Improving the *Symbol* spells

[Kymus]

I've only tested Symbol of Pain, but I assume others operate the same way (if I'm wrong, then someone please correct me).

Symbol of Pain takes approx 1½ minutes to activate, regardless of the number of times it is trampled upon. I am unaware of how the spell works mechanically (ie: how it's coded and able to be coded), but is there a way to drastically reduce the time it takes for the spell to activate? As is, the spell is almost useless since only the longest of fights will take that long (and even then.. a good portion of time is lost waiting for it to activate).

It would be nice if it could work in a similar way to Delayed Blast Fireball since it would activate immediately upon touch. The drawback to this, of course, is that it would likely only affect a single creature, instead of potentially a group. Would it be possible for it to stay up for ~10 seconds and affect all creatures that cross it in that time frame?

Whatever the case, I feel like the time for activation is way too long and should be cut dramatically. What are the potential options?

[allatum]

It's probably a little goofy considering that the P&P cast times of the Symbol spells is ten minutes. Given all the corners NWN cuts though, trying to stay true to that does end up making the spell clunky and awkward.