How much AP should crossbows take per shot?
Let's do a thought exercise. Six AP is apparently too few, so let's say Crossbows now take 8 AP per shot. This means that a crossbow user will need a minimum Speed of NINE just to fire one shot per round. If they want to actually move at all, they'll need at least 11 SPD to let them move 1 AP's worth. So whatever a user "saves" in DEX, they'll have to spend it in SPD instead. This is already making crossbows less appealing.
But first, let's take a look at how bows and crossbows ACTUALLY compare.
I am looking at one of each, both level 11 and non-magical.
A Knightly Yew Bow requires 9 DEX and costs 4 AP per shot, and does 47-82 damage.
A Steel Crossbow requires 11 DEX and costs 6 AP per shot, and does 82-119 damage.
The average damage for the bow is 64.5, or 16.125 damage per AP.
The average damage for the crossbow is 100.5, or 16.75 damage per AP.
If we were to up the AP cost of crossbows to 8 per shot, that would lower their average damage to 12.5625 damage per AP. In order to balance this, you would need to compensate by upping the damage of crossbows per shot. producing numbers like this:
A Knightly Yew Bow requires 9 DEX and costs 4 AP per shot, and does 47-82 damage.
A Steel Crossbow requires 7 DEX and costs 8 AP per shot, and does 105-152 damage.
This might also be of interest (emphasis mine):
http://steamcommunity.com/app/230230/discussions/0/540736965796820518/#c540737414580034775Yes, crossbows do a lot damage, and for that reason have a higher requirement. Same as why a 2H sword or 2H axe has a higher requirement than a sword or a club. I know the background of the crossbow, but it's a game. We once tried more "realistic" settings for equipment (I'm a sucker for all things medieval), but it kind of broke gameplay and most of all FUN. Sure, it's easy enough just to switch the bow and crossbow around (concerning damage and requirement and all that), but your character just looks more badass with a crossbow than with a bow...
