The question shouldn't be *can they*. The question should be "what happens when they do?".
well, for one, it wipes out their unarmored AC bonus. Because a Shield is armor. Unless they don't use it, but if they don't use it, then it doesn't give them any benefits.
gets in the way of their attacks, I would think but I haven't looked.
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
They aren't proficient in shields, which means they suffer a lot of disadvantages (including not getting the +2 to AC, if I remember correctly), and they have a number of features that are disabled by shields. But technically, yes. Not very recommended, though. If they really want to use a shield, Barbarian might be a better fit- their Unarmored Defense can work with shields, whereas Monk's cannot.
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
Monks can wield a shield without proficiency but will have disadvantage on any ability check, saving throw, or attack roll that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can't cast spells
With proficiency they won't have that problem but in both cases it'll also prevent them using many of their abilities:
Unarmored Defence: "while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield" Martial Arts: "You gain the following benefits while you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield" Unarmored Movement (2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th and 18th level): "while you are not wearing armor or wielding a shield"
EDIT: It has been noted by some that if you build a strength based monk (rather than dexterity based) and put it in armor, then giving up the features above isn't necessarily a big deal. In addition NONE of any monk sub-class features are fully negated, but a few do work with unarmed strikes and your unarmed strike might not be used as much if you don't have Martial Arts and some features also focus on Monk weapons which you might be ignoring. Things get particularly good if you've multi-classed from fighter with Unarmed Fighting for 1d6+Str unarmed attacks and for both the weapon and armor proficiency, then all you miss out on is the Monk capstone of Perfect Self to get Ki Points back when you enter battle with none. Most of these builds use a two handed weapon rather than one handed weapon and shield though, this way they can still use unarmed strike when you need to and not drop or stow your weapon.
Can they? One of my players who love to push the rules, wants to know...
Yes.
The question shouldn't be *can they*. The question should be "what happens when they do?".
well, for one, it wipes out their unarmored AC bonus. Because a Shield is armor. Unless they don't use it, but if they don't use it, then it doesn't give them any benefits.
gets in the way of their attacks, I would think but I haven't looked.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
They aren't proficient in shields, which means they suffer a lot of disadvantages (including not getting the +2 to AC, if I remember correctly), and they have a number of features that are disabled by shields. But technically, yes. Not very recommended, though. If they really want to use a shield, Barbarian might be a better fit- their Unarmored Defense can work with shields, whereas Monk's cannot.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
Monks can wield a shield without proficiency but will have disadvantage on any ability check, saving throw, or attack roll that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can't cast spells
With proficiency they won't have that problem but in both cases it'll also prevent them using many of their abilities:
Unarmored Defence: "while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield"
Martial Arts: "You gain the following benefits while you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield"
Unarmored Movement (2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th and 18th level): "while you are not wearing armor or wielding a shield"
EDIT: It has been noted by some that if you build a strength based monk (rather than dexterity based) and put it in armor, then giving up the features above isn't necessarily a big deal. In addition NONE of any monk sub-class features are fully negated, but a few do work with unarmed strikes and your unarmed strike might not be used as much if you don't have Martial Arts and some features also focus on Monk weapons which you might be ignoring. Things get particularly good if you've multi-classed from fighter with Unarmed Fighting for 1d6+Str unarmed attacks and for both the weapon and armor proficiency, then all you miss out on is the Monk capstone of Perfect Self to get Ki Points back when you enter battle with none. Most of these builds use a two handed weapon rather than one handed weapon and shield though, this way they can still use unarmed strike when you need to and not drop or stow your weapon.