Moon Dog Conversion Help

[I'm A Banana]

For reasons that will remain seeeeeecret, I find it necessary to convert a certain Olde Edition critter to 5e: the moon dog.

But son, this creature is a mess, so help would be much appreciated!

For those of you unfamiliar with the critter:
Official 1e Version
Official 3e Version
Pathfinder Tome of Horrors version

I'd include a link to the 2e version, but apparently D&D Classics isn't currently selling the 2e Monstrous Manual, so that's where you can find it if you've got one laying around. The ToH Pathfinder version appears to be OGC, so feel free to take a look at that if you just need the stats. All versions of the critter are pretty similar to each other, in terms of what it can do.

There are three major problems I'm wrestling with:

• This creature is a poster child for "a grab bag of Spell-Like Abilities". As far as I can tease out, our canine friend has at least 5 different categories of magical powers: healing abilities (the lick-based magic, and also dispelling charms and curses), celestial magic (the howl/bay/bark/whine combo, though also the dispel-magic-and-self ability), detection abilities (evil, illusion, invisibility, traps, magic in general, also generally good senses and double vision), some traveling magic (ethereal, astral), and a suite of illusion spells (change self, darkness, dancing lights, improved invisibility, light, mirror image, nondetection, wall of fog, shadow conjuration, and that protective-shadow ability). As much as I'm interested in a fairly authentic conversion, this seems like way too much going on at once, and at the very least seems hard to run. I want to make this clearer and more straightforward for table-use, ideally while keeping the effect of the abilities largely intact.
• There's a particular problem with Shadow Conjuration / Shades - the idea behind these spells has always been "duplicate any conjuration you want, but suckier if your target disbelieves." These spells and their shadow evocation relatives are dropped from 5e, and I appreciate their droppage. The Moon Dog is making me think about putting them back in (it's the most powerful SLA these critters have, so it should be fairly definitive of an encounter with them), but I'd like to make these abilities more reasonable. My first thought was to make it duplicate only one spell, or a limited list of spells, and maybe have it be a lower level than those spells (letting you get away with having a "more powerful spell than you should" for the spell slot), but that still makes a player have to learn the details of two different spells...perhaps I can make it some sort of metamagic effect or something?
• Related to the above: I'm comfortable with the monster being any CR it happens to be, but conjuration abilities have put me into a rabbit-hole for figuring out how much damage/round this thing puts out at full power. Like, say it shadow-summons a Coatl: the coatl has the ability to turn into any humanoid or beast (CR 4 or less) - and retains its own statistics with a few exceptions. So now I gotta look through the MM and figure out the Offensive CR of every humanoid and beast of CR 4 or less to get the maximum value to figure out the offensive CR of the moon dog? I'd hope there's an easier way!

I think overall I'm mostly looking at the problem that the moon dog has too much going on, too many options, too many things to do. I'd like to make this simpler, more direct, clearer in what it can do, without necessarily nerfing the creature much/at all. I want them to be powerful celestial shadow-illusion dogs, but I don't want a DM running them to have to stop the game for 15 minutes when it uses shadow conjuration, or to get lost in the creature's Innate Spellcasting list when they should be paying attention to what the PC's are doing. I'm not sure what to cut, or how to streamline.

You'll find what I've got right now attached - check out that list of innate spells! Bluh.

 

[Quickleaf]

EDIT: Oh! I forgot to ask how you're making those lovely stat blocks. Photoshop? Or do you have a secret method?

[MENTION=2067]Kamikaze Midget[/MENTION] Looks like a good start! Moon dogs are an interesting critter to convert. I usually start by looking at the 2e versions of a monster. So my comments are focusing on the 2e moon dog and seeing how your version compares.

First, damage resistance to non-magical weapons is appropriate. In 2e it took +2 or better weapons to hit them.

Second, I would add condition immunities frightened. In 2e they were immune to fear, and it fits their role as crusaders of Elysium acting as stalwart foes of Evil.

Third, instead of just giving them the dispel evil and good and fear spells, consider giving them a keening howl action, since it was a defining feature that both frightened and dealt damage to evil creatures, had a chance of banishing evil extra-planars, and had cumulative effect with multiple moon dogs participating. In addition to evoking what a moon dog is all about, it trims down the bloated innate spellcasting list.

