It also doesn't help that most Martial Artists that people think of weren't "monks" at all. The idea that the only people that practiced martial arts were bald men in robes that had a thing for beads is just wrong.
Not only is it wrong it is ALSO not how the fantasy community takes them either. The fact that he dismissed Raiden as "not a monk" further illustrates the problem. He may not be an actual monk but he is the type of fantasy people are trying to create when they make a Monk. Just because he doesn't agree with the aesthetic doesn't mean the aesthetic isn't apart of the fantasy for people.
Don't want an armored monk, we aren't removing unarmed defense. You can still play a bare chested monk. Same with barbarian, the ability to wear medium armor does not detract from the ability to go bare chested. And just because we can find a bunch of photos of bare chested barbarians doesn't mean they shouldn't get armor. Same logic applies to monk.
I call it the "I don't want it so you can't have it" mentality
Question. Don’t have time to do the maths etc. what would be the bonus of the armor besides magic stuff. Max out at AC 17 with half plate. I guess you can just put Dex at 14 for the max +2, but unless you go STR your attacks will miss a lot. Low Wis (don’t need for AC) means low Ki DC.
Doesn't seem to help with MADness all that much unless I’m missing.
Question. Don’t have time to do the maths etc. what would be the bonus of the armor besides magic stuff. Max out at AC 17 with half plate. I guess you can just put Dex at 14 for the max +2, but unless you go STR your attacks will miss a lot. Low Wis (don’t need for AC) means low Ki DC.
Doesn't seem to help with MADness all that much unless I’m missing.
Strength based, also early game MADness, making a build that doesn't rely on ki DC because you have a different concept would allow for lower Wis. And of course the magic armor thing. Point is, of course, if it isn't much stronger or imbalanced then why not let people enjoy it?
Question. Don’t have time to do the maths etc. what would be the bonus of the armor besides magic stuff. Max out at AC 17 with half plate. I guess you can just put Dex at 14 for the max +2, but unless you go STR your attacks will miss a lot. Low Wis (don’t need for AC) means low Ki DC.
Doesn't seem to help with MADness all that much unless I’m missing.
That is an important point. A level 1 Monk will likely have at least a +3 dex bonus and +2 wis bonus. You can max them out at +3/+3 with point buy at first level. So they will have a 15 or 16 AC from the start. The monk needs both of these abilities high anyway.
The best armor you can start with is going to be AC 14+ 2 dex. So you're gong to have the same 16 AC. Later you can afford half plate for a 17 AC. Eventually almost every Monk will surpass that with Unarmored Defense pretty quickly, except for more unusual builds.
So yes, an option for Medium armor will have almost no effect on most Monks. It only opens up the potential for some rare builds, and to use magic armor later in their career. Even the AC bonus of magic armor that is level appropriate will probably not be worth it. It will be the armor's other features that might make it worth wearing.
So really a Medium armor option is not worth being too bothered by. Most Monks will never use it, and their classic image is protected. It just gives some flexibility for different builds, and lets them use magic armor on the rare occasion it's better.
Question. Don’t have time to do the maths etc. what would be the bonus of the armor besides magic stuff. Max out at AC 17 with half plate. I guess you can just put Dex at 14 for the max +2, but unless you go STR your attacks will miss a lot. Low Wis (don’t need for AC) means low Ki DC.
Doesn't seem to help with MADness all that much unless I’m missing.
If you build for armor, you prioritize Str over Dex which means if you want a Str build you still only need 3 stats (Str, Con, Wis) instead of 4 (Str, Dex, Con, Wis). If your build doesn't rely upon using your Ki points on abilities that force saves (Flurry of Blows, Step of the Wind, Patient Defense), you can reduce the stats required to just Str and Con.
"The Magic Stuff" is pretty important. But to the point:
Wisdom needs to be at 16+ to beat standard Studded Leather, which gives you a +3 bonus to AC in addition to whatever your DX is. 16+ is not an insignificant investment. Some monks get around this by horsethieving Shillelagh onto their monk somehow and using that to attack with Wisdom instead. Which is all well and good, but now your wisdom needs to be maxed to just keep up with basic medium armor, and on top of that your dexterity still needs to be 16+ to benefit from Unarmored Defense.
