Ask the Alexandrian #7: Classic Quests Are Railroads? (Patreon)

Ask the Alexandrian #7: Classic Quests Are Railroads?

João writes: I don't want to railroad my players. But how can I create a classic quest to destroy the Evil Thing™ without railroading? The principle of "don't prep plots, prep situations" can also be thought of as prepping toys and then letting the players either (a) figure out how they want to play with them and/or (b) how they're going to react to you actively playing them.