Originally Posted by
Talakeal
Or hell. The players want to get into a locked room. Is this a railroad?
The GM doesn't tell them they have to get in, the players chose this goal for themselves. The GM has no plans for how they could get in; they could kick the door down, pick the lock, search for a key, teleport, turn incorporal, shrink down and crawl under the crack, try and bluff someone into letting them in, create a diversion and force the guards inside to come out, tunnel through the wall, blow the wall down, dig under the wall, etc. etc. etc.
But, if the players know that there is a key hidden under a fake rock in the garden, why would they bother with any of these things? Using the key is clearly the optimal route.