FormerlyHemlock
Hero
I've been imagining all this time that a creature could only be affected once by a given Symbol. But the spell text actually just says:
Once triggered, the glyph glows, filling a 60-foot-radius sphere with dim light for 10 minutes, after which time the spell ends. Each creature in the sphere when the glyph activates is targeted by its effect, as is a creature that enters the sphere for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there.
So it would appear that you can take 20d10 in a single round from a Symbol of Death (once for entering the sphere, and again if you end your turn there) and then 10d10 again on every subsequent round. Con save for half, but still, ouch! Combine with e.g. Wall of Force to keep somebody in the Symbol of Death and you've got yourself a nasty killer combination.
Is this common knowledge and I'm the only one who's been overlooking this?
Note that casting a spell doesn't prevent you from moving*, and unlike Planar Binding, Symbol has no clause requiring the target to be within range the whole time the spell is being cast, so you could theoretically spend most of a minute casting the spell behind total cover before climbing on a Phantom Steed on the last round of casting, having it Dash 200', dismounting, and finishing the spell right at the feet of your victim. You wind up taking the same damage your target does (though if you're a Necromancer or the right kind of Aasimar you're resistant), but unlike your victim, you're not going to get caught in the Readied Wall of Force your other PC buddy is about to cast, so you're only going to take the damage once whereas your victim is going to take 10d10 101 times, for 1010d10 (5555) points of damage, Con saves for half.
* Unless your DM has, like me, houseruled more AD&D-ish rules.
Once triggered, the glyph glows, filling a 60-foot-radius sphere with dim light for 10 minutes, after which time the spell ends. Each creature in the sphere when the glyph activates is targeted by its effect, as is a creature that enters the sphere for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there.
So it would appear that you can take 20d10 in a single round from a Symbol of Death (once for entering the sphere, and again if you end your turn there) and then 10d10 again on every subsequent round. Con save for half, but still, ouch! Combine with e.g. Wall of Force to keep somebody in the Symbol of Death and you've got yourself a nasty killer combination.
Is this common knowledge and I'm the only one who's been overlooking this?
Note that casting a spell doesn't prevent you from moving*, and unlike Planar Binding, Symbol has no clause requiring the target to be within range the whole time the spell is being cast, so you could theoretically spend most of a minute casting the spell behind total cover before climbing on a Phantom Steed on the last round of casting, having it Dash 200', dismounting, and finishing the spell right at the feet of your victim. You wind up taking the same damage your target does (though if you're a Necromancer or the right kind of Aasimar you're resistant), but unlike your victim, you're not going to get caught in the Readied Wall of Force your other PC buddy is about to cast, so you're only going to take the damage once whereas your victim is going to take 10d10 101 times, for 1010d10 (5555) points of damage, Con saves for half.
* Unless your DM has, like me, houseruled more AD&D-ish rules.
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