The better way to look at it is to ask what the game needs to do to match existing options. To match, say...half-plate +shield, you need to have a total of +9 between DX and WS. To match a breastplate without a shield you only need a combination of +6 - which is still a significant investment. What does this investment buy you?
Dick all monkey bupkis that other classes don't get just by wearing the armor.
Monks need to have Main Stat-level stats in two different stats plus significant investments in both Strength and Constitution to do Monk Things, and unlike other classes items that allow them to patch their numbers just don't exist. There's no 19 DX items, or 19 WS items. There are CN and ST items, but monks are always back of the line for those. The bracers of defense everybody holds up as being S.O. F.R.E.A.K.I.N.G. A.W.E.S.O.M.E. for monks is literally just a shield with extra steps and a much higher opportunity cost.
That's the issue. Unarmored Defense doesn't do anything. It's just there, telling monks not to bother with protectives instead of using the gear and allocating their stats as makes sense for their character rather than being forced to mainline DX and WS like a barrel of meth at the explicit expense of literally everything else.
My point was that no one should be against a Medium armor option, since it won't affect most Monks. It just let's them make use of some magic items late game. And that's a good thing.
Monks don't need Strength for anything but grappling. They only really need Dexterity and Wisdom. And I bet the new UA version will let them use Dexterity for grappling too. It's very easy to add that to the Unarmed Strike rules. I suspect they will say you can use Dexterity for anything that uses Strength in Unarmed Strikes.
Everyone needs Constitution to some degree. Increasing a Monks Hit Die will help with that. Not having the same AC as the Fighter in full plate is part of the balance a Monk has. They can get close, but not quite there. That's okay, they get other abilities that balance that out.
So if the UA does let them use Dexterity for everything, then Unarmored Defense will top out at AC 20, which is perfectly fine for a mobile martial class. Medium armor would just keep up as you level, which is what makes it a good option. It's not always better or worse.
I love a lot of the ideas here, but I can’t help but notice that most of the ideas here have been about improving the Monk in combat, and ignore the large martial VS. caster disparity outside of combat. In general, martials need more things they can do when not fighting battles, and Monks are no exception to that. (Monks definitely need to be more powerful in combat too, but I’m not saying that that’s not the case, I’m just saying that that’s not the only area where Monk struggles.)
I would give ideas, but I’m on mobile and typing this out has already taken forever. Maybe Monk could have some special Ki abilities to help with checks? Or maybe they should have a whole different set of abilities to help with that, so they don’t have to expend the same limited resource on situations that are both in combat and outside of it?
IDK. Just a thought.
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I love a lot of the ideas here, but I can’t help but notice that most of the ideas here have been about improving the Monk in combat, and ignore the large martial VS. caster disparity outside of combat. In general, martials need more things they can do when not fighting battles, and Monks are no exception to that. (Monks definitely need to be more powerful in combat too, but I’m not saying that that’s not the case, I’m just saying that that’s not the only area where Monk struggles.)
I would give ideas, but I’m on mobile and typing this out has already taken forever. Maybe Monk could have some special Ki abilities to help with checks? Or maybe they should have a whole different set of abilities to help with that, so they don’t have to expend the same limited resource on situations that are both in combat and outside of it?
IDK. Just a thought.
Honestly, all monks need to have a role out of combat is to move their ability to run along walls lower and give their step of the wind an easier time to jump across things. Being extremely mobile and able to reach places others cant without using a teleport spell or something would go a long way towards monks being good outside of combat. These abilities are there, just too toned down at the moment and some come online too late.
Wisdom needs to be at 16+ to beat standard Studded Leather, which gives you a +3 bonus to AC in addition to whatever your DX is. 16+ is not an insignificant investment. Some monks get around this by horsethieving Shillelagh onto their monk somehow and using that to attack with Wisdom instead. Which is all well and good, but now your wisdom needs to be maxed to just keep up with basic medium armor, and on top of that your dexterity still needs to be 16+ to benefit from Unarmored Defense.
Studded leather is 12+Dex. 14 Wisdom is what every monk usually starts with.
It also doesn't help that most Martial Artists that people think of weren't "monks" at all. The idea that the only people that practiced martial arts were bald men in robes that had a thing for beads is just wrong.
