Symbol of Death question

[Wonton]

Relevant excerpts from the SRD:


Until it is triggered, the symbol of death is inactive (though visible and legible at a distance of 60 feet). To be effective, a symbol of death must always be placed in plain sight and in a prominent location. Covering or hiding the rune renders the symbol of death ineffective, unless a creature removes the covering, in which case the symbol of death works normally.

Throwing a cover over a symbol of death to render it inoperative triggers it if the symbol reacts to touch. You can’t use a symbol of death offensively; for instance, a touch-triggered symbol of death remains untriggered if an item bearing the symbol of death is used to touch a creature. Likewise, a symbol of death cannot be placed on a weapon and set to activate when the weapon strikes a foe.

So, could an enemy who wants to keep a Symbol of Death (or any other Symbol spell) hidden, rather than "in plain sight and in a prominent location" simply scribe it on the floor and throw a rug over it? And then simply remove the rug (or order a goon to remove the rug) when enemies are close?

Totally unrelated question: Is there anything preventing scribing several Symbols right next to each other?

Another totally unrelated question: How cheesy would it be to pull this on my players with 2 glyphs? Not Death but, say, Exsanguination (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/symbol-of-exsanguination) and Slowing (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/symbol-of-slowing)? :smalltongue:

[tyckspoon]

Yup, you can hide a Symbol just by covering it with something to take it out of plain sight. No, as far as I know there is no rule on how large a Symbol is or how many you can shove into an area. And yes, if you can afford the time and money to set them up stacked Symbols make a really nasty trap. (Even more expensive, but a shield or similar largish portable object with a few Permanent Symbols makes a really nice passive attack/'magic item'.)

[Velaryon]

Can I piggyback a related question onto this one?

Suppose that you engrave a Symbol of Death (or a lower symbol) onto an object and then render that object invisible with magic. Does that work the same way as covering the symbol, meaning that it goes dormant until the invisibility wears off or is dispelled? And would the symbol still be able to threaten someone who had cast See Invisibility or True Seeing on themselves, while remaining dormant to those who can't see it?

[Wonton]

Can I piggyback a related question onto this one?

Suppose that you engrave a Symbol of Death (or a lower symbol) onto an object and then render that object invisible with magic. Does that work the same way as covering the symbol, meaning that it goes dormant until the invisibility wears off or is dispelled? And would the symbol still be able to threaten someone who had cast See Invisibility or True Seeing on themselves, while remaining dormant to those who can't see it?

Hard to say it's 100% one or the other by RAW, since it kinda depends on how you interpret the meaning of "in plain sight", but yes, I would rule it as you said.

For example, infrared and UV light is around us all the time, but we can't see it, so it's not really "in plain sight" for us. For certain birds, it would be though, since they can see UV. Likewise, if something can't be seen until you cast a See Invisibility spell, I would rule the same way you did.

[Velaryon]

Thanks! I have a sorcerer/trapmaster type character that might eventually do this if the game goes on long enough for him to have such spells in his repertoire.