Quote Originally Posted by paladinofshojo View Post
It kinda defeats the purpose of giving them the freedom to explore and impact the world when all they are going to do is willingly get railroaded by their DM.
Are they, though? The fact that they don't act the way you expect them to (and you let them do so) seems to me like the opposite of being railroaded. Sure, they obey in-universe authorities but that's hardly the same thing as being railroaded.