I am playing a one shot tomorrow and I want to play around with Chaos Bolt.

[Jmarsh56]

We will be level 12 and I am looking for any interactions between existing things and Chaos Bolt. I basically want it to seem like I have very little control over my magic but through a careful selection of spells and feats and the interplay (if any exists) of them actually be very much in control, I am looking to produce a true "Wild Magic" feel.

[Jerrykhor]

There's very little reason to use Chaos Bolt past level 5, when simple damage cantrip is is better. Firebolt already does 3d10 vs 2d8 of Chaos Bolt.

I can't think of anything that can interact with Chaos Bolt, other than Twin it and hope it bounces. It's a crappy spell, probably the crappiest in the UA alongside Sudden Awakening.

[PeteNutButter]

So there is only 12.5% chance of it chaining. You should be able to twin it, essentially doubling your chance of making it chain. The real money is EMPOWER metamagic, which allows you to reroll dice up to your cha mod. So pick the smaller d8 and reroll it(as well as the low d6s) for another shot at chaining. You can do that everytime you roll damage, provided you have the points to spend.

It won't be amazing, but there is a little you can do for it. Thematically, probably just go wild magic sorcerer, since you need to be sorcerer to make it work.

From a 6th level slot that is 2d8+5d6 average 26.5, twinning it makes it 53, and odds are you get one chain out of it making it an average damage of 79.5.

If you want to get really complicated, you could ask your DM how he feels about chaos bolt's interaction with elemental adept. I guess you would probably need elemental adept COLD, and go for 2s. It is actually a big increase in chance of chaining, as you could go for 1,1 1,2 2,1 and 2,2. Funny thing is you might ALSO need elemental adept acid for either 1,2 or 2,1 to work since its not technically a cold spell until a 2 is rolled on the designated die... what a mess. This strategy is a tad weak as you are going for 2s on the d8s, but the empower on the d6s could outweigh it. Probably a lot better if you go draconic in this case, and really try for cold.

All this makes it weaker than casting fireball in most situations, but I'm throwing everything I can at the spell. Good luck.

EDIT: You might also be able to cheese it into chaining by using tempest cleric. Again ask your DM, but rolling maximum on damage is technically doubles. Could only work once a short rest, or twice if you took tempest cleric to 6. If I were DM, I'd probably rule you'd have to roll a 5 or 8 for lightning or thunder damage and then determine if you want to maximize it. It would work a lot better if D&D had spell tags like Path of Exile, so when casting chaos bolt you are considered to be casting a spell of every element.

EDIT2: Although not relevant for a level 12 one-shot, I'll include for completion that a sorc 1/Wizard Evoker 14 could do some nasty work with this spell provided the above maximize trick works. Unlike the tempest cleric, it is tied to the spell and not the roll, so if it works it would continually chain until either all targets are hit or the wizard misses. Best it could do is a 5th level slot so 40 thunder damage per foe. Not amazing for a 15th level character, but not a horrible use of a 5th level slot. Big downside is the attack roll would go off CHA not INT so it'd be MAD as hell.

[furby076]

Also, ask your DM to refluff the spell. Then when you cast it, give a random description as to how it looks. Are there any items that enhance wild magic chance?