D&D 5E (2024) Opinions on the Topaz Dragon Reverse Wings?

[Charlaquin]

 

[RoughCoronet0]

I love it, and I'm really happy to see the weirdness of the gem dragons being kept and even leaned into more in the art.

 

[kigmatzomat]

Think I preferred the "crystal film" wings. It was more surreal. For a dragon that lives in a necrotic environment, that glassy "immune to cosmic decay" look makes sense.

 

[pukunui]

Didn't like it in Fizban's, and I don't like it here either.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I have always disliked this design concept. I dislike it even more than the other 5e designs. And I really, REALLY hate the new Gold dragon.

It looks stupid beyond belief.

This.

Where others might see this as "oh, it's so obviously fantastical because it wouldn't work IRL!", I just...see how it wouldn't work.

Like...it's like showing me one of those pictures where you have three mutually-interlocking gears.

No, seeing something like this is not going to make me think "Wow! What crazy power must be in play to make this ridiculous, impossible thing actually work!?"

It's just going to make me think various negative thoughts--and remind me of just how much I'm already suspending disbelief.

Edit: I've just realized what specific thing this is, that makes it different from something like Escher's impossible staircase.

This is banal impossibility. It doesn't spark wonder, it leaves me disappointed.