The idea that a martial artist could stand up to a professional soldier with arms and armor, or catch arrows with their hands, is also wrong. But it's a fantasy game.
Wisdom needs to be at 16+ to beat standard Studded Leather, which gives you a +3 bonus to AC in addition to whatever your DX is. 16+ is not an insignificant investment. Some monks get around this by horsethieving Shillelagh onto their monk somehow and using that to attack with Wisdom instead. Which is all well and good, but now your wisdom needs to be maxed to just keep up with basic medium armor, and on top of that your dexterity still needs to be 16+ to benefit from Unarmored Defense.
Studded leather is 12+Dex. 14 Wisdom is what every monk usually starts with.
It also doesn't help that most Martial Artists that people think of weren't "monks" at all. The idea that the only people that practiced martial arts were bald men in robes that had a thing for beads is just wrong.
The idea that a martial artist could stand up to a professional soldier with arms and armor, or catch arrows with their hands, is also wrong. But it's a fantasy game.
You tend to find what you're looking for when you search for the results you want. The point wasn't that armored martial artists don't exist. The point was that searches for 'Monks' don't turn up images of monks with armor, because that's not the generally accepted image. Searches for armor find images of armor. And most of those 'ninjas' had weapons, which could be an argument in favor of keeping armor a trait exclusive to Kensei monks.
But the whole debate really isn't of any value anyways. Multiple things can be true at the same time. They often are. For example:
- The DnD Monk has always been based on fantasy Shaolin Kung Fu, as it has been presented in movies especially, without armor.
- Some people find the class template very fun but want to apply it to a wider array of character concepts and fantasies.
Both of these are true. I for one love the original Monk concept, and I also believe it's a pretty narrow theme that should be opened up to more concepts. Everybody wins.
I think the idea that monks should be less dependent on Wisdom and Dexterity is bad. Monks should be wise and dexterous, since those two things are huge parts of their identity. Really, to cut down on the MADness, allowing Wisdom and Dexterity to do things normally limited to other abilities would be better. Dexterity for grappling and shoving would be a good first step, but more could be done. Allowing further jumps without Step of the Wind, adding Wisdom modifier to HP instead of Constitution, or adding Wisdom to all saving throws à la Aura of Protection.
Another big problem with monks is how multidirectional they are. They try to have good mobility, tanking potential, AC, damage, and control all at once, but they spread themselves too thin and end up being pretty bad at all of them. I think that mobility and damage should be honed in on more, but that's just me. Whatever their focus is doesn't matter, as long as the other things listed end up taking fewer features so that the main abilities could make them actually good at one or two specific aspects.
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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)
So all this time you were talking about armored ninja class and not the monk class?
Kinda funny that you generally find what you are looking for when you do a proper search.
With a proper search (specifically directed at confirming your bias rather than finding an objective answer), you can find arguments in favor of flat Earth theory, antivaxxing, and paleocontact. Doesn't make it a consensus for everyone, thank Cthulhu.
So all this time you were talking about armored ninja class and not the monk class?
Kinda funny that you generally find what you are looking for when you do a proper search.
With a proper search (specifically directed at confirming your bias rather than finding an objective answer), you can find arguments in favor of flat Earth theory, antivaxxing, and paleocontact. Doesn't make it a consensus for everyone, thank Cthulhu.
That is kind of my point. You set specific parameters to get the results you wanted. I in turn set the search parameters to find what I wanted. Point is, it isn't exactly proving anything to do a google search because you will most certainly find what you are looking for.
That is kind of my point. You set specific parameters to get the results you wanted. I in turn set the search parameters to find what I wanted. Point is, it isn't exactly proving anything to do a google search because you will most certainly find what you are looking for.
Saying that all evidence is anecdotal evidence doesn't help your point really. In an argument about fantasy monk, I provided common image of fantasy monk. You, however, deviated to something different.
Kam, how does allowing the option of armor, a'la UAD (Barbarian), hurt? You're giving us the same fight all the Simple Fighter Crowd people are giving us in the other thread - "this can't happen because it'd let other people do a thing I don't want to do myself." Allowing both options means robes fans can do robes and people who want to wear dragonscale mail on their monk can do that, too. Why protest?
