Dungeon Masters who don't know how to lead shouldn't be in charge. One DM decided to focus on roleplay rather than combat during a session, and while that was okay with the party, what the DM did next, wasn't. Towards the end, the DM introduced the party to a surprise twist, revealing that one party member was secretly a traitor. If they guessed who the traitor was, they would level up, and if not, well, only the traitor would, and everyone would level up at 0 levels. One of the players correctly guessed who it was, mostly because they immediately began claiming their innocence. The others didn't believe him, even though he turned out to be right.
Everyone lost their chance to level up, and the traitor got the opportunity to do so instead. The revelation felt forced and without proper buildup, leaving the player who initially guessed correctly, confused. They expressed dissatisfaction with the ruling and considered quitting the session due to feeling unfairly disadvantaged. Scroll down to read how it all turned out, and then check out this critical hit of DnD memes for fireball-casting gamers.
EleonoraB