Maybe an end to the dragonwrought kobolds are true dragons debate?

[Mister Lamp]

Is there a reading lenient enough to allow the DWK to be a true dragon, but strict enough to disallow the incarnum dragon? I am merely curious here.

Not really. The main (read: only) argument for Kobolds is the "advance through age categories" thing, which is ambiguous at best. Either interpretation places the Incarnum as a TD, only one places the DWK.

[Bauglir]

Because of the last part of that, it's meaningless. "Varies according to ... variety" means that it's simple to state that DWKs don't have to meet that definition.

Actually, no. Their size varies, which means it is different, according to age and variety. DWKs stay small all the time.

Er, why are DWKs staying small problematic? That sentence means that true dragons, as a category, have different sizes, depending on their age and variety. Jumping from that to the idea that each variety must change as it ages is as big a leap as saying that an individual dragon changes size at each age category.

You can have a table with Age as the columns and Variety as the rows, and finding the size requires navigating to the appropriate cell. DWKs just happen to have Small in each column.

I don't think that DWKs are True Dragons, I just don't think this contributes to the side I'm on. This thread has also convinced me that Incarnum dragons are not TDs either, but meh. That's largely because this thread has convinced me that the word "rigor" was foreign to the authors' minds when writing about true dragons.

[ImperatorK]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/varies

var·y  (vâr, vr)
v. var·ied (-d), var·y·ing, var·ies (-z)
v.tr.
1.  To make or cause changes in the characteristics or attributes of; modify or alter.
2.  To give variety to; make diverse: vary one's diet.
3.  To introduce under new aspects; express in a different manner: vary a musical tempo.
v.intr.
1.  To undergo or show change: The temperature varied throughout the day.
2.  To be different; deviate: vary from established patterns of behavior. See Synonyms at differ.
3.  To undergo successive or alternate changes in attributes or qualities: Foliage varies with the seasons.

"Varies" is defined as "changes". SRD says that "The size of a particular dragon varies according to age and variety" . DWK is a particular dragon, but neither age or variety changes it's size.

Why exactly do you think Incarnum Dragons aren't TDs?

[Bauglir]

They don't fit all of the criteria listed for TDs and are never explicitly called out as exceptions (same reason I don't think DWKs are). RAI they probably are, and I would treat them that way in my games. The table of TDs helps with a lot of those exceptions.

I understand what the word "varies" means. The size of members of the category of "true dragons" is different, depending on the creature in question's age and type. As long as you have two different types of true dragon that are not of the same size at the same time, that statement is true. It need not be true of any category within the category described (which is "true dragons" as a whole), just as it need not be true of any particular individual.

If "varies according to age and variety" applies to every possible level of organization, then just as it must apply to every type, it must apply to every age - no dragon can stay the same size if its age changes. This is clearly absurd.

[ImperatorK]

They don't fit all of the criteria listed for TDs and are never explicitly called out as exceptions (same reason I don't think DWKs are).

They fit my first and, IMO, most important criterion.