#On a hit, you deal damage

The spell states that, "on a hit, the target takes 2d8 + 1d6 damage". Nothing later in the spell contradicts this, so no matter what you roll on the dice, the target takes damage. Then you might make another attack roll etc., but that doesn't change the initial attack.

##If the Bolt only bounces and doesn't deal damage, it is strictly inferior to Chromatic Orb

Chromatic Orb is another 1st level spell that Sorcerers get access to. It does 3d8 damage of the type you choose. If Chaos Bolt didn't do damage on a bounce, it would do less damage, have an uncontrollable type, and target unpredictably, making it worse in every way to Chromatic Orb. The fact that it can chain and do more damage to more targets is what makes it viable (and fun!).

The 5e developers generally don't make options that completely invalidate other options, and they wouldn't introduce one like Chaos Bolt in a supplemental book when Chromatic Orb was already in the PHB. They certainly make mistakes from time to time but this seems like an obvious one, and the fact that an un-chaining Chaos Bolt would be useless adds weight to the reasoning I used above.

On a hit, you deal damage

The spell states that, "on a hit, the target takes 2d8 + 1d6 damage". Nothing later in the spell contradicts this, so no matter what you roll on the dice, the target takes damage. Then you might make another attack roll etc., but that doesn't change the initial attack.

If the Bolt only bounces and doesn't deal damage, it is strictly inferior to Chromatic Orb

Chromatic Orb is another 1st level spell that Sorcerers get access to. It does 3d8 damage of the type you choose. If Chaos Bolt didn't do damage on a bounce, it would do less damage, have an uncontrollable type, and target unpredictably, making it worse in every way to Chromatic Orb. The fact that it can chain and do more damage to more targets is what makes it viable (and fun!).

The 5e developers generally don't make options that completely invalidate other options, and they wouldn't introduce one like Chaos Bolt in a supplemental book when Chromatic Orb was already in the PHB. They certainly make mistakes from time to time but this seems like an obvious one, and the fact that an un-chaining Chaos Bolt would be useless adds weight to the reasoning I used above.

#On a hit, you deal damage

The spell states that, "on a hit, the target takes 2d8 + 1d6 damage". Nothing later in the spell contradicts this, so no matter what you roll on the dice, the target takes damage. Then you might make another attack roll etc., but that doesn't change the initial attack.

#On a hit, you deal damage

The spell states that, "on a hit, the target takes 2d8 + 1d6 damage". Nothing later in the spell contradicts this, so no matter what you roll on the dice, the target takes damage. Then you might make another attack roll etc., but that doesn't change the initial attack.

##If the Bolt only bounces and doesn't deal damage, it is strictly inferior to Chromatic Orb

Chromatic Orb is another 1st level spell that Sorcerers get access to. It does 3d8 damage of the type you choose. If Chaos Bolt didn't do damage on a bounce, it would do less damage, have an uncontrollable type, and target unpredictably, making it worse in every way to Chromatic Orb. The fact that it can chain and do more damage to more targets is what makes it viable (and fun!).

The 5e developers generally don't make options that completely invalidate other options, and they wouldn't introduce one like Chaos Bolt in a supplemental book when Chromatic Orb was already in the PHB. They certainly make mistakes from time to time but this seems like an obvious one, and the fact that an un-chaining Chaos Bolt would be useless adds weight to the reasoning I used above.