Fourth, traditionally they can turn ethereal and enter the Astral plane at will. In my games I always depicted them sort of evaporating into moonlight; it seems like a classic features that fits the moon dog well, so some way of representing that in the stat block would be good.

Fifth, the innate spellcasting list.

• In 2e moon dogs didn't conjure other monsters to fight for them - they did their own fighting (they did have shades 1/day). Personally, I would cut the conjure celestial 1/day. You lose nothing by doing that.
• I'm assuming sanctum and protective shadows are home-brew spells.
• Consider adding lesser restoration and/or remove curse because "association with a moon dog for 1 hour or more removes charms and acts as remove curse. Not essential, but something to consider, since they are sort of anti-werewolves undoing curses and whatnot.

Sixth, the more I look over the 2e moon dog, the more it seems like a monster who needs an aura it can activate which protects good creatures within from fear and evil monsters, while hypnotizing or disorienting evil creatures in the aura. This might allow you to trim your spell list further, for example cutting protective shadows or even dispel magic (illusions only) if you include that in its aura.

[SBLOCK=2e moon dog combat notes]These creatures of good are potent fighters and merciless against evil. Their powerful bite inflicts 3-12 points of damage.

Moon dogs prefer to attack with their keening howl. This baying is harmful to evil creatures only. Any evil creature within an 80 foot radius of a baying moon dog is affected as by a fear spell cast at 12th-level of magic use. Additional moon dogs baying have a cumulative effect. The howling will also cause 5-8 points of damage per round to evil creatures within 40 feet. In addition, the howling will cause intense physical pain to extra-planar creatures of evil alignment so much that they are 5% likely per moon dog howling to return to their plane. Moon dogs can whine to dispel illusions or bark to dispel evil, once per round.

The following spell-like powers (at 12th-level of use) are available to a moon dog one at a time, once per round, at will:
change self, 3 times per day
cure disease, by lick, 1 time per individual per day
cure light wounds, by lick, 1 time per individual per day
dancing lights
darkness, 15’ radius
detect evil, always active
detect invisibility, always active
detect magic, always active
detect snares & pits, always active
improved invisibility
light
mirror image, 3 times per day
non-detection
shades, 1 time per day
slow poison, by lick, 1 time per individual per day
wall of fog

Moon dogs can become ethereal and have the ability to travel in the ethereal and Astral plane at will. They have superior vision equal to double normal vision, including 60' infravision. Combined with an unusually keen sense of smell and hearing, this grants moon dogs the detection abilities listed above, plus the ability to detect all illusions. Association with a moon dog for one hour or more removes charms and acts as a remove curse.

When in shadowy light, a moon dog is able to move in such a way as to effectively create magic equal to a hypnotic pattern of shadows. Only evil creatures will be affected. At the same time, each creature of good within the area will effectively gain a protection from evil and remove fear spell benefit. Moon dogs may not attack or perform any other action when weaving this pattern of shadows. It requires one full round to weave and extends to a range of 50 feet. The moon dog can dispel magic, but doing so will force it back to its own plane immediately.

Moon dogs may be damaged only by +2 or better magical weapons. They are never surprised (due to their keen senses) and cause opponents to subtract 3 from their surprise rolls. Moon dogs are immune to fear spells. They make all saving throws at a +2 bonus and takes half or quarter damage.[/SBLOCK]

 

[I'm A Banana]

EDIT: Oh! I forgot to ask how you're making those lovely stat blocks. Photoshop? Or do you have a secret method?

BRUTE-FORCE in LibreOffice. I spend probably-too-much-time getting the aesthetics right.

I've done a new version where I bite the bullet and just freakin' make it a Legendary (as it seems to want to be). New version is attached here.

That gave a lot of breathing room. I may need to alter the CR now, but it feels like it earns its weight as a Legendary, complete with saving throws, legendary resistance, legendary actions, and lair actions. I think the separation is good, too - bite for damage, healing affection for support, divine howl if there are fiends, and dispelling bark for fiends and miscellaneous magical chicanery. Lair actions are things it wants to do all the time, and shades gets an appropriate representation there.

Hooooooo. Calculating the CR on this is still gonna be hairy.

 

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[MENTION=2067]Kamikaze Midget[/MENTION] What you did for shades was very creative, and I agree it fits better as a lair action. Looking at it, the legendary moon dog feels more at home alongside the likes of 5e sphinxes. Nice job!