Because it's completely and totally in every way irrelevant. The reason why has been repeatedly stated (have you ignored it? Or just forgotten why so fast? You don't even check for "Lesser Dragon" status if you already are a True Dragon by the "more powerful" guideline). Even if it wasn't, that's still 25% of the time where it doesn't mean what you want it to... and if it meant what you wanted it to, it would have contradictions. So, you know, same old same old.
This is a faulty assumption.
Not at all... in fact that's where you've gone so wrong. If you'll read the source material, it's quite clear. First it says "True dragons are those creatures that become more powerful as they grow older." Okay, so, like I said, check to see if it's a True Dragon at this point. If it grows more powerful as it gets older, it's a true dragon.
Next, it says "Other creatures of the dragon type that do not advance through age categories are referred to as lesser dragons." Note that "Other creatures" bit. That means "creatures other than the type we just talked about, namely true dragons." So the rest of that sentence only applies if the first qualifier turns out to be false and it's not a true dragon, but is still a dragon.
Here, I'll spell it out in programming terms, and see if that helps.
If(dragon is a creature that grows more powerful as it grows older)
Then (True Dragon)
Else (If (Dragon advances through age categories)
Then (Lesser Dragon))
That's it, and that's exactly how it parses out. You've been somehow missing that "Other" statement when parsing, and then gone back and said that being Lesser means you can't be true using the same "Other" statement you ignored on the first pass.
Here, let me give you another example of how this works. If I say "employees who have marked parking spaces should park in those spaces. Other employees who have bus passes should take the bus" that means any employee who has a marked parking space should park there, while those who do not but have bus passes should take the bus. But what about an employee who has a marked parking space and has a bus pass? What I've said there is that he should park in that space, because whether he has a pass or not is irrelevant. And employees with neither a space nor a bus pass? I haven't said anything about them at all.
JaronK
You've gone "so wrong" in assuming that "other" means that you check one first, then the other. This isn't programming. A computer cannot consider context. What you call "defining" lesser dragons is in fact an explanation and augmentation of the authors' definition of True Dragons. Each does not exist independently, they are in fact codependent while being mutually exclusive.
If it were meant to be read the way you claim, there would be a clear demarcation between the two, and the definitions would not address different issues. They would read "true dragons get more powerful as they age, lesser dragons do not."
However, this is not how it was written. Instead, it was written in such a way that each statement clarifies the meaning of the other. It was written such that "advance" means "to grow powerful" and "to grow powerful" means "advance." In this sense, they address the same issue and give meaning rather than being throwaway statements that many creatures can qualify for. Context. Each gives additional meaning to the other.
This point of view is further augmented by many quotes that come from the exact same book in which the definition is found.
Your point of view relies almost entirely on alternative sources where you pull one line from an entire book and use it as evidence.
Is there really a point to rules-lawyering "stat bonuses from age are getting more powerful, too!" when it's so blatantly obvious the writers are referring to the way dragons gain HD/size/SLAs/etc as they advance in age?
There only is when the idea that you might be wrong would entirely ruin your self image.
Which is all well and good, but if you recall, I didn't ask for useage of the word "advance", I asked for useage of the phrase "advance through". That one additional word makes all the difference.
My apologies. So many demands for quotes and evidence, so little time.
Hint: It doesn't really make any difference at all.
