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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WhimsyTheFae" data-source="post: 6211431" data-attributes="member: 8964">In the game, my GMs and I (when I'm the GM) are always the final arbiter, but rarely the only arbiter. I've never gamed with the power-mad stereotype, but have gamed with a number of regular GMs and one-shot GMs (I've done both as well) who have all held the authority of final arbiter in the game. How much debate is allowed depends on the GM and the situation, but in all cases the GM is who makes the ruling and the players accept it. This, of course, is part of the unwritten social contract to which each of those players agreed (explicitly or implicitly).The host is final arbiter at the table for any manners unrelated to the game, but one is rarely needed.EDIT: Regarding my perception of how this has evolved over the years (with regard to more narrative games and such), I haven't seen any change. I think that might be due to almost every instance of GM arbitration, the decision being made was always one of interpretation of rules/results/actions/etc. and never one where said interpretation unfairly removed any player agency given by the system.</blockquote>