneeling AS boost, which is a reasonable trade-off for the DS loss from kneeling.

Thanks in advance for thinking it over!

~ Nuadjha, the Briar Fox

You inhale deeply upon your pipe, puckering your lips as you send out three rings of smoke before you, then puff out a small vine of smoke that darts right through all three which causes them to disperse in a hazy shroud!