That is kind of my point. You set specific parameters to get the results you wanted. I in turn set the search parameters to find what I wanted. Point is, it isn't exactly proving anything to do a google search because you will most certainly find what you are looking for.
Saying that all evidence is anecdotal evidence doesn't help your point really. In an argument about fantasy monk, I provided common image of fantasy monk. You, however, deviated to something different.
No they didnt. Those were all fantasy monks just as much as yours were. The last bunch was from final fantasy and was specifically a monk class with classic monk garb. They provided equally valid interpretations without any deviation.
So a monk focusing on Dex/Wis with point buy can start with AC 16. Bump it to AC 17 at level 4, AC 18 at level 8, AC 19 at level 12 and AC 20 at level 16 using point buy with stats 10, 16 (14 +2 racial, or background for 1D&D), 14, 10, 16 (15 +1), 8. You could take vHuman or Custom Lineage and get there a little quicker putting 15+2 in Dex and taking a half feat to start with an 18 Dex at level 1. Can't do that with 1D&D from what we've seen so far. So I will assume the AC progression at the beginning.
An armored monk can get an AC of 16 at level 1 with Scale mail. 17 with Half plate whenever they can afford it. They only need Dex 14 for that so they could start with 16, 14, 12, 8, 16, 8 if they wanted to keep Wis up for Ki DC's or could flip Con and Wis scores for 16, 14, 16, 8, 12, 8 and be a Str based monk that doesn't worry too much about their save DC (Kensei monk has no abilities that require targets make any save, for example). Magic armor would be needed to get above AC 17 (which the UAD monk can bypass at level 8).
The big difference is two ASI's for Dex and two ASI's for Wis are needed to reach that AC 20 at level 16 for UAD monk while the armored monk could focus two ASI's on Str to max at 20 and the other two on Feats or ASI to Con or Wis, if they chose. They would be at the whim of the DM for magic armor to reach an AC of 20.
And I am not arguing that 1D&D monk should not have armor. I just don't think it is likely to happen. But I could be completely wrong. And I don't know if the armored monk would become the default "option of choice" because it is too advantageous over UAD. There isplenty of "magic stuff", besides armor, that monks can use. But I could be wrong there as well.
This is why I'm excited to see the next UA to get a better idea of where WotC is heading. I'm hoping it is the warrior group so we can see what monks, as well as fighters and barbarians will look like for playtesting.
I call it the "I don't want it so you can't have it" mentality
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
Question. Don’t have time to do the maths etc. what would be the bonus of the armor besides magic stuff. Max out at AC 17 with half plate. I guess you can just put Dex at 14 for the max +2, but unless you go STR your attacks will miss a lot. Low Wis (don’t need for AC) means low Ki DC.
Doesn't seem to help with MADness all that much unless I’m missing.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Strength based, also early game MADness, making a build that doesn't rely on ki DC because you have a different concept would allow for lower Wis. And of course the magic armor thing. Point is, of course, if it isn't much stronger or imbalanced then why not let people enjoy it?
That is an important point. A level 1 Monk will likely have at least a +3 dex bonus and +2 wis bonus. You can max them out at +3/+3 with point buy at first level. So they will have a 15 or 16 AC from the start. The monk needs both of these abilities high anyway.
The best armor you can start with is going to be AC 14+ 2 dex. So you're gong to have the same 16 AC. Later you can afford half plate for a 17 AC. Eventually almost every Monk will surpass that with Unarmored Defense pretty quickly, except for more unusual builds.
So yes, an option for Medium armor will have almost no effect on most Monks. It only opens up the potential for some rare builds, and to use magic armor later in their career. Even the AC bonus of magic armor that is level appropriate will probably not be worth it. It will be the armor's other features that might make it worth wearing.
So really a Medium armor option is not worth being too bothered by. Most Monks will never use it, and their classic image is protected. It just gives some flexibility for different builds, and lets them use magic armor on the rare occasion it's better.
