Looking for feedback on this spell, any and all thoughts appreciated, I have reworked it significantly from the one I posted previously, so balance and technical notes/improvements will also be welcome :)

Chaos Pulse

Also hoping to have a race for feedback soon as well...

10d4 damage is an average of just 25 damage on a failed save, 12 damage on a successful one. It hits a small radius, and I can't really see a PC blowing a 4th level spell slot on it compared to a 9d6 Fireball (average 31 damage, range, bigger radius). I guess it's situational but it's so situational that I can't see most characters wanting to prepare it.

The different damage types for each d4 is really just a pain in the butt to have to manage. Naming each d4's damage type before rolling it - uff. Not only does that slow the game down a lot, its main function is to undercut resistances - but in actuality it is more likely to hit several resistances. It's a lot of time spent fiddling around with damage types which are only dealing 2.5 damage per die anyway.

Why is there no pushback unless the spell is upcast?

Suggested changes:

• Roll 1d8 to determine the damage type.
• Add a 10 foot knockback to the base level of the spell.

I agree that the separate instances of damage are going to be a pain to handle. Just throwing it out there as an idea, but you could make make the damage all of those types. 5e doesn't blend damage types, but theoretically something with multiple types could exploit any applicable vulnerabilities while also getting around any resistances or immunities. It would be an interesting benefit to play around with and might be worth the lower damage ceiling.