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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tarek" data-source="post: 3737081" data-attributes="member: 6661">Quasqueton, as far as I can tell on a quick perusal of the DMG, the rule about "no Dex and no shield" is an extrapolation from the last sentence of the first paragraph under Suprise on page 61: "However, during the surprise segment or segments, the surprised party is unable to react in any way, so the latter actions might be possible."It was a very very common house rule, even if it wasn't explicitly spelled out. Since it affected the characters as well as the monsters, it was deemed fair enough to remain.A lot of 1st edition was like that, which was a part of its charm. With things not explicitly spelled out for you, the DM could make a ruling and then the game would move on, instead of being caught in the trap of people looking up rules in the books.It may also have appeared somewhere in the Dragon Magazine's Sage Advice pages, clarifying how surprise works.Also, in the combat example, there could have been another 'suprise segment' where both sides were acting quickly, before the round began.</blockquote>