If you build for armor, you prioritize Str over Dex which means if you want a Str build you still only need 3 stats (Str, Con, Wis) instead of 4 (Str, Dex, Con, Wis). If your build doesn't rely upon using your Ki points on abilities that force saves (Flurry of Blows, Step of the Wind, Patient Defense), you can reduce the stats required to just Str and Con.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
"The Magic Stuff" is pretty important. But to the point:
Wisdom needs to be at 16+ to beat standard Studded Leather, which gives you a +3 bonus to AC in addition to whatever your DX is. 16+ is not an insignificant investment. Some monks get around this by horsethieving Shillelagh onto their monk somehow and using that to attack with Wisdom instead. Which is all well and good, but now your wisdom needs to be maxed to just keep up with basic medium armor, and on top of that your dexterity still needs to be 16+ to benefit from Unarmored Defense.
The better way to look at it is to ask what the game needs to do to match existing options. To match, say...half-plate +shield, you need to have a total of +9 between DX and WS. To match a breastplate without a shield you only need a combination of +6 - which is still a significant investment. What does this investment buy you?
Dick all monkey bupkis that other classes don't get just by wearing the armor.
Monks need to have Main Stat-level stats in two different stats plus significant investments in both Strength and Constitution to do Monk Things, and unlike other classes items that allow them to patch their numbers just don't exist. There's no 19 DX items, or 19 WS items. There are CN and ST items, but monks are always back of the line for those. The bracers of defense everybody holds up as being S.O. F.R.E.A.K.I.N.G. A.W.E.S.O.M.E. for monks is literally just a shield with extra steps and a much higher opportunity cost.
That's the issue. Unarmored Defense doesn't do anything. It's just there, telling monks not to bother with protectives instead of using the gear and allocating their stats as makes sense for their character rather than being forced to mainline DX and WS like a barrel of meth at the explicit expense of literally everything else.
Please do not contact or message me.
My point was that no one should be against a Medium armor option, since it won't affect most Monks. It just let's them make use of some magic items late game. And that's a good thing.
Monks don't need Strength for anything but grappling. They only really need Dexterity and Wisdom. And I bet the new UA version will let them use Dexterity for grappling too. It's very easy to add that to the Unarmed Strike rules. I suspect they will say you can use Dexterity for anything that uses Strength in Unarmed Strikes.
Everyone needs Constitution to some degree. Increasing a Monks Hit Die will help with that. Not having the same AC as the Fighter in full plate is part of the balance a Monk has. They can get close, but not quite there. That's okay, they get other abilities that balance that out.
So if the UA does let them use Dexterity for everything, then Unarmored Defense will top out at AC 20, which is perfectly fine for a mobile martial class. Medium armor would just keep up as you level, which is what makes it a good option. It's not always better or worse.
I love a lot of the ideas here, but I can’t help but notice that most of the ideas here have been about improving the Monk in combat, and ignore the large martial VS. caster disparity outside of combat. In general, martials need more things they can do when not fighting battles, and Monks are no exception to that. (Monks definitely need to be more powerful in combat too, but I’m not saying that that’s not the case, I’m just saying that that’s not the only area where Monk struggles.)
I would give ideas, but I’m on mobile and typing this out has already taken forever. Maybe Monk could have some special Ki abilities to help with checks? Or maybe they should have a whole different set of abilities to help with that, so they don’t have to expend the same limited resource on situations that are both in combat and outside of it?
IDK. Just a thought.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.Honestly, all monks need to have a role out of combat is to move their ability to run along walls lower and give their step of the wind an easier time to jump across things. Being extremely mobile and able to reach places others cant without using a teleport spell or something would go a long way towards monks being good outside of combat. These abilities are there, just too toned down at the moment and some come online too late.
Studded leather is 12+Dex. 14 Wisdom is what every monk usually starts with.
The idea that a martial artist could stand up to a professional soldier with arms and armor, or catch arrows with their hands, is also wrong. But it's a fantasy game.
And now post all the images of unarmored monks you had to pass before you found the ones you posted))
There weren't many since I googled armored ninja.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
Kinda funny that you generally find what you are looking for when you do a proper search.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
You tend to find what you're looking for when you search for the results you want. The point wasn't that armored martial artists don't exist. The point was that searches for 'Monks' don't turn up images of monks with armor, because that's not the generally accepted image. Searches for armor find images of armor. And most of those 'ninjas' had weapons, which could be an argument in favor of keeping armor a trait exclusive to Kensei monks.
