Another option is to make Chromatic Orb deal full mentioned damage to target if somebody is targeted or create a surface it creates now if nobody is targeted.
Personaly i still dont like this idea ... Cant see why cant we simply get toggle if we want to create surfaces for the cost of single damage dice ... or not.
I still dont understand why cant we change Race for our hirelings. Lets us play Githyanki as racist as they trully are!