Forum

The rules currently state that 'Drawing a symbol takes a few minutes and cannot be done in the heat of battle'. I presume that refers to drawing it on a solid surface, while simply tracing it in the air with a finger is fine? Could a sorcerer then, in theory, draw the rune on the surface of a warrior's shield, cover it with a cloth and then have him reveal it at the beginning of combat to blind/paralyze/horrify an opponent? If the party is facing more than one opponent - who would be affected - if a group of enemies, all at short range, saw the rune at the same time, would it affect all of them? For 6 hours? That could be a very effective way of ending a fight very quickly...

There also seems to be some inconsistency in the descriptions - for instance some of the spells (Entice, Paralyze and Puppeteer) require the Power Level to match or exceed the victims Wits, while some don't (Horrify, Blindness and Mind Trick). Is that an oversight or is it intended that some (quite powerful) effects should be 'no save'?

I don't think seeing the rune is what causes the spell to work, the rune is the instrument for channeling the energy and changing probability and the universe around it. So even if drawn on a shield it would only affect one target.

At least in the Swedish rules it is stated that drawing symbols in the air is permissable during combat, but carving/drawing into/on is too time-consuming.

Is there an option for things to affect additional targets?

I don't think seeing the rune is what causes the spell to work, the rune is the instrument for channeling the energy and changing probability and the universe around it. So even if drawn on a shield it would only affect one target.

At least in the Swedish rules it is stated that drawing symbols in the air is permissable during combat, but carving/drawing into/on is too time-consuming.

Hmmmm....
I get what you're saying and it makes sense - in the example I suggested Blind would instead work when the caster triggered it and affects one target rather than acting as an arcane flash-bang grenade (which would be a bit over-powered). But counter to that the descriptions of several of the spells (Entice, Horrify and Paralyze in particular) do seem to emphasise the visual aspect of the symbol. 
I like the principle of rune magic - the idea of a evil sorcerer being able to leave things like that around his lair as traps like specialised versions of Power Rune, where the power is stored for a specific purpose - like blinding someone who pokes his nose behind the wrong curtain.
Doesn't matter too much really. I'm just trying to decide how I visualise it working.