But the whole debate really isn't of any value anyways. Multiple things can be true at the same time. They often are. For example:
- The DnD Monk has always been based on fantasy Shaolin Kung Fu, as it has been presented in movies especially, without armor.
- Some people find the class template very fun but want to apply it to a wider array of character concepts and fantasies.
Both of these are true. I for one love the original Monk concept, and I also believe it's a pretty narrow theme that should be opened up to more concepts. Everybody wins.
I think the idea that monks should be less dependent on Wisdom and Dexterity is bad. Monks should be wise and dexterous, since those two things are huge parts of their identity. Really, to cut down on the MADness, allowing Wisdom and Dexterity to do things normally limited to other abilities would be better. Dexterity for grappling and shoving would be a good first step, but more could be done. Allowing further jumps without Step of the Wind, adding Wisdom modifier to HP instead of Constitution, or adding Wisdom to all saving throws à la Aura of Protection.
Another big problem with monks is how multidirectional they are. They try to have good mobility, tanking potential, AC, damage, and control all at once, but they spread themselves too thin and end up being pretty bad at all of them. I think that mobility and damage should be honed in on more, but that's just me. Whatever their focus is doesn't matter, as long as the other things listed end up taking fewer features so that the main abilities could make them actually good at one or two specific aspects.
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)
So all this time you were talking about armored ninja class and not the monk class?
With a proper search (specifically directed at confirming your bias rather than finding an objective answer), you can find arguments in favor of flat Earth theory, antivaxxing, and paleocontact. Doesn't make it a consensus for everyone, thank Cthulhu.
That is kind of my point. You set specific parameters to get the results you wanted. I in turn set the search parameters to find what I wanted. Point is, it isn't exactly proving anything to do a google search because you will most certainly find what you are looking for.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
Saying that all evidence is anecdotal evidence doesn't help your point really. In an argument about fantasy monk, I provided common image of fantasy monk. You, however, deviated to something different.
Kam, how does allowing the option of armor, a'la UAD (Barbarian), hurt? You're giving us the same fight all the Simple Fighter Crowd people are giving us in the other thread - "this can't happen because it'd let other people do a thing I don't want to do myself." Allowing both options means robes fans can do robes and people who want to wear dragonscale mail on their monk can do that, too. Why protest?
Please do not contact or message me.
No they didnt. Those were all fantasy monks just as much as yours were. The last bunch was from final fantasy and was specifically a monk class with classic monk garb. They provided equally valid interpretations without any deviation.
So a monk focusing on Dex/Wis with point buy can start with AC 16. Bump it to AC 17 at level 4, AC 18 at level 8, AC 19 at level 12 and AC 20 at level 16 using point buy with stats 10, 16 (14 +2 racial, or background for 1D&D), 14, 10, 16 (15 +1), 8. You could take vHuman or Custom Lineage and get there a little quicker putting 15+2 in Dex and taking a half feat to start with an 18 Dex at level 1. Can't do that with 1D&D from what we've seen so far. So I will assume the AC progression at the beginning.
An armored monk can get an AC of 16 at level 1 with Scale mail. 17 with Half plate whenever they can afford it. They only need Dex 14 for that so they could start with 16, 14, 12, 8, 16, 8 if they wanted to keep Wis up for Ki DC's or could flip Con and Wis scores for 16, 14, 16, 8, 12, 8 and be a Str based monk that doesn't worry too much about their save DC (Kensei monk has no abilities that require targets make any save, for example). Magic armor would be needed to get above AC 17 (which the UAD monk can bypass at level 8).
The big difference is two ASI's for Dex and two ASI's for Wis are needed to reach that AC 20 at level 16 for UAD monk while the armored monk could focus two ASI's on Str to max at 20 and the other two on Feats or ASI to Con or Wis, if they chose. They would be at the whim of the DM for magic armor to reach an AC of 20.
And I am not arguing that 1D&D monk should not have armor. I just don't think it is likely to happen. But I could be completely wrong. And I don't know if the armored monk would become the default "option of choice" because it is too advantageous over UAD. There isplenty of "magic stuff", besides armor, that monks can use. But I could be wrong there as well.
This is why I'm excited to see the next UA to get a better idea of where WotC is heading. I'm hoping it is the warrior group so we can see what monks, as well as fighters and barbarians will look like for playtesting.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?