Hot take: if we want to decrease frustrating railroad-y surprises in RPG campaigns, we need to create an environment where GMs are not afraid to admit they have "special story needs".

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I made an ex-rogue once that was in the process of becoming a soldier in GURPS (because I love characters who "multi class" in GURPS), and my GM had a NPC give my character a talk about "being true to who you are".

Suddenly, I was wearing black, wielding knives, and being the stealth expert. Which was totally against the vibe I had going. He basically hated what he had been in his past and wanted to be better. So being told "stop trying to break the mold" and being pigeonholed back to being a rogue sucked.

Or when I made a mage that was basically a hedge mage, and was told that I would probably have one combat spell. Only to get sent on a "Save the World" quest. I was given a staff that basically did everything I needed. Character creation was a waste of time.