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So, when the Bestiary/PRD lists a variant of a monster as a simple template (such as for the Giant Ant), do the variants "inherit" ALL the stats for the main version (changed as appropriate, of course)? Specifically, does a variant monster inherit the Organization line?
Using the ants example, would the worker ants have the same "number appearing" quality as the soldier (standard) giant ant? Could you encounter a "gang (3-6)" of Giant Ant Drones? Or would the workers, drones and queen only show up in a hive?
(And, yes, I know about Rule 0, but I can be pretty pedantic sometimes, so please humor me. 8^)
By RAW, yes. Aside from the changes listed in the variant's section, all other things are supposed to remain the same. Environment, treasure and organization are things that are assumed to remain the same. Keep in mind that variant monsters usually have increased CR, so their "gangs" or "conspiracies" or "herds" would likely be smaller (to fit the same total CR) or only encountered by higher level groups (to fit the same organization size), assuming you are a DM who tailors encounters to the APL of your players.
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Yeah, that's what I would figure in general, but the fact that the giant ant's Organization section includes a version that specifically names the variants makes me wonder. (In that case, at least.)
Barring comments by the likes of Jason, James, Erik, etc., I'll probably let it inherit normally most of the time, but not if they're specifically mentioned.