Player Agency and Planning Autonomy

Player agency in tabletop RPGs is a concept I struggle with for just over two years now, at least ever since my Pendragon campaign, Sunrise Quest, and this struggle has been profitable for myself, as I have reached many thoughts I wouldn't have otherwise, epitomised by these lessons. I believe I have finally reached the lynchpin of my grief with the concept, which is this: what rankles me isn't a lack of player agency, it is a lack of planning autonomy. When we talk about agency in these games, usually it is framed around a discussion of decisions. If the decisions the players make, such as taking this or that door, or helping out NPC A or NPC B, if these decisions impact the world and lead to different outcomes, then we say the agency of the players is being respected. If the decisions lead to the same outcome they would have otherwise, many believe this to be a subtle form of manipulation of the player agency; if not when the manipulation is direct and the game's mistress simply…